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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.
In ancient China, gossip spread through ambitious students spying on the nobility and teahouse storytellers sharing tales. Photo: SCMP composite/Baidu
Trending in China

How gossip spread in ancient China before newspapers reported on scandals

From eavesdroppers in teahouses to ‘inner informants’ in royal palaces, scandal merchants peddled stories of adultery and divorce.

Belt and Road Initiative

Open Questions | China always a connector, never a coloniser, author says

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Chinese culture

Opinion | Chinese youth are embracing Ching Ming with cultural confidence

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Trending in China

Ancient China lavish toilet routines: nobles used silk, Empress Cixi had 28 maids

During the Qing dynasty (1644–1912), public toilets charged usage fees, and some even featured novels and advertisements to attract patrons.

In ancient China, commoners used scrap paper for toilet hygiene while nobles opted for silk. Photo: SCMP composite/Baidu
Trending in China

Women sumo wrestling was popular in ancient China until rise of Confucian ethics

Grappling partially clothed, sometimes naked, women drew large crowds, emperors but complaints from conservative officials led to sport’s demise.

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

From celebrities to ordinary folk, millions of Chinese have such family names, which are considered rare and precious.

In China, compound surnames are rare and valued. Once over a thousand existed, but now fewer than a hundred remain. Photo: SCMP composite/Shutterstock
Lessons from China's 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.

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.

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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A man walks past a large sculpture of the Communist Party flag at the Chinese Communist Party History Exhibition in Beijing, on March 1. Photo: AP
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.

In ancient China where winters were harsh without electricity or down quilts, emperors had foot-warming maids and nobles kept domestic cats and dogs for warmth. Photo: Zhihu
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.

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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Illustration: Craig Stephens
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.

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.

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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.

Recent research suggested that ancient jar burials in China were primarily for newborns, stillborns, or miscarriages, as most infants did not survive to be breastfed. Photo: SCMP composite/Baidu/sciencedirect
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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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.

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.

Delegates chat after the second plenary meeting of the Fourth Session of the 14th National People’s Congress in Beijing on March 9. Photo: EPA
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.

Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan attends the 57th Asean Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Vientiane, Laos, on July 27, 2024. Balakrishnan said in a recent interview that Singapore’s response to ongoing geopolitical tensions would be to engage all major powers constructively, widen networks among middle powers and deepen ties with immediate neighbours, among other measures. Photo: Reuters
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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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.

The Tower of Heavenly Success with the Tan River in the background, in Majianglong, Taishan. Photo: Graeme Kennedy
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.

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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