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Generally refers to the country referred to as the People's Republic of China, a country in E Asia. With a surface area of 3,691,502 sq. mi. (9,560,990 sq. km). The current Capital is Beijing.

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Why is Jiagedaqi part of Heilongjiang despite being inside Inner Mongolia?

Why is the Jiagedaqi (or Jagdaqi) District under the jurisdiction of Heilongjiang Province when it lies entirely within Inner Mongolia? What is the history of this arrangement?
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How could I determine the value of a a 1921 Yuan Shikai Chinese silver dollar? [closed]

I have a 1921 Yuan Shikai Chinese silver dollar. What is the history of this coin, and how could I determine the worth/value of my coin?
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Was it against protocol for the Emperor to pray inside the Forbidden City?

Background An oft reproduced narrative about the Empress Dowager Cixi asserts that she held the Guangxu Emperor captive within the Forbidden City. Lately, I heard a version that disputes all of this ...
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How do we know that this decree was written by Cixi?

In another, extremely helpful answer we found the handwritten text underlying many claims about Empress Dowager Cixi’s illiteracy (see aforementioned answer for example of such claim). But how do we ...
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Where to find Cixi‘s 1865 decree dismissing Prince Gong?

Zhang Rong‘s Cixi biography titled »EMPRESS DOWAGER CIXI: THE CONCUBINE WHO LAUNCHED MODERN CHINA«, Chapter 6, Loc 1365 on kindle claims: Without the rigid etiquette, she realised, Prince Gong was ...
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Did the US manage to eavesdrop on KMT communications during World War 2?

I was reading How frequently did the KMT use telegrams to communicate; from where (roughly) and to whom?, which contains a quote: Following is a telegram code "dictionary" used by Japan military ...
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Why didn't the Chinese attack Hungnam during the evacuation?

The Hungnam evacuation was a notable event during the early years of the Korean War. Retreating to the port of Hungnam from the recent defeat at Chosin Reservoir, UN forces managed to evacuate about ...
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183 views

Did Empress Cixi divert funds for the Beiyang Fleet to build the Summer Palace?

There is a popular story that Empress Dowager Cixi diverted funds originally intended for the Beiyang Fleet in order to upgrade the Summer Palace. This is significant because the amount - approx. 22 ...
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861 views

How did East Asia circa 1500 produce cosmetics?

For a work of fiction, I need to know how one would produce cosmetics from the available products at those times (circa 1500). I imagine I would need - beeswax, which was probably widely available - ...
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203 views

Which Nazi functionary is shown here?

Wikipedia says that the following image depicts the Chinese leader of a Japanese puppet state, Wang Jingwei, with Nazis. The full information on Wikipedia reads: Wang Jingwei having a toast with ...
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Which 'evidence' is there for a claim that 'Chinese discovered America in 636'?

The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics is a branch of the Ministry of Planning, Budget, and Management. On its own website it has a history timeline with a few curious dates: catálogo ...
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Book (and/or podcast) recommendations for providing a historical & cultural context for Sichuan?

A couple friends and I plan on taking a tour in the southwestern region of China, specifically Sichuan & Yunan, around spring of next year. I find that it always makes the trip more engaging and ...
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How much (area) territory did Chinese dynasties control?

I am looking for the area of the territories controlled by the different Chinese dynasties since Zhou all the way to the Qing. There are maps available of the different territories but I haven't found ...
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Were Soviet Union's best trained and equipped forces deployed on the Chinese border and not against NATO?

I heard a scholarly gentleman make this claim (without giving any details of his sources) that after the Sino-Soviet split the most capable forces were not aligned for a war with the West but were ...
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Has China ever sent officials to collect tribute under the tributary system, instead of receiving missions, besides Zheng He's voyages?

The usual picture I have of tribute to the Chinese emperor, is that tributaries were dispatched to present their tribute to the court, that is in China. But it seems there were exceptions to this ...
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What was the de facto rule by which the imperial title was transmitted in various Chinese dynasties?

