I've been anticipating for this, trying to think up three questions for each of the panelists...But feel free to answer any question even if it's not under your username:

ETA: Should have really mentioned how great it still is to have a China AMA, and thanks to all the participants!

For /u/AsiaExpert:

• On Qing warfare, why was the 2nd Jinchuan war so damn expensive? I understand the harshness of the terrain, but how on earth could this war be twice as costly as the conquest of Xinjiang and the extermination of the Dzungars?

• Again on the Qianlong campaigns (sorry, I just find this really interesting), was there a technological gap between the Burmese and the Qing during the Burmese campaigns? A book I have on India claims the Burmese had European-style weapons which were superior to "traditional" Qing ones, but I'm not quite sure how much to trust.

• On Tang trade, how much trade was there by sea (through the Strait of Malacca)? Can/do we know if it was more or less than from Central Asia?

For /u/Jasfss,

• If most Jurchens immigrated to China after the Jin were established (per Imperial China 900-1800 by Mote, p.224), then how did they return to Manchuria after the Jin were disestablished? Or am I misunderstanding something?

• What did Mongol rule look like in North China during the decades between the destruction of the Jin and the establishment of the Yuan, from the mid-1230s to 1271?

• What was the political structure of the Western Xia/Tangut state and why did they permanently take up imperial pretensions, unlike Korea? And what happened to the Tanguts by the Ming era?

/u/Thanatos90

• Did the Muslim background of Li Zhi's family affect his philosophy at all? Come to think of it, do we know why his family stopped being Muslim?

• Why did Li Zhi like vernacular novels like the 水滸傳? What philosophical background is there to this? Other major thinkers who were so enamored with books like these?

• What legacy did Mozi and his school have by Late Imperial China (Song and after)?

/u/FraudianSlip

• What did the Song elite think about foreign trade, or really mercantilism in general?

• This isn't really about society, culture or intellectual activity, but how easy was the Song conquest of South China? Did Later Shu or Later Tang (or other South China regimes) have any realistic chances of survival?

• What were Song relationships with Dali? I'm curious about Dali and there is absolutely no good information on the Internet about it, so any ideas? (again sorry about not being about culture) Information about its precursor Nanzhao would be appreciated too.

/u/keyilan

• What impact (if any) did Middle Chinese have on Tibetan or the Turkic languages?

• When would a Chinese variant have become the dominant language in places like Fujian or Guangdong? I'm guessing post-Tang (since Vietnamese still exists), am I right?

• Why does Sichuan speak a Mandarin variant?

/u/Tiako

• Why did Sichuan not develop into a major player in China in the Warring States era, like Yue or Chu? Chinese records generally ignore it until the Qin conquest.

• On that matter, how/why did Qin conquer it before Chu did?

• What's the point of Sanxingdui heads/masks? Any inferences, or is it just guesswork?

/u/bigbluepanda

• Did Zhu Yuanzhang and the Ming have any technological edge over his adversaries in the Yuan-Ming transition, particularly Zhang Shicheng?

• What were relations like between the Ming and Tibet?

• Why did the Yuan fail to conquer Java?

@ /u/DeSoulis and /u/buy_a_pork_bun: Sorry, don't know enough about modern China :(

/u/Tiako: Were the Xian and Shang dynasties real political entities, or are these labels strictly mythological? Ancient Chinese history (and Chinese prehistory) is confusing to me because there seems to be a conflating between history and mythology that is still being sorted out (analogous to the Trojan war, for example).

What can you tell us about the political realities of Chinese prehistory, and whether they correspond in some way to the traditional mythology?

How were the early Han dynasties so successful in incorporating and sinicizing what is now South China, despite the barriers of distance, malaria, climate, and differences in crops? What caused southern expansion to halt where it did, rather than extend further into Southeast Asia?

Why were the Han dynasties unable to replicate this success on their other frontiers (Xiongnu, Mongolia, Tibet, Xinjiang, Manchuria, Korea etc.)? It seems to me that these frontiers are closer in geography, culture, and/or climate to the Han Chinese heartland than the Yue lands to the south. Even today these provinces are quite distinct, resistant to over a thousand years of Han influence, centralization, and modern nationalism.

