The Context

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Dragon Boats on Grand Canal: The Rule of Water Jul 25, 2021

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“The same water either supports or overturns boats on it,” Li Shimin, the second emperor of the Tang in the 7th century, often cited these Confucius’ remarks which compared water to the people and boats to sovereigns. He did this to repeatedly remind himself of the lessons he learned from the fall of the Sui. He founded a golden age in China's history. The Grand Canal witnessed and even underwrote the rise and fall of power and wealth of dynasties, cities and people for thousands of years in ancient China. The first person people think about in connection to the Grand Canal is Emperor Yang of the Sui dynasty about 1,400 years ago. The Grand Canal was his project. But it was also in a city on the Grand Canal and largely because of the Grand Canal that he lost his empire and his life.

The Apprentices: Opportunity and Discrimination Jul 18, 2021

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There were 200 million skilled workers in China at the end of 2020, only 26 percent of the country’s total workforce.
Given this, vocational education has drawn unprecedented attention among policymakers in China, the world’s largest manufacturer. But parents, particularly those in urban areas, are against sending their children to vocational high schools or colleges. The problem is that blue collar jobs are still regarded as beneath white collar jobs because they offer less prospects for promotion or further education -- much like in ancient times.

Academic Success: A Country Pig Chasing City Cabbage Jul 18, 2021

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Zhang Xifeng, a 17-year-old student at Hengshui High School of Hebei Province, went viral. In his speech on Anhui TV program Super Speaker, Zhang compared himself to a humble “country pig” and shared his ambition to “grab a city cabbage.” While he did not specify what “city cabbage” is, for a young man from a small town, the metaphor likely refers to a well-paid job and a wife from a middle-class family in a larger city. The Hengshui High School he recently graduated from is known for high rate of admission to China’s top universities.
The “country pig chasing city cabbage” speech saw both praise and criticism online. Some said they understood and appreciated the boy’s ambitions to rise in the ranks of society through hard work, while others expressed concerns that his attitude tacitly glorifies achieving one’s goals by any means necessary, comparing him to Julien Sorel, the ferociously ambitious protagonist in Stendhal’s 1830 novel “The Red and the Black”.

China has a very long tradition of attaching great importance to academic success. But is climbing the social ladder the only purpose and indicator of academic success in ancient Chinese society?

Public Museums and Private Collectors: Historical Seals Jul 11, 2021

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One day, more than 2,000 years ago, Emperor Yuan of China’s Western Han dynasty and his concubines were watching animal baiting. Suddenly a black bear jumped out of the enclosure and attacked the spectators. The emperor and his concubines were scared and ran away. But one of the concubines, Feng Yuan did not. She stood right in front of the bear, while two guards tried to stop the bear with their long spears. She later explained to the emperor that she did this to defend him, because fierce beasts would usually stop their attack once they had grabbed one person. The emperor was very grateful.
About 400 years later during the Eastern Jin dynasty, Chinese artist Gu Kaizhi drew a picture showing the moment that Feng faced the bear without any fear. He also drew another 11 pictures, each about a woman known for her virtue. He did this to illustrate a book on preaching to women how to behave well. The 12 pictures of the 12 women are collectively titled the Admonitions Scroll, which is the first ancient traditional Chinese painting we know today. Gu Kaizhi is one of the greatest artists in China’s history. He paid a lot of attention to the demeanor and spirit of the people in his pictures. This theory and practice had a far-reaching influence on Chinese artists.
None of Gu’s authentic work remains today. One of the two copies that people today can see is a reproduction by an unknown artist during the Southern Song dynasty between the early 12th and late 13th century. It was on display at a painting exhibition from May 1 to June 25 at the Palace Museum in Beijing. All of the 55 exhibits were used to educate royal members in ancient China.
The other copy is an earlier, better reproduction during the Tang dynasty kept at the British Museum. Two reproductions of another Gu Kaizhi masterpiece, the Nymph of the Luo River, are also part of the most precious collections of the Palace Museum and the British Museum.
The British Museum and the Palace Museum are the world’s largest museums if they are measured by different standards. The British Museum’s collection holds over 8 million objects, more than any other museum in the world. The Palace Museum is built on an area of 1.12 million square kilometers, larger than any other museum in the world.

Early collections at the two museums mainly came from private collectors. Sir Hans Sloane, a physician, donated his collection of 71,000 items to his country when he died in 1753, on the condition that 20,000 pounds would be paid to his heirs and a free public museum was built. The British Museum opened to the public six years later in 1759.
Nearly half of the Qing’s royal collection of calligraphy and paintings which were created before the Yuan dynasty came from a wealthy man called Xiang Yuanbian who was born in 1525, during the Ming dynasty.

