The Myth and Reality of Glass in Ancient China For centuries before the Song Dynasty (960–1279), Chinese elites viewed glass […]
Ancient Origins: The Divergent Paths of Silk and Glass The story of silk and glass reveals how similar materials took […]
The Ancient Origins of Silk and Its Sacred Status For over two millennia, silk stood as one of China’s most […]
Debunking the Myth of Chinese Secrecy For centuries, a persistent myth has claimed that China guarded the secrets of sericulture—the […]
The Origins of Transcontinental Luxury Trade Long before globalization became a modern phenomenon, the ancient world witnessed a remarkable exchange […]
The Mythic Origins of Silk and Glass The ancient world spun elaborate myths to explain the origins of precious materials. […]
The Mythic Origins of Silk and Glass The ancient world spun elaborate myths to explain the origins of precious materials. […]
From the Silk Road to the Crystal Palace Long before the 1851 Great Exhibition in London showcased “荣记湖丝” (Rongji Huzhou […]
The Curious Case of “East-West” in Chinese In Chinese, the term for “things” or “objects” is dongxi (东西), literally meaning […]
The Gathering Storm: Prelude to Conflict The late 19th century was a period of imperial decline for China’s Qing Dynasty, […]
The Scramble for China and French Ambitions in the Southwest The late 19th century witnessed Western powers carving spheres of […]
The Fragmented Frontier: Xinjiang in the Mid-19th Century By the 1860s, China’s Qing Dynasty faced mounting crises, including the Taiping […]
The Historical Crossroads of Jinjibao Nestled near the golden-hued Jinji Mountain in what is now Ningxia, the fortress of Jinjibao […]
The Birth of a Peasant Resistance Movement In the mid-Qing Dynasty, the impoverished rural regions of Huaibei—spanning modern Henan, Anhui, […]
A Peaceful Mountain Hamlet Faces Imperial Storm Nestled in the forested hills near Beijing, the picturesque village of Xie had […]
The Powder Keg of Imperial Ambitions The mid-19th century marked a turbulent era for Qing China as Western powers, unsatisfied […]
The Taiping Rebellion at a Crossroads By the summer of 1856, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom appeared unstoppable. After three years […]
The Collapse of Imperial China and Rise of Revolutionary Fervor By the mid-19th century, China’s feudal society under the Qing […]
The Yangtze Delta: China’s Economic Lifeline Under Threat In September 1841, British military planners devised an audacious strategy to force […]
The Opium War and the Fall of Guangzhou The mid-19th century marked a dark chapter in Qing China’s history as […]
The Rise of Western Imperialism and China’s Isolation The 17th and 18th centuries marked a transformative era in global history […]
The Rise of the Qing Dynasty and the Challenge of Colonial Powers In the 17th century, the Manchus emerged from […]