I seek to find information about which rules or trends - if any - applied in Chinese imperial succession during different dynasties. I found this source, but I can’t get access and what I see in the ...
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What does Deng Xiaoping mean by "Hide your capacities, bide your time '?

I came across this interesting quote by Deng Xiaoping: Hide your capacities and bide your time however I didn't find much about this quote on the Internet explaining the exact context and meaning ...
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Had there been instances of national states banning harmful imports before the mid-19th C Opium Wars?

Background To my current understanding, James Matheson in his »The British trade with China« argued that China might have originally had the right to refuse trading with Britain, but that they lost ...
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Why did the Soviet Union not “grant” Inner Mongolia to Mongolia after World War Two?

In the brief Soviet anti-Japanese campaign of 1945, Soviet and Mongol troops entered Inner Mongolia. Mongolia itself had been essentially a client state of the Soviet Union since 1921. Also the ...
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What taxes were legally required to be paid in silver in Qing China?

Background It is often argued that the following mechanism heavily contributed to the commencement of the Opium trade between the Qing and British Empires (you are welcome to correct my understanding)...
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390 views

Did Cao Cao really say the greatest traitor resembled an honest man?

The greatest traitor has always resembled an honest man and the greatest falsehood comes across as truth. Righteousness and evil cannot be discerned by their appearance. People have ...
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Were there violence before July 3 and July 4 during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests?

Were there violence before July 3 and July 4 during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests? I heard the protests were peaceful, but I learned recently that there were a lot of soldiers who got injured, so ...
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How did the the Soviet-China near-war in 1969 affect the supply of arms to North Vietnam?

This is a bit of what I am looking for:vietnamwar/chinese-and-soviet-involvement/, but it seems incomplete. Specifically, as the Soviets increased their aid to North Vietnam, where did Soviet weapons ...
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Why did sailing ships so often employ Chinese cooks?

During the age of sail, it was common for Western ships to employ Chinese cooks. I don't have any numbers except that there are pages and pages of relevant results from search queries including "...
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Why do all my history books divide Chinese history after the Han dynasty?

I will be teaching middle school World History this year. I surveyed seven different textbooks from different publishers and notice, unlike all other histories of other regions in the world, Chinese ...
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Did the Portuguese get anything in return when they handed back Macau?

In 1999, Portugal fully returned Macau to China. However, did they get something for giving Macau back to China, or was it just a sign of good faith and decolonization in general?
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What was China's claim line in the Aksai Chin before the 1962 war?

The original mutually agreeable boundary seems to have been the McCartney-MacDonald line since the late 1890s. In the 1910s and 1920s China seems to have accepted even the Johnson line, by publishing ...
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Why weren't the New Territories ceded to the British?

Note New Territories is abbreviated to NT. Here's an overview of the UK's acquisition of HK - The handover of Hong Kong was in 1997 so it's safe to discuss the PRC's land policy in Hong Kong. But ...
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Did America help the Chinese nationalists to repel the communist advance?

As an answer said in this subject (What are some major military successes the Soviet Union achieved against the Western World?), it seems that the politics of USA had a great issue on the help of ...
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Was Kerala part of Vijayanagara Empire under Deva Raya II

This question is in the context of my previous question. Wikipedia article on Deva Raya 2 mentions that he defeated the ruler of Quilon, and also that Zamorin paid tribute to Deva Raya 2. But Kingdom ...
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Was Kingdom of Cochin the only kingdom in South Asia to be a protectorate of (any empire of) China?

The Wikipedia article on the Kingdom of Cochin says: The kingdom of Cochin was the only kingdom in South Asia to be a protectorate of China. The King of Cochin received special treatment, ...
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How did laborers travel from China to Malaya in the early 19th century?

There was a wave of Chinese emigration to Malaya beginning in the early 19th century. Those who emigrated were mostly laborers seeking to work in tin mines, rubber plantations, and other agricultural ...
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Why is ancient chinese rocket so decorated?

This picture doesn't make sense. Who would want to carve a head statue just for a rocket that will blow up? How does it work?
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What title did the merchants permitted to deal with Canton's 13 Factories carry?

