COVER

60 Years of Asian Heroes (Asian Heroes)

For six decades, TIME has chronicled the triumphs and travails of Asia. In this special anniversary issue, we pay tribute to the remarkable men and women who have shaped these times

Gandhi & Nehru (Asian Heroes | Nation Builders)

They were opposite in nature, but they shared a passion for freedom and justice, and together created a giant of democracy

Corazon Aquino (Asian Heroes | Nation Builders)

A Philippine widow harnessed the power of prayer and protest to overthrow tyranny

Ahmad Shah Massoud (Asian Heroes | Nation Builders)

This legendary warrior defied Afghanistan's Soviet invaders, only to be assassinated by al-Qaeda

Deng Xiaoping (Asian Heroes | Nation Builders)

The Maoist who reinvented himself, transformed a nation, and changed the world

Mohammad Hatta (Asian Heroes | Nation Builders)

Indonesia's other hero of independence was a leader of quiet strength

General Vo Nguyen Giap (Asian Heroes | Nation Builders)

In defeating the French at Dien Bien Phu, he heralded the end of imperialism

Sir Murray MacLehose (Asian Heroes | Nation Builders)

China's most forward-looking city owes much to a no-nonsense Scottish knight

General Douglas MacArthur (Asian Heroes | Nation Builders)

Victorious in battle, he went from soldier to statesman, and created a new Japan from the ashes of war

Mohammed Ali Jinnah (Asian Heroes | Nation Builders)

Pakistan, the nation the Quaid-i-Azam founded, needs him and his values more than ever

Lee Kuan Yew (Asian Heroes | Nation Builders)

Smart, tough, pragmatic — an enduring symbol of Asia itself

Akira Kurosawa (Asian Heroes | Artists & Thinkers)

A master filmmaker with an eye for darkness and complexity

Amartya Sen (Asian Heroes | Artists & Thinkers)

A philosopher and economist who preaches tolerance to a divided world

Maxine Hong Kingston (Asian Heroes | Artists & Thinkers)

She overturned traditional notions of what it meant to be a Chinese woman

Kenzo Tange (Asian Heroes | Artists & Thinkers)

From Hiroshima to Tokyo, he defined the look of Japan

Hayao Miyazaki (Asian Heroes | Artists & Thinkers)

In an era of high-tech wizardry, the anime auteur makes magic the old way

Farrokh Bulsara (Asian Heroes | Artists & Thinkers)

As Freddie Mercury, he showed the world just how hard a Parsi boy could rock

Nam June Paik (Asian Heroes | Artists & Thinkers)

His avant-garde installations launched an entirely new school of art

Han Suyin (Asian Heroes | Artists & Thinkers)

In voicing her Eurasian identity, she defined a people

Gong Li (Asian Heroes | Artists & Thinkers)

Her on-screen charisma gave the world an icon of Chinese resolve

Seiji Ozawa (Asian Heroes | Artists & Thinkers)

A serendipitous sports injury led a Japanese boy to become a maestro

Salman Rushdie (Asian Heroes | Artists & Thinkers)

The literary magician conjured up a new, postcolonial landscape

Li Ka-shing (Asian Heroes | Business Leaders)

The richest man in Asia built a global empire out of an ailing British conglomerate

Akio Morita & Masaru Ibuka (Asian Heroes | Business Leaders)

Friends and partners for 40 years, they made Sony an icon of Japan's rebirth

Stan Shih (Asian Heroes | Business Leaders)

The engineer who turned Taiwan into a PC-manufacturing powerhouse

Jerry Yang (Asian Heroes | Business Leaders)

How a student from Taiwan brought Yahoo! to the world

Momofuku Ando (Asian Heroes | Business Leaders)

A late bloomer invented the instant noodles that fueled the Asian Miracle

Narayana Murthy (Asian Heroes | Business Leaders)

From a Bombay bedsit, he launched an economic revolution

Muhammad Yunus (Asian Heroes | Business Leaders)

