Visual Resources

Audio/Visual Resources for Teachers

General Sources

• The Ackland Art Museum, Chapel Hill http://www.ackland.org/
  The Ackland Art Museum's collection offers teachers a broad range of programs and materials that support the development of their and their students' skills and interests. A varied selection of teacher workshops help teachers learn and create new ways of using works of art to improve their students' writing, critical-thinking, and other skills. Materials based on works of art in the Ackland's collection emphasize object-based learning. Teachers may schedule visits to the museum for their students, participate in Mini-Workshops for Busy Teachers and summer workshops, and borrow slides, videotapes and curriculum kits on Asia. The "Five Faiths Project," a multiyear initiative with the goal of using the Ackland Art Museum's collection of religious art as a starting point for helping people explore five of the world's great religions--Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism will include a variety of activities,  will begin in the Spring of 2000. This project will include an educational web site.
  

• Art History Resources on the Web http://witcombe.sbc.edu/ARTHLinks.html
  Rich variety of historical art images.  Maintained by a faculty at Sweet Briar College, Virginia. Part One is organized by period, Prehistoric - 20th Century. Part Two is a subject list  museums, libraries, visual resources, research guides and online periodical searches.
  

• Huntington Archive of Buddhist and Related Art http://kaladarshan.arts.ohio-state.edu/
  Includes online exhibitions of Chinese, Japanese and Indian art.
  

• National Gallery of Art, Washington,D.C. http://www.nga.gov/education/education.htm
  The National Gallery has several slide/tape programs on Asia available for the cost of return postage through its Free Loan Program. Teachers may obtain additional resources online.
  

• Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York http://www.metmuseum.org/education/er_online_links/er_as.htm
  Has a comprehensive list of Online Resources on Asian Art.
  

• Museum of Fine Arts, Boston http://www.mfa.org/home.htm
  The MFA through its Department of Education has resources for teachers on Asian art, including maps, slides, and teaching materials. Links to many other sites geared to K-12 teaching.
  

• Visual Collections http://www.davidrumsey.com/collections/
  A new digital image collection portal that includes more than 300,000 works from museums, universities and private collections throughout the world. Most of the collections in Visual Collections are available for free public access. In a few cases, use of materials is limited to educational use and subscriptions are required, but complete low-resolution versions of all the collections are available.
  

China

• 50 years inside the People's Repulic http://www.asiasociety.org/arts/chinaphotos/
  An online exhibition of photos & writings by 25 distinguished Chinese & Western photographers, with an essay by Rae Yang.
  

• China in the Red http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/red/
  PBS Frontline Program on contemporary China: China in the Red. It is a two-hour documentary that tells the stories of 10 Chinese individuals -- factory workers, rural villagers, and a millionaire entrepreneur -- caught up in China's dramatic, ongoing effort to modernize its economy. Through their intimate personal stories, camera work capturing the unique feel of their cities and homes, and with a soundtrack that includes Chinese rock music reflecting the rawness and energy of a nation in great flux, "China in the Red" offers a view of China that is rarely seen in the West.
  

• China: Exploring the Interior  http://www.chinaexhibit.org/
  A collection of photographs of rural Chinese people during the Boxer Rebellion
  

• Suzhou Garden  http://www.china.org.cn/english/e-sz/index.htm
  Photographs and text on classical Chinese Suzhou garden.
  

• Chinese Music  http://www.cssa.org.uk/music/index.htm
  It is well organized web site on Chinese music, including classical music, Beijing opera, revolutionary songs, etc.
  

• Chinese Nianhua Gallery (folk Art) http://www.ssc.uwo.ca/history/nianhua/
  Nianhua offer numerous opportunities for learning about Chinese culture. This web site provides images of different styles of the nianhua and introductory text.
  

• emuseum -- National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties of the Tokyo National Museum http://www.emuseum.jp/
  Images and texts relating to China include Chinese paintings from the Song and Yuan dynasties, Buddhist sutras and Chinese classics, and Japanese and Chinese calligraphy. Site is not searchable. To use this website, run mouse over images to read pop-up menu that explains contents. "Tsukaikata" button at bottom right of homepage will take you to a page with website navigation directions. Includes Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and French descriptions, in addition to English.
  