What I know: During the period leading up to the Opium Wars, trade into China from Europe was locked down to 13 buildings in Canton known as the 13 factories. European merchants were only permitted to ...
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How did Qing China keep in contact with other places?

Imperial China received diplomatic missions from other places whenever those places decide to send a mission (for example: Japanese missions to Imperial China). These missions were irregular, and were ...
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Has anyone recently seen Chinese old customary greeting pose?

This may be a personal question ( meaning, coincidentally the conduct of the question has not happened in my life. ). Fist and Palm Salute ( English ) is the traditional Chinese greeting pose, ...
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Why did the Republic of China retract its simplified Chinese characters?

The image below shows part of the list of simplified Chinese characters introduced by the Republic of China Department of Education in 1935. They were retracted in 1936, so China continued to use ...
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Why were the Yellow River dyke repairs delayed?

In 1938, in a desperate bid to slow the Japanese advance, Chinese forces breached the Yellow River dykes at Huayuankou, killing hundreds of thousands of civilians and displacing millions more. The ...
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What were Stilwell's plans had his coup succeeded?

Joseph Stilwell, the caustic American Chief of Staff assigned to Chiang Kai-Shek, famously clashed with his superior over the prosecution of war in the China-Burma-India theatre. Things came to a head ...
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What anti-Japanese guerrilla units were active in Manchuria from 1944-1945?

I am writing a historical fiction novel with a North Korean protagonist joining anti-Japanese guerrilla forces in Manchuria in 1944. I understand that major anti-Japanese resistance in Manchuria was ...
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Why did China begin persecuting Falun Gong after tolerating the movement for nearly a decade?

My Question: Why did China begin persecution of Falun Gong midway through 1999 following nearly a decade of tolerating the movement? Freedom House - The Battle for China's Spirit ...
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During the Míng Dynasty could local authorities make laws?

I have been unable to find how much, if any, authority was had for the creation of local laws in Míng China. Was it allowed to create local laws at the town, city, or provincial level in Míng China? ...
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Where is an image of the oracle bone that describes the nova?

(Related to my previous question) Does anyone have a link to an image of the oracle bone that has this specific inscription: The inscriptions include the oldest observation of a nova (1300BCE) ‘A ...
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What are the best resources for studying oracle bone inscriptions?

Can someone please recommend the best resources for studying Chinese oracle bone inscriptions? Rather than general or specific information about oracle bones, I'm looking for collections or catalogs ...
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Were Russians in the cold war era USA discriminated against for their ethnicity?

As a Chinese living in the western world, I am a little bit concerned about the next decades where there might be a war or a series of conflicts between the rising Chinese power and the current world ...
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Did the United States taxpayer fund the development of China's backbone fighter plane?

I was reading this article which came out today(12/10/18).. China's J-10 Fighter Now Has Something In Common with the F-22, Su-57 and Su-35 which reports China has added advanced thrust vectoring to ...
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Why did the British take Hong Kong instead of any other of the later treaty ports?

The aftermath of the first Opium War declared that Hong Kong and the island of Kowloon should be ceded to the UK as a port for refitting ships and storing cargo. It also meant there was easy access ...
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What did Zhang Zuolin say after his train blew up?

Zhang Zuolin was an early 20th century Chinese warlord of Manchuria. He was fatally wounded by the Japanese Army on June 4, 1928, using a bomb laid beneath tracks where his armoured train travelled ...
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Did China's life expectancy at birth rise 30.5 years from 1960 to 1980? If so, what were the particular changes made to their society's structure?

I have been reading The Rise of China and the Demise of the Capitalist World Economy by Minqi Li. The author reads like a fan of Mao and is succeeding in convincing me I need to dig deeper in to the ...
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Was 'Jade Mirror of the Four Unknowns' published in 1303, and how do we know?

Wikipedia gives the date for Chinese mathematician Zhu Shijie's Jade Mirror of the Four Unknowns (四元玉鉴, Siyuan yujian) as 1303, citing Elman, Benjamin A. (2005). On their own terms science in China, ...

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