Cosmographia

Skeleton of a Camel — Akseli Gallen-Kallela (1909) Recently I at long last returned to my beloved Zambia for a friend’s wedding. I cannot describe the melancholic joy of seeing once again the tangle of Lusaka’s streets, the sun-drenched grasses of the savannah, the thundering smoke of Victoria Falls, the faces of long-parted friends. It would have been a glorious nostos but for a haunting incident near trip’s end.

Welcome to Cosmographia — a newsletter dedicated to exploring the world and our place in it. For the full map of posts, see here. This essay contains a spoiler for a major theme in Christopher Nolan’s new film, The Odyssey. If you haven’t seen it yet, I would suggest holding off reading this piece.

Welcome to Cosmographia — a newsletter uncovering the deep roots of a turbulent world. For the full map of posts, see here. Today’s post was written by the brilliant historian of Japan and Asia, Christopher Harding. Chris has written a number of excellent books on Japan, including Japan Story & A Short History of Japan, and made a number of documentaries on the subject for the BBC.

Welcome to Cosmographia — a newsletter uncovering the deep roots of a turbulent world. For the full map of posts, see here. I first published a version of this piece two years ago, but new research has come to light that means it requires a re-write. This is the most up to date story of the origins of the Black Death, as we understand it today. The Triumph of Death — Pieter Bruegel (1562) Public Domain.

Welcome to Cosmographia — a newsletter uncovering the deep roots of a turbulent world. For the full map of posts, see here. To bookend the end of our Understanding China series, here is another round of photography of the country, this time from the short-lived Republican Era. After a decade of revolts and uprisings, the Qing, the last imperial dynasty of China, fell in the Xinhai Revolution of 1911. In its place rose the short-lived Republic of China.

Welcome to Cosmographia — a newsletter uncovering the deep roots of a turbulent world. For the full map of posts, see here. This is the third in a series of posts on the history and culture of China. Read the first part here, and the second part here. Nine Dragons (detail) — Chen Rong (1244) Returning is the motion of the Tao. — Tao Te Ching, Laozi (4th century BCE) There is a tendency here in the West to think of history as a straight line.

Welcome to Cosmographia — a newsletter uncovering the deep roots of a turbulent world. For the full map of posts, see here. This is the second in a series of posts on the history and culture of China. Read the first part here. Nine Dragons (detail) — Chen Rong (1244) To understand the West, one must reckon with the interwoven inheritances of Athens and Jerusalem.

Welcome to Cosmographia — a newsletter uncovering the deep roots of a turbulent world. For the full map of posts, see here. We in the West are the intellectual progeny of two intertwined traditions — classical antiquity and Christianity — and our modern secular humanist values are the product of those traditions.

Welcome to Cosmographia — a newsletter uncovering the deep roots of a turbulent world. For the full map of posts, see here. The Twelve Signs of the Zodiac, from Kitab-i viladat-i Iskandar, (The Book of Birth of Iskandar) (1411) Public Domain. In 331 BC, Babylonian astrologers began to notice strange portents among the stars. First, they watched in horror as the Earth’s shadow passed across the face of the Moon; ill news for an ill time — a total lunar eclipse normally heralded the death of a king.

Welcome to Cosmographia — a newsletter uncovering the deep roots of a turbulent world. For the full map of posts, see here. In our recent poll on which world civilisation to tackle next, China came out the winner by quite some distance. So to whet the appetite, here are some breathtaking 19th century photographs of the country. The Qing, the last dynasty of imperial China, ruled from 1644-1912.