What lead to the relocation of the capital to Beijing by the Communists? By all accounts Beijing is a terrible location for a capital (dust storms!) and Nanjing is actually a pretty good one.

Ooooh, oooh pick me! I think this question is mostly for /u/keyilan but I'd appreciate any answer I get:

When were the Hakka first recognized as being different from the Han majority, and is it likely they will ever be recognized as an official ethnic group in either mainland China or Taiwan? Also, why are the Hakka grouped together when they seem to have a pretty wide range of dialects/languages and customs? For example, I've heard people complain that the Meixian Hakka spoken on HakkaTV and the PA system for the MRT system in Taiwan isn't inclusive enough.

Thanks in advance, and thanks to /u/Jasfss and the experts on /r/AskHistorians for putting this together!

What was the indigenous religion in China before the rise of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism? How does it compare to Japanese Shinto and/or Korean indigenous religion?

Which foundational Chinese history texts are most sorely in need of translation into english, or at the very least, some western language?

Like off the top of my head, I know the Zizhi Tongjian was translated into french, but that was in the 1700s. I'm wondering what other essential resources could benefit from being brought up to date in translation for western scholars?

Buddhism enters China as an elite religion. How does it filter down to the peasants and out to the provinces? What about Confucianism, how did it filter down to peasant life?

We normally treat "traditional Chinese folk religion" as a piece, but is there, or was there, geographical variation? When Taoist priests first arrived in a region, was there a tension between the national custom and the local custom?

Many people claim Cantonese pronunciation is how people from Han/Tang/Song/(insert another dynasty) Dynasty speak. However I suspect it's an internet oversimplification similar to "American English is exactly how people spoke English in the 18th Century" kind of deal. Can /u/keyilan shed some light on this?

Can you guys define what "China" is? Where are the temporal and geographical limits on what you consider to be China or Chinese history?

How about use of "Chinese" as an identity? Would someone like Confucius or Laozi have considered themselves "Chinese", or would they have identified themselves as a citizen of their local state, or the dynasty they lived under, or Han/other ethnicity?

How about Sun Tzu or any of the other military generals who spent their time fighting other Chinese states, did they still think of themselves and their enemies as "Chinese"?

Thanks for this thread guys. btw I know 漢字 from 日本語, so feel free to use the Chinese characters or their modern equivalents if they add details.

I was reading the Wikipedia page for the Japanese invasion of Korea in the 1590s and I noticed that there was some Ming support for the Joseon dynasty. How extensive was this support and what were relations between the Ming and the Joseon monarchy at this time? Did the Ming see the Japanese as a potential threat if they were successful in taking Korea?

I guess this first question mostly falls under the briefs of /u/Thanatos90 and /u/FraudianSlip:

What do you find most exciting about some of the lesser known schools of thought from the Hundred Schools?

But this question is pretty general (and may be unreasonably large!) so I'm sure /u/AsiaExpert, /u/Jasfss or anyone could answer:

In general, how would you characterise Chinese schools of thought and how would this characterisation change over different time periods? Terms like religion and philosophy seem obviously and woefully inaccurate, even if they might hit the right note every now and again. What interesting or noteworthy ways are the purview, purpose, etc. different from or similiar to thought-systems that might be more familiar to a western audience?

Personal question: How did you guys come to the China field? What got you interested in the topic in the first place, and what difficulties or experiences have you had since you began researching or studying China? Basically, why China?

/u/buy_a_pork_bun:

1. How much can the roots of warlordism in the early republic be traced back to the rise of local militias to combat the late-Qing rebellions? Should local military and political autonomy be thought of as inherited from the late-Qing or as purely the result of a power vacuum from Yuan Shikai's death?

2. Before the Northern Expedition, how much of the battles between warlords were basically "show matches" (both sides show up somewhere, shoot at each other for a bit, one side melts away, all done until the next war) and how much were serious heavy military contests (detailed planning, tactical strategic manuvering, constructing and taking of strongholds, trenches massed artillery tanks aircrafts mines etc etc)? Did the former evlove into the latter?

3. How much of the early civil war centralised vs federalism debate was just retoric and how much of it was actual political ideology and goal of the opposing sides?

