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Orient

Orient Collection

History Archive - Orient Collection

The Orient is a historical term for the East, traditionally comprising anything that belongs to the Eastern world, in relation to Europe. It is the antonym of Occident, the Western World. In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the continent of Asia, loosely classified into the Near East, Middle East and Far East: the geographical and ethno-cultural regions now known as West Asia, South Asia, East Asia, and Southeast Asia. Originally, the term Orient was used to designate the Near East, and later its meaning evolved and expanded, designating also the Middle East or the Far East.

Territorialization of the Roman term Orient occurred during the reign of emperor Diocletian (284-305), when the Diocese of the Orient (Latin: Dioecesis Orientis) was formed. Later in the 4th century, the Praetorian prefecture of the Orient (Latin: Praefectura Praetorio Orientis) was also formed, including most of the Eastern Roman Empire, from the Thrace eastwards; its easternmost part was the original Diocese of the Orient, corresponding roughly to the region of Syria.

Over time, the common understanding of "the Orient" has continually shifted eastwards, as European people traveled farther into Asia. It finally reached the Pacific Ocean, in what Westerners came to call "the Far East". These shifts in time and identification sometimes confuse the scope (historical and geographic) of Oriental Studies. Yet there remain contexts where "the Orient" and "Oriental" have kept their older meanings (e.g., "Oriental spices" typically are from the regions extending from the Middle East to sub-continental India to Indo-China). Travelers may again take the Orient Express train from Paris to its terminus in the European part of Istanbul, a route established in the early 20th century.

In European historiography, the meaning of "the Orient" changed in scope several times. Originally, the term referred to Egypt, the Levant, and adjoining areas.[5] as far west as Morocco. During the 1800s, India, and to a lesser extent China, began to displace the Levant as the primary subject of Orientalist research. By the mid-20th century, Western scholars generally considered "the Orient" as just East Asia, Southeast Asia, and eastern Central Asia. As recently as the early 20th century, the term "Orient" often continued to be used in ways that included North Africa. Today, the term primarily evokes images of China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Mongolia, and peninsular Southeast Asia. "The Orient" being largely a cultural term, large parts of Asia—Siberia most notably—were excluded from the scholarly notion of "the Orient".

Since the 19th century, "orientalist" has been the traditional term for a scholar of Oriental studies; however, the use in English of "Orientalism" to describe academic "Oriental studies" is rare: the Oxford English Dictionary cites only one such usage, by Lord Byron in 1812. Orientalism is more widely used to refer to the works of the many 19th-century artists who specialized in "Oriental" subjects, often drawing on their travels to North Africa and Western Asia. Artists as well as scholars were already described as "Orientalists" in the 19th century. In 1978, Palestinian-American scholar Edward Said published his influential and controversial book, Orientalism; he used the term to describe a pervasive Western tradition, both academic and artistic, of prejudiced outsider interpretations of the Arab and Muslim worlds, shaped by the attitudes of European imperialism in the 18th and 19th centuries

