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

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Audio: Lakes and canals of historic Haidian

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Audio: Lakes and canals of historic Haidian

My conversation with Bruce Connolly of Radio Beijing AM774 on the Summer Palaces and the the waterways of imperial Beijing.

The Barbarian and the Babe

The Barbarian and the Babe

The story of An Lushan has been told so many times that it qualifies as Tang Dynasty slash fic. There is the aging emperor, his sensual concubine, and the exotic foreign warrior who comes between them. But this story is far more Byzantine than an 8th-century love triangle gone horribly sideways.

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

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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.

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