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

History

Chinese Academy of Social Sciences throwing shade at The New Qing History

Chinese Academy of Social Sciences throwing shade at The New Qing History

Why did the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences launch an attack on Qing historians Mark Elliott, James Millward, and Pamela Crossley? It seems they had the temerity to challenge long-cherished tropes of Qing history, and that Just! Won't! Do!

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Historical Responsibility: The Yasukuni Shrine and Mao Zedong

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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.”

On an Island

On an Island

While there will be considerable fanfare today commemorating the 15th anniversary of the British handover of Hong Kong to the PRC, it’s worth noting that this is also an important anniversary year in the history of another island.  2012 marks 350 years since Zheng Chenggong (better known outside China as ‘Koxinga’) landed on Taiwan and forced a Dutch garrison to surrender control of the island to Zheng and his family.

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. 

Envy and Antipathy: Chinese historical attitudes toward Japan

Envy and Antipathy: Chinese historical attitudes toward Japan

It’s tempting to reduce the history of Japan/China relations to the horrific events of the Second World War, but the Sino-Japanese relationship goes back much further than that, and has long been characterized by a mixture of envy and antipathy.

Lessons from China's Revolution, 100 years later

Lessons from China's Revolution, 100 years later

While this might sound less like a turning point in Chinese history and more like the plot of a really bad Jack Black/Jet Li buddy comedy, the Wuchang uprising succeeded and memories of the 1911 Revolution continue to inform how China understands political change.

The Burning of the Yuanmingyuan: 150 Years Later

The Burning of the Yuanmingyuan: 150 Years Later

The multiplicity of meanings associated with the Yuanmingyuan (The Old Summer Palace) and the complicated circumstances of its destruction make for fascinating history as well as an opportunity for the CCP's educational minions to leech that history of any real substance -- other than as a crude device to teach 'patriotism.'

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