Painting with Words: Gentleman Artists of the Ming Dynasty

From music to drama, cuisine to garden design, members of the Wu School excelled in all forms of creative expression. Centered on the affluent city of Suzhou and nearby towns, this driving force of Chinese culture during the Ming dynasty (1369–1644) took its name from a kingdom that once ruled the region. Of all their […]

The Cicada in Traditional China

The cicada’s role in Chinese culture is a longstanding and fascinating one. Meanings associated with the insect range from simply indicating the onset of summer to more complex themes, such as rebirth and immortality. The cicada can even represent the pathos of nature, in which we are all prey in the end. In general Chinese […]

A Story of “Gems of Classical Chinese Prose”: How To Employ Politicians?

During the Spring and Autumn Period, Zipi, a senior minister of the Zheng State, wished to appoint his favored general, Yin He, to succeed him in managing state affairs. When another senior official, Zichan, learned of this plan, he advised Zipi against it, believing that Yin He was still too young and lacked experience in […]

Tang Dynasty (618–907), an Introduction

The Tang dynasty (618–907) is considered a golden age in Chinese history. It succeeded the short-lived Sui dynasty (581–618), which reunified China after almost four hundred years of fragmentation. The Tang benefited from the foundations the Sui had laid, and they built a more enduring state on the political and governmental institutions the Sui emperors […]

China’s First Domestic Cats Took the Silk Road 1,400 Years Ago, New Study Finds

Domestic cats first stepped paw in China more than a millennium ago, a new study has found. Their route in? Quite likely, they hitched a ride along the Silk Road. A team of Chinese researchers has conducted a genomic analysis of 22 ancient cat bones gathered from 14 sites across the country, representing China’s largest […]

Smuggling Domesticated Silkworms along the Silk Roads

At some point around AD 600-700, a legend started spreading about a princess who snuck mulberry tree seeds and silkworm eggs into the Buddhist kingdom of Khotan (present-day northwest China). Sericulture, the ancient Chinese technique of silk farming, had been kept a secret for thousands of years. Integral to this technique were silkworms that had […]

Admiral Zheng He’s Voyages to the “West Oceans”

Eighty years before Vasco da Gama’s arrival in West India, a formidable Chinese navy ruled the China Sea and Indian Ocean, from Southeast Asia to the Persian Gulf and East Africa. Between the period from 1405 to 1433, China’s Ming dynasty launched seven voyages led by Admiral Zheng He to explore these vast regions, known […]

10 Fascinating Facts About Chinoiserie

1. Chinoiserie was once the most coveted fashion of the aristocracy During the 17th and 18th centuries, Europeans became fascinated with Asian cultures and traditions. They loved to imitate or evoke Asian motifs in Western art, architecture, landscaping, furniture, and fashion. China seemed a mysterious, far-away place and the lack of first-hand experiences only added […]

Zheng He (1371–1433): China’s Masterful Mariner and Diplomat

Ever since Gavin Menzies, a British retired naval officer, published the fictional story 1421: The Year China Discovered America, fleet admiral and diplomat Zheng He (1371–1433) has enjoyed a sort of revival as the Chinese explorer who might have circumnavigated the Earth before the age of Western exploration. I don’t know whether this is true […]

Painting Anime: Syzygy of the Sun, Moon, and the Five Planets

Painting Anime: Syzygy of the Sun, Moon, and the Five Planets