Why is a Chinese name wrongly transliterated in Hanyu Pinyin? A Chinese name is in three characters: surname and two characters for the given name.…
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Month: August 2025
A Father’s Journey that Influenced a Nation
The Life of Xi Zhong Xun by Joseph Torigian (2025) is a very interesting biography of one of the key lieutenants of Mao. He also…
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Mao and the Dilemmas of Victory
In March 1949, Mao left for Beiping, where last-minute peace negotiations were taking place between the Communists and the Nanjing regime. He told Zhou Enlai,…
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Zhao and the “Liberation” of Tibet
In Dilemmas of Victory (hardcopy 2007), Chen Jian, who wrote the chapter The Chinese Communist ‘Liberation’ of Tibet, mentioned very briefly the role played by…
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Beijing Record
Beijing Record: A Physical and Political History of Planning Modern Beijing by Wang Jun (2003 Mandarin, 2011 English) is a mundane title used to hide…
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The Dilemmas of Victory
It is easier to conquer a country than to rule it. Napoleon learned it the hard way after he conquered vast stretches of Russia. The…
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The Dalai Lama and the Emperor of China
The Dalai Lama and the Emperor of China: A Political History of the Tibetan Institution of Reincarnation (2015) by Peter Schwieger is a study of…
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The Dalai Lama
The current 14th Dalai Lama reached the age of 90 this 6 July 2025. He is also known as Kundun. In the Tibetan language, “Kundun”…
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The Northern Wei
The Northern Wei dynasty, like the Sui dynasty, may be short-lived, but its achievements endure far beyond the end of its dynasty. The Sui reunited…
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Woodblock: From Print to Art
Woodblock printing originated in China in the Tang dynasty and spread to Japan. So why did it become more culturally prominent and enduring in Japan?…
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