Anyang: China’s Ancient City of Kings

Anyang: China’s Ancient City of Kings is the first major exhibition in the United States dedicated to Anyang, the capital of China’s Shang dynasty (occupied ca. 1250 BCE–ca. 1050 BCE). The source of China’s earliest surviving written records and the birthplace of Chinese archaeology, Anyang holds a special connection with the National Museum of Asian […]

Terracotta Army: The Greatest Archaeological Find of the 20th Century

In March 1974, Chinese farmers digging a well unearthed the greatest archaeological find of the century – the buried Terracotta Army. After coming across a life-sized human head made of clay in Xi’an, China, archaeologists were called in to investigate. What they found was extraordinary. Thousands of life-like terracotta figures from the Qin dynasty, fashioned […]

Qing Dynasty, 1644–1911

The Qing dynasty (1644–1911) was founded by a northeast Asian people who called themselves Manchus. Their history, language, culture, and identity was distinct from the Chinese population, whom they conquered in 1644 when China was weakened by internal rebellions. The Manchus forged alliances with certain Chinese and Mongol groups that aided their conquest of China. […]

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 […]