About.com Asian History

Today in Asian History: Lenin Overthrows Russian Government

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 12:13:52 +0000

On November 7, 1917, Bolshevik revolutionaries led by Vladimir Ilyich Lenin overthrew the provisional government of Russia, and ousted Prime Minister Alexander Kerensky.

The last tsar, Nicholas II, was forced to abdicate in February of the same year; he and his family were later murdered. In place of the monarchy, a coalition of moderate socialists and liberal reformers formed a provisional government led by Kerensky.

This change was not radical enough for the Bolsheviks, however. They took control in what is usually called the "October Revolution," because November 7 in the Gregorian Calendar is October 25 in Russia's traditional Julian Calendar.

The October Revolution and founding of the USSR inspired communist activists across Asia, and struck fear into the hearts of rulers like the Taisho Emperor of Japan.

Today in Asian History: Lenin Overthrows Russian Government originally appeared on About.com Asian History on Saturday, November 7th, 2009 at 12:13:52.

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Mexican Dollars Used in 17th - 19th Century China and Japan

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 18:31:48 +0000

During the 1600s to 1800s, Spanish and then later Mexican silver dollars were the currency of choice for foreign trade in Japan and China, and entered into circulation in those countries for domestic trade as well.

What were these "pieces of eight" doing so far from their mint sites? Mexican silver dollars were valued for their purity and consistency; thus, they became the standard for trade in East Asia.

By the late nineteenth century, China was minting its own silver and gold coinage, and Japan began to issue paper currency instead.

See samples of Mexican silver dollars used in Chinese trade, and read an 1878 New York Times article about currency problems in the Far East.

Photo by woody1778a on Flickr.com.

Mexican Dollars Used in 17th - 19th Century China and Japan originally appeared on About.com Asian History on Sunday, November 1st, 2009 at 18:31:48.

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Today in Asian History - Indira Gandhi Assassinated

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 10:17:14 +0000

On October 31, 1984, Indian Prime Minister Indira Nehru Gandhi was assassinated by two of her Sikh bodyguards.

The attack likely was retaliation for Gandhi's order for the Indian Army to attack the Sikh's holiest site, the Harmandir or "Golden Temple," in September of 1981. At the time, Gandhi was trying to suppress a separatist movement in the Punjab region.

In the attack on the Golden Temple, as many as 3,000 people were killed.

Indira Gandhi was the first, and so far only, female prime minister in Indian history. She was the daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister.

Contrary to popular belief, her husband, Feroze Gandhi, was not related to the Mahatma Gandhi. She did know the Mahatma from childhood, however.

Photo from the U.S. Department of Defense via Wikipedia.

Today in Asian History - Indira Gandhi Assassinated originally appeared on About.com Asian History on Saturday, October 31st, 2009 at 10:17:14.

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Genghis Khan Comes to Denver

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 21:56:43 +0000

Science popularizer and author "Dino Don" Lessem has a new exhibit running, but this one isn't about dinosaurs.

The Denver Museum of Nature and Science is hosting his exhibition on Genghis Khan, which runs from October 16, 2009 to February 7, 2010. Many of the items in the exhibit have never been displayed outside of Mongolia.

In addition to wonderful artifacts such as weapons, armor, jewelry and saddles, the exhibit features live performances by Mongolian musicians.

The exhibit includes not only items from Genghis Khan's time, but also those from the reigns of his sons and grandsons. For example, Russia's Hermitage Museum lent objects from the Golden Horde which ruled Russia, plus parts of Central Asia and Eastern Europe.

Learn more about Genghis Khan, and read my interview with exhibit producer Don Lessem.

Photo by Sam Ose / Olai Skjaervoy on Flickr.com.

Genghis Khan Comes to Denver originally appeared on About.com Asian History on Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 at 21:56:43.

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The Sport of Khans - Kok Boru

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 11:05:34 +0000

In Afghanistan, it is known as buzkashi and is the national sport. Turkic regions of Central Asia call it kok boru. Legend says that Genghis Khan's hordes played it to refine their horsemanship skills. At its roots, it is linked with another game that we consider quite posh today - polo.

So what is kok boru or buzkashi? It's a fast-paced game wherein two mounted teams battle for the headless body of a sheep, calf or goat. The object of the game is to deposit the animal within a goal ring marked on the ground.

Play can get pretty rough - the riders aren't supposed to lash one another with their riding whips, but it has been known to happen! Broken arms and legs are common, as well.

For more images, see the BBC photo gallery of kok boru players in Kyrgyzstan.

Photo by Paula Bronstein / Getty Images.

The Sport of Khans - Kok Boru originally appeared on About.com Asian History on Sunday, October 25th, 2009 at 11:05:34.

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Today in Asian History: UN General Assembly Switches Chinas

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 10:37:14 +0000

When the Chinese Civil War ended in 1949, foreign diplomats were left with a dilemma. Both Mao's communist government on the mainland and Chiang Kai-shek's government on Taiwan (formerly Formosa) claimed to be the legitimate representative of the Chinese people.

