  Directionally molding the near-field and far-field radiation lies at the
heart of nanophotonics and is crucial for applications such as on-chip
information processing and chiral quantum networks. The most fundamental model
for radiating structures is a dipolar source located inside a homogeneous
matter. However, the influence of matter on the directionality of dipolar
radiation is oftentimes overlooked, especially for the near-field radiation. We
show that the dipole-matter interaction is intrinsically asymmetric and does
not fulfill the duality principle, originating from the inherent asymmetry of
Maxwell equations, i.e., electric charge and current are ubiquitous but their
magnetic counterparts are non-existent to elusive. Moreover, we find that the
asymmetric dipole-matter interaction could offer an enticing route to reshape
the directionality of not only the near-field radiation but also the far-field
radiation. As an example, both the near-field and far-field radiation
directionality of Huygens dipole (located close to a dielectric-metal
interface) would be reversed, if the dipolar position is changed from the
dielectric region to the metal region.