ATTN: History's play in China's development of national identity during pre-mao era (pref 18th C) up until today -- PARTICULARLY, Mao Era to Deng Xiaoping and transformation of CCP so more directed at /u/buy_a_pork_bun and /u/DeSoulis but of course anyone can answer

• How did China develop a national identity during Mao Era/Communism party reign? Considering how the New Cultural movement occurred and it proposed basically the DESTRUCTION of traditions and values of the past, did China turn to Marxism in efforts to form a national identity founded on class struggle? But then why in post-Mao, did they turn back to Ethnic nationalism such like that which was prevalent during Han/Manchurian times

• Clarification on the reimagining of ZENG GUO FAN that was promoted at the time to solidify/aid in developing China's national identity?

• With China's cultural richness, there must've been multiple occassions where different techniques were employed by China to manipulate/distorted Chinese history (literally or the concepts of history), in order to satisfy its national consciousness. Are there really any pertinent ones?

• Could it also be interpreted that their censorship posed a mechanism to distort its image to their own people and its global image?

• More so for /u/Thanatos90 :

• Is there really any difference between Confucianism and neo-confucianism? with the renaissance of confucianism that sprung under the guidance of the Communist Party around 1980s, wouldn't it be seen as neo-confucianism or too many blurred lines?

• Can it be said that China is still experiencing a national identity crisis that crystallized after their defeat in the opium wars or even earlier, when considering how there are still anti-western ideals despite globalisation and growth in transnational trades and etc

/u/DeSoulis :

Where would you say the Cultural Revolution went wrong in removing revisionism from the Party? It seems that despite enormous effort, capitalism returned to China when Mao and the Gang of Four went away. What didn't work?

Why wasn't the printing press invented in China before Europe?

1. What contributions did the Chinese Labor Corps make in WW1 and how important were they to the war effort? Also since this is a Chinacentric panel, what was the overall effect of WW1 and the Labor Corps on China itself? Were people in China aware of their participation in WW1?

2. Why did the CCP suppress Confucianism and how did they justify it?

3. Did the Chinese understand the concept of technological progress? For example would a person living during the Song dynasty have realized that during the Han dynasty, print technology, paper, gunpowder, and the civil exams had not been invented or reached the state that they observed? Was there ever a feeling of gratitude that they were living in an era with paper and printing compared to say, the Han dynasty, when those things hadn't been invented yet? Would they have been aware that they were more advanced not ideologically (Middle Kingdom stuff), but technologically, during the Tang and Song dynasties compared to other civilizations? I realize that the Chinese had the concept of a "Middle Civilization," and that they were the center of the world, but did this also extend to other aspects such as technology? Would they have regarded themselves as more technologically advanced than say, Korea, Japan, or the other Southeast Asian neighbors. Also considering that Zheng He sailed with his large fleet encountering far off places like India, Arabia, and Africa, did they ever bring back experiences of self indulging superiority of their civilization's accomplishments in comparison to others? How did they envision progress of technological progress compared to previous dynasties?

4. What kind of civil services and institutions did the Chinese dynasties provide for their citizens, if any?

5. How important were religious rituals in Chinese society compared to Abrahamic religions? Did the Chinese have a system of belief or worship that played a role in daily life?

6. When was Han conceived of as an identity and ethnic group? When was the earliest point in time when every "Han" person in China would have known they were Han?

7. At what point in China's history was slavery most comparable to the western mode of slavery as seen in Rome or during the era of the Atlantic slave trade?

8. Suppose I'm a regular ordinary middle aged male farmer in the Song, Ming, and Qing dynasties. My land is being impinged on by another neighboring farmer, and my livestock were stolen from me. What sort of assistance, if any, would I be able to seek from the law and the government as a mediator?

9. How similar is the concept of Mandate of Heaven to the "Divine Right to Rule" in Europe? Did regular people really believe in the Mandate of Heaven, or was it just used by historians as a post hoc justification of the collapse and usurpation of a previous dynasty?

