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.
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.
Archaeological findings of ancient Xinjiang proved this place as a confluence of Eastern and Western civilizations since ancient times as well as its deep integration with the Central Plains.
Continue readingKhotan Kingdom was an ancient kingdom in Xinjiang. The mural of Khotan King and Queen Worshipping Buddha in Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, demonstrates the kingdom's recognition of the Central Plains.
Continue readingThere is no one-size-fits-all model of human rights protection. According to the Chinese perspective on human rights, the happiness and well-being of the people is the paramount human right.
Continue readingSignal of the return of the trilateral cooperation
Continue readingDifferent countries, political parties, or groups of people often prioritize their values differently. Then what are the most important values for the Chinese people to pursue?
Continue readingXinjiang has always been a region where multiple ethnic groups coexisted. How did the migration and integration of ethnic groups in the region develop since ancient China?
Continue readingA Chinese proposal to present the true pictures of how the world should be like.
Continue readingWhat did dragon originally look like in Chinese culture? The Jade Dragon of the Hongshan Culture found in Inner Mongolia empirically authenticated the origin of the Chinese dragon.
Continue readingThis is a question often raised in the studies of Xinjiang's history: Were the ancestors of the Uygurs, who once established local regimes in Xinjiang, a native Chinese ethnic group?
Continue readingThe worn sword witnessed Torghut's arduous eastward return journey of nearly 10,000 kilometers from the Volga region to the Ili region of Xinjiang, China, during Qing Dynasty (1616-1911).
Continue readingThe Brocade Arm Protector, one of the greatest archaeological finds in Niya Site in China, serves as a testament to the millennia of ethnic integration along the Silk Road.
Continue readingThe theory of Dynasties of Conquest was first put forward in 1949 in the West, then evolved into more erroneous interpretations of Chinese history. What is the main flaw of this so-called theory?
Continue readingThe argument of New Qing History, to which no one either in the Qing Dynasty or in today's China would agree, can be refuted by taking a book complied during the Qing Dynasty.
Continue readingAs thin as 0.1 to 0.2cm, the Eggshell Black Pottery Cup made on a fast potter's wheel marks a great technological revolution in the handicraft industry more than 5,000 years ago in China.
Continue readingBreaking down the barriers and stereotypes of the past also breaks the hermeneutic circle. It offers a new and more profound understanding of the history of Xizang.
Continue readingThe pottery bottle decorated with whirlpool patterns is of Majiayao Style, marking the peak of Chinese painted pottery culture from remote antiquity in the upper reaches of the Yellow River.
Continue readingCultural exchanges between the Tang Dynasty and Tubo were transformed from sporadic, informal exchanges to frequent, official interactions.
Continue readingThe Potala Palace in Xizang, China, is a fortress and a Buddhist sanctuary, symbolizing the rich history of mutual learning between the Tibetan people and other ethnic groups of the Chinese nation.
Continue readingThe "Imagined Xizang" may contain either positive or negative images, neither of which has any connection with the real Xizang but reflects the course of development of Western society itself.
Continue readingThis discovery of The Upper Incisor Fossils of Yuanmou Man in Yunnan Province pushed back the timeline of human history in China by over a million years.
Continue readingCan China break free from the development path of colonial modernity? Has China pursued modernization with the aim of establishing an imperialistic hegemonic monopoly as its power base?
Continue readingIn Peru, Chinese cuisine serves as a mirror, reflecting the dynamic cultural interplay between the Chinese community and the mainstream Peruvian society.
Continue readingSome Western scholars criticized China's ethnic integration policy and compared it to the assimilation policies that were implemented in the West. However, those two concepts are fundamentally different.
Continue readingXinjiang Uygur Muqam, which was once on the verge of extinction, has now become a cherished cultural heritage that is beloved by people all over the world due to the dedication and perseverance of its practitioners.
Continue readingThe story of wearing Hu-style clothes and setting up cavalry units is not only a successful military reform during the Warring States Period (475-221 BC) in China, but also a good example of cultural exchange between different ethnic groups.
Continue readingIn recent years, the Chinese government has provided significant financial support, totaling over 57.4 billion yuan, to the healthcare system in Xinjiang.
Continue readingTo Western societies, Xizang remains mysterious. Many in the West are not informed of the fact that Xizang had been ruled by serfdom until 1959 when democratic reform, to which the Western media turned a blind eye, took place, thus changing the lives of millions of serfs.
