The Context

Today, we’ll introduce a brand new museum that was an instant hit when it opened in central China’s Henan Province that boasts over 400 cultural relics and offers a glimpse into the life of one of the most complicated and dubious characters in Chinese history.

Today, we are going to talk about a legendary Chinese-American scientist who devoted her life to the study of nuclear and particle physics and made significant contributions to the Manhattan Project.

Today, we’ll talk about the mysterious beginnings of the famed Mogao Grottoes of Dunhuang, their unique place in Chinese history, and how an international cast of dubious characters spirited away crates and crates of priceless relics at garage-sale prices in the waning years of the Qing.

Today, we are going to tell the fascinating story of Robert van Gulik, a Dutch diplomat and sinologist whose writings during the mid-20th century offered the war-torn world a deeper more fact-based view of both modern and ancient China.

Today, we’ll introduce you to the 2,000-year-old tomb of Zhao Mo, second ruler of the Southern Yue State, that has been turned into a wildly popular museum in Guangzhou giving visitors insights into the ancient Maritime Silk Road and the state’s twisted relationship with the Han empire. 

Today, we are going to tell the story of Yang Jiang, a renowned lady who is remembered by Chinese readers for her translations and witty memoirs that gave a voice to the tragedies and triumphs of modern China.

Today, we are going to talk about a museum to be opened on May 18, which is International Museum Day, and we’re going to shine a spotlight on part of its collection – especially a bone flute from the Neolithic Age that first piped out a tune more than 8,000 years ago.

Today, we are going to talk about a set of chimes from more than 2,400 years ago that reveal the musical theory of ancient China and, in doing so, has unwittingly rewritten global music history. Context.

Today, we are going to talk about how a little orphan boy who lived during the Tang Dynasty rose to become the most renown tea master in Chinese history as well as author of the world’s first comprehensive written account on cultivating, preparing, and drinking tea.

Today, we’re going to talk about a remarkable bronze sword that not only echoes the history of China with its story of political turmoil but also speaks to the amazing skill of ancient craftsman as the national treasure still looked brand new after spending two millennia underground.

Today, we’ll introduce you to the “father of China’s railroad”, Zhan Tianyou, who was chief designer of the first railway designed and built exclusively by Chinese engineers and brought advanced engineering to China by designing 14 railroads during his 31-year career.

Today, we will continue to talk about Dean Lung, the 19th-century Chinese immigrant who donated his life savings to establish Columbia University’s well-known Chinese Studies program as well as his persistent efforts to bridge the two cultures.

In the first installment of what will be a two-part feature, we are going to talk about a legendary Chinese immigrant to the west coast of the US in the era of the Gold Rush and how he turned from the servant of an arrogant tycoon into his close companion.

Today, we’re going to talk about the dazzling beauty and complicated story behind a Han Dynasty bronzeware from more than 2,000 years ago that was praised by Henry Kissinger as the world’s earliest eco-friendly lamp for its ingenious design.

Everyone knows “You can’t take it with you,” but that doesn’t keep some people from trying as we’ll learn in today’s podcast that talks about insanely expensive jade burial suits that were sewn with gold thread and found in the largest royal tombs excavated so far from early imperial China over two thousand years ago.

Today we are going to talk about a fortress in southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality. With an area of just two and a half square kilometers, it may have saved the European and Arab civilizations due to its resistance against the Mongol Empire in China’s Southern Song Dynasty about 800 years ago.

Today, we’re going to talk about the latest blockbuster that debuted during the traditional Spring Festival holiday, which has evoked interest in and admiration for a national hero who lived during the Southern Song Dynasty about 1,000 years ago.

Today, we’re going talk about a 3000-year-old piece of bronzeware from the Western Zhou Dynasty that distinguishes itself with its delicate design and fascinating story of survival through a peasant uprising and the tumultuous warlord era.

Today, we are going to talk about the efforts to renovate the neighborhoods of Beijing’s Central Axis, which have revitalized their historical atmosphere and improved residents’ lives.

Today, we are going to talk about the stories behind the process of Beijing’s campaign for a UNESCO listing of its Central Axis which has picked up the pace after more than a decade of efforts.

Among the cultural relics prohibited from going abroad for exhibition, there are three pieces of blue-green landscape painting. One is the Spring Excursion by Sui Dynasty painter Zhan Ziqian, created in the late 6th century and believed to be the oldest-surviving landscape painting. The second is A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains by Northern Song Dynasty painter Wang Ximeng, created when the p...

China has been building bridges throughout its long and storied history, and many of these bridges are vividly depicted in a variety of literary works and paintings, offering a unique perspective into the lives of the people who built them, which brings us to the subject of today’s podcast – the Zhouqiao Bridge: a single-arch stone bridge with huge beautiful ancient stone murals that reveal the ex...

In the 16th century, during the same era that Martin Luther launched the Reformation in Europe, a legendary figure started the Chinese Renaissance on the other side of the earth. 2022 marked the 550th anniversary of the birth of Wang Yangming, the philosopher, military strategist, and educator of the Ming Dynasty, who embodied all the characteristics considered to express the highest standards of...

No sport in the world stirs as much passion as football. With the dramatic conclusion of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar on December 18, football, the world’s favorite sport, once again dominated global headlines. While most people around the world are quite familiar with the global superstars who plied their trade on the pitches of Doha over the past month, comparatively few know that football o...

Today, we’re going to talk about a traditional Chinese painting from the period of Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. Superb painting skills aside, what’s more interesting is how it contains so many metaphors and mysteries and how it survived the treachery, conspiracy, and power struggles of the following dynasties.