Unique Perspectives in Chinese Landscape Painting
January 11, 2024
Traditional Chinese painting has often been based on assumptions that a highly resonant whole is primary in nature and society. It hasn’t focused on linear
The Source of Wisdom in African Communities
January 7, 2024
The primacy of human interaction over fixed abstract systems is a widespread traditional African pattern. Akan societies in Ghana tell stories about a popular cultural
Deep Roots of Angkor Wat; Cambodian Origins in the Funan Culture
January 6, 2024
Where did Angkor Wat come from? Most of its visitors don’t know how deep its roots are. The first big state in Cambodia was
Aligning Chinese Politics with Heaven; City God Temples
January 6, 2024
Unlike strictly monotheistic faiths like Christianity and Islam, traditional Chinese religions have allowed many gods to rub shoulders. Having lived in India, I was already
Not Your Father’s Zeus; Ancient Indian Culture in Vedic Gods
January 4, 2024
The gods in the Rigveda were a colorful lot, and they made up a group that was uniquely Indian. The most frequently honored was Indra,
Angkor Boogie; The Importance of Dance in Ancient Cambodia
January 3, 2024
I was in Preah Khan’s Hall of the Dancers, hoping that one of the female celestial dancers carved on the pillars and lintels would materialize and
Finding Jesus in China; The Way Meets the Dao
January 3, 2024
Yes, Dao also means way. And Jesus, in John, said, “I am the light and the way.” But Chinese and Western cultures have often interpreted salvation
A Different Way of Thinking about Geometry in Islamic Thought and Art
January 2, 2024
You’d think a circle is a circle. The most basic description of a circle in Western culture is a line around a central point, which
Light from Medieval Europe’s Jewish Heritage
January 2, 2024
Something was missing. Those stately Romanesque and Gothic arches in the cathedrals I spent 4 months exploring in a trip through Northern Europe were supposed