4/16/21 4/16/21

For the anti-maskers

An aesthetic alternative to N-95?

1/19/16 1/19/16

Before Taiwan, Vietnam

Vietnam showed it was possible to be part of a Sinitic realm while rejecting China itself.

10/31/15 10/31/15

The evolution of pan-Asianism, Pt. III: China

A four-part series where we examine ideas of Asia, past and present.

10/16/15 10/16/15

Every bad girl needs an exit strategy

Things would have turned out very differently for Marie Antoinette had she had one.

10/9/15 10/9/15

Trop picks: Ginkgo

Marking the passing of time with the ginkgo tree.

10/6/15 10/6/15

The other Manchurian incident

The worst catastrophe you've never heard of.

10/1/15 10/1/15

Liberal arts the Confucian way

A closer look at Confucianism reveals a surprisingly liberal learning tradition.

9/9/15 9/9/15

Dancer in the dark: Dai Ailian

The world saw Dai as Chinese first and a dancer second. But when she couldn't find a Chinese dance tradition to make her own, she set about creating one.

9/8/15 9/8/15

Food and empire

Where other cultures mark the passage of time with significant political events or military battles, Chinese historians do so with significant banquets.

9/3/15 9/3/15

Behind the Pax Sinica

China's trying to build a new international order, but it may not be what you think.

8/27/15 8/27/15

Trop picks: Kumquat

Kumquat. Kumquat. Kumquat. Kumquat.

8/24/15 8/24/15

The baddest one of them all: Empress Dowager Cixi

How a whiffet of undistinguished antecedents plotted and schemed her way to the top is a lesson in bad galing for all the aspiring bad gals out there.

7/27/15 7/27/15

Whither the city?

When America was modernizing, its artists embraced modernity, warts and all. Now Asia is having its own modern moment, but our artists remain markedly ambivalent about modernity.