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Asian History

Legendary actor Toshiro Mifune, defiant, in a 1954 French poster for Seven Samurai.

Even If You’ve Never Seen ‘Seven Samurai,’ You’ve Certainly Seen Movies Influenced by It

Director Akira Kurosawa broke all the rules—and budgets—of Japanese filmmaking with his 1954 classic. But the final product influenced a generation of directors

Made with more than 2,000 hand-blown glass flowers, artist Dale Chihuly created Fiori di Como, this colorful ceiling of the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas. 

Smithsonian Photo Contest Galleries

These 15 Gorgeous Photographs Capture the Beautiful Art of Blown and Stained Glass

From cathedrals to train stations to museums, these masterful displays showcase the remarkable talent that goes into creating the fragile art form

Divers excavating the 12th-century Huaguangjiao One wreck uncover stacked Song dynasty bowls.

Treasure Trove of Shipwrecks Along China’s Coast Reveals How East Met West on the Maritime Silk Road

Sunken finds in the South China Sea testify to rich trade networks used over hundreds of years. The sea routes brought porcelain, tea and other goods from Asia to Africa, the Middle East and Europe

Babies on plane seats during Operation Babylift in April 1975

This Adoptee Discovered a Trove of Documents in a Nun’s Basement. The Rare Vietnam War Records May Rewrite the Story of Operation Babylift

The April 1975 effort matched more than 2,800 infants and children evacuated from Vietnam with adoptive families. Today, the adoptees are searching for clues to their past—and reflecting on the complicated legacy of their evacuation

The bodies were arranged into crouched positions, then propped over or placed near a fire to slowly dehydrate.

New Research

The World’s Oldest Mummies Might Be These Smoke-Dried, 12,000-Year-Old Skeletons From Southeast Asia

The human remains predate Chile’s Chinchorro mummies and the famously preserved pharaohs of ancient Egypt by millennia

Some of the impacted points and bladelets found at Obi-Rakhmat

New Research

Could These 80,000-Year-Old Stones Be the World’s Earliest Known Arrowheads?

A new study suggests that fragments unearthed at an archaeological site in Uzbekistan look like other examples of arrowheads created thousands of years later

Piles of marigold garlands at the 170-year-old Mullick Ghat flower market in Kolkata. The flowers are ubiquitous at Hindu religious rituals and festivals.

From Flower Markets and Colonial Forts to Shrines and Battlefields, Take a Journey Into the Heart of India

Traveling down a river in West Bengal reveals the enduring imprint of empire—and the soul of a region shaped by centuries of change

Piper betel leaf, the areca nut, limestone paste, tobacco and bark filaments are often combined to get a high.

Were Humans in Thailand Getting High Off Betel Nuts 4,000 Years Ago?

Scientists believe they have found the earliest biochemical evidence of people chewing the popular psychoactive plant

Jewish refugees lined up outside of the Japanese Consulate in Kaunas, Lithuania, waiting to receive transit visas from Chiune Sugihara in July 1940

This Heroic Japanese Diplomat Defied His Government to Save Thousands of Jewish Refugees From the Holocaust

Stationed in Lithuania, Chiune Sugihara granted transit visas that allowed holders to escape Europe and travel through Japan as they sought safety abroad

A Late Neolithic skull. For the recent study, scientists extracted DNA from skulls and teeth to look for traces of diseases.

With Ancient DNA, Scientists Have Mapped 37,000 Years of Disease Across Europe and Asia

Zoonoses—diseases that spread from animals to humans—began to gain prevalence some 6,500 years ago with the rise of animal husbandry, a new study suggests

The team didn't use any maps throughout their 45-hour trip.

New Research

Scientists Built a Canoe Using Only Prehistoric Tools. Then They Sailed the Dangerous 140-Mile Route Early Humans Traveled 30,000 Years Ago

Five paddlers journeyed from Taiwan to Japan’s southern Yonaguni Island in 45 hours. Their efforts provide new insights into prehistoric mariners’ tools and techniques

Researchers have used genomic sequencing to trace what they’re calling the “longest migration out of Africa.”

New Research

Scientists Use DNA to Trace Early Humans’ Footsteps From Asia to South America

Over thousands of years, humans from Eurasia trekked more than 12,400 miles to eventually reach the southernmost tip of South America, a new genetic investigation suggests

Newly transferred fragments of the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts on view in Beijing on May 18

The Smithsonian Transfers Rare 2,300-Year-Old Silk Manuscripts to China

The Zidanku Silk Manuscripts were smuggled into the United States in the 1940s. Scholars say they provide remarkable insights into ancient Chinese philosophy and religion

An ancient star map (not the document analyzed in the new research) unearthed in Dunhuang, China, in the seventh century C.E.

New Research

These Scientists Say They’ve Identified the Oldest Known Star Chart in the World

A new preprint suggests that an ancient Chinese star catalog dates to 355 B.C.E. But other researchers aren’t convinced, arguing that the original coordinates are misaligned by one degree

The gems were found in a stupa in northern India.

India Is Trying to Stop the Sale of Hundreds of Ancient Gems Associated With the Buddha

The 300 sacred jewels are part of a larger trove found in India in 1898. They’re scheduled to be sold by Sotheby’s Hong Kong, where bidding will start at roughly $1.3 million

A whisk and bowls of matcha tea and tea powder

Discover the Centuries-Old Japanese Matcha Tea Ceremonies That Last for Hours and Require Beautiful Utensils

A new exhibition at the National Museum of Asian Art showcases the longtime cultural meaning in the practice of chanoyu

Almost all the buildings at the Buddhist Gounsa Temple complex were destroyed in the fires

South Korea’s Worst Ever Wildfires Ravage Ancient Buddhist Temples and Menace Historic Villages

One monk said his old temple was ‘reduced to heaps of ashes,’ as the fires continue to rage across the country

 Pilgrims at the Maya Devi Temple in Lumbini offer candles on the lunar date celebrated as the Buddha’s birthday.

What Archaeologists Are Uncovering About the Buddha in His Legendary Nepali Hometown

The birthplace of the Buddha beckons worshipers from around the world, as well as researchers hoping to dig up new evidence about the revered spiritual leader

The body of this Buddha statue is missing its head, feet and right hand.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Unearth the Torso of a Rare Buddha Statue—Nearly 100 Years After They Found Its Head

The two pieces of the 800-year-old sculpture were discovered roughly 160 feet away from each other at the Ta Prohm Temple in Cambodia

Sharad Purnima: The Autumn Full Moon, Nathdwara, Rajasthan state, India, opaque watercolor, tin and gold on cotton, possibly handwoven, late 19th century

See These Newly Restored Massive Paintings Devoted to a Hindu God

The artworks, part of a new exhibition at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art, help shed light on a traditional religious practice

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