The 600th anniversary in 2005 of the first of the voyages led by the Ming eunuch Admiral Zheng He to Southeast Asia and beyond in the early part of the 15th century, will give rise to a range of celebratory activities and also some reassessments of the roles and effects of the voyages. In an …
The essay examines foreign campaigns against Yunnan from the fourth century BCE to the fourteenth century from a global and long-term perspective. I argue that power struggles in the Eastern Eurasian continent to a great extent transformed Yunnan from a non-Chinese area into part of the Chinese empire. Thus, the transformation of Yunnan cannot be …
WPS 30 Military Campaigns against Yunnan: A Global Analysis Read More »
There is a very dense traffic of popular culture products criss-crossing national and cultural boundaries of locations with predominantly ethnic Chinese population in Asia. The economics, the producer and consumer populations contained within the spaces delineated – the PRC, particularly its major cities, Taipei, Hong Kong and Singapore – by this traffic can be designated …
WPS 29 Gossips about Stars: Newspaper and Pop Culture China Read More »
The transformations that have occurred in Singapores landscape have been rapid since independence. Changing Landscapes of Singapore discusses these changes from the perspective of lived landscapes which have day-to-day meanings for Singaporeans. It begins with an exploration of the major physical changes resulting from rapid urbanisation and industrialisation and Singapores attempt to balance the stresses …
This book is a historical survey of the Nestorian (East Syrian) Church in China tracing its origin in Mesopotamia and Persia with emphasis on Church organization and expansion. A new English translation of the Chinese Nestorian documents from Dunhuang is given with commentary and analysis.
The 15th century was a period of intense interaction between Ming China and Southeast Asia. The period saw the Ming invade Ðại Việt, expand the scope of the Chinese polity by exploiting and then incorporating Tai polities of upland Southeast Asia, and launch a succession of hugely influential maritime armadas which travelled through Southeast Asia …
WPS 28 Ming China and Southeast Asia in the 15th Century: A Reappraisal Read More »
Cambodia’s 15th century is nearly a blank page: no inscriptions, insignificant architecture, largely fictional chronicles, and little information in the records of other countries. But we may assume that processes similar to what may be ascertained in other parts of Southeast Asia were at work: changes in state formation, shift of political centers, growth of …
WPS 27 Cambodia and its Neighbors in the 15th Century Read More »
The Singaporean film Forever Fever projects a particular representation of Asian (read: Singaporean Chinese) masculinity that is as comfortable in its hybrid localized global identity as Singlish uniquely captures the grassroots national identity. Using Kam Louie’s model of ideal Chinese masculinities symbolized by the wen scholar and the more physical-oriented wu male, this paper argues …
