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Lessons from China's history

Lessons from China's history
Wee Kek Koon draws parallels between current events and trends and episodes and attitudes in China’s past.
A tourist cools off with a folding fan in Prague, Czech Republic, on June 28, 2026. Temperatures in several European countries have surged past 40 degrees Celsius in recent days. Photo: EPA
Chinese 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.

Chinese history

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

Chinese history

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

Chinese history

Reflections | The history of weiqi, or go, Chinese board game dating back over 2,000 years

More popularly known as go – its Japanese name – weiqi has for centuries been embraced as a mark of cultivation and refinement.

Weiqi, better known in the West by its Japanese name, go, is played by two opponents using black and white stones on a board marked with a 19-by-19 grid, creating 361 intersections. Its history dates back more than two millennia. Photo: vvoe/Shutterstock
Diplomacy

Opinion | Norman Bethune’s story still holds lessons for China-Canada relations

The Canadian doctor, hailed a hero in China, was driven by personal conviction; there are others today, tilling the soil of Sino-Canadian friendship.

Chinese history

Reflections | Hong Kong principal’s Singapore disgrace highlights centuries-old standards

School heads in premodern China had to lead by example above all. More recently, principal Lee Cheuk-hing’s failure to do so cost him his job.

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Chinese history

Reflections | After the Shanxi disaster, how China’s coal mining industry evolved over history

From bamboo ventilation systems to steam power and beyond, China now leads the world in producing and consuming coal, but dangers remain.

China is the world’s biggest producer and consumer of coal. Centuries of technological advancement have enabled more efficient mining, but sometimes tragedies remind us of the industry’s dangers. Photo: Shutterstock
Chinese history

Reflections | The earliest Chinese irons date back over 2,000 years. Here’s how they evolved

Long before electric irons, the Chinese had already developed sophisticated methods of pressing and smoothing garments.

Chinese history

Reflections | How the Chinese did laundry before washing machines: ash ‘soap’, stone beatings

Before chemical detergents and modern equipment, Chinese people kept their clothes clean with little more than river water, wood and ash.

Chinese history

Reflections | Succession struggles in China’s past echoed in Malaysia’s 2026 royal crisis

Disputes over Negeri Sembilan’s next royal ruler recall how succession in China often fused dynastic legitimacy with aristocratic elections.

Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir, the royal ruler of Negeri Sembilan, speaks during the opening of the Negeri Sembilan state assembly in Seremban, Malaysia, on April 23, 2026. Photo: YouTube
Chinese history

Reflections | Ancient Chinese sleep advice, from bedtimes and body positions to state of mind

For premodern Chinese people, sleep was much more than daily rest – it was a cultivated discipline and a medical necessity.

The ancient Chinese believed that the ideal sleep schedule followed nature’s rhythms, and rising early was prized. Photo: Shutterstock
Chinese history

Reflections | The history of China’s hospitality industry and how its inns evolved over time

Private inns served travelling merchants in ancient China and grew in number and sophistication as the economy and infrastructure expanded.

Chinese culture

Reflections | What an old Chinese snack can teach people about the ‘proper’ way to eat dishes

The evolution of ‘biluo’ in Tang-dynasty China highlights how there is no unchanging way in which a dish ought to be prepared and enjoyed.

Chinese culture

Reflections | Cremation was frowned upon in ancient China, so why was it so widespread?

Though seen as barbaric, cremation was a common, practical choice for families in China’s Song dynasty that reflected their economic reality.

Despite burial being the preferred way of final disposition in Chinese tradition, cremation was widespread during China’s Song dynasty, as many families couldn’t afford to bury their dead. Photo: Shutterstock
Chinese history

Reflections | History of Chinese flatbreads reflects how food has echoes of faraway places

How ‘hubing’ came to China is reflected in Hong Kong’s Jenny Bakery cookies smelling like Malaysia’s Rotiboy coffee buns, Wee Kek Koon says.

