What is Mao Zedong’s Legacy 120 Years Later?
December 26 is the birthday of Mao Zedong, the portly gentleman from Hunan who, for 70% better and 30% ill, led China from 1949 until his death in 1976. [Read More...]
Writings
Nanjing
On December 13, 1937, the Japanese Imperial Army stormed the city of Nanjing, setting off a month of looting and killing that still shocks the world. But what is truly being remembered 76 years later? [Read More...]
Mandela and Mao
Nelson Mandela was so many things that the current Chinese government actively fears and loathes. He was a political prisoner, an activist, a party organizer, general rabble rouser, an outspoken champion of the disenfranchised, and a Nobel Peace Prize recipient. If you are Chinese, these are not activities that get you a place on the CCP Christmas card list. [Read More...]
Jesse Appell raps the history of Chinese economic development. No, seriously.
Jesse Appell is a talented guy who has put together the single greatest rap version of Modern Chinese history. Granted, not a lot of competition in this particular category but still very cool. [Read More...]
Granite Studio on the move…
What happens when an apartment deal seems shady? If you've lived in Beijing long enough, your paranoia kicks in and you start to worry. [Read More...]
One from the Archives: The Sicilian Guide to Chinese History
Chris Buckley in the New York Times today described Xi Jinping as being in "Godfather" mode. In that spirit, here is a post from the past looking at Chinese history through the lens of great gangster cinema. [Read More...]
Is Xi a Reformer? It’s still too early to tell
Is Xi a reformer? As Zhou Enlai once said: "It's too soon to tell." [Read More...]
There’s a reason the Traveling Wilburys only released two albums: A Post-Mortem on Rectified.name
It's hard to keep a supergroup together. A look back at the year that was Rectified. [Read More...]
Patriots Day
A bombing is a tragedy always. But hitting Boston on Patriots Day is a blow to who we are. This is a day when everybody is out in the streets enjoying what is usually one of the first semi-warm days of the year. It’s the beginning of spring.
And some asshole or assholes decided to blow it up. [Read More...]
Passengers booted off of KLM plane
Flight attendants on international carriers are very particular about safety guidelines. Many upwardly mobile Chinese tend to believe that rules are for other people. Hilarity often ensues. [Read More...]
Sinica Podcast: Revenge of the Call-in Show
Last week I joined Kaiser and Jeremy for the second "Call-in" show in which the Sinica regulars take questions from the listeners. [Read More...]
On Sun Yatsen, 1912, and Han Han
Trusting Yuan Shikai to nourish a fragile young republican government was basically akin to dousing a three-year old in A1 Sauce and putting him in the care of a rabid honey badger, but the demise of the first republican experiment might not have been as inevitable as some believe. [Read More...]
Five people you meet on the Beijing metro…
I’ve been riding the subway more. I don’t know why. I’ve never before been particularly masochistic nor do I generally enjoy close physical contact with strangers. But it seems an economical way to get around the city now that every available road surface is jammed with broken heroes on a last chance power drive. Having spent quite a few commuting hours below ground now, I’ve started to distinguish a taxonomy of my fellow passengers, including several species which I find it best to avoid. [Read More...]
Five Books about Qing History
Five great reads about the Qing Dynasty. [Read More...]
“To Tear out the Heart and Rip out their Eyes”
A ‘souvenir fan’ in circulation after [Read More...]