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History

History
The latest news, analysis and opinion on History. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.
Late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping was among the many Chinese students who studied in Montargis in the early 20th century
China’s Communist Party

Video | How a rural French town became the cradle of Chinese communism

Late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping was among the many Chinese students who studied in Montargis in the early 20th century.

Chinese culture

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

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

‘Ping on bao’ are both happily eaten and the focus of the festival’s famous bun scrambling competition. One baker explains how he makes them.

An employee of Kwok Kam Kee, a bakery on Hong Kong’s Cheung Chau island, prepares traditional ping on bao, or “peace buns”, ahead of the annual Cheung Chau Bun Festival. Photo: Yik Yeung-man
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.

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.

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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.

The pre-Chinese New Year rush at the Kowloon-Canton Railway terminal in Hung Hom, in 1978. Photo: SCMP Archives
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.

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.

An elderly woman washes clothes the old-fashioned way in a river in Fenghuang Ancient Town in China’s Hunan province. Before the advent of washing machines and chemical detergents, laundry was a labour-intensive affair shaped by local environments and available materials, with clothes typically washed in rivers or streams. Photo: Shutterstock
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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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.

All Panerai watches owe a debt to the brand’s past as a trusted supplier of watches to the Italian Navy. Even to this day, all the brand’s watches – including the urbane Luminor model – are mechanical. Photo: Handout
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.

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.

Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir, the royal ruler of Negeri Sembilan, speaks during the opening of the Negeri Sembilan state assembly in Seremban, Malaysia, on April 23, 2026. Photo: YouTube
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.

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.

A British visitor attends a tour of the Old Protestant Cemetery in Penang, Malaysia. Photo: Ushar Daniele
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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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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Ben Affleck in a still from Pearl Harbor (2001). Directed by Michael Bay and co-starring Josh Hartnett and Kate Beckinsale, the film made US$450 million at the worldwide box office. Photo: AP
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.

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.

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