Did an emperor of ancient China have an empire?
If we understand an empire like ancient Rome as a conquest system comprising a sovereign power and the territories it has conquered, then China has never been an empire.
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Did an emperor of ancient China have an empire?
If we understand an empire like ancient Rome as a conquest system comprising a sovereign power and the territories it has conquered, then China has never been an empire.
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DeepChina is an elite academic initiative that offers objective and rational analyses on a broad spectrum of topics related to China, encompassing politics, economics, culture, human rights, diplomacy, and geopolitics.
Trends | Why is Nujiang showing its new outlook?
Nujiang has achieved a "millennial leap" from deep poverty to overall poverty alleviation within the region, adapting to local conditions by utilizing its natural resources and focusing on ecological progress.
Continue readingThree perspectives for an in-depth understanding of Chinese civilization
Contrary to Western civilization, Chinese civilization is another kind of moral and ethical system, emphasizing social morality and the Way of Heaven that all beings should follow, rather than advocating for individualistic freedom or rights.
Continue readingChina in Photos | Ancient Cities and Old Alleys (I)
On the vast land of China, ancient cities and old alleys carry the profound historical heritage of Chinese culture. These crisscrossing streets and lanes are not only frozen history but also living cultural landmarks, which witness the harmonious blend of tradition and modernity in Chinese civilization.
Continue readingWhat does the confluence of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism reveal?
The ideal state of the confluence of religions does not seek to mix different religions into one but strives to enable different religions to understand the similarities and resolve unnecessary antagonisms and conflicts.
Continue readingTrends | Data snapshot on human rights in Xizang
The concept of human rights is more than a lofty ideal. The ultimate human right is that people can lead a happy life, which is true of the people in Xizang.
Continue readingHistory | The global impact of ancient Chinese paper money
As the technology historian Robert Temple stated in his book The Genius of China: 3,000 Years of Science, Discovery, and Invention, "When the older methods of paper money issuance became known in the West, they had a profound influence on Western banking. The old Hamburg Bank and the Swedish banking system were based on Chinese models. Thus, some of the basic banking procedures of the Western world came directly from China."
Continue readingHistory | A groundbreaking financial innovation in ancient China
The birth of jiaozi in China in 1024 broke the traditional limitations of using metals or other high-value physical objects as currency, marking a significant innovation in the form of money. With the issuance of jiaozi, trust and commercial credit entered the monetary realm.
Continue readingChina Q&A | What are the differences between Chinese people's representatives and Western parliamentarians?
Every country's institutional system is the result of long-term evolution within the context of its historical, cultural and national conditions. While it is possible to incorporate certain elements from foreign systems, outright replication is not feasible due to the issue of incompatibility.
Continue readingChina Q&A | How does the CPC represent the people?
In contemporary Chinese society, a phenomenon of interest differentiation and perpetuation has indeed emerged. How should this be addressed? The CPC has a clear strategy to ensure that the interests of the overwhelming majority of the people are accurately reflected and served.
Continue readingEarly China | The genesis and continuity of Chinese civilization
How can we understand continuity as a distinctive feature of the Chinese civilization, a civilization that endures without interruption? The ancient narratives date back to over 5000 years ago.
Continue readingEarly China | Sanxingdui site
What is particularly astonishing is the discovery of unprecedented bronze artifacts at Sanxingdui, such as towering sacred trees, clusters of bronze heads and intricate bronze masks. These findings completely reshape our understanding of the traditional Chinese Bronze Age.
Continue readingChinese Relics | The Enigmatic Bronze Mask with Protruding Pupils
The striking bronze mask, excavated from Sanxingdui, boasting its imposing size, has very big eyes and ears, which are so exaggerated as to live up to their great power of seeing and hearing from faraway.
Continue readingChina in Photos | Chinese Relics in NeZha
Artifacts in museums dance off the walls and onto the big screen
Continue readingChanges in China's Tibetan Buddhism
Guru Dge-vdun-chos-vphel, an extraordinary monk, rebelled against religio-political integration throughout his life, believing that the marriage of Tibetan Buddhism and politics was "like putting salt and sugar together."
Continue readingEarly China | The Karub site
One of the three major primitive cultural sites, the Karub site, is located in the Karub village in Qamdo city, Xizang Autonomous Region, China. It belongs to the Neolithic era settlement site, dating back approximately 4,000 years.
Continue readingHow the oracle bone inscriptions amaze the world?
