Building Notre Dame in Beijing
Chinese church architecture progressed from initial setbacks to reflect a two-way transfer of design and building techniques as East met West.
On The Fragility of Our Knowledge Base
Historian Glenn D. Tieffert shows how state interests in the People’s Republic of China can be protected by editing online databases and collections.
Industrial Policy via Women’s Magazines
In the early 1900s, women’s magazines helped both women and men grapple with China’s fast-changing world of technology and industrial activity.
Writing a “Different Type of Chinese” into Being
The Western-educated Straits Chinese elite of colonial Malaya were among the first writers to produce a local literature in the English language.
A Tibetan Christmas
The story of Cizhong’s Catholic holiday festival began when French missionaries arrived in northwest Yunnan with plans to spread their faith across Tibet.
The Supernatural Horses That Fascinated Chinese Emperors
In the second century BCE, Han Dynasty Emperor Wu so desired a herd of “blood-sweating” horses from Central Asia that he was willing to wage war over them.
What’s so Chinese About Science Fiction from China?
Commentators have latched onto science fiction to explain all manner of social phenomena in China, from unemployment and the economy to air pollution.
Inventing Silk Roads
The idea of a Silk Road, though it conjures up visions of exotic goods passing between Asia and Europe via ancient trade routes, is a thoroughly modern one.
Writing Online Fiction in China
Many amateur “fan fiction” writers on the Chinese internet use real history as a canvas for time-travel stories that often break the fourth wall.
Taiping: China’s Nineteenth-Century Civil War
Partially coinciding with the American Civil War, the Taiping “Rebellion” in China was one of the most destructive conflicts in history.