Mao the scholar
Most people are under the impression that Mao is a coarse and illiterate leader, perhaps because of his round and big Hunan facial features. That…
The Yellow River
The Yellow River changed course drastically in 1855 during the Qing Dynasty’s Xianfeng reign. From Kaifeng, it used to flow southeast (from 1194 to 1855)…
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A Retrospective Study: The Three Kingdoms (Part 8)
Written on 4 Jan 2011 and reproduced below. Lwh, Tuesday, 12 August 2025 Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2011 06:12:13 Subject: Re: San Guo (part 8)…
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A Retrospective Study: The Three Kingdoms (Part 7)
Written on 31 Dec 2010, reproduced below. LWH, Sunday 10 pm, 10 August 2025 Re: San Guo (part 7) Sent: Dec 31, 2010 11:33 AM…
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Imperial China – Part 1
The stability of the Chinese civilisation pre-1900 compared to the instability of European civilisation in the same period is striking. In Europe, there were constant…
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A Classic That Goes Beyond Swords and Strategy
The Three Kingdoms—why is this historical novel a must-read? The short but succinct introduction in the Graham Brash, Singapore edition (1985) of the 1925 Shanghai…
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A Retrospective Study: The Three Kingdoms (Part 6)
Written on 30 Dec 2010, reproduced below. LWH, Sunday 6 am, 10 August 2025 Subject: Re: San Guo (Part 6) Sent: Dec 30, 2010 7:51…
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The Chinese Experience
The Chinese Experience by Raymond Dawson is an old book. Written and published in 1978 by an Oxford lecturer in Chinese history, it is an…
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No Dogs And Not Many Chinese
“No dogs and Chinese—” Does such a sign exist outside park and residential areas reserved for Westerners in the treaty port of Shanghai? In 1793,…
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Tibetan Buddhists in the Making of Modern China – Part 1
This book by Gray Tuttle (hardcover 2005), a professor of Tibetan studies at Columbia University, argues that the West has wrongly portrayed the relations between…
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Under the Malaccan Sun
A mother’s love knows no bounds. Under the Malaccan Sun: A Malaysian Childhood by CP Bok (published 2025) will appeal to readers who grew up…
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