Tag Archives: asian-pacific history

Places in Indigenous History: Chinatown, Manhattan, New York City

Posted on October 31, 2025 | Leave a comment

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Ryukyu Islands

Posted on May 30, 2025 | Leave a comment

“Ryukyu Islands: Island chain, Japan. It extends in an arc 600 miles (979 kilometers) long from southern Japan to the northern tip of Taiwan. The 55 islands and islets have a total land area of 870 square miles (2,254 square kilometers). In ancient times it was an independent kingdom, but Chinese and Japanese sovereignty were successively imposed on the archipelago from the 14th to the 19th centuries. In 1879 the Ryukyus became an integral part of Japan. After Japan’s defeat in World War II, the U.S. took control of the islands; it returned them all by 1972. The U.S. maintains military bases on Okinawa. The islands are primarily rural, and agriculture is the dominant occupation.”

Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.

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Cultural Literacy: Muhammad

Posted on May 30, 2025 | Leave a comment

Last but not least of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month 2025, here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on Muhammad. This is a half-page worksheet with a reading of three simple sentences and three comprehension questions. A basic introduction to the Prophet of Islam.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

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Shoin-Zukuri

Posted on May 30, 2025 | Leave a comment

“shoin-zukuri: Style of Japanese domestic architecture. The name is taken from a feature called the shoin, a study alcove with a built-in desk. Other common features included the toko-no-ma and chigai-dana (built-in shelves). The style, derived from Zen Buddhist monastic dwellings, gradually replaced the shinden-zukuri style during the Muromachi period (1338-1573). It is characterized by a new modesty of scale (forced on the aristocracy by loss of income), asymmetry and an irregular flowing together of masses, and the use of solid wall construction and sliding shoji rather than the movable partitions that divided the main living space in the shinden.”

Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.

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Cultural Literacy: Mongolia

Posted on May 30, 2025 | Leave a comment

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on Mongolia. This is a full-page worksheet with a reading of six sentences–the first one is a bit complicated, but otherwise these are relatively simple declarative sentences–and eight comprehension questions. Most of the work in reading and interpretation on this document involves answering questions to form a mental picture of where exactly Mongolia is in the world.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

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Shinden-Zukuri

Posted on May 30, 2025 | Leave a comment

“shinden-zukuri: Japanese architectural style of mansion-estates constructed in the Heian peirod (794-1185). The form consisted of a shinden (central building) to which subsidiary structures are were connected by corridors. The shinden faced south on an open court, across which was a pond garden. The east and west tainoya or subsidiary living quarters, were attached by watadono (wide corridors) from which narrow corridors extended south, ending in small pavilions. This layout resulted in a U-shaped arrangement around the court. See also shoin-zukuri.”

Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.

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The Weekly Text, 30 May 2025, Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Week V: A Reading and Comprehension Worksheet on The Battle of Midway

Posted on May 30, 2025 | Leave a comment

For the final Friday of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month 2025, here is a reading on the Battle of Midway along with its attendant vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet. This is solid material on one of the turning points in the Pacific Theater of World War II.

If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

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Assur-bani-pal

Posted on May 23, 2025 | Leave a comment

“Assur-bani-pal (or Ashurbanipal, d 626? BC) King of Assyria. The son of Essar-Haddon, Assur-bani-pal ruled Assyria, while his twin brother Samus-sum-yumin ruled Babylonia. Against great odds, Assur-bani-pal maintained his supremacy over Egypt and put down a Tyrian revolt. The most powerful of Assyria’s rulers, he either subjugated or dominated the Manna, the Elamites, and the Cilicians. He also quelled a revolt by his brother in Babylonia and harassed the northern Arabians. However, Assur-bani-pal had overreached himself and exhausted the resources of his own country, to the extent that it collapsed completely not long after his death. He left behind him, however, a legacy of enormous importance for modern times: he had caused to be prepared for his royal library a large number of the most important literary works of the Near East; preserved on tablets, these were excavated in the middle of the 19th century in the ruins of Nineveh, his capital. Some characteristics of Assur-bani-pal are recognizable in the legendary Sardanapalus.”

Excerpted from: Murphy, Bruce, ed. Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia, Fourth Edition. New York: Harper Collins, 1996.

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Cultural Literacy: Mahatma Gandhi

Posted on May 23, 2025 | Leave a comment

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on Mahatma Gandhi. This is a half-page worksheet with a reading of four sentences–two of which are compounds that aren’t difficult, but may need revision for certain readers–and five comprehension questions.

A good basic introduction to Gandhi, which joins a growing body of material on him on this blog.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

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Mesopotamian Religions

Posted on May 23, 2025 | Leave a comment

“Mesopotamian religions: Religious beliefs and practices of the Sumerians and Akkadians, and later of their successors, the Babylonians and Assyrians, who inhabited ancient Mesopotamia. The deities of Sumer were usually associated with aspects of nature, such as fertility of the fields and livestock. The gods of Assyria and Babylonia, rather than displacing those of Sumer and Akkad, were gradually assimilated into the older system. Among the most important of the many Mesopotamian gods were Anu, the god of heaven; Enki, the god of water; and Enlil, the earth god. Deities were often associated with particular cities. Astral deities such as Shamash and Sin were also worshiped. The Mesopotamians were skilled astrologers who studied the movements of the heavenly bodies. Priests also determined the will of the gods through the observation of omens, especially by reading the entrails of sacrificed animals. The king functioned as the chief priest, presiding at the new-year festival held in spring, when the kingship was renewed and the triumph of the deity over the powers of chaos was celebrated.”

Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.

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