Monk: Did you mean...?

Xuanzong (birth name, Li Longji, l. 685-762 CE, r. 712-756 CE) was the 7th emperor of the Tang Dynasty of China, whose domestic and foreign policies established the Tang Dynasty as the Golden Age in Chinese history. Many of the most important...

Guthlac of Crowland (c. 674 - 11 April 714 CE) was an Anglo-Saxon saint from the Kingdom of Mercia. He is best known for his years spent as a hermit in the Fens region of the East Midlands. Guthlac was born into a noble Mercian family and...

Daigoji is a Shingon Buddhist temple complex in Kyoto (ancient Heiankyo), Japan, which was founded in 874 CE by the scholar monk Shobo (aka Rigen Daishi). The site established close ties with the imperial family and became an important place...

Isaac I Komnenos was the Byzantine emperor from 1057 to 1059 CE. Although his reign was brief, he was known for being a capable and militarily astute general and emperor. As the first emperor to lead troops himself in battle in over 30 years...

Relations between ancient Japan and China have a long history, and in certain periods the exchange of political, religious and cultural practices between the two was intense. China, the much older state and the more developed, passed on to...

Monasteries were an ever-present feature of the Medieval landscape and perhaps more than half were devoted solely to women. The rules and lifestyle within a nunnery were very similar to those in a male monastery. Nuns took vows of chastity...

Abbeys were a striking feature of medieval urban and rural landscapes. Their layout and architecture reflected their purpose as cut-off monastic retreats which, conversely, also served and inspired their local communities. Although evolving...

Contact between Korea and China goes back to mythology and prehistory. Trade developed from the Bronze and Iron Ages with raw materials and manufactured goods going in both directions for centuries thereafter. In addition to traders, migrants...

Prostitution in the ancient world usually referred to a classification of women and men who offered their sexual services outside the parameters of law codes for ancient society. The word 'prostitute' derives from the Latin prostituere ("to...

The Mongol Empire accepted and promoted many other cultures. Historians often talk about cultural exchange across Asia in the Mongol Empire as something that was just facilitated by peace and stability across such a huge area – the 'Pax Mongolica'...