There are three famous Buddhist grottoes in China, dating back to the dynastic era. In chronological order, you have the Mogao Caves [4th century AD],…
View More Shanxi – Part 1Category: Uncategorized
Gunboat Justice v Soft Power
Douglas Clark’s magnum opus 3-volume history of Britain and American Law Courts in China and Japan is an exploration of gunboat hard power and the…
View More Gunboat Justice v Soft PowerThe King James Bible and King James I – Part 5
Rereading these books, which I bought and read in 2011 for the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible, due to my…
View More The King James Bible and King James I – Part 5King James I of England and VI of Scotland – Part 4
James I hated the Geneva Bible. He agreed to a new English translation on the condition that it must spread the idea of divine rule…
View More King James I of England and VI of Scotland – Part 4King James I of England and VI of Scotland – Part 3
The King James Bible translation came about because the Puritans called for a new translation during the 2nd day of the Hampton Court Conference on…
View More King James I of England and VI of Scotland – Part 3Temple of Heaven in Peking – Part 1
Most people, when visiting Peking, mistake an exquisite building with a pointed roof on top of three levels of blue-glazed tiles, built on a three-level…
View More Temple of Heaven in Peking – Part 1The Tiananmen Papers – Part 3
The Tiananmen Papers are fake documents. So asserts Alfred L Chan, [author of Xi Jin Ping, HC 2022 ed] [see p 277 Deng Xiao Ping…
View More The Tiananmen Papers – Part 3The Question of Palestine – Part 1
This was a seminal book when it first came out in 1979. More so, as its author is the well-known intellectual Edward W. Said. In…
View More The Question of Palestine – Part 1Coffee, Books & Literary Treasures
Two indie bookstores in KL have started and, thankfully, thrived over the past few years. Tintabudi in Plaza TTDI specialises in Islamic history and culture…
View More Coffee, Books & Literary TreasuresThe Tiananmen Papers – Part 2
Are the Tiananmen Papers fake? Ezra F. Vogel, in his monumental Deng Xiao Ping and the Transformation of China [2011], has the best discussion. He…
View More The Tiananmen Papers – Part 2