Plum Blossoms Above the Kaaba

Some images are so familiar to us that it may be difficult to imagine a different perspective. The iconic cuboid Kaaba, the Islamic House of God in Mecca, present-day Saudi Arabia, shares this quality.

But what if this iconic image was combined with another cultural icon? What could such a combination teach us about the trans-Asian perspectives of the past? To find out, read on about this nineteenth-century depiction of the Kaaba made in China, which is truly unusual because of a surprise addition…