HISTORICAL FIGURES

Qin Liangyu: Ancient China’s Unstoppable Female General

Forget Mulan—ancient China’s most successful female military commander went undefeated in battle and earned honors for over 50 years

EDUCATION

What Video Games (Don’t) Teach Us About China

Video games mix real-world history and fiction in ways that inform—and perhaps distort—people’s views of China

ANCIENT HISTORY

A Trip in Time: How Did People Travel in Ancient China?

​Historian Duan Zhiqian explores road dangers and the emergent travel industry in China’s Ming and Qing eras

ANCIENT HISTORY

Curious Court Etiquette From Ancient China

An audience with the Son of Heaven could be a minefield of ritual, ceremony, and etiquette for China’s court officials

ANCIENT HISTORY

How Did Ancient Chinese Avoid Sunburn?

From veiled scholar hats to canopied backpacks, China’s obsession with sun protection is not a recent one

ANCIENT HISTORY

Death by Flaming Shoes and Hundred Cuts: Disturbing Methods in Ancient Chinese Torture

From ankle crushing to slow slicing, ancient Chinese punishments and torture were brutal

ANCIENT HISTORY

The Bizarre and Dangerous World of Ancient Chinese Weight Loss

From a weight-loss dance to diets of cacti and musk, ancient Chinese had a variety of ways to keep themselves slim

ANCIENT HISTORY

Objects that Flew over China’s Skies (In Ancient Times)

From toys for children to weapons of war, ancient inventors sent many things into the sky

BOOKS

The Sun Rises: New Novel Gives Genderfluid Take on the Ming Dynasty

Asian-Australian author Shelley Parker-Chan’s “She Who Became the Sun” may not be historically accurate, but that’s not the main reason to read it

HISTORY

The Blast that Nearly Destroyed Beijing

The Wanggongchang Explosion continues to mystify historians almost 400 years later