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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.
A gold-inked manuscript from the Tibetan Dragon Canon, which is on show as part of the “Tibetan Dragon Canon: A Symphony of Imperial Power, Belief and Art in a Golden Age” exhibition at Taiwan’s National Palace Museum until November 8, 2026. The 357-year-old text has recently gone viral for apparently granting those who view it seven lifetimes of good karma. Photo: NPM
Art

The Buddhist text in Taiwan said to bring lifetimes of luck with one glimpse

The Tibetan Dragon Canon, a huge 17th century scripture on show at Taiwan’s National Palace Museum, has set social media ablaze.

Chinese culture

Being Chinese | Rice has a place in Chinese hearts, whether we eat it or not

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Trending in China

Evidence of earliest silkworm farming outside China found, upending Silk Road timeline

Lessons from China's history

Reflections | How Chinese society’s resilient moral framework has lasted nearly 3,000 years

The Zhou-dynasty ideals of family responsibility, propriety and self-cultivation remain woven into the very fabric of China today.

The family has long lay at the centre of Chinese society’s moral universe, with respect for parents, harmony between siblings and the fulfilment of family obligations elevated from private virtues to the very foundations of society. Photo: Shutterstock
China’s internet censorship

China targets pseudo-history conspiracists who claim civilisations were stolen

Zhejiang agency says pseudo-historical claims – made worse by AI – reflect ignorance and fracture social cognition.

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Trending in China

How Chinese culture links 4 cardinal directions to life’s natural cycle – and why

In a primarily agricultural society, sunset signifies the end of the day, leading to the metaphor ‘going west’ to represent death.

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Chinese culture

China challenges Western ‘tribute system’ theory in push for narrative control

Article by US billionaire investor Ray Dalio puts spotlight back on English term used to describe Chinese diplomatic and economic posture.

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Illustration: Mario Rivera
China's economic recovery

How China’s Zhangjiajie aims to revive a US$296 million loss-making tourist site

A 150,000-visitor opening offers an early signal, but analysts warn that lasting cash flow will require stronger products, local culture and tighter operations.

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Lessons from China's history

Reflections | Even Confucius was buff? How ancient China prized strength and fitness

The gentle philosopher was said to possess extraordinary strength, while Chinese military officers long had to pass tough physical tests.

Mainland China

As I see it | The world that made Confucius – and the China he made

China’s most enduring philosophical tradition didn’t merely revere the past; it drew upon history to construct the future.

A statue of Confucius dominates the landscape in Qufu, his birthplace, in today’s Shandong province. Photo: Xinhua
China’s Communist Party

Open Questions | Wang Gungwu on lessons of Chinese history and Cold War

Historian says the past holds the keys to the future, both for Chinese as they seek further socioeconomic progress and for US as it looks to undermine China.

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Illustration: Henry Wong
China-Japan relations

‘Ghosts of the 20th century’: how China and Japan clash over post-WWII narrative

In quest to win trust of Asian neighbours, Beijing is intensifying its rhetoric against Tokyo’s changing defence posture.

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Trending in China

Escape artist: Chinese cup depicts ‘swimming’ crab inspired by ‘dancing fairy cup’

Many view the ‘floating crab cup’ as a celebration of their ancestors’ ability to enjoy life’s pleasures.

Britain

As I see it | How ‘evil’ was the British Empire? Centuries of theft and destruction

From Indian colonisation to the opium trade, an empire of avarice and brutality was powered by the East India Company.

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A lithograph by James Henry Lynch, originally drawn by Michael Angelo Hayes, depicts the 18th (Royal Irish) Regiment of Foot, at the storming of the forts of Amoy on August 26, 1841, during the First Opium War. Image: Getty Images
Lessons from China's history

Reflections | As Jolie-Pitt kids change their surname, why ancient Chinese did the same

From an emperor who demanded no one share his surname to personal protection and punishment, the reasons for name changes in China were many.

Angelina Jolie with her and Brad Pitt’s daughter Vivienne Jolie-Pitt at the Tony Awards at New York’s Lincoln Centre on June 16, 2024. Several of Jolie and Pitt’s children recently announced their decision to drop Pitt from their surname, following their parents’ drawn-out divorce, which was finalised in 2024. Photo: Getty Images/TNS
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

Historians trace how US hopes of trade, reform and friendship gave way to rivalry with the power it once sought to transform.

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Lessons from China's history

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

Imperial China relied on officials to run government affairs under the emperor, but as history shows, this power dynamic was a fragile one.

Emperor Shenzong, who ruled during China’s Song dynasty, came to feel threatened by his prime minister, Wang Anshi, who subsequently fell from power. The power balance between those at the top of a country’s hierarchy and those who run its government causes problems in parts of the world now as it did then. Photo: Pictures From History/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
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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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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An illustration depicts Ching Shih (right) during a swordfight. Chinese pirate factions were paralysed by infighting in the early 19th century, but Ching and her husband Zheng Yi unified them under a confederation.
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.

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