Naturally, Cold War geopolitics also played a role - western governments were reluctant to recognize that the world's most populous country was communist, and had the clout in the UN to block recognition. In the event, it took literally decades before the international community accepted this reality.

It wasn't until October 25, 1971, that the United Nations General Assembly voted to admit mainland China as a member. It also expelled Taiwan, which today functions much like any other nation, but is officially recognized by only 23 other states (mostly in Latin America and Oceana).

Today in Asian History: UN General Assembly Switches Chinas originally appeared on About.com Asian History on Sunday, October 25th, 2009 at 10:37:14.

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Samurai Weapons, Armor and More at the Met

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 22:10:57 +0000

New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art currently has an amazing exhibit of Japanese samurai armor, swords, and other gear. The Art of the Samurai show runs through January 10, 2010.

The exhibit includes beautifully inlaid saddles, swords, daggers, and wall-hangings showing some of the suits of armor actually being worn by their owners. Some of the pieces on display are from as far back as the twelfth century; others were once owned by famous leaders such as Oda Nobunaga and Hideyoshi Toyotomi.

Explore photos of some of the incredible samurai gear and other artwork here.

Photo by Marshall Astor / Flickr.com.

Samurai Weapons, Armor and More at the Met originally appeared on About.com Asian History on Saturday, October 24th, 2009 at 22:10:57.

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Koreans Trapped on the Sakhalin Islands for Decades

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 14:01:46 +0000

After the Japanese annexed the Korean Peninsula in 1910, and took control of Sakhalin Island as well, many young people from southern Korea were lured to Sakhalin by the promise of good-paying jobs in the fishing and mining industries. During the 1930s and early 1940s, thousands of Koreans moved to the island, which had been disputed territory between Japan and the Soviet Union.

When Japan lost World War II in 1945, the Soviets grabbed Sakhalin and sent ethnic Japanese on the island back home. In the turmoil of the last days of war, rumors started that the Koreans were spying for the USSR, prompting a massacre of some 20,000 Sakhalin Koreans by the Japanese. After the Japanese surrender, the tens of thousands of Koreans on Sakhalin assumed that they would get to return to Korea, too. However, the Soviets barred them from leaving. The Korean War was soon to erupt, and Sakhalin's Koreans were from the south - so early Cold War politics kept them from being repatriated.

In 1974, the Soviet leadership decided that it would like to get rid of the most vocal Korean Sakhaliners, so it allowed them to apply for relocation to Japan. However, an embarrassingly large number applied to leave, so the Soviets did an about-face and cut off exits. They even forcibly deported some of the noisiest dissidents to North Korea, where they disappeared into Kim Il Sung's gulags.

In 1985, as the glasnost and perestroika began in the Soviet Union, Japan once more offered to help repatriate the Sakhalin Koreans. By this time, though, few of them had any interest in trying to return to Korea. Today, some 45,000 people of Korean descent live on the Russian island of Sakhalin.

Koreans Trapped on the Sakhalin Islands for Decades originally appeared on About.com Asian History on Sunday, October 18th, 2009 at 14:01:46.

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Afroeurasia - A Single Continent?

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 13:08:34 +0000

I recently finished reading an interesting book called The Myth of Continents: A Critique of Metageography, by Martin W. Lewis and Karen E. Wigen.

Their provocative initial premise is that continents don't really exist. (Their stance later seems to moderate to "Continents aren't the most useful way to divide human culture and history, and Eurasia is really a single continent with Africa well-attached.")

Unfortunately, even as they critique Eurocentrism, these two American scholars examine the development of our current seven-continent system only from the European point of view. It would be very interesting to learn how the Persians, Indians, Chinese and other peoples divided their own worlds over the centuries.

In the end, I don't embrace all of Lewis and Wigen's argument. It is very clear, however, that there is no logical way to divide Europe from Asia, for the simple reason that they are a single landmass. The Tocharians went from Ukraine to western China almost 2000 years before the time of Jesus; the classical Greeks and Persians fought one another without any idea that they were crossing a "continental" boundary; the Xiongnu, who later became the Huns, harried both Han China in the east and the Roman Empire in the west... All of these movements made easy by the fact that Asia and Europe are one continent.

In fact, as the authors of The Myth of Continents point out, Europe is really a region of Asia. It has about the same size and ethno-linguistic diversity as South Asia or Southeast Asia.

Does this blow your mind, or have you known it all along?

Map by Jan Jansson, c. 1632. From the Map House of London via Getty Images.

Afroeurasia - A Single Continent? originally appeared on About.com Asian History on Sunday, October 18th, 2009 at 13:08:34.

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Old Photos From Japan

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:38:04 +0000

If you are interested in the history of Japan during the transformative years between the end of the Tokugawa shogunate (1868) and the lead-up to the Second World War, then you should definitely check out the website "Old Photos of Japan."

The site organizes its offerings by theme, era, place, photographer and medium. Best of all, most of the photographs include long captions that give a wealth of historical information about the subjects.

A word of warning - the site includes a lot of photographs, so be prepared to spend some time clicking through them! It's well worth the time.

Old Photos From Japan originally appeared on About.com Asian History on Wednesday, October 14th, 2009 at 17:38:04.

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