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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.
Despite burial being the preferred way of final disposition in Chinese tradition, cremation was widespread during China’s Song dynasty, as many families couldn’t afford to bury their dead. Photo: Shutterstock
Chinese culture

Reflections | Cremation was frowned upon in ancient China, so why was it so widespread?

Though seen as barbaric, cremation was a common, practical choice for families in China’s Song dynasty that reflected their economic reality.

Chinese history

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

Chinese culture

As I see it | Why China is always misunderstood and misrepresented

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Chinese 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.

An escort guard working for Tongxinggong Escort Agency, a biaoju that the Qing government trusted to transport large quantities of silver from Beijing to Xian. Photo: Mandarin Mansion
Chinese 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.

Chinese 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.

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Chinese 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
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor

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.

Chinese 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.

Chinese 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.

A statue of Hanuman, the revered monkey god central to the Hindu epic “Ramayana”. In China, he is best known as the mischievous and much-loved Sun Wukong, also known as the Monkey King - a companion to the Buddhist monk Xuanzang on his legendary journey to India and back immortalised in the classic Chinese novel “Journey to the West”. Photo: Shutterstock
Chinese 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’.

A tray of Lunar New Year snacks. Many Chinese communities enjoy the same festive favourites at this time of year, but places such as Singapore and Malaysia also gorge on regional treats shaped by foreign influences and migration. Photo: Getty Images
Chinese history

Reflections | How Chinese new year cards went from elites’ greetings to bribery instruments

Wishing someone a happy new year was a highly formal affair among people of status in imperial China and some cards were even collected.

Chinese history

Reflections | Was Chinese princess sent to marry a Malaysian sultan a real person?

Hang Li Po’s 15th-century marriage allegedly sealed Malacca and China’s friendly relations. Proof of her existence is scant. Does it matter?

Chinese history

Reflections | What a Chinese hero’s fatal love of raw fish warns us about uncooked food

The recent sale of the most expensive tuna in Tokyo reflects sushi’s popularity, but an episode in Chinese history shows raw food’s dangers.

A Kiyomura staff member holds meat from the 243kg bluefin tuna the company recently bought at a Tokyo fish auction for a record US$3.2 million. Photo: Reuters
Chinese history

Reflections | How ancient Chinese dental practices were often similar to those used today

From gargling with medicinal concoctions to chewing sticks, people in China addressed dental health with considerable ingenuity.

Brushing one’s teeth is a basic part of oral hygiene today. Centuries ago, Chinese people used chewing sticks, among other methods, to keep their teeth clean. Photo: Shutterstock
Chinese culture

Reflections | Chinese diners’ preference for warm water is not as ancient as you’d think

The ‘ancient Chinese wisdom’ about warm water being good for you is rooted in 20th-century health campaigns, not aeons of tradition.

China economy

Opinion | As history makes clear, a powerful China is not expansionist

China was an unmatched power in the Song and Ming dynasties, with greater concentrated authority. But it consolidated, rather than colonised.

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History

Reflections | Chinese historical myths that are accepted as fact, and why they’ve endured

Like Singapore’s ‘ejection’ from Malaysia, Chinese history contains fallacies, including ones about Sun Yat-sen and Empress Dowager Cixi.

Sun Yat-sen, widely regarded as the founding father of modern China, is credited with “leading” the 1911 Revolution that overthrew the Qing dynasty, but in fact he was not even in China at the time of the Wuchang Uprising, the trigger of the revolution, and only learned about it afterwards. Photo: Getty Images
Chinese history

Reflections | Malaysia’s unusual creation still affects it today. China mulled doing similar

Malaysia was born as a federation in 1963, with some states considered ‘special’. China also once toyed with federal ideals.

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Labubu

Reflections | Ancient China’s Labubu-like doll craze also saw fans splurge silly money

Mohele dolls featured expensive ‘special editions’, saw designer collaborations and even inspired cosplay, much like Labubus today.

Science

US green tech retreat echoes mistake of China’s Qing dynasty before collapse

While Washington pulls back on climate, Beijing is making it possible for developing nations to leapfrog into a cleaner energy era.

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Illustration: Henry Wong
Chinese history

Reflections | In wake of Tai Po blaze, China’s long and difficult struggle fighting fire

The qualities that made buildings beautiful in premodern Chinese cities also made them dangerously flammable, and fire was a constant threat.

Residential buildings in Tai Po’s Wang Fuk Court burn on November 26, 2025. Hong Kong’s recent tragedy is a grim reminder of the enduring menace fires have posed throughout Chinese history. Photo: Sam Tsang
Chinese history

Reflections | ‘Mar-a-Lago faces’ echo Chinese elites’ unhealthy attempts to please a king

King Ling of Chu’s preference for his officials to be thin-waisted saw them practically starve themselves in efforts to win royal approval.

Chinese history

Reflections | From slapping body parts to National Games, China’s history of exercise

Used to train soldiers long before its benefits were taught to regular folk, exercise has become a matter of national resilience in China.

Chinese culture

Shameful period? How China’s Qing dynasty brought both wealth and humiliation

China’s final dynasty saw the arts and economy thrive under Manchu rule. But internal and external struggles corroded centuries of stability.

The Qianlong Emperor was the fifth emperor of China’s Qing dynasty, reigning from 1735-1796. Under the Manchus, China’s final dynasty was marked by flourishing arts and economic growth. But in 1912, the imperial system that had survived for centuries collapsed as the country entered the modern era.
Chinese history

Reflections | Andrew’s loss of ‘prince’ title echoes the downfall of China’s past royals

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s fall from prince to commoner mirrors how many disgraced royals in imperial China also lost their titles.

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Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor at the coronation ceremony of King Charles and Queen Camilla, in London, in May 2023. Last month, Charles moved to strip Andrew of his princely title entirely. Photo: Reuters
Chinese history

Reflections | How Asean differs from the alliances of China’s Warring States Period

Asean’s consensus-driven approach, based on non-aggression, generally fosters regional peace, unlike the factious alliances in China’s past.

Chinese history

Reflections | How Trump’s new ballroom echoes the grand monuments of China’s emperors

Many monuments built by the emperors of old were architectural marvels and stunning spectacles of power, but perilous in consequence.

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