The Beautiful World of Photo Mania

Random pictures and information about different subjects, whatever that catches my eye. I do not own any material. DM for credits or removal.

[kvetchlandia]

Fred Stein Chinatown, New York City 1944

[sinoheritage]

Dai bamboo houses 傣家竹楼

Dai architecture in China refers to the distinct, often stilted, bamboo and wooden vernacular housing and religious structures (pagodas, temples) of the Dai ethnic group, primarily in Yunnan province.

Characterized by adaptation to tropical environments, and blending indigenous styles with influences from Southeast Asia and Han Chinese culture, with Southern Dai being more Southeast Asian influenced, and Northern Dai being more Han Chinese influenced, creating a unique vernacular identity.

For more about this part of China: https://www.tumblr.com/sinoheritage/779311332998709248/tropical-forests-of-yunnan-province-%E4%BA%91%E5%8D%97-southwest

[sinoheritage]

The Tanguts were a Sino-Tibetan people who founded the Western Xia dynasty (1038–1227), which at its peak covered over 800,000 km², encompassing modern-day Ningxia, parts of Gansu, Qinghai, Inner Mongolia, and Xinjiang.

Their early homeland lay in the steppes and mountains of modern Qinghai and western Sichuan, corresponding to the Amdo and Kham regions of the Tibetan Plateau. In the early 8th century, pressure from the expanding Tibetan Empire pushed the Tanguts northward into the eastern Ordos region. By that time, they had become the dominant local power in northwest China.

Western Xia controlled the Hexi Corridor, a crucial section of the Silk Road linking northern China with Central Asia. The state achieved notable cultural accomplishments in literature, art, music, and architecture, often described as “shining and sparkling.” In 1227, the dynasty was destroyed by the Mongols, and much of its architecture and written records were lost. As a result, Western Xia history remained poorly understood until renewed research in the 20th century.

The Tanguts created a unique Tangut script to write their language. Although Tangut characters resemble Chinese characters in stroke form, their structural principles are fundamentally different and largely unintelligible to Chinese readers. Today, the Tangut language and script are extinct, surviving only in fragmentary texts.

[sinoheritage]

Nuo theatre, Nuo drama, Nuo opera, or Nuoxi (儺戲;傩戏) is a traditional theatrical art popular in many regions of China. Characterized by features such as ferocious masks, distinctive attire and adornments, a distinctive performance language, and mysterious scenes.

The opera is a religious performance intrinsic to Nuo folk religion, which is a variant of Chinese folk religion with its own system of temples, rituals, orders of priests, and gods that is interethnic and practiced across central and southern China.

The purpose of Nuo theatre is to drive away devils, disease and evil influences, and also to petition for blessings from the gods. Singing and dancing are included in Nuo theatre, and performers wear costumes and masks.

Nuo theatre is a direct and important expressive medium of Nuo culture. Other forms of representation of Nuo culture include Nuo dance (傩舞; 儺舞), Nuo song (傩歌; 儺歌), Nuo sacrifice (傩祭) and Nuo ceremony (傩仪; 儺儀) and others. The unique symbol of Nuo theatre, the masks, are considered a treasure of Chinese folk art.

Nuo theatre has a considerable repertoire, which varies from region to region. Nuo dramas are usually based on well-known Chinese historical events or folk stories such as Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Journey to the West, Water Margin and the story of the Dragon Kings. Some famous repertoires of Nuo theatre include Lady Mengjiang, Seizing the Yellow Devil, and Story of Mount Liang.

Nuo theatre is popular in rural areas in Guizhou, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, and Guangxi. It is also popular in the regions inhabited by other minorities, such as the Hmong, Tujia, Dong, and Yao.

