Book Reviews, History
Jeremiah Jenne
Lin Yutang: My Country, My People

In 1935, the Chinese author Lin Yutang offered Westerners an insider’s guide to China's society. It endures today despite his own cultural contradictions.

Lin Yutang: My Country, My People
Audio, History
Jeremiah Jenne
Is this America's Cultural Revolution Moment?

In this episode of Barbarians at the Gate, Jeremiah and Chris Stewart of The History of China Podcast ask the question, "Is this America's Cultural Revolution moment?"

Is this America's Cultural Revolution Moment?
Contemporary China, Audio
Jeremiah Jenne
Experiencing the World of Jazz in China

Our latest episode explores jazz in China—from its revival in 1980s Beijing to today's talented performers. David Moser discusses how musicians with limited recordings mastered the medium and laid the groundwork for generations of skilled jazz players from China.

Experiencing the World of Jazz in China
History, Travel
Jeremiah Jenne
Phoenicians and Fish Sauce on the Costa del Sol

Jeremiah heads to Malaga where he inexplicably becomes obsessed with the history of an ancient condiment

Phoenicians and Fish Sauce on the Costa del Sol
Book Reviews, History
Jeremiah Jenne
Reginald Johnston: Twilight in the Forbidden ...

A Scotsman’s memoir of tutoring Puyi, China’s “last emperor,” is more than just court gossip — it’s a tantalizing portrait of China’s imperial trappings.

Reginald Johnston: Twilight in the Forbidden City

Contemporary China

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The Party Struggles to Keep Control of its Own History

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The Party Struggles to Keep Control of its Own History

A series of controversial social media posts claim the Party is censoring the past to preserve its legitimacy in the present. Why is the Cultural Revolution such a sensitive topic these days?

Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in 2018: Evan Osnos, American Decline, and the Country of Cats

Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in 2018: Evan Osnos, American Decline, and the Country of Cats

China advances, America retreats. What's really happening in the dance between Xi Jinping and Donald Trump?

The Question of “Chinese Influence”

The Question of “Chinese Influence”

In writing about China, should we be careful not to conflate the Party with the people?

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2017 Year in Review: Beijing's Changing Urban Landscape and a Few Predictions for the Coming Year

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2017 Year in Review: Beijing's Changing Urban Landscape and a Few Predictions for the Coming Year

2017 was a year of change for Beijing, but then again what year since 1421 hasn’t been a year of change for the city?

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Dangerous Benevolence

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Dangerous Benevolence

The Beijing municipal government threatening organizations that assist displaced migrants is bad policy, but official ambivalence toward private charity dates back at least to the imperial era

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The Beijing Migrants Crackdown: A ChinaFile Conversation

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The Beijing Migrants Crackdown: A ChinaFile Conversation

Since mid-November, police and security officials have evicted tens of thousands of migrants from their apartments, and pictures of the newly homeless from all across China sitting outside in the Beijing winter have spread widely on social media. Why did the city government take this step? And what does this mean for the rights of China’s so-called “low-end population”? 

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Voices from the Past: Child Abuse and Suppressed Rumors, Then and Now

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Voices from the Past: Child Abuse and Suppressed Rumors, Then and Now

The case of the RYB Kindergarten scandal is not the first time rumors have overwhelmed official denials in a case involving child abuse in China

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A Tale of Two Tragedies

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A Tale of Two Tragedies

A devastating fire which killed 18 migrant workers in Daxing and a child abuse scandal at a kindergarten in an upscale neighborhood expose the fault lines of economic class in China’s capital

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

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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

New Fronts in the Battle Over Scholarship and Ideology in China

New Fronts in the Battle Over Scholarship and Ideology in China

Angry academics rarely make the news, but this particular tempest quickly exploded the tea cup

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