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History

History
The latest news, analysis and opinion on History. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.
One of the most powerful female figures in Chinese history, Wan Zhen’er rose from child servant to Emperor Chenghua’s beloved consort. Photo: Baidu
Chinese culture

The dark story of Consort Wan, 17 years older than the emperor who loved her

Wan Zhen’er became a beloved consort of Emperor Chenghua against all conventions, but records indicate a pernicious side to her tale.

Lessons from China's history

Reflections | The earliest Chinese irons date back over 2,000 years. Here’s how they evolved

Chinese culture

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

Science

Can China team’s Greek dig unveil an untold truth in ancient world history?

A joint archaeological project between Greece’s culture ministry and a Chinese team of researchers is breaking new ground.

The Aetolia-Acarnania region in Greece held particular significance during the Hellenistic period when there were extensive cultural exchanges across Eurasia. Photo: Wikipedia
Art

How Asian artists at the 2026 Venice Biennale are making their voices heard

Using everything from baby dolls to tapestries, Asian artists’ perspectives are strongly reflected in a number of memorable exhibitions.

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.

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Jewellery

Why brands are adding bejewelled cufflinks to their menswear repertoires

Maisons including Dior, Graff, Tiffany & Co. and Cartier are crafting them in gold and adding diamonds and pearls.

Jacob Elordi wore black tie complete with cufflinks to the Oscars on March 15. Photo: EPA
Indonesia

Indonesia’s oil hub pitch collides with Asean’s trust deficit

Joint energy security is easy to endorse in principle, yet the bloc has a stubborn record of leaving its emergency frameworks untouched.

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.

Mainland China

Opinion | The West was never the whole world. It’s time to move on

As Asia reclaims its roots, the burden of reinvention now falls on the West. Its brief era of supremacy was a historical aberration.

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People walk past a television screen in Beijing broadcasting US President Donald Trump’s visit to China on Thursday. Photo: EPA
US-China relations

As I see it | Beijing had already won before the Trump-Xi summit even started

There’s a lesson for the US president in Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in the early 19th century.

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US President Donald Trump (bottom right) shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping upon arriving at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on May 14. Photo: Reuters
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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Style Edit

Style Edit: Emmanuel Perrin, Panerai CEO, on its watches’ maritime heritage

The brand has long worked with the Italian Navy – resulting in ‘big, tough, functional watches’ that appeal to Sylvester Stallone and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson.

Japan

Japan-South Korea ‘comfort women’ row stoked by statues abroad

The removal of wartime sex slave memorials in Germany and New Zealand has electrified certain LDP hardliners, risking a diplomatic rift.

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A former South Korean “comfort woman” holds the hand of a statue symbolising Japan’s wartime sex slaves in Seoul in 2021. Photo: Reuters
Art

Photographer’s snaps of 1970s Hong Kong given life by grandson 5 decades on

Jack Smith’s ‘Streets of Neon’ collection features five ‘extremely personal’ photos his grandad took of a Hong Kong that no longer exists.

A photo taken by Herbert Smith during his 1979 trip to Hong Kong titled “Painting in Neon (1979)”. It is among the five pictures featured in his grandson Jack Smith’s limited-time print collection “Streets of Neon: Hong Kong 1979”, in which the London-based archivist shares his grandfather’s adventures with the world five decades on. Photo: Herbert Smith
Russia

Putin criticises Nato at Victory Day parade in Moscow

At this year’s event, marking WWII victory, troops were told that in Ukraine they face ‘an aggressive force’ armed by the military alliance.

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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.

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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
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.

Malaysia

Penang’s cemetery tours spur interest in pioneers, colonial history

While the state receives millions in conservation funding, it faces challenges in preserving the Protestant cemetery due to its climate.

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.

The ancient Chinese believed that the ideal sleep schedule followed nature’s rhythms, and rising early was prized. Photo: Shutterstock
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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American cinema

Pearl Harbor at 25: is Michael Bay’s World War II epic really that bad?

Pearl Harbor was widely panned upon release in 2001 but with its strong cast and characters and explosive action, is it worth reassessing?

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Australia

Riot erupts over Australian indigenous girl’s suspected killer

About 400 indigenous people gathered at the hospital where ‌the suspect was taken after being beaten unconscious by locals.

A police vehicle burns as community members clash with authorities outside Alice Springs Hospital in Australia on Thursday. Photo: EPA
Hong Kong culture

On This Day | In 1946, Hong Kong’s governor Sir Mark Young returns after WWII – SCMP archive

On this day 80 years ago, Sir Mark Young returned to Hong Kong after being a prisoner of war during the Japanese occupation.

Sir Mark Young (left) in an undated picture. He was serving as Hong Kong’s governor when the territory fell under Japanese occupation in 1941. Photo: SCMP Archive
Australia

Australian police find body in search for missing indigenous girl

The girl was reported missing from her home in a remote community in central Australia on Saturday.

New Zealand

New Zealand officials reject statue remembering Japan’s WWII sex slaves

The government said feedback for the statue application included formal representations from Japan.

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