Advertisement
Advertisement
-
TOPIC

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.
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 | 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.

Chinese history

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

Chinese history

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

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.

Brushing one’s teeth is a basic part of oral hygiene today. Centuries ago, Chinese people used chewing sticks, among other methods, to keep their teeth clean. Photo: Shutterstock
Chinese culture

Reflections | Chinese diners’ preference for warm water is not as ancient as you’d think

The ‘ancient Chinese wisdom’ about warm water being good for you is rooted in 20th-century health campaigns, not aeons of tradition.

China economy

Opinion | As history makes clear, a powerful China is not expansionist

China was an unmatched power in the Song and Ming dynasties, with greater concentrated authority. But it consolidated, rather than colonised.

videocam
9
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
History

Reflections | Chinese historical myths that are accepted as fact, and why they’ve endured

Like Singapore’s ‘ejection’ from Malaysia, Chinese history contains fallacies, including ones about Sun Yat-sen and Empress Dowager Cixi.

Sun Yat-sen, widely regarded as the founding father of modern China, is credited with “leading” the 1911 Revolution that overthrew the Qing dynasty, but in fact he was not even in China at the time of the Wuchang Uprising, the trigger of the revolution, and only learned about it afterwards. Photo: Getty Images
Chinese history

Reflections | Malaysia’s unusual creation still affects it today. China mulled doing similar

Malaysia was born as a federation in 1963, with some states considered ‘special’. China also once toyed with federal ideals.

5
Labubu

Reflections | Ancient China’s Labubu-like doll craze also saw fans splurge silly money

Mohele dolls featured expensive ‘special editions’, saw designer collaborations and even inspired cosplay, much like Labubus today.

Science

US green tech retreat echoes mistake of China’s Qing dynasty before collapse

While Washington pulls back on climate, Beijing is making it possible for developing nations to leapfrog into a cleaner energy era.

videocam
22
Illustration: Henry Wong
Chinese history

Reflections | In wake of Tai Po blaze, China’s long and difficult struggle fighting fire

The qualities that made buildings beautiful in premodern Chinese cities also made them dangerously flammable, and fire was a constant threat.

Residential buildings in Tai Po’s Wang Fuk Court burn on November 26, 2025. Hong Kong’s recent tragedy is a grim reminder of the enduring menace fires have posed throughout Chinese history. Photo: Sam Tsang
Chinese history

Reflections | ‘Mar-a-Lago faces’ echo Chinese elites’ unhealthy attempts to please a king

King Ling of Chu’s preference for his officials to be thin-waisted saw them practically starve themselves in efforts to win royal approval.

Chinese history

Reflections | From slapping body parts to National Games, China’s history of exercise

Used to train soldiers long before its benefits were taught to regular folk, exercise has become a matter of national resilience in China.

Chinese culture

Shameful period? How China’s Qing dynasty brought both wealth and humiliation

China’s final dynasty saw the arts and economy thrive under Manchu rule. But internal and external struggles corroded centuries of stability.

The Qianlong Emperor was the fifth emperor of China’s Qing dynasty, reigning from 1735-1796. Under the Manchus, China’s final dynasty was marked by flourishing arts and economic growth. But in 1912, the imperial system that had survived for centuries collapsed as the country entered the modern era.
Chinese history

Reflections | Andrew’s loss of ‘prince’ title echoes the downfall of China’s past royals

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s fall from prince to commoner mirrors how many disgraced royals in imperial China also lost their titles.

5
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor at the coronation ceremony of King Charles and Queen Camilla, in London, in May 2023. Last month, Charles moved to strip Andrew of his princely title entirely. Photo: Reuters
Chinese history

Reflections | How Asean differs from the alliances of China’s Warring States Period

Asean’s consensus-driven approach, based on non-aggression, generally fosters regional peace, unlike the factious alliances in China’s past.

Chinese history

Reflections | How Trump’s new ballroom echoes the grand monuments of China’s emperors

Many monuments built by the emperors of old were architectural marvels and stunning spectacles of power, but perilous in consequence.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
History

Reflections | Like Trump’s Time photo, Chinese emperor’s portraits were often unflattering

The contradictory portraits of Zhu Yuanzhang, one of China’s most controversial rulers, reflect his complex historical image.

US President Donald Trump called Time magazine’s cover photo of him the “worst of all time” and complained it had “disappeared” his hair. Photo: Time
Chinese history

Reflections | The small Chinese state that once played peacekeeper like Singapore today

Long ago, the Chinese state of Song repeatedly helped end conflicts between powerful neighbours with a diplomatic heft that belied its size.

Chinese history

Reflections | How ancient Chinese sects have foretold Rapture-like divine ends for millennia

Christian groups prophesise paradisiacal new beginnings today, but similar visions existed throughout imperial Chinese history.

Singapore

Reflections | ‘I shall do harm’: the ancient Chinese traitor who boosted his country’s enemy

Zhonghang Yue’s reforming of Xiongnu puts the negative attitude often seen towards Malaysians-turned-Singaporeans into perspective.

8
Xiongnu nomads were considered “barbarians” by many Han Chinese. After Chinese palace eunuch Zhonghang Yue was forced to visit the warlike state, he became a valued advisor to its people, much improving the state’s productivity and self-governance, and remained there until his death. Photo: Weibo

Reflections | How the lion became a symbol of Chinese identity and cultural exchange

From homes to temples, lion figures are ubiquitous in China. Why is an animal that has never lived in the wild there so culturally relevant?

A stone lion stands guard at the west gate of Peking University in Beijing. Lions have long been important symbols of power and authority in China, and also speak to the country’s centuries-old links with the West. Photo: Shutterstock
Chinese culture

How China’s earliest 3 dynasties shaped its society and culture

From 2070BC to 256BC, the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties paved the way for Chinese society with Taoism, written language, music and more.

Mainland China

Reflections | China’s ‘durian express’ recalls emperor’s efforts to sate consort’s cravings

New system to get durians to northern China faster reminds of how lychees were rushed to Emperor Xuanzong’s favourite consort at great cost.

Donald Trump

Reflections | Like Trump’s US, imperial China used to have a Ministry of War

For centuries, the ‘Three Departments, Six Ministries’ system, which included a Ministry of War, was at the heart of China’s governance.

US President Donald Trump hands a signed executive order to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth renaming the Department of Defence as the Department of War in the Oval Office of the White House on September 5, 2025. An arm of the government dedicated to war also existed in imperial China. Photo: AP
Chinese history

Reflections | After Fan Bingbing’s Malaysia award, a history of Chinese official honours

Honorary titles have existed in China for millennia, and apart from a rejection of such notions in the 20th century, are still awarded.

=== PHOTO CAPTURED ONLINE=== Chinese actress Fan Bingbing’s Malaysian culture-inspired datukship attire was designed by Melinda Looi. Photo: Instagram/melindalooi
Shi Yongxin

Reflections | Shaolin Temple scandal would have led to far harsher reactions in China’s past

The resolution of the temple’s recent shameful episode is much more civilised than the violent purges of Buddhism in China’s history.

Chinese culture

Reflections | History of Chinese libraries, from huge palace collections to public spaces

Libraries were the preserve of rulers and officials for much of China’s history, but that started to change at the turn of the 20th century.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Help preserve 120 years of quality journalism.
SUPPORT NOW
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement