About one of the most famous disciples of Confucius, the man of action Zilu

Regarding the Tang Dynasty writer and his most famous essay.

The greatest travel writer in Chinese tradition, the late-Ming figure Xu Xiake.

Regarding the great Yuan Dynasty playwright and his most famous play.

Regarding the historian of institutions Du You and his grandson, the poet Du Mu.

The legend of "a dead cat for a prince" and the true story of the career of Empress Dowager Liu of the Song Dynasty.

On the great Song Dynasty philosopher who redefined Confucian thought.

Regarding the major Qing Dynasty historian Zhang Xuecheng (1738-1801).

A chapter in the Daoist text Zhuangzi that launches a sustained attack on Confucianism, through the mouth of a notorious criminal.

One of the most influential thinkers -- and his most influential work -- in the history of Chinese democratic thought.

Until the advent of modern scholarship, the earliest definitive date in the chronology of Chinese history was 841 B.C. What happened that year that so marked the calendar?

Regarding the Han Dynasty physician Zhang Zhongjing.

Regarding the Song Dynasty architect and scholar of architecture.

Everyone knows that Shang Yang reformed the laws and institutions of the State of Qin, setting it up for superpower status and paving the way to the Qin Dynasty. But a number of earlier reformers prefigured Shang Yang. Here are two of them.

The story of the deeply influential Ming Dynasty philosopher.

The 6th century B.C. statesman of the State of Zheng promulgated the first published criminal code in Chinese history. Moreover, it is through him that we know how the ancient Chinese understood the nature of the soul.

The hedonist tradition in Chinese philosophy.

The economic conference of 81 B.C. and the book that resulted from it.

On the late-5th and early-6th century work of literary criticism and its author.

Regarding the man who made Confucianism the dominant ideology of China.

On Chai Rong, the second emperor of the Latter Zhou, and how it became the last of the Five Dynasties.

Our only source for many of the stories about the life of Genghis Khan, The Secret History of the Mongols is a crucial document for understanding the Mongol Empire.

On the German scholar of Chinese architecture.

In 627 A.D., an elderly shepherd chanced upon ten stone drums bearing ancient inscriptions. Since then, they have gone on a topsy-turvy adventure through the tumultuous course of Chinese history, down to the present day.

Only six emperors in Chinese history are documented to have performed Fengshan, the worship of heaven at earth at the holy Mt. Tai.