Forgotten Heroine Jun 27, 2021

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A Chinese woman living in German-occupied Belgium in the 1940s finally succeeded in her mission: an audience with the top Nazi leader in Belgium, General Alexander von Falkenhausen. It was not the first time that Qian Xiuling had met the general, and she was counting on their prior connection to aid her. She told Falkenhausen that 96 people were being held hostage in the Belgian city of Écaussinnes and they would be killed in a few hours by Nazi soldiers in reprisal for a resistance attack on SS o"cers. She pleaded with him to save their lives.

Ancient Population Policy: Baby Boom Prosperity Jun 20, 2021

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On May 31, China announced a further relaxation in its family planning policy, allowing couples to have up to three children. Supportive measures will be formulated to encourage couples to have more children. The announcement came right after the release of the seventh national population census which shows the population is aging and the birth rate is falling.
Ancient Chinese dynasties used different ways to boost the fertility rate to ensure they had enough taxes and soldiers. Families also believed that more children would bring wealth and power.
The Qin’s system of household registration and taxation was passed down to nearly all dynasties in the following 2,000 years. Having children at a young age and large families was encouraged, especially in the aftermath of a long period of social unrest and changes in dynasties.
In late 18th century, China's population reached more than 300 million during the Golden Age of the last dynasty Qing. But people were struggling in povery.
History proves that the quality and well-being of the population matter more than its size.

Ancient Fathers: Absent, Far Jun 14, 2021

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In a recent TV series, the two mothers even seem paranoid sometimes, while the two fathers seem normal. This is because they are less involved in their children’s education.
There is an ancient Chinese saying that goes, “it’s a father’s fault if he just feeds but does not teach his children.” So this raises the question: did fathers in ancient China take part in their children’s education?

Ancient Migration: Wars and Walls Jun 05, 2021

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In 2020, nearly 376 million Chinese people did not live in the cities where they had registered their household information, up by more than 154 million in the 2010 census. This sounds a bit odd when it’s compared to the Chinese tradition of emotionally being attached to one’s homeland where one is born and lives on the land that you farm.
In world history, flows of people, either in peaceful or violent ways, have always been both a big factor and a result of fundamental social changes. For example, the Western Roman Empire fell due to incursions by Germanic tribes.
Did ancient Chinese move en masse? If they did, why? And did their migration also result from and change the society at that time?

Nowhere Left to Retreat: Elephants, Trees and Capitals May 29, 2021

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In May, a herd of 15 wild Asian elephants continued their northern venture in southwest China’s Yunnan Province after their year-long journey from their home in Xishuangbanna Yunnan. Yunnan is th only area of China with wild Asian elephants. But for millennia, the habitat of wild Asian elephants stretched much farther north into China before human encroachment forced them south.
An example of human impact on the environment is the widespread use of nanmu （楠木） wood in ancient Chinese architecture. By late 17th century, even Emperor Kangxi, who reigned during China’s longest period of prosperity, could not find a single nanmu tree for the biggest hall of his palace The Forbidden City.
Partly due to the ecological degradation in the once fertile Shaanxi area in the northwest, China's political, economic and cultural center shifted to the south since the end of the Tang dynasty in early 10th century. As a result, in late 14th century, Xi'an lost its chance of restoring its glory.

Changing Capitals and Canal Course: Xi’an and Luoyang May 21, 2021

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Six out of the top 10 most attractive tourist sites during the 5-day Labor Day holiday in China were historical sites. Three are in Beijing - the Great Wall, the Summer Palace and Yuanmingyuan, or Old Summer Palace. The other three are the Longmen Grottoes in the ancient city of Luoyang in central China, the Ming Dynasty city wall in Xi’an in China’s northwest and the Humble Administrator’s Garden, or Zhuozhengyuan in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, in China’s east.
Beijing, Luoyang and Xi’an have something in common – they are all famous for their long history as dynastic capitals. If we add up the length of time Chinese cities served as a capital to different dynasties, Luoyang comes out top, followed by Xi’an and Beijing. Luoyang and Xi’an lost their glory as capitals more than 1,000 years ago.
How did Luoyang and Xi’an rise to dominate as choices for dynastic capitals? And what prompted their decline? Changes in environment, especially water resources, is a major reason.

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