[sinoheritage]

Chinese folk architecture by region, Part 1 — because there’s far more than just one “Chinese style”

团山民居 - TuanShan Folk House Tuanshan Village is a typical southern Yunnan Han Chinese immigrant village. Its ancestor, Zhang Fu, entered Yunnan from Raozhou Prefecture, Jiangxi Province during the Ming Dynasty. He first moved three times before finally settling in Tuanshan. The local population flourished and developed into a large clan. Over more than 600 years of history, the Zhang family adhered to the "Hundred Tolerances" family precept as the foundation for their survival and prosperity, maintaining good family traditions. Their descendants were diligent and ambitious, producing numerous talents in both literature and martial arts. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, members of the Zhang family were actively earning substantial wealth which they used to build grand mansions back home, bringing glory to their ancestral halls. Currently, there are 15 well-preserved large residences, three village gates, three temples, one ancestral hall, and one ancestral tomb.

[allthingseurope]

Dubrovnik, Croatia

[allthingseurope]

Riga, Latvia (by Carlos Perez)

[brassmanticore]

“The great Abu al-Sa-ud teaching law”

From the Divan of Mahmud ‘Abd al-Baqi (1526/27–1600), a Turkish judge and poet whose poetical works reflect the pleasures of courtly life in Istanbul in the sixteenth century. This is page shows the Shaikh al-Islam (chief theologian) of that time, Abu al-Sa'ud (1490–1574), engaged in discussions with other theologians, and accompanies a qasida, or laudatory poem, about him.

Produced in Baghdad, mid 16th century.

Source: Met Museum

[koenji]

Mizrahi Jews boating on the Dead Sea, October 1941 by Yemenite-Jewish photographer David Serry (דוד סרי Israeli, b. in Jerusalem 1913, died 1981), British-Mandate Palestine / Eretz Israel.

[travelingare]

📍Corfu Greece 🇬🇷

Slow living on Corfu Island Greece!

@stefanvoyages

#travel #travelingare #corfu #greece #beautifuldestinations

[easterneuropeancrafts]

Items from the Preslav Gold Treasure, late 10th century

Veliki Preslav, Bulgaria.

The Preslav Gold Treasure was discovered in 1978 in Castana, near Veliko Preslav. It consists of 10th - century women's jewellery made in Constantinople and Preslav, but it also includes older artifacts dating back to the period between 3rd and 7th centuries. The treasure was likely buried sometime between 969 and 972. This was the time when Preslav was besieged and Sviatoslav I of Kyiv and two years later by the Byzantine Emperor, John I Tzimiskes.

Archaeological Museum Veliki Preslav

[nationalgeographicscans]

Algeria, August 1973

[nationalgeographicscans]

Lion’s mane jellyfish, August 1973

[nationalgeographicscans]

Tea leaf harvest, Iran, January 1975

[koenji]

Iraqi Jewish Afsa Amulets for child protection, 1925-1935, gold, wood, stone and ceramics. The center for Jewish Art. (png). These amulets resemble two breasts with a small Hamsa placed between them and were traditionally attached to a newborn's blanket or bassinet to ward off the evil eye and protect mothers in childbirth. One seen here also incorporates a Saba iyun or "Seven eyes" amulet, a blue ceramic circle with seven holes. Jewish amulets often incorporate Hebrew references to names of G-d because of the belief that true protection comes from G-d.

[koenji]

Girl With Grapes ילדה עם ענבים Yalda ʿim ʿAnavim, c. 1940 by David Serry (דוד סרי Israeli, b. in Jerusalem 1913, died 1981), British-Mandate Palestine / Eretz Israel.

[easterneuropeancrafts]

Items from the Preslav Gold Treasure, late 10th century

Veliki Preslav, Bulgaria.

The Preslav Gold Treasure was discovered in 1978 in Castana, near Veliko Preslav. It consists of 10th - century women's jewellery made in Constantinople and Preslav, but it also includes older artifacts dating back to the period between 3rd and 7th centuries. The treasure was likely buried sometime between 969 and 972. This was the time when Preslav was besieged and Sviatoslav I of Kyiv and two years later by the Byzantine Emperor, John I Tzimiskes.

Archaeological Museum Veliki Preslav