For /u/Thanatos90 : I will have to prove you wrong, because my question is about Li Zhi. Why do you study Li Zhi when Zhu Xi's thought is clearly the right one? More seriously, I am curious about Li Zhi's "background", if I may say so. My question might be too broad or trivial, but aside from Wang Yangming, who influenced Li Zhi? I mean, for example Zhu Xi is known for having been influenced by various Confucianists of the Song Era (Zhou Dunyi, the Cheng Brothers, etc.) and made a coherent whole out of their sometimes antagonistic thoughts. As for Li Zhi, on the other hand, I know he was vastly influenced by Wang Yangming's heresy theories, but I never saw him being associated to any other philosopher, Confucianist or not. That led me, with my limited knowledge, to thinking that he was a kind of "original" (I don't think that word is the best here, but my limited knowledge of English is not helping me find a better one ...) thinker ... But now that I can ask a specialist, I'd rather have your opinion on this issue, rather than my probably poor one!

Something I was wondering about a while back:

In what form was food for emergencies/sieges stored in cities in ancient China? Did the state have any official food stores for such occasions? If yes, what kind of food was it and how was it stored? How long would it last? Who would actually get it and how much?

How did Zen Buddhism develop in China and spread to Japan?

I heard that the Chinese government has spent a large amount of money and time on standardizing the language and doesn't like regional dialects. Is this true? Does it have historic origins? What's the purpose?

What is your opinion on Edgar Snow's The Other side of the River: Red China Today, which is the author's journalistic account of his visit to China around 1960, in the years leading up to the Great Leap Forward debacle. From his book, you get a very sympathetic view of Communist Party and post-war China and I was wondering if the current historical scholarship takes a similarly sympathetic view?

/u/FraudianSlip -What was the literary canon of the Song dynasty like? What texts did they most frequently mention in their writings? -Did the Song dynasty elite exhibit any interest in the Islamic world?

/u/keyilan -What caused Shanghai to become the centre of the Chinese film industry during the 1920s and 30s? -What was life in Shanghai like under the Japanese occupation?

/u/Thanatos90 -How did Neo-Confucianism differ from Confucianism (And were they called by different names at the time Neo-Confucianism was promulgated?). -What sort of intellectual trends contributed to the rise of communism in China?

/u/bigbluepanda -How did the experience of the Imjin War effect the Ming military? Did they adopt any tactics from the Japanese? -Did the Ming ever attempt any military campaigns in South East Asia (Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand, etc)? If so, how successful were they?

/u/buy_a_pork_bun During the post Qing-era, were there any serious attempts made to restore the Qing dynasty by any Chinese faction?

/u/DeSoulis During the late 19th and early 20th century, how did the Qing dynasty engage with growing Chinese nationalism and the challenge that they were a foreign, "Tatar" tyranny?

/u/AsiaExpert What was the relationship like between the Tang and the Persian Sassanid dynasty? Did the Tang make any attempt to support a Sassanid restoration?

A question for anyone knowledgeable about the Tang dynasty or other dynasties' policy towards Central Asia:

I've been mulling over some ideas about Central Asia's place in transnational diplomacy (see here for my attempt to tie together events in Constantinople with China), but as a complete novice, I don't have a great grasp of how the Tang dynasty actually exerted power there. Did they impose direct rule? Or was it more through various vassals? Should I even use the word 'vassal' here? Perhaps most importantly, how was Chinese rule viewed by the people already there: can we write a subaltern history of the peoples under Chinese rule/influence? Or was this a more equal relationship between states of comparable power/wealth?

I'm more interested in the pre-An Lushan period, but other eras would be good too as comparative examples. Any reading recommendation for China's relationship with the powers on its western frontiers would be be very welcome as well :)

Can anyone give me a general overview of how China has dealt with the legacy of it's terrible loss and suffering during WW2?

What is our current knowledge of the origins and early history of Weiqi (Go/Baduk in Japanese and Chinese)? At what point did it gain a privileged position as a cultured art? I know that there are mythological accounts of its origin among legendary kings, and disputed references to it in Confucius/Mencius, but what is the actual origin?

u/AsiaExpert Why were the territories of China always reunited after each period of warfare of disintegration? Was the idea of a united China always a powerful concept in people's minds? If not, when did this identity start to have the power which it does today?

