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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.
Champuru is a representative dish of Okinawa, Japan. Its use of goya, or bitter melon, reveals its Chinese influences. Photo: Getty Images
Food and Drinks

How Okinawan food evolved with Chinese influences to become ‘truly unique’

Long ago, Okinawa was part of the Ryukyu Kingdom, a trade hub linking Japan to Asia. Today, dishes like goya champuru reflect this history.

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Trending in China

Compound Chinese surnames come from historic figures, ancient states; fewer than 100 remain

Lessons from China's history

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

Trending in China

Why ‘dung collector’ was a highly lucrative profession in ancient China

Faeces from wealthy commanded higher price due to superior diet as door-to-door ‘night soil’ gatherers sold human waste to farmers.

In ancient China, the profession of “dung collector” was highly lucrative, with fierce competition to gather “night soil.” Photo: SCMP composite/Baidu/Sohu
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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Trending in China

How emperors and nobles kept warm without quilts during winter in ancient China

While the rich luxuriated using women, dogs, cats to fight off freezing temperatures, the poor slept in manure heaps and death was common.

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Chinese culture

As I see it | How to win friends and influence people in ancient China

Although the ancient text Guiguzi may not be widely read, its contents remain a prescient guide for job interviews, marketing and even diplomacy.

Women, dressed in traditional Chinese outfits, seen in Beijing on January 14, 2026. Photo: AFP
Lessons from China's 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.

Diplomacy

Opinion | What ancient Chinese wisdom can offer a divided world – and the US

Chinese leaders often turn to classical poems, essays and proverbs to explain foreign policy, something US policymakers fail to understand.

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World of performing arts

Chinese opera troupe’s retelling of ancient love story ends with a ‘brilliant’ surprise

At the Hong Kong Arts Festival, the new work ‘Red Wedding Bed’, based on the Liyuan opera classic, retells the tale of Chen San and Wu Niang.

A scene from “Red Wedding Bed”, Fujian Province Liyuan Opera Inheritance Centre’s retelling of the Southern Song dynasty Chinese tale “Chen San and Wu Niang”, but with a different ending. Photo: courtesy of Hong Kong Arts Festival
Lessons from China's 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
Trending in China

Ancient Chinese sentenced to flogging could hire others to take punishment for fee

Brutal centuries-old penal system saw lawbreakers beaten to death with iron-wrapped hammer fitted with barbs.

Trending in China

Jar burials: a glimpse into ancient China’s compassion for infant deaths

New study indicates Neolithic cultures in China may have separated graves of perinatal infants; different treatment than older children.

China society

As I see it | Rescuing a key Confucian text from centuries of ignominy

The release of an authoritative translation of Kongzi Jia Yu finally places a once-suspected forgery among the traditional canon.

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Children read The Analects at a primary school in Hefei, Anhui province, in February 2014. Photo: Xinhua
Lessons from China's 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.

Reza Pahlavi, the exiled former crown prince of Iran, calls for regime change in Iran in Washington in 2026. For years, he has sought to cast himself as a unifying figure for opponents of the Islamic Republic. Photo: EPA
China economy

Editorial | China’s ‘two sessions’ passes smoothly despite global turmoil

As long as China focuses on economic development, Hong Kong can leverage its unique strengths to seize opportunities.

Lessons from China's 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.

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China society

Opinion | Why a TV hit in China about waging peace resonates so deeply

Swords into Ploughshares can tell us a lot about Beijing’s approach to the crisis in Iran, cross-strait relations and this year’s ‘two sessions’.

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Illustration: Craig Stephens
Lessons from China's history

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.

Asia travel

The Chinese city where waffles, watchtowers and world history meet

Guangdong’s ‘hometown of overseas Chinese’ is where architecture and cuisine created by returning émigrés reveal how culture flows both ways.

Lessons from China's 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
Trending in China

China ‘history fangirls’ visit mausoleums, write books, spark heritage tour boost

Devotees of historical figures make pilgrimages to ancient sites to pay tribute, but concerns mount over environmental pollution.

Chinese women are being increasingly drawn to historical figures, visiting their gravesites, writing books and buying related merchandise, revealing emotional dynamics and growing consumer interest in museum economies and historical tourism. Photo: SCMP composite/RedNote
US-China relations

Born in China, raised in US: adoptees explore their identity at Lunar New Year

Growing up Chinese-American has not been easy for LuLu Grant and Phoebe McChesney, both wanting to fit in, while never too far from the past.

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Lessons from China's 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.

Science

How did a prized red gemstone reach the ancient, mysterious Shu kingdom?

The presence of the warm, reddish-orange mineral in the Bronze Age archaeological site of Sanxingdui has long puzzled archaeologists.

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A visitor views the “Ancient Shu Civilisation of the Sanxingdui and Jinsha Sites” exhibition at the National Museum of China in Beijing on January 18. A Chinese team says it has solved some mysteries related to crimson beads found in Sanxingdui. Photo: Xinhua
Crime in China

China’s Nanjing Museum scandal probe uncovers historic mismanagement, corruption

Museum admits to ‘systemic problems’, pledges reform after ‘severe’ damage caused to image of cultural and museum industry.

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Investigators looking into practices at Nanjing Museum in eastern Jiangsu province carried out 1,100 interviews and reviewed 65,000 archival documents. Photo: CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images
Science

How old is Chinese civilisation? A scholar says it really dates back 8,000 years

Leading scholar’s argument stretches the timeline back beyond the widely accepted figure of 5,000 years.

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Lessons from China's 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’.

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