Today, the descendants of “hubing” Chinese flatbreads survive in everyday foods like “shaobing” (pictured), the ubiquitous flatbread sold at neighbourhood food stalls, and “nang”, the naan-like Xinjiang flatbreads still baked by pressing the dough against the walls of clay ovens. Photo: Shutterstock
Chinese culture

As I see it | Why China is always misunderstood and misrepresented

By insisting on the superiority of its own standards of judgment and experience, the West distorts the realities of other societies.

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Chinese history

Reflections | Imperial China’s armed escort services solved logistical problems – with swords

In imperial China, services of armed martial artists, or biaoju, ensured delivery on risky routes. Their image has since been romanticised.

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Chinese history

Reflections | How the Hakka spread in China and beyond, their cuisine reflecting hard lives

A people shaped by centuries of migration, Hakka communities are found across China and are prevalent in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

Hakka women dressed in traditional costumes hold trays of Hakka foods during the opening ceremony of the Hakkien Food Carnival at Tai Po Lam Tsuen, Hong Kong, in July 2013. Photo: SCMP
Chinese history

Reflections | What an exiled royal’s plea to Chinese emperor can teach Iran’s Reza Pahlavi

A Persian prince’s attempts to restore his family’s throne from abroad highlight how political legitimacy is tough to forge in faraway lands.

Chinese history

Reflections | Modern Singapore knows that vigilance is key. So did an ancient Chinese minister

Wei Jiang of the state of Jin epitomises the Chinese idiom ‘in times of peace, think of danger’ – something Singapore follows closely today.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor

Reflections | After Andrew’s arrest, how high-born criminals were treated in ancient China

The long-spoken Chinese maxim that nobles were punished like commoners when breaking the law is not upheld by history.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor sits in the back seat of a car after leaving Aylsham Police Station on February 19, 2026, the day he was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office. Photo: Reuters
Chinese history

Reflections | As Kim Jong-un grooms daughter to rule, a Chinese princess’s fatal ambition

Princess Anle’s radical petition to inherit the throne set in motion a chain of events that would see her decapitated in her own boudoir.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sits next to his teenage daughter, Kim Ju-ae, who is thought to be his likely successor as the country’s supreme leader. In ancient China, one princess with ambitions of ruling the country became a cautionary tale. Photo: EPA-EFE/KCNA
Chinese history

Reflections | Visit to Singapore’s Chinatown reveals the surprising roots of Buddhist deities

Many Chinese might not know that Buddhist deities like Ne Zha, Sun Wukong and Yanluo Wang are reimaginings of Hindu gods.

Chinese history

Reflections | What do common Lunar New Year snacks in China, Singapore and Malaysia symbolise?

Lunar New Year treats in China vary from those in Singapore and Malaysia, for which some question whether they are truly ‘Chinese’.

Chinese history

Reflections | How Chinese new year cards went from elites’ greetings to bribery instruments

Wishing someone a happy new year was a highly formal affair among people of status in imperial China and some cards were even collected.

In imperial China, wishing someone a happy new year was anything but casual. Among people of status, it was a highly formal affair, governed by etiquette, hierarchy and a good deal of social anxiety. Photo: Sina
Chinese history

Reflections | Was Chinese princess sent to marry a Malaysian sultan a real person?

Hang Li Po’s 15th-century marriage allegedly sealed Malacca and China’s friendly relations. Proof of her existence is scant. Does it matter?

Malaysian singer and model Dewi Seriestha is seen in a poster for “Teater Muzikal Puteri Hang Li Po”, a stage production that ran at the Encore Melaka theatre in Malacca, Malaysia, in October 2024. Photo: Instagram/encore_melaka
Chinese history

Reflections | What a Chinese hero’s fatal love of raw fish warns us about uncooked food

The recent sale of the most expensive tuna in Tokyo reflects sushi’s popularity, but an episode in Chinese history shows raw food’s dangers.

Chinese history

Reflections | How ancient Chinese dental practices were often similar to those used today

From gargling with medicinal concoctions to chewing sticks, people in China addressed dental health with considerable ingenuity.

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