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Keyword: history

Looking Back at Japan's Occupation of Singapore, 70 Years On

A picture shows the four pillars of the Civilian War Memorial standing 70 metres high in Singapore. The memorial is one of Singapore's most famous landmarks built in memory of civilians killed during the Japanese occupation of Singapore in World War II. (Roslan Rahman/AFP/Getty Images)
Policy

To this day historians bicker over what happened and why, writes Asia Society's Geoff Spencer.

February 16th by Geoff Spencer | Comments

Review: Harvard's Online China Lectures a 'Useful' Overview

A slide from the introductory lecture in Harvard University's online series
Education

A new Harvard online lecture series is lauded as an an "exceptionally useful tool" for anyone needing an intro to Chinese civilization.

February 7th by Rebecca Chao | Comments

How Much Credit for China's Rise Goes to Richard Nixon?

Chinese President Mao Zedong shake hands with Richard Nixon after their meeting in Beijing, China on February 22, 1972 during Nixon's official visit to China. (AFP/Getty Images)
Policy

In advance of a screening of a new documentary about coverage of Nixon's historic 1972 visit to China, we asked Mike Chinoy, Orville Schell and Max Frankel what that trip meant to the country's future.

January 27th by Dan Washburn | Comments

Lee: With Kim Jong Il Dead, a Chance to Normalize Inter-Korean Relations

Kim Il Sung (L) and Kim Jong Il are pictured in this piece of propaganda art photographed in North Korea. (Flickr/yeowatzup)
Policy

Kim Jong Il is dead. While it is never clear whether history creates a leader, or a leader creates history, one thing is clear: The more a leader dominates power over a nation, the more its regime's fate will be changed by that leader’s death. So where is North Korea headed after Kim Jong Il’s death?

December 21st by Lee Hong-koo | Comments

Interview: Frank Dikötter, Author of 'Mao's Great Famine' [UPDATED]

Frank Dikötter, author of 'Mao's Great Famine.' (Hong Kong University)
Policy

The author of Mao's Great Famine, which was a runner-up in the 2011 Asia Society Bernard Schwartz Book Award, spoke with Asia Blog about China, famine, and why the Great Leap Forward doesn't get enough attention. He also has a few choice words for The New Yorker's Pankaj Mishra.

November 15th by Matt Schiavenza | Comments

Not Your Father's Confucius

Visitors to the Rockbund Art Museum in Shanghai, China, react to a sculpture of Confucius by artist Zhang Huan. (Rockbund Art Museum)
Arts

For the better part of two millennia, Confucius and his ideas of social harmony and responsibility have been venerated throughout China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. As these countries confronted the challenges of modernity in the 20th century, however, people began to look critically at the legacy of the sage from Lu.

October 19th by Chris Livaccari | Comments

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