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Chinese history

Chinese history
The latest news, analysis and opinion on Chinese history. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.
Survivors search for their loved ones and belongings on July 30, 1976 among the ruins in Tangshan City after an earthquake struck the city in the early morning of July 28, 1976. Photo: AFP
Accidents and disasters in China

On This Day | 1976 earthquake in China’s Tangshan kills over 240,000 people – SCMP archive

On this day 50 years ago, the deadliest earthquake in recorded history razed the mining town of Tangshan in China’s Hebei province.

US-China relations

How America’s 250-year China dream became its greatest strategic challenge

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Lessons from China's history

Reflections | When Chinese emperors and prime ministers fell out, the results could be deadly

China-South Korea relations

South Korea returns looted Qing dynasty lions to China in cultural diplomacy win

Experts believe the marble sculptures guarded an imperial residence before they were taken by Japanese invaders in the early 20th century.

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These Qing Dynasty lions, which stood outside a Seoul museum for more than 80 years, have been returned to China. Photo: Xinhua
Trending in China

How China can safeguard its visual heritage from global brand exploitation

Traditional motifs in the public domain belong to humanity’s shared artistic heritage and can reasonably be used freely, expert notes.

Chinese culture

How Chinese pirate queen Ching Shih ruled the South China Sea in the 1800s

Ching, aka Zheng Yi Sao, became China’s most successful pirate during the Qing period, building a fearful empire that terrorised the region.

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Trending in China

Chinese scientists unearth 2,000-year-old cousin of chess played by royals, commoners

Universally loved across Western Han society (202 BC–9), Liubo grew from a children’s game into an elite intellectual sport.

Archaeologists in northwest China made a striking discovery: ancient Liubo chessboards dating back more than 2,000 years. Photo: Courtesy of Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology
Lessons from China's history

Reflections | Amid US birthright ruling, lessons from how foreigners once ‘became Chinese’

Trump’s bid to end birthright citizenship comes amid rising xenophobia. A look at how premodern China offered varied paths to assimilation.

Trending in China

Ancient Chinese lord buried with bells meant to silence ancestral war rituals

Nobleman used ceremony to invoke help from ancestors, and then politics made it awkward.

Lessons from China's history

Reflections | A history of Chinese fans and how they kept people cool in summer

Fans have long been used in China for cooling and cooking and as artistic status symbols. We look at the tool’s reinvention over 3,000 years.

A folding fan painted by Chinese artist Yu Feian (1889-1959) at an auction preview at Sotheby’s Hong Kong in 2010. As well as helping to beat the summer heat, fans have been used in China for centuries to mark status and as works of art. Photo: Sam Tsang
China economy

As I see it | How the New Left won the battle of ideas for 21st-century China

Their revisionism challenges the neoliberal perspective which treats Maoist command economics and Deng-era capitalist reforms as diametrically opposed.

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A visitor looks at a screen showing President Xi Jinping at an exhibition commemorating China’s Communist Party history and achievements, on October 1, 2019. Photo: EPA-EFE
Food and Drinks

Best things to do in Wuhan, China’s breakfast capital - revealed in a new light

Hubei’s eclectic capital on the Yangtze River is famous for its hearty breakfast food and many lakes. Here’s how to spend a weekend there.

Trending in China

What are the hidden Buddhist symbols in Chinese Da A Fu figurines

Listed as national cultural heritage, these clay dolls were initially crafted by farmers for extra income and sold at temple fairs.

Art

What was it like to attend a Children’s Palace in socialist-era China?

The ‘Youth Palace’ exhibition at Shanghai’s Rockbund Art Museum looks at a socialist educational institution that promoted collectivism.

A screenshot from the video “Ludwig” (2018), Diego Marcon. (Photo courtesy the artist and Sadie Coles HQ, London)
Trending in China

Chinese horse-head discovery reveals ancient elite sacrificial rituals

The sacrifice was an elaborate procedure, indicating it was of utmost importance to the highest echelons of ancient society.

Archaeologists in Zhejiang have discovered a 2,800-year-old horse head sealed inside a pottery vessel at an Eastern Zhou dynasty ritual site. Photo: National Cultural Heritage Administration
Lessons from China's history

Reflections | As Europe bakes, how people in China kept cool before air conditioning

As temperatures soar, our columnist takes his cue from premodern Chinese, who used clothing, food and even a Chinese mantra to beat the heat.

US-China relations

Opinion | What the US should learn from China’s 19th century decline

Every empire has its strengths and weaknesses. Perhaps the most important asset is understanding those of your adversaries.

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Trending in China

Carved in history: how dragon motifs tell the rise and fall of Chinese empires

Modern research reveals how imperial dragon artwork directly mirrored a regime’s strength and prosperity.

The traditional Chinese dragon motif embellishes countless objects, profoundly influencing the identity of ancient artefacts. Photo: SCMP composite/Wikipedia
Chinese culture

‘Cleverest woman that ever lived’: the rise of China’s Empress Dowager Cixi

Beginning royal life as a low-ranking concubine, Cixi controlled Qing-dynasty China for nearly half a century from behind the scenes.

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Lessons from China's history

Reflections | How the Chinese language has long been shaped by foreign influences

From Buddhism’s arrival in China to European exchange in the 1800s, external forces have left a mark on Chinese vocabulary and grammar.

US-China relations

Opinion | How Chinese philosophy influenced US founding fathers

From the Mandate of Heaven to the ‘pursuit of happiness’, the US and China share a rich intellectual tradition of ethical governance.

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Illustration: Craig Stephens
Food and Drinks

Bear’s paw, monkey brain? Not in this US$2,000 Manchu-Han banquet in Hong Kong

Chef who was part of the team behind the 1977 ‘imperial’ feast in Hong Kong is planning a modern interpretation, minus the taboo ingredients.

Dishes from Chinesology’s Tales of History tasting menu, which reimagines the legendary Manchu-Han banquet. Photo: Chinesology
Technology

Opinion | How the I Ching inspired modern computing and AI

The connection between Chinese civilisation and Western scientific thinking is far deeper and more intricate than commonly understood.

Chinese culture

As I see it | What the I Ching is really about

While it may depart from scientific axioms, readers can glean much about their circumstances by consulting the Book of Changes.

Lessons from China's history

Reflections | From Hong Kong to Singapore, how China’s Teochew have left an outsized mark

Hit Teochew family drama Dear You spotlights a Chinese community with a long, influential history and notable figures like Li Ka-shing.

Li Ka-shing meets the media at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai in January 2019. The multibillionaire tycoon is arguably the most well-known Teochew person in Hong Kong. Photo: Felix Wong
Food and Drinks

Think matcha is Japanese? Think again, says this Hong Kong tea brand

Hong Kong bar owner Gavin Yeung founded matcha brand Celadon after being ‘floored’ by its long history in China before reaching Japan.

The company uses powder from China’s Zhejiang province to spotlight the green tea’s true Chinese origins, which, the founders say, are contrary to “everything this generation knows about matcha”. Photo: Chloe Loung
Trending in China

Sips of history: how ancient Chinese brewing techniques shaped modern alcohol

Unopened 2,500-year-old bottle of liquor contains substantial volume of liquid, allowing researchers to analyse drink’s chemical composition.

Chinese culture

How a Chinese empress shaped her country without ever taking the throne

Empress Xiaozhuangwen secured power, averted crises and deposed enemies while raising and guiding China’s longest-serving emperor.

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