The first Beijing 798 Biennale, in 2009, came during a time of hope that the Chinese government would be more permissive of free expression. But the core of the art scene would soon become co-opted and eventually controlled by the state.
A century ago today, Xi Shangzhen, the first woman employee of a progressive Shanghai newspaper, committed suicide. The case transcended individual tragedy after details of her life were seized upon by the media to debate the social and economic upheaval of the times.
On August 28, 1928, rising political star Shen Dingyi was gunned down by assassins at a bus stop near his home. No one was ever charged in his murder: too many people had wanted Shen dead.
Song Jiaoren is China's "lost future," remembered as a democrat who opposed authoritarianism — and not for reneging on promises in the naive hope that he could build an electoral coalition.
In the early hours of August 14, 1524, as many as 250 officials of the Ming dynasty staged a protest in the Forbidden City, a last desperate attempt to resolve what became known as the Great Ritual Controversy.
In the early days of Republican China, the domestic tourism industry was mostly tailored to foreigners who wanted to escape from the cities. This changed in the 1920s, when China's nationalistic awakening provided an opportunity for local entrepreneurs to attend to the needs of Chinese tourists.
In the summer of 1884, French forces, frustrated by Qing refusal to comply with their colonial wishes in Indochina, attempted to demonstrate their power by taking Taiwan. Neither the landing nor the war went to plan.
On July 26, 1882, the first electric light came on in Shanghai. The city would be China's only electrified city for the next six years, helping it attract industry — and imperialist forces — through the turn of the century.
Taking its name from an American Civil War reference, operation "Dixie Mission" sent Americans into China's "rebel" territory in 1944 — where they were enthusiastically greeted by Mao Zedong and Chinese Communists.