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 Exclusion: Celebrating the Workers Who Helped Build the Transcontinental Railway

Chinese Exclusion: Celebrating the Workers Who Helped Build the Transcontinental Railway

150 years ago this month, one of the most famous photographs in American history commemorated the completion of the transcontinental railway. But where are the Chinese workers who played a key role in building the railroad?

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

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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 Battle of Yamen and the End of the Song Dynasty

The Battle of Yamen and the End of the Song Dynasty

As ships sank and the sea off the coast of Guangdong filled with corpses, the Mongol ships approached the vessel carrying Zhao Shi and his court. According to legend, rather than hand the boy over to the enemy, Lu Xiufu, a prime minister in Zhao Shi’s court, grabbed the young ruler and jumped into the sea drowning them both.

Meet the Great Chinese Women Your History Teacher Forgot to Mention

Meet the Great Chinese Women Your History Teacher Forgot to Mention

If we are to celebrate famous women in Chinese history, I think it’s time we expanded the list beyond the standard starting five (Wu Zetian, the Pirate Queen Ching Shih/Zheng Yi Sao, Ban Zhao, Hua Mulan, and Pick-Your-Favorite Soong sister).

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China’s competing legacies on show at National Palace Museums in Beijing and Taipei

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China’s competing legacies on show at National Palace Museums in Beijing and Taipei

  • The mid-century scramble to stop priceless art and artefacts falling into the wrong hands saw country’s collection of imperial artefacts splinter

  • Nationalists transported their treasures to Taiwan, while newly minted People’s Republic allowed Forbidden City to preserve posterity

Swine Fever: Celebrating Chinese History’s Most Famous Pigs

Swine Fever: Celebrating Chinese History’s Most Famous Pigs

What do Hillary Clinton, Chinese Admiral Zheng He, Amy Winehouse, and Chiang Kai-shek have in common? They are all pigs.

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China’s Struggles to Reconcile Church and State are Rooted in History

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China’s Struggles to Reconcile Church and State are Rooted in History

It’s not an easy time to be Christian, Muslim, or Jewish in China. Universalist religions are under attack in the PRC.

China’s Ghostwriter: The True Story Behind Jackie Chan’s New Movie “Knight of Shadows”

China’s Ghostwriter: The True Story Behind Jackie Chan’s New Movie “Knight of Shadows”

Qing dynasty writer Pu Songling gets the big screen treatment next month with Jackie Chan in the lead role. But who was the Qing era's most famous "ghost writer"?

The “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” Guide to 40 Years of Reform and Opening

The “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” Guide to 40 Years of Reform and Opening

What can the beloved (if warped) Christmas classic “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” teach us about China’s Reform and Opening Era?

The Chinese Doctor Who Beat the Plague

The Chinese Doctor Who Beat the Plague

In October 1910, a mysterious illness appeared in the city of Manzhouli, on the Russian and Chinese border. Meet the doctor who stopped a deadly epidemic from spreading to the rest of Asia and possibly beyond.

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Did Chinese Architect Liang Sicheng Save the Historic Sites of Kyoto?

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Did Chinese Architect Liang Sicheng Save the Historic Sites of Kyoto?

Walk down any street in Kyoto and chances are you'll run into an old temple. Did Chinese architect and preservationist save the city from being destroyed in World War II?

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Xi’s Gotta Have It: Rewriting the History of the Reform and Opening Era at the National Museum

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Xi’s Gotta Have It: Rewriting the History of the Reform and Opening Era at the National Museum

Feckless sycophants at the National Museum have taken the Reform and Opening period, one of the most significant moments in Modern Chinese history, and turned it into the equivalent of a Xi Jinping dick pic.

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Pence Peeves Peking, MoFA Mocks Mike

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Pence Peeves Peking, MoFA Mocks Mike

A speech by US Vice President Mike Pence earlier this month seemed to signal a tougher line against China. The two countries have a long complicated relationship but is Beijing correct when it accuses Pence of distorting history?

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