https://www.scmp.com/rss/318714/feed Homo erectus reached what is now China more than a million years ago, while written records date back beyond 1200BC. Archaeologists are even now adding to and expanding our understanding of the rich history of ancient China and pre-Chinese civilisations. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com https://www.scmp.com/infographics/china/article/3228190/what-hchinese-calendar-based-24-solar-terms-and-how-do-people-live-it-visual-explainer?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/infographics/china/article/3228190/what-hchinese-calendar-based-24-solar-terms-and-how-do-people-live-it-visual-explainer?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 22 Jul 2023 02:30:12 +0000 https://www.scmp.com/news/article/3128896/grannys-big-solo-road-trip-baby-girls-abandoned-hong-kong-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/article/3128896/grannys-big-solo-road-trip-baby-girls-abandoned-hong-kong-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 09 Apr 2021 08:00:16 +0000 Tap here to launch this special feature https://www.scmp.com/infographics/china/article/3123696/how-chinas-400-year-old-wengding-village-destroyed-fires?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/infographics/china/article/3123696/how-chinas-400-year-old-wengding-village-destroyed-fires?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 02 Mar 2021 07:30:10 +0000 Even as China has leapfrogged other countries in building the world’s most extensive subway networks, one city has stood out as something of a laggard. Subway builders in the northwestern city of Xian, have run into the most insurmountable obstacle of all: history, in the form of old clay pots and bronze mirrors. The city’s struggle to keep up with China’s national building frenzy underscores the country’s changing approach to balancing development with preserving the past. Nowadays it’s the... https://www.scmp.com/china/how-history-blocks-xian-subway-progress/article/3004133?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/china/how-history-blocks-xian-subway-progress/article/3004133?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:17:04 +0000 Shenzhen is often called “China’s Silicon Valley.” The southern coastal city just north of Hong Kong started as a manufacturing hub and is now home to some of the world’s largest tech companies, valued at over $91 billion. Recently, it’s also gained a reputation for art and nightlife, with Lonely Planet naming it one of the top cities to visit in 2019. But the actual city of Shenzhen is just 40 years old. Before Shenzhen was incorporated in 1979, it was nothing but a fishing village. Years of... https://www.scmp.com/travel/inside-walled-villages-shenzhen/article/3002210?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/travel/inside-walled-villages-shenzhen/article/3002210?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 18 Mar 2019 11:33:28 +0000 As the most powerful man in the country, the emperor of China had thousands of women at his disposal in the imperial palace. Most were employed as maids and servants, but a select few acted as concubines whose sole task was to bear children for the emperor—as many as he could father—in order to ensure a viable successor. These women were chosen from all over the country, and the ones who passed spent the rest of their lives sheltered in the imperial quarters and forbidden to leave. Most, though,... https://www.scmp.com/culture/what-it-took-be-emperors-mistress-imperial-china/article/3000822?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/what-it-took-be-emperors-mistress-imperial-china/article/3000822?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 15 Feb 2019 03:41:11 +0000 Empress Dowager Cixi, the woman who ruled China during the late Qing dynasty, might be a household name, but her favourite lady-in-waiting, Princess Der Ling, travelled across the globe and was exposed to Western cultures. She was a big influence on the Chinese empress. Today, is the birthday of the late princess so let’s take a look at the legendary woman. Aristocratic upbringing Born on June 8, 1885, Der Ling belonged to a prestigious aristocratic family in Wuhan, Hubei province. Her father... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/people-events/article/2149901/empress-cixis-favourite-princess-what-you-didnt-know?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/people-events/article/2149901/empress-cixis-favourite-princess-what-you-didnt-know?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 08 Jun 2018 07:30:46 +0000 Former South Korean president Park Geun-hye – the daughter of dictator Park Chung-hee – was this month sentenced to 24 years in prison for corruption and abuse of power. For the country’s first female leader, it was a dramatic fall from grace.  How the last Qing emperor was forced to abdicate In China, in the millennia before the abolition of monarchy in the early 20th century, cases of rulers being forcibly ejected from their thrones were far from uncommon. Some of these leaders were... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/2142273/how-chinas-emperors-fell-grace-much-former-south?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/2142273/how-chinas-emperors-fell-grace-much-former-south?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 19 Apr 2018 00:45:00 +0000 A rare 3,000-year-old bronze vessel looted by a British soldier from an imperial palace in Beijing has fetched £410,000 (US$581,600), more than double the estimated value at auction. The vessel, referred to as a Tiger Ying because of its tiger decorations, was auctioned as planned at Canterbury Auction Galleries in the southeast of England on Wednesday despite calls from the Chinese government to halt the sale. The water vessel, which dates back to the Western Zhou dynasty (1047-772BC), is... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2141425/ancient-looted-chinese-bronze-sells-double-expected-price-british?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2141425/ancient-looted-chinese-bronze-sells-double-expected-price-british?