From what I understand the modern consensus is that Cheng Weiyuan and Gao E went beyond simple editing and actually wrote the last ~1/3 of Hónglóu Mèng. If we operate on the premise that that is true, is it generally accepted that they did a "good job" of continuing Cao Xueqin's storyline? Or do serious scholars of the text choose to ignore the last part of the saga and focus their analysis on what they can be absolutely sure was written by the original author?

(also, please feel free to refute the premise that the two wrote the book's ending)

Alright, I feel like this might be pretty low-level, but I'm unfortunately clueless about Chinese history so I hope it's still groupable under the "anything" bit of AMA: are there any good books (in English) on Zheng He?

I don't mind academic stuff, since I assume he's not particularly happening subject material for a good pop history, but the only book I can think of off the top of my head that deals with him (Gavin Menzies) seems to have...an iffy reputation.

Was the Terracotta Army really supposed to accompany the emperor into the afterlife?

/u/keyilan easy question for you. At what point did a "national" or "common" language occur? Another Q. Also, i speak a bit of xiang Chinese dialect. how does its morphology retain some of the Middle Chinese vowels and morphology?

/u/Jasfss I know that the extent of some of the empires were to a certain extent, politically speaking. In reality, how far did the Tang Dynasty control?

note: I am Chinese and can 100% read Chinese. If you want, feel free to reply in Chinese.

Is there an RoTK equivalent for the 5 Dynasties 10 Kingdoms period? I find these epochs fascinating.

/u/keyilan I am a fairly advanced student of Chinese. Along the way, I have noticed that 普通话 and its various related dialects have a huge number of synonyms that are not seen in English. Is it true that 普通话 just has a metric fuckton of words? Or is Pleco just feeding me every single word in a language that can be called "Chinese" across time and space?

Hello!

I have some questions that touch on the personal. My in-laws are Chinese and I would like to know what life would have been like in the areas where they lived. My mother-in-law is from Shandong province, but during the late 40s (I think), she moved with her family to Heilongjiang. Then, in the 1980s, they moved back to Shandong. What was life like for a family in those locations? Also, my mother-in-law owned a billiard parlor and a restaurant at some points while my wife was young (80s and early 90s).

/u/DeSoulis :

• What motivations has post-1979 China had in maintaining the North Korean government through continued aid?
• How has China's change to state-capitalism impacted relations between the two countries?
• Under what circumstances would China be incentivised to stop support of the Kim dynasty?

I have so many questions, but maybe I can start with three:

• Did Liezi (Lieh Tzu) really exist? I know I've read some questions about whether Laozi was a real, historical person, but not much about the "third" Daoist.

• How did Jews wind up in Kaifeng?

• This mostly for /u/Tiako : I've got family from just east of Chongqing, in Fuling and Yunyang. What's the coolest thing that's been found there? I know about the now-submerged fish carving that they were planning on building an underwater museum for. What's important to know about that specific region's earliest history?

Thanks!

This one is for /u/DeSoulis

What were the different techniques used by the post-1979 government in creating rapid economic growth and how did they differ from the Japanese and South Korean methods? In addition, which played a bigger role, foreign investors establishing businesses or homegrown industry?

Hello, I guess I'd like to raise this question for /u/bigbluepanda: as I'm currently interested in Chinese military armaments, organizations and strategies/tactics used during the Yuan dynasty and onward until the Qing. Could you briefly describe what you know of these matters?

Primarily, how were these armies organized? For example, were the Yuan army organized similarly to the Mongol armies as the rest of the Mongol Empire? What kinds of weapons were used in the Yuan army?

And secondly, I had also asked a similar question on r/AskHistorians a while ago. That is, we know Ming had (at the time) advanced firearm technologies, and these firearms were used in its armies. Although I have come to realize that its small firearms were not what we'd typically call "handguns" today, certainly drastically different from the arquebus and matchlocks, I had to imagine they had their influence in Ming's contemporaries. Chiefly regarding the Manchu: did the Qing army make use of Ming handgun technologies in its army? And how did the Qing attempt to modernize its army?

Also, what in your opinion do you think was the catalyst for the modernization, did similar efforts exist before the major military defeats such as the First Sino-Franco War?

What were the most desirable items on the silk road before 1400?

Would anyone be able to give me an overview of China's involvement in WWI?

