Mao Zedong

Politics Squared: A Look at Tiananmen Square and the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial

Politics Squared: A Look at Tiananmen Square and the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial

To walk around Tiananmen Square in Beijing or the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial in Taipei is to appreciate the divergent paths these two capitals have taken in the 21st century.

The Party Goes Retro for National Day

The Party Goes Retro for National Day

It’s the National Day Golden Week holiday in China, and Jeremiah muses on competing retro trends with the Party reaching back to the 1980s and reviving “Anti-Bourgeois Liberalization.” Were they inspired by the needless decision to remake Magnum, PI?

What Donald Trump Could Learn About Staff Loyalty from the Ming Dynasty

What Donald Trump Could Learn About Staff Loyalty from the Ming Dynasty

Disloyalty? Treason? The scheming of bureaucratic factions to thwart the ambitions of a mad head of state? The stories being told about the Trump White House by Bob Woodward and the New York Times have nothing on Chinese history

The Politics of Protection: Beijing Makes UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site Bids

The Politics of Protection: Beijing Makes UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site Bids

Beijing authorities have made a bid for 15 landmarks in the Chinese capital to join the list of World Cultural Heritage sites by 2035, a move that’s not without controversy.

Changing the Guard

Changing the Guard

Coverage of China has always been a reflection of our own expectations and hopes, cast onto the tabula rasa of the high walls which surround the palace.

Xi Writes Himself into the Narrative of China’s Modern Rejuvenation

Xi Writes Himself into the Narrative of China’s Modern Rejuvenation

The Developed West ignores the message emerging from the 19th Party Congress at its own peril

Musical Dynasties: A Band-by-Band Guide to Chinese History

Musical Dynasties: A Band-by-Band Guide to Chinese History

Which Chinese dynasty is most like the Sex Pistols? Which rap crew could have soundtracked the Khans? The rogue historian weighs in…

Preserved Architecture, Sustainable Crowds, and Manageable Traffic: The Story of What Beijing Could Have Been

Preserved Architecture, Sustainable Crowds, and Manageable Traffic: The Story of What Beijing Could Have Been

In 1949, two architects' plan for Beijing's future was rejected for being too much in love with the city's past.

Historical Responsibility: The Yasukuni Shrine and Mao Zedong

Historical Responsibility: The Yasukuni Shrine and Mao Zedong

The CCP calling somebody out for being unable to accept historical responsibility is like Chris Brown putting his arm around your shoulder in a club and saying, “Dude, you really need to chill around your lady.”

Zhou Enlai, the Qingming Festival, and the spring demonstrations of 1976

Zhou Enlai, the Qingming Festival, and the spring demonstrations of 1976

Today is Qingming Jie, the annual grave sweeping day, and also the 35th anniversary of the April 5 Τiananmen Incident.  This post, originally published on the anniversary of Zhou Enlai’s death (January 8, 2007), looks at the legacy of Zhou Enlai and how the celebration of Qingming led to a major demonstration and crackdown in the spring of 1976.