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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.
Amid an escalating diplomatic crisis, China and Japan are trying to define each other’s international identity. Photo: Shutterstock
China-Japan relations

China vs Japan: the battle for the global microphone to reshape post-war identity

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’

Britain

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

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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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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.

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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US President Donald Trump (left) walks with President Xi Jinping at the Temple of Heaven on May 14 in Beijing. Photo: AP
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.

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