I heard there's been revision of the idea that the Qing clamped down on foreign trade; claiming that it was under the Manchu that overseas trade reached its height. What is the current state of the historiography of Qing economic history?

I've long had this question - if the original Eight Banners were created out of the Manchu population, how did the Qing manage to organize them when they started including Mongols (and other northern peoples) and Chinese? How did the ethnic difference impact the career of soldiers? Were the Banners still Eight, including three ethnicities at different levels, or did they have 24 Banners, Eight for each ethnicity? How were they organised?

Also, if you could suggest any good book on the subject, I'd be grateful!

I have read that pre-modern (Ming and earlier) mettalurgy in China was very advanced, and iron/steel production was very high compared with pre-industrial Europe. Is this true? And if so, what were particular features of Chinese steelmaking that made it so productive? Is it true that the quality of the metal was also generally quite good?

Were there any interactions between the Qin and the Mauryans, or other Indian empire/ancient dynasty combos?

Were the Qing less in favor of industrialization, investing in technology, modernization, etc than other dynasties? Is it possible that they were more reluctant to modernize due to being afraid of the han population and giving them authority and focusing more on keeping their grips on power?

Why did China fail to modernize in late 19th, early 20th century in comparison to Japan?

How did the Sino-Soviet split affect the city of Harbin? How was the city's Russian heritage viewed and treated during it?

The Tang, and maybe to a lesser extent, Song dynasties tend to be considered the golden ages of China, where China controlled a huge amount of wealth. I'm aware that both of these dynasties were very wealthy, but what were living conditions like for the average person back then? When I talk about the Tang dynasty with people here in China, they often talk as if practically EVERYBODY was living extremely comfortably, but I find it hard to believe that even people like farmers and other manual labourers lived comfortable lives.

Where did China's face culture come from?

What is the state of historiography and academia in China & about China?

Are there any places outside China that does history of China as well as the Chinese?

Are there significant differences in Taiwan & Mainland regarding issues of pre-20th century history?

To what extent does CCP censorship affect history departments and academia?

Have any of the panelists studied in China, and are there any notable differences in how they approach history vs how a western university does?

/u/buy_a_pork_bun : Can you talk about Sun Yet-Sen's goal for reviving China, and how it changed after the accumulation of unsuccessful uprising? I'm particularly interested in the oath that those who wanted to join the Revive China Society had to give, and how that changed over time.

1. Why is it that the Hmong are scattered over several different regions rather than being relatively concentrated in a single region like the Khmers, Thais, Burmese, etc. are?

2. Is there enough historical evidence that the Battle of Zhuolu happened? Is this region (Zhuoulu, Hebei) where Hmongs originated?

3. Did the Hmongs have a Kingdom of San Miao? I've seen a historical map with it, but I can't find much information when I search it. I've heard this is where they migrated after the Battle of Zhuolu and then migrated to Indochina afterwards.

@ /u/Tiako

@ /u/Jasfss

How was the Mandate of Heaven implemented by the Zhou dynasty and what was the populaces reaction to it?

Was it mainly based on religious and philosophical principles?

Was it a constant source of legitimacy for dynasties to come?

How does it compare to, say, Kants (or any contemporary western philosophers) understanding of Right of Revolution?

I have two questions, both about religion.

The first is what were Chines religious practices and beliefs like during the Tang dynasty? How important were Buddhism and Taoism to normal people's religious lives, and what did those who weren't greatly interested in those believe? Related to this, how integrated or seperate were the different Chinese religious beliefs?

The second question is about prehistory, so perhaps it's /u/Tiako's area. Quite a few of my Chinese Christian friends (I live in China) are fans of an author called Chan Kei Thong, who wrote a book called Faith of our Fathers which argues that ancient (I mean, bone writings-era) Chinese people were monotheists who worshipped one God, Shangdi. Now, some of the stuff they've told me from this book I dismiss as it sounds like it's based on Creationism, but I'm wondering how plausible is the central theory. I'm inclined to assume it's wrong, but I just don't know enough about such ancient Chinese history. How much do we know about Chinese religious practices in c.4000BC?