Available Books

Images

Image Name
Ningpo River
Title Page
Cage (Selle) d'Elephant de Guerre
Orchidees-Epiphytes
Habitation Laotienne
Ville de Yun-Nan
A Chinese and a Hottentot
Costumes du Royaume de Ta-Ly
Monuments Khmers - Ruines du Mont Bakheng
Populations Mixtes des Royaumes de Xieng Tong et de Xieng Hong
Palace of the Sultan Baz Bahadoor, and Pavilion of Roop Muttee, his Queen
Fuqeer, or Enthusiast
Tea Gardens near Yedo (Interior)
The White Elephant
The Attack upon the Stockades near Rangoon by Sir Archibald Campbell, K.C.B. on the 28th May 1824
Back Cover
Carte Itineraire No. 10
Fetes de Bassac : Illumination du Fleuve
Tat no a Muong Long
Types de la Vallee du Cambodge
A Nantch, or Singing Girl [I]
Back Cover
Adam's Peak from the Duke's Pavilion
Scene from the Upper Terrace of the Great Pagoda at Rangoon, to the South East
Fuqeer, or Begging Friar
Carte Itineraire No. 6
Nagasaki
View of Yedo from the Citadel
Inside View of the Gold Temple on the Terrace of the Great Dagon Pagoda at Rangoon
The Woosung River
Dood-h-wala, or Milkman
Title Page
Simoda
The Storming of the Lesser Stockade at Kemmendine near Rangoon on the 10th of June 1824
Angcor Thom : Phimanacas (Ruines du Palais des Rois d'Angcor)
Woman preparing Thread for the Loom
Front Cover
Khidmutgar, or Waiter
One of the Birman Gilt War Boats, captured by Capt. Chads, R.N. in his successful expedition against Tanthabeen Stockade
Back Cover
Monuments Khmers - Angcor Wat Details [I]
Panorama Pris Entre Houey-Li Tcheou et Che-Lang-Ko
Forits - Exposition de 1889
Choakee-dar, or Watchman
A Native Lady in her Palkee
Bhugteea, Dancing Boy
A Trooper
View of the Lake and part of the Eastern Road from Rangoon, taken from the Advance of the 7th Madras Native Infantry
Ville de Luang Prabang
Book Display
A Foreign Trader
Portrait of Van-ta-Gin
A Theweda or Angel
Back Cover
Sepoy, or Native Soldier
Shaprasse, or Porter
The Modern Village of Mandoo, and the Ancient Mosque the
Monuments Khmers - Angcor Thom
Marche de Luang Prabang
Campement dans le Lit du Mekong pres d'un Rapide (Keng Chan)
Marche de Muong Long
Chob-dar, or Mace bearer
A Rice Mill
Front View of the Ruined Mosque, the
The Combined Forces under Brig. Cotton, C.B. and Captains Alexander, C.B. & Chads, R.N. passing the Fortress of Donabue to effect a junction with Sir Archibald Campbell, on the 27th March 1825
View of the Great Dagon Pagoda and adjacent Scenery taken on the Eastern Road from Rangoon
Construction of the Arch of a Chinese Bridge
The Duke Charged by an Elephant
Back Cover
Qwanon Temple
Japanese Funeral
A Girl stringing Flowers for Wreaths
The Principal approach to the Great Dagon Pagoda at Rangoon
View of the landing at Rangoon of part of the Combined Forces from Bengal and Madras, under the Orders of Sir Archibald Campbell, K.C.B. on the 11th May 1824
A Female playing on the Tumboora
Examen des Bacheliers Militaires a Siu-Tcheaou Fou
Front Cover
The Gold Temple of the principal Idol Guadma, taken from its front being the Eastern face of the Great Dagon Pagoda at Rangoon
River Pei-ho or Tien-sin-hoa form the Entrance to Tien-sin
Facade Principale d'Angor Wat - Vue du Peristyl de la Premiere Enceinte
A Burmese Man
Rangoon. The Storming of one of the principal Stockades on its inside on the 8th of July 1824
Carte Itineraire No. 2
Musician playing on the Tumboora
Ville de Pou-Eul
Rochers a l'Embouchure du Nam Hou
Title Page
A street in the aristocratic quater of Yedo (from a Japanese drawing)
The Conflagration of Dalla on the Tangoon River
Dwelling of a Mandarin or Officer of State
Monuments Khmers - Environs d'Angcor
The Landing at Colombo
Ruines de Vien Chain : - Wat Pha Keo
Pavilion in the Lake at the Palace of Bang-Pa-In
A Nantch Girl, or Singing Girl [III]
Panorama de la Vallee du Fleuve Pris du Sommet de Phou Salao

Maps

Map Name
Narrative of the Earl of Elgin's Mission Vol. 1 - Map of China (1859)
Voyage d'Exploration en Indo-Chine [Atlas-Vol. 2] - Carte Itineraire No. 5 (1873)
Temples and Elephants - Route from Bangkok to Kiang-Tsen (1884)
Voyage d'Exploration en Indo-Chine [Atlas-Vol. 2] - Carte Itineraire No. 7 (1873)
Voyage d'Exploration en Indo-Chine [Atlas-Vol. 2] - Carte Itineraire No. 3 (1873)
Voyage d'Exploration en Indo-Chine [Atlas-Vol. 2] - Carte Itineraire No. 2 (1873)
Narrative of the Earl of Elgin's Mission Vol. 2 - Empire of Japan (1859)
Voyage d'Exploration en Indo-Chine [Atlas-Vol. 2] - Carte Itineraire No. 9 (1873)
Voyage d'Exploration en Indo-Chine [Atlas-Vol. 2] - Carte Itineraire No. 1 - Carte des Rapides de Khong (1873)
Voyage d'Exploration en Indo-Chine [Atlas-Vol. 2] - Carte Itineraire No. 4 (1873)
Voyage d'Exploration en Indo-Chine [Atlas-Vol. 2] - Carte Itineraire No. 10 (1873)
Narrative of the Earl of Elgin's Mission Vol. 2 - Map of the City of Yedo and Vicinity (1859)
Voyage d'Exploration en Indo-Chine [Atlas-Vol. 2] - Carte Itineraire No. 8 (1873)
Voyage d'Exploration en Indo-Chine [Atlas-Vol. 2] - Carte Itineraire No. 6 (1873)
Voyage d'Exploration en Indo-Chine [Atlas-Vol. 2] - Carte Generale de l'Indo-Chine (1873)
Narrative of the Earl of Elgin's Mission Vol. 2 - Map of the Yang-Tse-Kiang or Ta-Kiang (1859)

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