Radii China: “This day in history: The Tianjing Incident, or ‘Why it’s never a good idea to make all of your subordinates kings'”
What happens when you make all of your subordinates "kings"? Nothing good. [Read More...]
History
“Great Expectations: A Review of John Pomfret, ‘The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom: America and China 1776 to the Present,'” The World of Chinese
With US-China relations facing fresh challenges, a new book ponders if history offers clues to its future. [Read More...]
“The boat claiming the South Seas for China,” Here! Dongguan
Nanhai One remains an important link in understanding the role Guangzhou played in the development of long-range trade routes which circulated vast amounts of goods, people and ideas centuries before pundits would coin the term “globalization.” [Read More...]
“Telling The Story of China” in Six Hours is Futile, But Give BBC Credit for Trying,” Radii China
Telling “The Story of China” in Six Hours is Futile, But Give BBC Credit for Trying [Read More...]
“Beijing’s Mystery Canal: Centuries-Old Brook Reimagined in Qianmen Neighborhood,” The Beijinger
Beijing has transformed a long-lost waterway into a beautiful new park near Qianmen. The trouble is, the brook doesn’t seem to exist on any historical maps of the city. [Read More...]
“What Can Donald Trump Learn from China’s Great Wall?” Radii China
What Can Donald Trump Learn from China’s Great [Read More...]
“A Summer of Anniversaries,” Here! Dongguan
It’s a summer of anniversaries for Dongguan’s near neighbor, Hong Kong. [Read More...]
“The Electric Camel,” Here! Dongguan
The delivery courier has become the modern-day analog of Luotuo Xiangzi, the character Lao She made famous in his 1937 novel, Rickshaw Boy. [Read More...]
“Slow Boats and Caravans: Great Explorers in Chinese History,” The Beijinger
China was never closed to the world. The myth of Chinese civilization huddled behind the Great Wall, isolated and insular, is as much a product of Western imagination as any historical reality. For thousands of years, travelers, traders, scholars, and missionaries explored the overland routes and sea lanes connecting China with the rest of the world. [Read More...]
“Forever Repeating the Past,” Here! Dongguan
The year was 1882. Populist politicians appealed to the lowest common denominator by spreading rumors, which in turn excited the xenophobia and racism. Leaders promised sweeping immigration bans that the politicians claimed were necessary to protect American “civilization and values.” [Read More...]
“The Left-Behind Village,” The World of Chinese
Tea plantations in Northern Thailand built by descendants of Chinese soldiers [Read More...]
“How China’s History Shapes, and Warps, its Policies Today,” Foreign Policy
A ChinaFile Conversation which asks how does China's imperial past affect its present-day foreign policy. [Read More...]
“The Religion of Opiates,” Here! Dongguan
He arrived in Guangdong carrying bibles on a ship that was seeking new markets for the opium trade. He remained a Man of God, they say but who can tell? [Read More...]
“Cut Off: The Final Days of General Ming Rui,” The World of Chinese
The sad tale of General Ming Rui, who fought and died in a forgotten war between China and Myanmar [Read More...]
“Five of China’s Worst ‘Last Emperors’,” The World of Chinese
In China, the “bad last emperor” is a bit of cliché. The hackneyed revolutions of the dynastic cycle eventually turn from the heroic founder to the dunderheaded descendant who undoes all the founder’s good work. [Read More...]