Life and Afterlife in Ancient China by Jessica Rawson, 2023. I read this book in 2023. Rawson, a former professor at Oxford University, in this…
View More The World Beyond Life in Early China
Tag: Chinese History (Books)
Religions in China—Part 2
Phenomenal growth in Protestantism, Post-Mao Since 1978, Protestantism has been the fastest-growing religion in China. Before 1949, its growth was not impressive by any standards.…
View More Religions in China—Part 2
Religions in China
The state of religions in China post-Mao is a rather opaque area. Two recent books shed some much-needed light. The Souls of China: The Return…
View More Religions in China
The Babas—Part 4
The Baba community is loosely referred to as Peranakan Chinese in Malaysia. The Babas in Malaysia started with immigrant Chinese from China (who, during the…
View More The Babas—Part 4
Sun Yat-sen in Penang
No. 120 Armenian Street is the site of the Sun Yat-sen Museum. This is because the shop here was the Nanyang Headquarters of Sun Yat-sen.…
View More Sun Yat-sen in Penang
Embassies to the Qing court—Part 3
Most people wrongly assume the Macartney Embassy of 1792-94 gave the Western world its first glimpse of the secretive Middle Kingdom. In fact, there were…
View More Embassies to the Qing court—Part 3
Embassies to the Qing court—Part 2
Most people wrongly assume the Macartney Embassy of 1792-94 gave the Western world its first glimpse of the secretive Middle Kingdom. Why? Such an erroneous…
View More Embassies to the Qing court—Part 2
Embassies to the Qing court—Part 1
Most people are familiar with the Macartney Embassy of 1792-94 for two reasons. First, the response by Emperor Qianlong to the British request to open…
View More Embassies to the Qing court—Part 1
Invented in China
Francis Bacon said the three greatest inventions are paper and printing, gunpowder, and the magnetic compass. All three were invented in China by the Chinese.…
View More Invented in China
The Jesuit in the Ming Court—Part 3
The Jesuits from 1579 to 1724 mounted a sustained mission to spread Christianity to China during the reign of the Ming Wanli emperor (1563-1620) to…
View More The Jesuit in the Ming Court—Part 3