Read more at the Smithsonian Magazine

— by Meilan Solly: A woodblock-printed set of 400 illustrations depicting the life and teachings of Gautama Buddha, painted silk scenes by Qing dynasty court artist Jiao Bingzhen, and 12 watercolors detailing indigenous life in Taiwan are among the 1,000 rare Chinese texts now available via the Library of Congress’ online catalogue.

Digitized in honor of Asian Pacific American Heritage month, the trove of books, manuscripts, Buddhist sutras, illustrations and maps represents only a small portion of the LOC’s China-centric holdings…

Image: watercolor depicting Formosa islanders’ lives and customs, courtesy of the Library of Congress, Asian Division, Chinese Rare Book Collection

May 10, 2018