History

The Secret Sexual Life of Zhou Enlai and the Limits of Historical Knowledge

The Secret Sexual Life of Zhou Enlai and the Limits of Historical Knowledge

Retroactively outing a historical figure remains problematic, not because of the sex — Zhou Enlai may well have had erotic relations with other men — but because such studies are often methodologically flawed.

Out of Autocracy, Off the Shelves

Out of Autocracy, Off the Shelves

It is an unfortunate axiom of publishing in China that the best way for your book to gain international attention is to have the Chinese government make it unavailable to domestic readers. 

The Perils of Advising the Empire: Yuan Shikai and Frank Goodnow

The Perils of Advising the Empire: Yuan Shikai and Frank Goodnow

A century ago this month, Yuan Shikai, President of the Republic of China, ended a three-year-old experiment in republican government by announcing his decision to take the throne and rule as emperor.

Send Lawyers, Guns, and Money: A Short History of the Opium War

Send Lawyers, Guns, and Money: A Short History of the Opium War

A four-part history of the Opium War (1840-1842) for The World of Chinese Magazine.

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!

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.”