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Lessons from China's history

Lessons from China's history
Wee Kek Koon draws parallels between current events and trends and episodes and attitudes in China’s past.
The ruler who we now refer to as the Kangxi Emperor was born Aisin Gioro Xuanye. Photo: Getty Images
Religion

Reflections | Like popes, China’s emperors went by titles that reflected their legacy

How Chinese emperors’ titles, like papal ones, reflected their legacies and why their birth names were considered taboo during their reigns.

History

Reflections | How China’s first modern elections bred a wave of politically active people

Chinese overseas

Reflections | How Chinese family ties have evolved, from Confucian lines to today

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History

Recap | China’s religious history features many faiths and a cult that started a war

Traditional Asian beliefs and Abrahamic religions have existed in China for centuries, columnist Wee Kek Koon looks at their impact.

A drawing of Hong Xiuquan, a Hakka Chinese who claimed to be the brother of Jesus and led the Taiping Rebellion against China’s Qing dynasty. Its brutal suppression by imperial troops left 20 to 30 million people dead. Photo: Getty Images
Chinese culture

Reflections | What China’s shift from feudalism can teach about today’s political climate

China’s first emperor ended 800 years of feudalism, then the imperial system was replaced in 1912. Political shifts are a constant of history.

Chinese culture

Reflections | The ancient Chinese general whose calm during surgery is still told of today

Worshipped by many Chinese, Lord Guan so personified the virtues of courage and loyalty that he was deified after his death.

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Transport and logistics

Reflections | How ancient China’s standardised vehicle ‘specs’ transformed the country

Besides the Qin dynasty’s standardisations pertaining to Chinese writing and currency, equally significant was that of carriages’ axle width.

An engraving depicts an early Chinese horse-drawn carriage from the 18th century. More than 2,000 years ago, the Qin dynasty introduced the “standardised axle width”, which played a vital role in shaping ancient China’s military strength, administrative efficiency and cultural integration. Photo: Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Earthquakes

Reflections | Why did ancient Chinese see earthquakes as messages from the heavens?

In ancient China, tremors were seen as cosmic warnings of misrule. China was also more advanced than the rest of the world at detecting them.

Ageing society

Reflections | Let old people earn our respect. They do not have a divine right to it

Asians in particular are conditioned to show older people deference, but I beg to differ. They should show themselves worthy of our respect.

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Commodities

Reflections | Ancient China’s cooking oil revolution and how it brought us stir-fry

When vegetable fats, especially sesame oil, replaced tallow and lard 1,500 years ago in China, people were able to ‘fry everything’, and did.

The advent of vegetable oils in ancient China sparked a stir-fry revolution. Photo: Shutterstock
Donald Trump

Reflections | After Trump decree, how China and Singapore’s official languages came to be

China did not have an official language in the modern sense before the 20th century, while Singapore’s is different to its national language.

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order in March making English the official language of the country. Photo: AFP
Books and literature

Reflections | US conservatives ban books. In ancient China such acts didn’t end well

When Chinese emperor Qin Shi Huang banned, then burned books it caused a loss of knowledge for all of humanity. Now book bans are back.

Wellness

Reflections | Why a Chinese ruler ordered people put to death for drinking

The legacy of a psychotic Chinese king who flew into murderous rages when drunk led his successor to decree death for anyone caught drinking.

Food and Drinks

Reflections | An ode to pandan, seen in Singaporean chiffon cake and other dishes

Pandan chiffon cake is associated with Singapore, but pandan is popular all over Southeast Asia and seen in various foods and drinks.

Kueh lapis and pandan chiffon cake from Bengawan Solo. Although it is often associated with Singapore, pandan is popular all over Southeast Asia and used in food and drinks across the region. Photo: Zhang Dayu
Donald Trump

Reflections | Nazi salute or no, Elon Musk reminds us of the importance of gestures

Some historical gestures should never be revived. The yi greeting, once common in ancient China, is thankfully not one of them.

Elon Musk gestures as he speaks during the parade in Washington on January 20, 2025 to mark Donald Trump’s inauguration as US president. Musk’s gesture drew comparisons with Nazi salutes. Photo: AFP
Singapore

Reflections | Amid Singapore morning shower debate, how bathing used to be a luxury

A social media post about sweaty commuters sparked intense debate in Singapore, yet in the old days people would go months without a bath.

Asian diaspora

Reflections | Why world doesn’t know about Malaysian and Singaporean food

Malaysia and Singapore are tiny compared to other Southeast Asian countries, let alone China, whose foods are ubiquitous around the world.

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Chinese culture

Reflections | So Chinese New Year prosperity toss salad is unchristian?

A pastor has called the Chinese New Year ritual of shouting good wishes while tossing salad ingredients high in the air ‘superstitious’.

People tossing the ingredients of “yusheng”, or prosperity toss salad, during Chinese New Year, a traditional practice in Malaysia and Singapore for luck and prosperity. Photo: Shutterstock
Weddings

Reflections | Why are Chinese couples so set on Western wedding fashion?

Chinese brides used to wear black, then red, before the Western white gown became ubiquitous. Some push back now and don hanfu bridal wear.

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Chinese history

Reflections | The earliest Chinese lotteries, and a cheating operator’s gruesome death

Various forms of lottery have existed in China for centuries, as have attempts to ban them for reasons like the social problems they induce.

Religion

Reflections | Is God there? Yes, said China’s Confucius, but so what?

Chinese philosopher Kongzi, also known as Confucius, put no faith in deities, preferring to focus on the here and now.

Kongzi, also known as Confucius, preferred to focus on the here and now rather than on deities. Photo: Getty Images
Africa

Reflections | Witch doctor arrests in Zambia and a witchcraft lie that ended a dynasty

An alleged attempt to bewitch a president is a reminder of a plotter’s bogus claim about witchcraft being used against a Chinese emperor.

One of the “villain hitters” who operate under a flyover in Hong Kong performs a ritual. They practise a form of witchcraft, belief in which remains strong in the modern age in many parts of the world, as it has for thousands of years. Photo: Dickson Lee
South Korea

Reflections | Suicide in Korea is a big problem. In China, views were once very different

Events during one period in Chinese history indicate that for many, dying for honour was far more desirable than living a disgraced life.

Joe Biden

Reflections | Hunter Biden pardon, Chinese history give the lie to equality before the law

The idea that no one is above the law was mere aspiration in imperial China. Biden pardoning his son shows it to be so in United States too.

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History

Recap | Taylor Swift, Elon Musk and Salman Rushdie were foreshadowed in ancient China

Explore connections between Chinese history, current events, and modern celebrities with longtime contributor Wee Kek Koon.

Taylor Swift performs at Singapore’s National Stadium in March. The singer played six concerts in the Lion City as part of The Eras Tour. Photo: Getty Images
History

Reflections | Like Musk for Trump, a benefactor aided rise of China’s first emperor

Political contributions are not new – 2,300 years ago a rich merchant helped the father of China’s first emperor gain power, and his son.

Elon Musk with US president-elect Donald Trump. Musk gave US$132 million to help Trump get elected and the Republicans win control of Congress. Political contributions nearly 2,300 years ago helped China’s first emperor assume power. Photo: Reuters/Pool
History

Reflections | China’s Great Wall, and the Malaysian state that wants its own

People from Kelantan in Malaysia go to Thailand for pleasure. Migrants enter the US from Mexico. Why leaders dream of walls to stop them.

Chinese history

Reflections | China has long kept a firm grip on news, with gossip harshly punished

The Yongzheng Emperor even put to death editors and writers linked to a report he had celebrated a festival that he had said he would not.

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