Qilin chinese unicorn: Did you mean...?

Art in the ancient world was initially associated with ceremonial ritual but, in time, began featuring subjects related to everyday life. The Chinese were among the first civilizations to create a narrative of...

An 18th century CE illustration showing a naval battle between Japanese pirates (wako) and Chinese naval ships. (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)

A Chinese silk shoe designed to be worn by a woman with bound-feet. 18th century CE. (Musées du château des Rohan, Musée Louise Weiss, Saverne, France)

Jade figurines representing the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac. 18th century CE, Qing Dynasty. Height: c. 5.7 cm. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)

A 19th century CE oil painting of a traditional Chinese junk ship, used for ocean-going trade voyages since medieval times. (National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London)

Engraved Chinese bronze mirror with a deity and horse carriage design. From the 4th-5th century CE Samitatakarazuka Tumulus, Japan. From 2nd-3rd century CE China. Important Cultural Property. (Tokyo National Museum)

A Chinese jade plaque of a cormorant and fish. 1100-900 BCE. Height: 4 cm. (British Museum, London)

A painting showing Chinese and Korean forces attack the Japanese fort of Ulsan in southern Korea during the Japanese invasions of Korea between 1592 and 1598 CE, otherwise known as the ‘Imjin...

The legend of Mulan, now world-famous thanks to the Disney films of 1998 and 2020, is the story of a young girl who disguises herself as a man to take her aged father's place as a conscript in the army...

In Ancient China, it was widely known that it was better to be born a male than a female. To be born a female meant being subordinate to one’s father, then to one’s husband and if a wife became a widow, then she...