When and how did the written Chinese language transition from a vertical, right to left language, to a horizontal left-to-right language? Did the transition occur around the same time in the different Chinese speaking jurisdictions (mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau, etc.)?

Damn, why do I see this thread that late...

Two questions :

• How did you become historians of China ? I'm currently studying both History and Mandarin trying to do the same thing and I'm curious. Something to say about the state of the field ?

• Do we know how and when Marxism reached China, how it started to influence its intellectuals ?

Hi. Chinese panel. It's awesome that you guys are doing this. :) I hope I'm not too late. :)

I'm doing research for a Total War Attila mod (13th-15th century war game) and I've tried to find what the consensus is on Chinese elements within the Mongol army. Secondly, what primary or secondary sources are available so that I can learn more?

Thank you for your attention.

If the writing system standardization were to be allowed to occur naturally (I know it's ambiguous) post Qin unification, which seal script would have gained the most popularity?

I've seen a couple different interpretations of ancient Chinese kingship. On the one hand, John Fairbank argues that the Shang and W. Zhou were real territorial states, on the basis that their production of bronze ritual vessels indicates they had control over geographically dispersed resources (copper and tin rarely being found together), as well as the labor necessary for large scale mining. On the other hand, on here I've seen them described as essentially hegemonic city-states, without much in the way of centralized government. How do the different schools address each others' arguments, and which do you think makes the stronger case?

One more question: What's your favorite (either most interesting or most comprehensive) academic work on the Yijing / I Ching?

Chinese diaspora to SE Asia and the Americas in the 19th century: what was the view of the Qing government? From where can I learn more on this subject? Did the view differ according to the colonial power of the countries of emigration (Dutch East Indies vs. British Malaya vs. United States vs. Spanish Cuba)?

Thanks in advance!

Is it really true that one of Deng Xiaoping´s sons was turned into a quadriplegic due to an extremist member of the CCP pushing him out of a window? Is there any context to this which is often lost?

Were the Manchu invaders who would form the Qing dynasty in a place of relative prosperity and anxiousness to attack when the Ming fell? Were they already looking for blood during the Ming revolts in the 1640s, or was it just serendipitous? What was their attitude toward the Ming during the 1600s in particular, when they were finally crumbling?

Hey everyone. Thanks for the great questions. We're still working on getting answers, and not all the panelists have the same availability so that might take another day or two.

However I want to also add, for those of you who did not get an answer here, I encourage you to post your questions later this week as a separate thread. Since only AMA Panelists are able to answer questions here, it's possibly you've asked a question that we don't feel comfortable answering. But that doesn't mean someone else won't know the answer. So I encourage you to give it another go outside the AMA thread in a couple days.

Thanks again!

So what are some good books (scholarly or popular) on the Warring States period? Ideally with at least some narrative history.

I've found that many authors tend to either focus on imperial China (e.g., Mark Edward Lewis' The Early Chinese Empires) or on social and cultural history (e.g., Li Feng's Early China).

Zhuge Liang from the Three Kingdoms period is traditionally credited with inventing the repeating crossbow and the wheelbarrow. Whether or not he actually did, do we know of much innovation from the Three Kingdoms? It seems like with so much of the population dropping from the census, there wouldn't be much in the way of resources for innovation.

Also, more generally, I'm interested in recommendations for books or authors for this time period. I just recently discovered a bunch of Rafe de Crespigny's works online, but am interested in other (English-language) souces as well.

In what ways did Empress Cixi set a precedent for the administration of modern China, if any? Sun Yat-Sen's aims were of course to dismantle late Imperial China in favor of a republic, and Yuan Shikai may have (?) reintroduced elements of her administration into his, but what are the lasting remnants of her (incredibly unpopular) rule that persisted in China or persist to this day?

for /u/FraudianSlip and /u/Jasfss regarding the nightlife and social life of the Tang Dynasty and Song Dynasty; wikipedia refers to 'nightclubs' in the Song and i assume the same would have existed during the Tang, but what i wonder is what sort of places these would be like? like the inns in historical medieval europe or something else entirely?

Secondly, in regards to the nightlife of the Song and Tang dynasty, how accurate would the depiction of a brothel in 'House of Flying Daggers' be? and how would these courtesans be trained? is there a good source on how courtesans were trained?