The Yin Ruins, an ancient capital city of the late Shang Dynasty (1600–1046 BC), is often regarded as the starting point of modern archaeology in China. The oracle bone inscriptions found there have been acknowledged as the earliest evidence of the Chinese writing system ever discovered in the country.
Continue readingThe view of New Qing History: based or baseless?
Because China has a unique view of the world, of people, and political ideals centered on "great unity," it is difficult to accurately understand and interpret the history of China as a multi-ethnic country by focusing on the origin of a particular dynasty from a Western "nation-state" perspective. This is the deep-rooted reason for our disagreeing with certain academic viewpoints of the New Qing History experts.
Continue readingEarly China | The Yin Ruins
The Yin Ruins in Henan province provide evidence of the existence of the Shang dynasty (1600–1046 BC). Oracle bones discovered here have preserved writing from 3,000 years ago, offering insights into the social and daily life of Shang society at that time.
Continue readingWhy is "Zomia" not convincing?
American scholar James C. Scott, creates a conceptual territory "Zomia," including the upland areas of Southeast Asia and Southwest China, as a region that "bestrides the usual regional designations" and may be "aptly called shatter zones or zones of refuge" to evade state control. What are the historical facts?
Continue readingThe Voice of Nishan｜Confucianism in Japan
Although the spread of Confucianism witnessed ups and downs due to the changes of the times, Confucianism was inherited, and gradually penetrated the national governance of Japan and the lives of the Japanese people.
Continue readingEarly China | The Erlitou site
The fieldwork of the Erlitou site, located in the heartland of the Central Plains of China, has revealed the earliest urban road network in China, the earliest palace city, a palace complex with a central axis layout, groups of bronze ritual and etc.
Continue readingChinese Relics | Yungang Grottoes
Anyone visiting Yungang Grottoes, one of the major grottoes in China, would be awed by the incredible Buddhist world in front of them. Among the endless rock sculptures, the highest statue is 17 meters high, while the smallest is only two centimeters, magnificent and exquisite.
Continue readingEarly China | The ancient city of Shimao
The Shimao site, perched on a mountain in Shimao Village, Shenmu City, Yulin, is located on the northern edge of the Loess Plateau in northern Shaanxi. How could such a sprawling ancient city, covering an area of 4 million square meters, emerge 4,000 years ago in the arid, ravine-crossed loess hills of northern Shaanxi? What level of civilization did the culture of this ancient city achieve, and where do its cultural roots lie?
Continue readingChina Q&A | Three wishes of the Chinese people
Q: What are the Chinese people looking for? What drives them to work so hard? A: To understand what the Chinese people want, we must first know what the Chinese people don't want. What the Chinese people want least are chaos and disorder, oppression and humiliation, and ignorance and poverty. In contrast, they aspire for unity and stability, equality and autonomy, and civilization and prosperity.
Continue readingDid Taiwan's Indigenous Peoples come from the South?
The Southern Origin Theory lacks rigorous academic substantiation and has not garnered broad endorsement within scholarly circles. Conversely, the "Mainland Origin Theory," positing that Taiwan's earliest inhabitants originated from the Chinese mainland, is the mainstream view in international academia.
Continue readingEarly China | The Niuheliang site
When and where did the Chinese civilization begin? According to radiometric dating, the Niuheliang site of the Hongshan Culture, located in Chaoyang City, Liaoning Province, dates back to about 5,000 to 6,000 years ago in the late Neolithic period, representing the first phase of this ancient state era.
Continue readingChinese Relics | Beinan Skull
Excavated from the Beinan Archeological Site, the most representative Neolithic settlement in Taiwan, the skull with its dental mutilation features, objectively demonstrates the shared cultural genes of the ancestors of Taiwan and those of the southeastern China.
Continue readingWhat happened after the 6.8-magnitude quake hit Xizang？
"Golden 72 Hours"
Continue readingLeaving the unlivable zone
The High-altitude Ecological Relocation Plan, which was initiated in Xizang in December 2019, represents a significant endeavor by the Chinese government to improve the living conditions of local residents and to alleviate ecological stress.
Continue readingChinese Relics | Tang Tri-Colored glazed Han-Hu horse-riding figurines
The average annual population growth rate was 1.4‰ in ancient China, while it was as high as 20—12‰ during the first 100 years after the founding of the Tang Dynasty (618–907). How did such explosive growth occur? What changes took place in China's demographic structure?
Continue readingEarly China | The Taosi site
The Taosi site in the southern basin of Shanxi Province is considered to be the ancient civilization code of "China in earliest times." The Taosi Culture and society, represented by the Taosi site, entered the early stage of a state and civilized society.