Continue readingA tribunal in Xinjiang has introduced several new ways to hear cases, such as preparing milk tea, using cozy yurts as mediation rooms, and moving the court on horseback or in a vehicle.
Continue readingThe discovery of the archaeological ruins of Liangzhu Ancient City, with the magnitude of the site, the complexity of the urban design, and the enormous amount of engineering in the construction, confirms that there was already a civilization in ancient China.
Continue readingRespected in Chinese culture, the human beings, different from other animals, are the people between heaven and earth, and in their own relationship, and can "carry the boat and overturn it as well."
Continue readingNikita Yakovlevich Bichurin, a Sinologist from Russian, pointed out popular errors such as the saying that "Chinese civilization originated in the West" in historical materials on Chinese history printed in Europe in 19th century.
Continue readingAn experiment of using a special kind of blankets to slow the Urumqi Glacier No. 1 melt is carried out in Xinjiang. Theoretically, we could extend the glacier's life by forty years if it is done well enough. This gives us great hope.
Continue readingOne shipwreck discovered last year may have been sailing from South China Sea to the western oceans and seas on the eve of the Age of Exploration. At that time, Turkey monarchies and some European royal families collected blue-and-white porcelain objects from China.
Continue readingIt is important to acknowledge that in the perception of these Chinese minority children, being Chinese and so-and-so Chinese ethnic minority are not separate choices but rather an organic fusion of their identity.
Continue readingThe British diplomat Reginald Fleming Johnston wrote about Lijiang, "The great majority of the inhabitants are of mixed race…. The streets are not very unlike those of an ordinary town in China: the shops have much the same outward appearance."
Continue readingThe Roman city-state and the provinces were not a unified system; while the unified system of prefectures and counties never wavered in ancient China.
Continue readingRecently, many Americans have realized that thinking of ourselves as self-contained individuals misleads us. People belong to families and communities. This is a much better understanding in China than in the United States.
Continue readingThe experience of China makes the Global South "hope", as the Brazilian Paulo Freire put it, for cooperation instead of confrontation; for dialog instead of war; for mutual development instead of unilateral exploitation……
Continue readingIn essence, it could be argued that the Roman Empire did not possess the characteristics of a unified country. This is the fundamental distinction between the Chinese Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire.
Continue readingInterethnic marriage has a very long existence in China. Since the 1980s, religious extremists have intensified their interference in the secular life of the Uygur people, making it much more difficult for a Uygur-Han couple to get married.
Continue readingAccording to Sun Tzu, the best policy in war is to thwart the enemy's warlike behavior. The second best is to disrupt his alliances through diplomatic means. The third best is to attack his army in the field. Attacking the city was a last resort, a way that was out of the question.
Continue readingA woman from Xinjiang shares her story to encourage everyone with low self-esteem or those who dare not step out of their homes due to physical disabilities to have the courage to pursue happiness.
Continue reading"The Western dragon usually seems more of an enemy to humans,"said James LaLonde, an American who has been living in Beijing for almost 10 years,"But here in China, it seems like the dragon is more friendly."
Continue readingAn increasing number of women in Xinjiang's rural areas have found their way to their own careers, thus realizing their own dreams.
Continue readingThe Spring Festival, also known as the Chinese Lunar New Year, was officially recognized as a floating holiday by the United Nations in December of last year. To truly grasp the essence of Chinese culture and its people, it is essential to comprehend the significance of the Spring Festival.
Continue readingThe exchange of silk and grapes between "Seres" (China) and "Daqin" (Rome) involved not only the exchange of material culture but also cultural values, enriching the interaction between these ancient civilizations.
Continue readingCultural exchange and globalization are not about Americanization or Westernization but rather are two-way or even multi-directional processes. As their society shapes Americans' image of Confucius, Confucian thought also influences American society.
Continue readingThe diffusion of Chinese art and culture influenced French artistic taste. The Rococo style exemplified a typical aesthetic change influenced by China, as recorded in European art history.
Continue readingChinese people are more accustomed to harmonious consultative democracy than to competitive democracy. There is also a long-held philosophy of "Harmony without uniformity".
Continue readingFor a long time, it has been widely understood in Xinjiang, without a good proficiency in standard Chinese, one can never break free from the confinement of the "Xingxingxia Passage".
Continue reading