What’s the origin of the conflict between the 14th Dalai Lama and China? What is the history of the relationships between Tibet and the Mongols…
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Tag: Chinese History (Books)
The Hungry Ghost Festival – Part 1
In Peking, 1939: Lu Hsing Yuan (HY Lowe) described how the Ghost Festival was celebrated in Peking in one of his installments in the English…
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Jiangnan
South of the Yangtze evokes a mythical place in Chinese culture. The Chinese call the area Jiangnan ( literally, south of the Yangtze) river. It…
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From Mao to Modernity
On 2 Sep 1945, Japan formally surrendered. China designated 3 Sep 1945 as “Victory Day” to commemorate its victory over Japan. This year, on 3…
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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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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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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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Yellow and two recent books on China
These 2 recent books were bought by me to understand how far China has progressed since 1949. China Resurrected (2025) is a political history from…
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