• Hong Kong Scenic  http://www.ibiblio.org/hkpa/Scenic/
  People around the world contribute their photographs taken during their trips in Hong Kong to this site. The photographs are organized by year, district and contributors. There are some old photographs of Hong Kong.
  

• National Palace Museum (Taiwan)  http://www.npm.gov.tw/
  Beside wonderful images of the collections in the museum, Kid’s Corner provides animated illustrations of some of most popular children’s games, scholars pavilion and emperor’s quarters, etc.
  

• Out of the East: China's Influence on the Western Fashion  http://www.nytimes.com/library/style/030899china-article.html
  A interesting exhibition by the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan.
  

• Palace Museum (Beijing)  http://www.dpm.org.cn/english/default.asp
  The Palace Museum, historically and artistically one of the most comprehensive in China, was established on the foundation of a palace of two dynasties, the Ming and the Qing, and their collection of treasures. The English wet site include images of online exhibitions and the master pieces of the collections. Each image has detailed explanation.
  

• Scenery Pictures of China(CND InfoBase)  http://scenery.cnd.org/Scenery/index.html
  Tourist shots divided into three series. The first, "The Land of Beauty," includes the "top ten scenic sites." The second series is of "Natural Landscapes," and the third is "Ancient Buildings." Also includes links to other sites with pictures of China, including a lot of good modern Hangzhou scenes.
  

• Electronic Resources in East Asian History  http://iaodb.ish-lyon.cnrs.fr/
  This extremely useful database is the IAO-Databases Project and contains maps and images of Shanghai and Beijing. The images contain basic metadata (often including a short description) and are searchable according to the following criteria: title/subject; keywords - general; date; estimated periods; location; action; caption on print; caption on support; support; author; nature; repository; published; keywords - street name; misc. information. Combined search is possible, as is access via different albums (river; street; school; church; building).
  

• Unbreakable Spirits  http://www.asiasource.org/arts/unbreaksprts/unbreakable.cfm
  Provides audio excerpts from Unbreakable Spirits, a 12-part, half hour radio series on Chinese women's cultural creativity in classical, traditional and contemporary music, in religious practice and cultural ceremony.
  

• Visions of China: 50 years of the People’s Republic of China http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/1999/china.50/
  CNN In-Depth program on the history of PRC. The interact games under Inside China to identify key figures, places and famous quotes.
  

• The China Guide: http://www.thebeijingguide.com/
  Designed for tourists to major cities in China: Beijing, Shanghai, Xi’an and Harbin, this site includes interactive maps and 360° tours of many important sights: The Forbidden City; Tiananmen Square; Temple of Heaven and Lama Temple, The Summer Palace, The Great Wall, Shanghai Pudong, Xi’an Terra Cotta Warriors, etc.
  

Japan

• Bakumatsu and Meiji Old Photo Archives (Nagasaki University) http://oldphoto.lb.nagasaki-u.ac.jp
  Photographs in this database show how Japan was transforming from the late Edo period into the Meiji. The large collection, containing over 5,400 photographs that are in relatively good condition, was subtly colored by craftsmen called professional painters. Four types of search screens, that can be entered in both Japanese and English are organized effectively in accordance. One can execute various searches without any specific knowledge of photographs. Free keyword search, for instance, includes searching not only captions to the photos but also descriptions of the photos, and one can select a photo by clicking a geographical name of an area on a map.
  

• emuseum -- National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties of the Tokyo National Museum  http://www.emuseum.jp/
  Images and texts include Japanese paintings from the 11th-13th centuries and 15th-19th centuries, Chinese paintings from the Song and Yuan dynasties, Buddhist sutras and Chinese classics, swords, historical and classical Japanese documents, Japanese and Chinese calligraphy, and textiles. Site is not searchable. To use this website, run mouse over images to read pop-up menu that explains contents. "Tsukaikata" button at bottom right of homepage will take you to a page with website navigation directions. Includes Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and French descriptions, in addition to English.
  

