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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.
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
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.

Chinese history

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

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Labubu

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

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.

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.

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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.

新华社照片，广州，2025年11月9日 这是11月9日拍摄的开幕式现场表演。 当日，第十五届全国运动会开幕式在广东奥林匹克体育中心举行。 新华社记者 卢汉欣 摄
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.

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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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.

(From left) Thailand’s Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, from left, East Timor’s Prime Minister Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao and East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta during the 47th Asean summit, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in October 2025. Despite criticisms, Asean’s consensus-driven approach fosters regional peace. Photo: AP
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.

US President Donald Trump’s new White House ballroom, privately funded at an estimated cost of US$250 million, echoes the monuments built by China’s ancient emperors. Photo: The White House
History

Reflections | Like Trump’s Time photo, Chinese emperor’s portraits were often unflattering

The contradictory portraits of Zhu Yuanzhang, one of China’s most controversial rulers, reflect his complex historical image.

Chinese history

Reflections | The small Chinese state that once played peacekeeper like Singapore today

Long ago, the Chinese state of Song repeatedly helped end conflicts between powerful neighbours with a diplomatic heft that belied its size.

Chinese history

Reflections | How ancient Chinese sects have foretold Rapture-like divine ends for millennia

Christian groups prophesise paradisiacal new beginnings today, but similar visions existed throughout imperial Chinese history.

In Christianity, the Rapture refers to Jesus’ return to Earth to guide his followers to heaven before the apocalypse. Photo: TNS
Singapore

Reflections | ‘I shall do harm’: the ancient Chinese traitor who boosted his country’s enemy

Zhonghang Yue’s reforming of Xiongnu puts the negative attitude often seen towards Malaysians-turned-Singaporeans into perspective.

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Xiongnu nomads were considered “barbarians” by many Han Chinese. After Chinese palace eunuch Zhonghang Yue was forced to visit the warlike state, he became a valued advisor to its people, much improving the state’s productivity and self-governance, and remained there until his death. Photo: Weibo

Reflections | How the lion became a symbol of Chinese identity and cultural exchange

From homes to temples, lion figures are ubiquitous in China. Why is an animal that has never lived in the wild there so culturally relevant?

Chinese culture

How China’s earliest 3 dynasties shaped its society and culture

From 2070BC to 256BC, the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties paved the way for Chinese society with Taoism, written language, music and more.

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Mainland China

Reflections | China’s ‘durian express’ recalls emperor’s efforts to sate consort’s cravings

New system to get durians to northern China faster reminds of how lychees were rushed to Emperor Xuanzong’s favourite consort at great cost.

Durian is native to Southeast Asia, but China is now the world’s biggest market for the “king of fruits”. Its new “durian express” system will transport more of the fruits to northern China faster. Photo: Getty Images
Donald Trump

Reflections | Like Trump’s US, imperial China used to have a Ministry of War

For centuries, the ‘Three Departments, Six Ministries’ system, which included a Ministry of War, was at the heart of China’s governance.

Chinese history

Reflections | After Fan Bingbing’s Malaysia award, a history of Chinese official honours

Honorary titles have existed in China for millennia, and apart from a rejection of such notions in the 20th century, are still awarded.

Shi Yongxin

Reflections | Shaolin Temple scandal would have led to far harsher reactions in China’s past

The resolution of the temple’s recent shameful episode is much more civilised than the violent purges of Buddhism in China’s history.

Shi Yongxin (pictured here in 2006), the former abbot of China’s Shaolin Temple, is facing an official investigation for financial and sexual misconduct. China Photos: Getty Images
Chinese culture

Reflections | History of Chinese libraries, from huge palace collections to public spaces

Libraries were the preserve of rulers and officials for much of China’s history, but that started to change at the turn of the 20th century.

Tianyi Pavilion in Ningbo, in China’s Zhejiang province, is one of the world’s oldest libraries still standing. Photo: Edmond So
China-Russia relations

Reflections | A brief history of China-Russia relations, from bitter rivals to close allies

China and Russia have forged a deepening strategic partnership in recent years, but relations between the two have not always been so warm.

Singapore

Reflections | As Singapore marks 60th birthday, how did Chinese dynasties fare at same age?

The Han, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties were some of China’s most prominent. What was happening with them six decades in?

Hong Kong

Reflections | How homosexuality was accepted, even celebrated, in ancient China

Opponents of Hong Kong’s Registration of Same-sex Partnerships Bill cite traditional values, but China has a history of being more accepting.

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A painting depicts male lovers in ancient China. Before the mid-20th century, homosexuality was much more accepted in China than in other parts of the world. Photo: Library of Indiana University
Chinese history

Reflections | My good friend died last week. A classic Chinese poem sums up my feelings

Tang dynasty poet Wang Bo’s poem on friends separated is a bittersweet encapsulation of what I feel towards my recently departed pal.

A statute of Chinese poet Wang Bo. Bo was born into a distinguished family of scholar-officials during the Tang dynasty (618-907) and showed remarkable intelligence from a young age.
Chinese history

Reflections | Ancient Chinese played football? Ball games popular in imperial China

The Chinese started playing early forms of football and polo more than 2,000 years ago, and later games resembling modern golf and bowling.

Chinese history

Reflections | How fortune-telling decided vital affairs of state in ancient China

Predicting the future was serious business during China’s Shang dynasty, when ‘oracle bones’ helped kings make big calls.

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