Herstory
Women in Ancient China: From Prehistory to the Late Imperial Era
Despite the mainstream dominance of Confucian patriarchy, women were never fully passive bystanders.
Ancient Rome
The Roman Embassy to China and the Dawn of a Dark Age
The second century AD marked a pinnacle of power and prosperity for both the Roman and Han Chinese Empires. By AD 160, these two colossal powers stood at their political and economic zenith, seemingly untouchable. Yet, as history often teaches us, such heights can precede a precipitous fall. This period
Chinese History
How Tobacco and Sweet Potatoes Shaped China
Almost no corner of Chinese society proved immune to tobacco’s allure.
Chinese History
Silver and Silk Linked China and Spain Empires
In the early 1400s, an immense Chinese fleet regularly appeared on the horizon, so large and intimidating that foreign kings watched in astonishment from their palaces. Hundreds of wide-bellied warships loaded with soldiers unfurled banners above their huge sails, dwarfing the greatest armadas Europe could muster. Commanded by a onetime