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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.
China ancient texts depict magical mirrors akin to a CT scan, vivid wooden puppets and early notions of robots. Photo: Baidu
Trending in China

Ancient Chinese texts show ‘immortal mirror’ linking to early notion of robots

Imagination and folk legend in imperial China came up with objects that could display people’s internal organs and a flying wooden magpie.

Chinese culture

Origin of Hong Kong’s ‘peace buns’, Cheung Chau Bun Festival’s iconic snack

Art

Soft Hours: artist Juno Shen’s Song dynasty teahouse for today’s New Yorkers

US-China relations

As I see it | China’s rise will turn Thucydides Trap on its head

New studies of the centuries-old Confucian order in East Asia show the country is, more than ever, committed to stability and peace.

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Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump walk through Zhongnanhai Garden in Beijing on May 15. Photo: Pool Photo via AP
From our archives

In pictures: crossing the Hong Kong-mainland China border through the decades

Discover how Hong Kong-mainland border crossings transformed from slow, queue-filled journeys in the 1970s to today’s seamless high-speed rail trips.

Trending in China

Legacy in ink: how calligraphy links China’s political heritage to academia

Around 40 universities feature names inscribed by Mao Zedong, whose distinctive running script-style handwriting is widely recognised.

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Ancient China elites cooled off with ice, water fans; folks used bamboo pillows

Research based on historical inscriptions suggests that temperatures in ancient China often climbed to between 40 and 43 degrees Celsius.

Before air conditioning, ancient Chinese elites used water fans and ice to cool down in summer, while commoners relied on bamboo pillows and meditation. Photo: Sohu
Trending in China

Ancient China laws punished men for crying; people writing badly made to drink ink

Official forms of discipline in imperial China could see lawbreakers’ hands cut off; eyebrows shaved or faces tattooed.

Lessons from China's 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.

American cinema

How Hollywood turned China’s Boxer rebellion into a racist Western

55 Days at Peking (1963) paints the historical event as an Orientalist Alamo, while white actors ‘yellowface’ as the main Chinese characters.

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(From left) Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner and David Niven in a still from 55 Days at Peking. The 1963 Hollywood epic about China’s Boxer rebellion looks the part with stunning sets, but ultimately casts China as a colonial outpost to be squabbled over by white people.
Trending in China

China emperors drank from mountain springs while commoners downed murky well water

In ancient times a simple drink was nothing of the kind; type of water consumed was thought to cause everything from baldness to tumours.

Nowadays drinking water is routine, but in ancient China emperors drank only from mountain springs and melted snow, while commoners used murky well water. Photo: SCMP composite/Shutterstock/dpm.org.cn
Trending in China

What was Qing dynasty’s imperial yellow jacket, what it symbolised, why it mattered

Tradition had it that the colour meant the element earth, symbolising that ‘all land belongs to the king, and all people are his subjects’.

Lessons from China's 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.

Asia travel

Best things to do in China’s Nanjing, from food and architecture to history

Planning a weekend in Nanjing? Here’s an itinerary to consider for visiting the bustling metropolis in eastern China.

Jiming Temple rises above surrounding buildings in Nanjing. The ancient city, which has served as China’s capital at various points in history, is a feast for the senses. Here’s how to spend a weekend there. Photo: Shutterstock

Famous Chinese women in history

In ancient China, women were expected to be obedient and chaste. But throughout millennia, some dared defy traditions with their intellect and ambition. In this series, we profile some of the most powerful and enigmatic female figures in Chinese history.

Wu Zetian, the only female emperor in Chinese history, reigned as a legitimate leader in China during the last 15 years of her life in her short-lived Wu Zhou dynasty (690-705). Photo: Pictures From History/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Art

Gardens of China and Europe juxtaposed in spectacular Hong Kong exhibition

A new exhibition at the Hong Kong Museum of Art features works including Monet’s water lilies and Qing dynasty masterpieces.

Chinese culture

Beautiful, power-hungry: how Wu Zetian became China’s only female emperor

A legitimate ruler for 15 years – but de facto leader for years more than that – Wu Zetian is remembered as a complex character.

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Hong Kong culture

Editorial | Hong Kong’s efforts to commemorate Bruce Lee should pack bigger punch

While the latest move to honour the late kung fu star is welcome, more must be done to acknowledge his standing as a pillar of Hong Kong heritage.

Chinese-American martial artist and actor Bruce Lee is pictured during the early 1970s. Photo: Archive Photos/Getty Images
Lessons from China's 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.

Taiwan

Why Beijing now wants its spies executed in Taiwan back in the spotlight

Mainland China is seeing a surge in interest over ‘invisible martyrs’ such as Wu Shi, a KMT defector who was executed in Taipei in 1950.

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Trending in China

7,000 years of China stilted houses celebrate human ingenuity, offer insights

Elevated homes have been part of Chinese culture since earliest days, showcasing how intercultural interaction fuelled technology development.

A recent study published in Nature offers an anthropological overview of Chinese stilted houses. Photo: SCMP composite/Shutterstock/Sohu
Trending in China

China’s ‘most pampered child’ interred with treasures in lavish coffin 1,400 years ago

Though no portraits exist, reconstructions portray her as a noble young girl with twin circular hair buns, delicate, porcelain-like complexion.

A Sui dynasty girl, remembered as China’s “most pampered child”, died at just nine years of age and was interred in a palace-like stone coffin. Photo: SCMP composite/Baidu/Xian Beilin Museum
Lessons from China's 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.

History

Inside the 14k, the Hong Kong triad that went global

From its roots in mainland China to expansion in Hong Kong and beyond, we look at the history of one of the most notorious triad societies.

Trending in China

Chinese New Year bamboo greeting cards date back over 2,000 years to Han dynasty

Sending festive messages in ancient times took time and often servants would deliver ‘flying letters’ from their masters to remote friends.

Chinese New Year greeting cards date back over 2,000 years to the Han dynasty. They were initially made of bamboo and later paper. Photo: SCMP composite/Sohu/Weibo
Chinese culture

As I see it | How ancient Chinese philosophers make sense of modern headaches

Scholar Daniel A. Bell has written an entertaining new book, exposing a new generation to ancient Chinese wisdom on the issues of our day.

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A Confucius statue in Nanjing, Jiangsu province. Confucianism has traditionally been the predominant ideology in Chinese cultural and intellectual contexts, with other philosophical schools usually sidelined. Photo: Shutterstock
Hong Kong society

Over 250 rare Han dynasty relics on display in major Hong Kong showcase

Development chief Bernadette Linn calls exhibition a ‘sequel’ to last year’s Tang dynasty showcase, with 95 per cent of relics shown in city for first time.

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.

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