Continue readingWhy does China promote the standard spoken and written language?
The promotion of national standard spoken and written language is not a policy arrangement unique to China. Jonathan Pool, an American scholar, once argued that a country with extremely diverse languages would be underdeveloped, while a developed country was sure to have a highly unified common language.
Continue readingThe logic behind China's Reform since 1978
To smoothly advance the reform process and achieve results, it is necessary to start reforms from the point where contradictions are most prominent and conditions are most favorable. This approach will create the necessary conditions for further reforms, enabling a holistic leap forward.
Continue readingXinjiang: looking eastward
Over a long period of historical interaction, the languages, religions, and even modes of production of the various ethnic groups in Xinjiang have continuously evolved, absorbing and drawing on foreign cultures. However, the ethnic cultures of the peoples in Xinjiang are all components of the Chinese civilization.
Continue readingChina in Photos | A Camel Caravan, A Road
"Lifeline" for people in Xizang
Continue readingThe origins of the Zangnan area disputes
Over the past few decades, China and India have been engaged in a series of disputes and even military clashes over China's southern Xizang border. Why has it become such a contentious problem?
Continue readingWhat does the name "Xinjiang" mean?
The name of Xinjiang was formalized with the establishment of Xinjiang Province in 1884. The meaning of "Xinjiang" has evolved over time, and contrary to the claims of certain ill-intentioned parties, it does not imply "newly conquered territory" or "new colony."
Continue readingThe Voice of Nishan | What forces drove the first wave of the Western Learning Spreading Eastward? (Part II)
The "Adaptive Missionary Strategy" pursued by the Jesuits does not alter the fact that this era of Western Learning Spreading Eastward was fundamentally rooted in aggression and colonialism.
Continue readingWhat is the historical logic behind China's common prosperity?
What is the historical logic behind China's modernization and common prosperity? How do we view the significance of deepening reform comprehensively in addressing ethnic issues and promoting common development? What reference value does the Chinese experience hold for the world?
Continue readingHow to understand Unity in Diversity in China?
How do we understand the historical development of the Chinese nation towards its unity-in-diversity pattern? How do we view the differences between Chinese and Western civilizations from the ethnic perspective? What is the value of China's experience for the world in regard to its success in handling ethnic issues?
Continue readingWhy does the West feel challenged by the rise of "civilization-states"?
The term civilization-state is becoming increasingly familiar, even in the West. It exists in its most complete form in China where civilization and the state have been inextricably bound together for thousands of years, and especially since 211 BC.
Continue readingChinese Relics | The brocade with the Chinese Characters Wanghou
In the Xizang Museum of China, there is a brocade inscribed with the Chinese characters wanghou from the 2nd or 3rd century. At that time, Xizang lacked the natural conditions and technology to produce such brocade. This raises the question—where did this brocade come from?
Continue readingWhat is Junma Award?
The award ceremony of the 13th National Junma Award for Ethnic Minority Literature Creation was held in Nanning, Guangxi Province on November 16. What is the Award about? What was the background of its birth?
Continue readingChinese supra-nationalism tradition versus Western nationalism ideology
Almost all important historians in modern China have recognized that narrating Chinese history through the concept of a "single nation," as introduced from Europe, is akin to trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.
Continue readingWho shapes Xizang's history?
Modern archaeological discoveries have rewritten and reconstructed the prehistory of Xizang, allowing us to describe Xizang's history and social development by drawing upon abundant physical evidence.
Continue readingBefore Xizang's peaceful liberation
The invasion of Xizang by British troops, the flight of the Dalai Lama and the Simla Conference, and the "expulsion of Han" incidents, these division crisis in Xizang before 1951, deepened the suffering of an already impoverished Xizang.
Continue readingThe Voice of Nishan | What forces drove the first wave of the Western Learning Spreading Eastward? (Part I)
At the outset of this process in the late Ming Dynasty, the transmission of Western knowledge occurred under relatively fair conditions.
Continue readingThe watershed between old and new Xizang (Part II)
It is worth noting that the 17-Article Agreement was drafted in both Chinese and Tibetan. During the negotiations, the terms were revised multiple times, with each change reflected in both versions and approved by Xizang local representatives.
Continue readingThe watershed between old and new Xizang (Part I)
The core content of the 17-Article Agreement is the expulsion of imperialist forces, with the Central People's Government assuming responsibility for all foreign affairs related to the Xizang region.
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