China famously expanded its territory and influence past its borders and into northern Vietnam, Korea and what's now Russia over its history.

Did any Chinese Emperor ever attempt to influence / vassalize Japan?

Japan was influenced heavily by China, their writing system and much of their government (as far as I'm aware) was heavily modelled after China's. But as far as I'm aware this was a passive process for China, with the Japanese simply modelling themselves after the most "advanced" of their neighbors.

But what about more active influencing? Did China ever sent emissaries to "enlighten" the Japanese?

Did China ever demand tribute or concessions from the Japanese Emperor or any of the daimyos the same way they demanded them from the Korean Kingdoms?

A documentary about Unit 731 in r/Documentaries sparked my line of thinking below and I hope someone here can assess the likelihood of it being true. An answer along the lines of, "No way, that's not that likely to occur or haha, you're insane" would be best.

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My grandfather (father's step father) was a saint. He was a doctor who escaped China to Taiwan when the communists came to power. When he married my grandmother, he provided for her 3 children from a previous marriage and his cousin's children. My grandparents would also raise money for orphans. They operated a hospital and he would not charge the poor for care (good luck finding a doctor like that today).

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My grandfather grew up in Japanese occupied Manchuria. His good friends were Japanese and he went to medical school in Nagasaki. Here come the red flags I remembered watching the documentary: Years ago, when I asked him about his past in China his reply was, "I can't tell you about that. It was too terrible and sad." He said he left Nagasaki 3 years before the bomb. That would mean he started medical school before the start of WWII? Did Chinese regularly go to medical school in Japan at the time? What kind of Chinese would do that?

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He left China in a big hurry. He left his wife and three sons and only had time to hug his eldest son before he got out of dodge (I always thought this was because people would view him as a collaborator or, in hindsight, maybe he was). He was a firm atheist. His words, "All we are is meat. After we die there is nothing."

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Given the timing (when he left China for Japan, and vice versa), his beliefs (there is no God because he saw/abetted/did some horrible shit maybe), and actions (help as many people as he can to atone for the horrible shit he saw/abetted/did maybe), please disabuse me of the notion that the relative I love the most was recruited into Unit 731.

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TL:dr Hoping my grandfather was not a local collaborator with Unit 731

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Could any historians share their recommendations for books and academic articles on prehistoric and historical-period Sub-Saharan Africa? I’m particularly interested in the Bantu expansion and the Indian Ocean trade network.

I heard a lot about riots, protests and unemployment. But what really happened? Why did auto manufacturers shut down? Would like to get full context. Thanks!

I was assigned to the collapse of Macedonia. I'm a history student in Indonesia. Books about it are very rare. Can you give a reference to a book or journal about that?

or can you explain it to me? Thankyou.

I know that family and friends often sent packages of food and presents to allies in POW camps, but how did those relatives and friends know they were there? Was there an official letter sent from the camp to let them know? Or otherwise how was the information given out that the person was at that camp? Also, was there a difference in sending/receiving packages if you were a soldier or air force personnel? Or was it the exact same?

Was it like Y2K? What was going on? Did people know about the change in year? And if the time period was established later on, what was actually happening anyways?

This question technically violates the sub rules, but the spirit of it might fit.

A few decades from now, historians studying the late 20th and early 21st centuries will have a much greater range of primary documents to research. Social media, video, and the like. Is there any discussion among historians about what historical research will look like on the future?

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Just watched this movie and was just curious what portions of it were true. I assume most of the sequence of events is correct, but are there any key ideas/events that are missing or twisted for reasons of making it more appealing for audience or just "lazy writing" of director? Thanks in Advance!

I know that Liberia was founded by free former slaves getting sent to Africa, but am unaware of how the colony developed afterwards.

My family originally came to the United States in the early 18th century. Based on our name and other facts I am reasonably sure they originated in England. However, The family Bible which was used by those who first came over is in German.

Were there English religious dissenters who lived in Germany?

The title might be a little inflammatory but it's a genuine question I have. I've been boning up on my knowledge of Republican China and the issues directly after Xinhai, and one particular thing I came across that I thought was interesting was the extent to which the modern 'common Han culture' associated with Sinicization today is actually a backlash against Manchu rule during the Qing.

Did Sun Yat-sen envision his revolution as a reversal of China back to the Han after being ruled by Manchus?

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I’m in the early stages of developing a comic about a group of sex workers who systematically hunt down Jack the Ripper, and am currently gathering research to use in my writing/character development. Some websites I’ve found claim that BDSM and LGBT brothels were a thing, but I’d like some more credible source before I write it in. I’d especially love some information on how people dressed in that time period so I can design more accurate costumes for my characters.

One of the big problems that China had from Steppe tribes was their powerful bows that could shoot long distances and their mobility from shooting from horseback. Couldn't various Chinese Kingdoms use their resources to make their own composite bows and train their own horse archers?

edit. At the very least, conventional archers on foot with powerful composite bows should have been completely possible and affordable. They should even be able to fire more powerful bows than what could be fired from horseback, due to being able to use a longer bow.

This is an interdisciplinary question, but I hope /r/AskHistorians is a good place for it. Vishnu and Shiva are very important gods in the Hindu pantheon, but analogues for them (thematic or etymological) don't seem to exist in other Indo-European religious traditions. Where did they come from, and how did they gain importance over time?

While looking into the Oleomargarine Act I have had a particularly hard time finding an explanation for what caused it to be enacted in the first place. This is a fascinating bit of history to me and I'd appreciate any insights as to why this happened.

Was there an equivalent to The East India Company in the French and Spanish colonial empires; a company that came to be regarded as a national asset and effectively ruled a particular colony?

My 3 Navy buddies and I cannot seem to find the source of a quote we all remember learning during our R.O.T.C. training. From our collective memories we are pretty sure it was from an early naval battle of World War 2 in the Pacific in which a ship in very rough shape is taken control of by some low level officer (an ensign?). He supposedly sends a transmission to his commanders along the lines of "This is the U.S.S. XXX several weapon systems are down, all the officers above me are dead, I apologize for any mistakes I am about to make." Obviously that is me heavily paraphrasing. As far as we remember the ship never made it out.

Ring any bells to anyone? Were we lied to by some speaker and this never happened? Is this a Berenstain Bears effect and we all have a false memory? None of us can seem to find anything on Google. Much thanks to anyone who can lead us to it, it's driving us crazy.

Since he was a brit, why did he turned his back on the brit army and decided to fight with the american?

How the brit empire reacted when they knew he was fighting with the other side?

What was the "son's of liberty" and was he a part of this?

Why they chose George Washington for the 1st president of USA and not someone who was born in USA ?

Thanks guys.