A Nobel laureate banker envisions an end to poverty

Chung Ju Yung (Asian Heroes | Business Leaders)

His iron will and just-do-it spirit propelled South Korea's industrial rise

Shigeru Miyamoto (Asian Heroes | Business Leaders)

The video-game guru who made it O.K. to play

Lakshmi Mittal (Asian Heroes | Business Leaders)

His boldness and spectacular wealth reflect India's growing financial might

Sachin Tendulkar (Asian Heroes | Athletes & Explorers)

The greatest living exponent of his craft

Li Ning (Asian Heroes | Athletes & Explorers)

China's legendary gymnast has combined sporting agility with commercial muscle

Jahangir Khan (Asian Heroes | Athletes & Explorers)

Sport has no greater conqueror

Bruce Lee (Asian Heroes | Athletes & Explorers)

Sometimes we need to forget the film star and remember the athlete

Efren Reyes (Asian Heroes | Athletes & Explorers)

Pool isn't merely a beer-hall amusement — it's a path to the top

Rudy Hartono (Asian Heroes | Athletes & Explorers)

His spellbinding victories showed a nation that anything was possible

Sadaharu Oh (Asian Heroes | Athletes & Explorers)

Half Japanese by birth, all Japanese on the diamond

Mou Zuoyun (Asian Heroes | Athletes & Explorers)

He went through hoops to help China take its place in the world

The Dalai Lama (Asian Heroes | Inspirations)

Tibet's spiritual leader is otherworldly, yet deeply engaged in this world. With remarkable subtlety, he teaches patience, humility and compassion

Youk Chhang (Asian Heroes | Inspirations)

A relentless investigator of Cambodia's killing fields seeks justice, not revenge

Guan Yi & Malik Peiris (Asian Heroes | Inspirations)

Their scientific research on deadly diseases makes all of us safer

Thich Nhat Hanh (Asian Heroes | Inspirations)

This Buddhist monk helped end the suffering of the Vietnam War

Kang Chol Hwan (Asian Heroes | Inspirations)

A survivor of a prison camp exposes the horrors of Kim Jong Il's regime

Judith Mackay (Asian Heroes | Inspirations)

Her work in tobacco control helps save countless lives

Mechai Viravaidya (Asian Heroes | Inspirations)

By preaching safe sex, Thailand's "Condom King" became a legend

Ding Zilin (Asian Heroes | Inspirations)

A grieving mother battles for the truth to be told about the Tiananmen massacre

Meena (Asian Heroes | Inspirations)

She fought?and died at the age of 30?for the rights of Afghan women

King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Asian Heroes | Inspirations)

Over 60 years, a beloved monarch has used his moral authority to guide Thailand through many crises

Mother Teresa (Asian Heroes | Inspirations)

The Saint of Calcutta spread love to the unwanted, the homeless and the abandoned

In Search of New Heroes (Asian Heroes | Essay)

Asia now needs men and women with moral, rather than political, authority

BUSINESS

Has Sony Got Game?

After extinguishing a battery scare, the company needs the new PS3 to prove that the brand's strategy works

BRIEFING

Thumbs Down for Chen (Notebook)

The First Lady's indictment on corruption charges puts Taiwan's President in jeopardy

Letters (Notebook)

Remedy for a Deadly Disease

GLOBAL ADVISER

Wales Tales (Time Traveler)

Take a tour of South Wales' ancient religious sites

Paradise Found (Check In)

Discover your own corner of quiet contemplation on the private resort island of Baros

Not Your Mother's Couscous (Food Fashions)

One chef's new restaurant, book and airline menu offer a taste of the new Arabic cuisine

A Supergroup Effort (Design Watch)

British design group Established & Sons is as good at manufacturing controversy as it is at making furniture

Eat Their Greens (Local Fare)

South African cuisine gets spiced up with fynbos, the lush, diverse flora of the Western Cape