• Japanese Streets http://www.japanesestreets.com/
  Registration is necessary but can display photos thereafter. Lots of photos of daily life in contemporary Japan. Tends towards exotic (eye-catching) rather than everyday. Erotic is mixed in as is true elsewhere in Japan.
  

• Japan Society -- Journey http://www.japansociety.org/journey/
  "A source of knowledge and materials for K-12 educators including background readings for teachers and students, lesson plans, maps, and interactive timeline and an extensive photo gallery."
  

• Lifestyle Japan http://www.japaneselifestyle.com.au/
  Very commercial but Japanese picture gallery is useful.
  

• Ohara Shaken Poster Exhibitions http://oohara.mt.tama.hosei.ac.jp/english/
  The Ohara Institute owns about 2700 posters of the pre-1945 period and 1400 posters of the post-1945 period. Poster Exhibitions show some of these posters and English translation of texts in the "Slide Show" format.
  

• Rare Materials Exhibition -- Kyoto University Digital Library http://edb.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/exhibit-e/index.html
  This site features images selected from the rare materials housed at Kyoto University, including fairytales (with images from stories and English synopses), a rare, illustrated manuscript of the classical kabuki play Kunijo Kabuki Ekotoba (includes modern English, modern Japanese, and classical Japanese translations), and completely digitized texts on Japanese natural history by Siebold and others (some with English descriptions).
  

• Smithsonian Freer Gallery of Art & Arthur M. Sackler Gallery - Online Exhibitions http://oohara.mt.tama.hosei.ac.jp/english/
  Features online exhibit entitled "Dream Worlds: Modern Japanese Prints and Paintings from the Robert O. Muller Collection", "Faith and Form: Selected Calligraphy from Japanese Religious Traditions", and "Masterful Illusions: Japanese Prints from the Anne van Biema Collection."
  

• UKIYO-E: The Pictures of the Floating World http://www.bahnhof.se/~secutor/ukiyo-e/
  Includes a catalog of woodblock prints on the web. Part 1 is unavailable but parts 2-4 can be reached from http://www.bahnhof.se/~secutor/ukiyo-e/ukilink2.html.  Identifies these sites for their large numbers of images:
  • Tsubouchi Memorial Theatre Museum, Waseda University http://133.9.157.146/web41/enpakunishik/FMPro?-db=nishikie.fp5&-format=results.htm&-lay=layout2&all%5ffields=*&-max=30&-skip=0&-find=" target="_blank-an image database with more than 47000 prints, now with an easier user interface, Japanese text only National Diet Library: Rare Books Image Database-good images of thousands of ukiyo-e prints, Japanese text only.
    
  • The CII Pilot Electronic Library Project-lots of high resolution images of ukiyo-e prints by almost 100 artists from Keio University (log in as guest, no password - if you have problems getting in, keep trying).  Also includes images of Nara e-hon (picture books) and scrolls.
    
  • Viewing Japanese Prints http://spectacle.berkeley.edu/~fiorillo
    
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• Virtual Reality Tours
  
  • Virtual Reality Tour of Real Tokyo http://nomu.servebeer.com/vr/index.html
    
  • Himeji Castle-Virtual Tour http://www.himeji-castle.gr.jp
    
  • Virtual Okinawa tour http://www.virtualokinawa.com/tour
    Has some good photos of various historic sites but is cumbersome to navigate.
    
  • Virtual Ukiyo-E Tour of Private Collection of Woodblock Prints http://www.surimono.com
    

  Korea

  • Images of Korea  http://www.mct.go.kr/imagesofkorea/eng/index.htm
    Provides pictures and introductory information on various Korean traditions, including dresses, language, food, cooking, religions, martial arts, medicine, dance drama, etc.
    
  • Life in Korea http://www.lifeinkorea.com/cgi-bin/pictures.cfm
    Contains over 8,000 original pictures related to Korea. We have tried to keep the full-sized pictures under 50 KB to speed up viewing. You can also find many other pictures in the Travel Guide and Cultural Spotlight sections.