logo for print

The Martyrdom of Liu Xiaobo

China’s dissident writer was an exemplar of iconoclastic intellectual spirit, pursuing a more humane society despite state repression. A new biography draws the arc of...

In-Between City

Hong Kong has been caught between empires — and narratives — for almost two centuries. The diversity of its early migrants made the city what...

Party Man

China’s first paramount leader since Mao is, for all the ink spilled on him, a black box. But behind the speculation over his intent, Xi...

The Bones Remember

Three new books grapple with the suppressed histories of modern China, from the Cultural Revolution to the Covid pandemic. But for every state effort to...

The Shadow of Chiang Kai-shek

China’s nationalist former leader has a mixed legacy. Two new books present him in a revisionist light — but what inheritance did the Generalissimo really...
Browse the archive

Dec 16, 6:30-8pm Asia Society NYC

Shakespeare, Tyranny and China

What do King Lear, Mao Zedong and Donald Trump have in common? How tyrants exercise power was a question of pressing concern for William Shakespeare, and is no less so in our current age. Join us on December 16 at Asia Society in New York to hear literary scholar Nan Z. Da in conversation with Shakespeare expert Stephen Greenblatt, moderated by Orville Schell.