Dragons and Tigers: A Geography of South, East, and Southeast Asia, Third Edition explores and illustrates conditions, events, problems, and trends of both larger regions and individual nations. Using a cross-disciplinary approach, the author discusses evolving physical and cultural landscapes. Nature-Society relations provide the foundation for social, economic, political, and environmental problems. Dragons and Tigers is the only textbook that covers all three regions – South Asia, East Asia, and Southeast Asia – in one textbook. It is the most comprehensive book on the market about the geography of Asia.

Since the early seventeenth century when the secret of porcelain was first carried from China to Japan by Korean potters, Japan has produced some of the world's most exquisite porcelains. The Kakiemon masters in Arita on the island of Kyushu gained particular renown for the quality of their colourful overglaze enamels and artistic designs. Through exports Kakiemon ware had a profound impact on the development of European porcelain in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, inspiring ceramic manufacturers in both continental Europe and England to reach new levels of technical and artistic achievement. Dragons, Tigers and Bamboo highlights 170 masterpieces from the Bill and Molly Anne Macdonald Collection at the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art in Toronto, Canada. This extraordinary collection illustrates many different aspects of the historical interaction between Japanese and European porcelain during the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It is unquestionably the best cross-cultural porcelain collection in Canada and is among the best of its kind in the world. Illustrated with more than 160 full-colour photographs commissioned for this volume, Dragons, Tigers and Bamboo for the first time makes the Macdonald Collection accessible to an international audience.

Bone, Bronze, and Bamboo explores the tremendous wealth of newly unearthed artifacts and manuscripts that have been revolutionizing the study of early China. Leading scholars from China and abroad lend their expertise in archaeology, art history, paleography, intellectual history, and many other disciplines to show how these fascinating finds change our understanding of China's past. Organized in a chronological progression from the Shang to Han periods, and treating bone, bronze, and bamboo-strip artifacts in turn, the book treats a wide breadth of topics, from the status of owls in Shang religion to the Zhou court's economic interest in managing salt resources, and from the conceptual evolution of de 德 in Spring and Autumn covenants to the interplay between materiality and text in Han scribal primers. Bone, Bronze, and Bamboo exemplifies the exciting energy and sense of discovery inspired by these sources in recent years, while surveying the latest debates and developments shaping early China as a field.

Explore this stunning collection of spiritual calligraphy by Japan’s greatest martial arts masters—with commentary from Zen art authority and aikido master John Stevens. Beginning with the legendary samurai Miyamoto Musashi, nearly all of the great martial arts masters left a legacy of calligraphy and painting. Their artwork—Zenga and Zensho (“Zen pictures” and “Zen calligraphy”)—was not only an extension of their Zen practice but also reflected their deep spiritual commitment to the budo ethos, the perfection of self through martial arts training. This book presents a concise history of this tradition, with works from such samurai as Musashi, Takuan, Yagyu, Motusgai, Rengetsu, Tesshu Deishu, Kano, Morihei, and others. Aikido master John Stevens is an expert on Zen and budo art, and he provides a fascinating introduction to the tradition and biographical details on each of the warrior artists, and brief, illuminating commentary on each piece.

"Dragon" is a vivid tale of courage, betrayal, and the unyielding pursuit of freedom. We journey back to the turbulent days of the Chinese Han Dynasty's iron grip over first-century Vietnam. For the Vietnamese population, mainly toiling as rice farmers, the burden of hefty tributes demanded by the Chinese rulers only compounded their hardships. Amidst oppression and subjugation, two sisters emerge as unlikely heroes. Trưng Trắc and Trưng Nhị, daughters of a village leader, harbor a fire that refuses to be extinguished. When tragedy strikes, their resolve ignites into rebellion. Their legacy reverberates across time, inspiring generations to come. • With book illustrations, maps, historical notes, and a glossary of Vietnamese terms • For ages 13 and up • Trigger warnings: mild violence and animal deaths

During the first century of Japan’s early modern era (1580s to 1680s), art and architecture created for the imperial court served as markers of social prestige, testifying to the enduring centrality of the palace to the cultural life of Kyoto. Emperors Go-Yōzei and Go-Mizunoo relied on financial support from ruling warlords—Toyotomi Hideyoshi and the Tokugawa shoguns—just as the warlords sought imperial sanction granting them legitimacy to rule. Taking advantage of this complex but oftentimes strained synergy, Go-Yōzei and Go-Mizunoo (and to an unprecedented exent his empress, Tōfukumon’in) enhanced the heriditary prerogatives of the imperial family. Among the works described in this volume are masterpieces commissioned for the residences and temples of the imperial family, which were painted by artists of the Kano, Tosa and Sumiyoshi ateliers, not to mention Tawaraya Sōtatsu. Anonymous but deluxe painting commissions depicting grand imperial processions are examined in detail. The court’s fascination with calligraphy and tea, arts that flourished in this age, is also discussed in this profusely illustrated volume.