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 12 Apr 2018 07:11:09 +0000 After archaeologists confirmed they had found the remains of the celebrated Chinese warlord Cao Cao, the focus immediately shifted to the long-standing mystery of where his two great rivals are buried. Cao and his adversaries Liu Bei and Sun Quan carved up the country between them 1,800 years ago and they remain household names in China and beyond, thanks to the prominent role they play in the classic 14th century novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms and numerous other artistic works.  As the Han... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2140732/one-down-two-go-discovery-cao-caos-tomb-turns-focus-search?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2140732/one-down-two-go-discovery-cao-caos-tomb-turns-focus-search?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Apr 2018 08:02:58 +0000 To describe William Lindesay as an aficionado on the Great Wall of China doesn’t do justice to his in-depth knowledge, and the lengths he has gone to over three decades. The British geographer, who estimates he has clocked 2,800 days on the wall, has run its length , written five books about it, and curated historical exhibitions. “These days there are two walls; the tourist wall and the wilderness wall,” says Lindesay, who leads about 30 guided weekend tours a year and undertakes conservation... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2125387/how-enjoy-great-wall-chinas-wild-side-tips-and-drone?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2125387/how-enjoy-great-wall-chinas-wild-side-tips-and-drone?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 22 Dec 2017 04:47:36 +0000 Although it has been 109 years (today) since the death of the Empress Dowager Cixi – also known as the “dragon lady” and the “old master Buddha” – who effectively ruled China during the late Qing dynasty (1644-1911) for nearly five decades, she still divides public opinion. Born on November 29, 1835, she was chosen as a concubine for the Emperor Xianfeng when she was a young girl. She gave birth to the emperor’s son – the future Emperor Tongzhi – in 1856 and went on to live an extravagant and... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/people-events/article/2119973/woman-who-ruled-china-what-you-didnt-know-about?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/people-events/article/2119973/woman-who-ruled-china-what-you-didnt-know-about?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Nov 2017 03:30:15 +0000 Villagers in eastern China unearthed a buried hoard of hundreds of thousands of ancient coins while building a house, local media reported. The treasure trove was found in Fuliang county, Jiangxi province and weighed around 5.6 tonnes, Jiangnan Metropolis Daily reported on Wednesday. Feng Ruqin, head of Fuliang County Museum, told the newspaper that preliminary investigations suggested the haul consisted of 300,000 pieces of copper coinage that dated back 800 years to the time of the Song... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2117117/mystery-over-tonnes-ancient-coins-found-buried-chinese-village?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2117117/mystery-over-tonnes-ancient-coins-found-buried-chinese-village?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Oct 2017 08:37:34 +0000 Many people died some 4,000 years ago when a major earthquake jolted Jishi Gorge, a deep, rocky Yellow River valley in what is now Qinghai province. But aside from the immediate death toll, centred in the Guanting Basin several kilometres downstream, with some people buried at the entrances to collapsed cave dwellings as they tried to flee, it was a prelude to an even greater catastrophe – China’s great flood. The timing, the location, the magnitude ... all matched well to the legend that had... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1999439/scientific-study-chinas-great-flood-could-prove-4000-year-old-legend?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1999439/scientific-study-chinas-great-flood-could-prove-4000-year-old-legend?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 05 Aug 2016 01:45:15 +0000 This month, an international team of astro­nomers announced the discovery of the planet HD 131399Ab, which has three suns, a curious situation that’s the central conceit in the Chinese sci-fi novel The Three-Body Problem, by Liu Cixin. A film based on the popular 2008 novel is scheduled to be released next year. Even more fanciful is Star Trek Beyond, the latest instalment in the film franchise, in which sentient beings and flying machines effortlessly zip across galaxies in seconds. Out of this... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1992264/ufos-aliens-robots-ancient-chinese-sci-fi-novels-were?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1992264/ufos-aliens-robots-ancient-chinese-sci-fi-novels-were?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 23 Jul 2016 03:02:05 +0000 Mainland Chinese researchers have found two pieces of thigh bone from an early human child who lived 100,000 years ago which may show evidence of cannibalism, the Guangming Daily reported. The bones are believed to have belonged to the so-called "Xuchang man", an extinct species of early human with possible links to modern day Chinese, first discovered at a site 15 kilometres from Xuchang city in Henan province. There are “signs of biting and gnawing” on the bones, which belonged to a young... https://www.scmp.com/tech/science-research/article/1842503/100000-year-old-human-remains-found-china-may-show-evidence?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/science-research/article/1842503/100000-year-old-human-remains-found-china-may-show-evidence?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 21 Jul 2015 09:42:16 +0000 Human activity has had an "overwhelmingly" destructive effect on the natural environment in the region between Vietnam and the Tibetan plateau since the late Han Dynasty nearly two thousand years ago, according to a new study by Chinese scientists. Analysing sedimentary records from the Red River, which originates on the southeast Tibetan plateau and enters the South China Sea near Hanoi, the scientists found traces of aggressive human activities, such as the massive destruction of forests,... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/1758557/environment-southwest-china-overwhelmingly-shaped-human-activity-more-1800?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/1758557/environment-southwest-china-overwhelmingly-shaped-human-activity-more-1800?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 Apr 2015 23:02:11 +0000 Chinese researchers have found the earliest recorded fossil of a soft-shelled turtle, showing how little the species has changed over the last 120 million years. The Perochelys lamadongensis, found at the early Cretaceous Jiufotang formation in western Liaoning province, was so similar to soft-shelled turtles today that the researchers were not sure where it fit in the evolutionary tree. Writing in the latest issue of the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, the researchers from the Chinese... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/1754085/new-fossil-shows-how-soft-shelled-turtles-have-barely-changed-120-million?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/1754085/new-fossil-shows-how-soft-shelled-turtles-have-barely-changed-120-million?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 03 Apr 2015 00:15:03 +0000 Some of the earliest modern humans in China may have come from Myanmar by river, according to a new paper published in the latest issue of international journal Scientific Reports. The study, conducted by researchers with the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Kunming Institute of Zoology, found the genetic origin of many people in Southwest China could be traced to ancient populations in Myanmar, especially the Barma, Karen and Rakhine peoples. The findings suggest that Myanmar, also known as Burma,... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/1753582/motherland-myanmar-new-research-suggests-burma-was-birthplace-early?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/1753582/motherland-myanmar-new-research-suggests-burma-was-birthplace-early?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 Apr 2015 00:01:33 +0000 Researchers working in northeast China have found what could be the world's earliest flower. According to a paper published in the latest issue of Historical Biology, an international journal of paleobiology based in the UK, the plant is 162 million years old. The discovery provides a "new insight otherwise unavailable for the evolution of flowers", according to the paper's two authors, professor Liu Zhongjian of the National Orchid Conservation Centre of China and Professor Wan Xin of the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/1747655/worlds-earliest-flower-found-northeast-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/1747655/worlds-earliest-flower-found-northeast-china?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Mar 2015 03:58:28 +0000 At an eroded basin in Hebei province researchers have discovered what could be a “playground” of early hominids nearly two million years ago. Examination of stone artefacts between 1.77 and 1.95 million years old suggested that they could be toys played with by children. “This is an amazing discovery,” said professor Wei Qi, paleoanthropologist with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and lead scientist of the project at the Heitugou site in Nihewan basin, Yangyuan county. “The site is a treasure... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/1746869/lost-and-found-two-million-year-old-playground-discovered-northern-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/1746869/lost-and-found-two-million-year-old-playground-discovered-northern-china?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Mar 2015 02:45:45 +0000 Climate change is having a "bipolar" effect in the South China Sea, warming waters up to three times faster in winter than in summer, mainland scientists say. The researchers reconstructed sea temperature records going back 2,500 years by using fossilised samples of Tridacnidae, giant clams that lived on reefs and grew up to 1.3 metres long. They found the speed of temperature rises "elevated" in winter while somewhat "depressed" in summer and that the differences were far more "lively" than... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1744129/ancient-clams-give-clue-climate-change-south-china-sea?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1744129/ancient-clams-give-clue-climate-change-south-china-sea?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 21 Mar 2015 22:30:45 +0000 A 2,200-year old crossbow believed to have had a range of perhaps twice that of a modern assault rifle has been found by archaeologists during excavations at the site of China’s Terracotta Army. The large bow, measuring about 1.3 metres in length, could possibly have fired arrows at distances of up to 800 metres, said archaeologists at the Emperor Qinshihuang’s Mausoleum Site Museum in Xian, in Shaanxi province. INFOGRAPHIC: How to build a Terracotta Army in 16 easy steps Shen Maosheng, the lead... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1742671/qin-dynasty-crossbow-found-chinas-terracotta-army-site-may-reveal-secret?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1742671/qin-dynasty-crossbow-found-chinas-terracotta-army-site-may-reveal-secret?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Mar 2015 05:00:30 +0000 The earliest celadon - one of the most delicate types of Chinese pottery glazed with pure, green jasper - was produced at a "hi-tech" centre in Luoyang, Henan, about 3,700 years ago, according to a new study by mainland scientists. The making of celadon wares required high temperatures, usually over 1,100 degrees Celsius, which was difficult to reach before the industrial revolution owing to technical challenges such as heat control and kiln design. Professor Wang Changsui , an archaeometrist... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1651923/made-china-3700-years-ago-scientists-reveal-hi-tech-celadon-pottery?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1651923/made-china-3700-years-ago-scientists-reveal-hi-tech-celadon-pottery?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 29 Nov 2014 21:30:00 +0000