history

The Pagoda Puzzle: What Can Save China’s Oldest Wooden Tower?

Translations, cross-publications, and collaborative projects from Sixth Tone’s external partners. 

SIXTH TONE ×

As rumors swirl around the restoration of an ailing national treasure, a conservation expert explains why some want to take it apart.

The Paper

Inside the Linguistic and Cultural Rebellion of the ‘Mudan’

Contributions from individuals with unique perspectives to share. Hear from everyone, from experts and commentators to those whose voices are often marginalized.

VOICES & OPINION

Once banished, the mudan’s iconoclastic nature has reigned supreme in the springtime, from its refusal to fit into neat linguistic categories to its enduring allure to this day.

Hugo Tseng

How a Buddha Got Its Sight Back

A stone Buddha’s eyes are symbols of its religious power, but many have been lost over the years. Can collectors help them find their way home?

Jin Yu

How China Successfully Reintroduced the World’s Last Wild Horses

By the 1970s, Przewalski’s horses could only be found in zoos. But a decadeslong reintroduction program has successfully brought wild herds back to China’s northwest.

Li Zhongqiu

How ‘Blood-Sweating Horses’ Became Auspicious Symbols in China

Visual stories that get up close and personal with contemporary China. A mix of short videos, documentaries, photography, and data visualization.

MULTIMEDIA

Rumors of an exotic steed that sweats blood first spread thousands of years ago, persisting in ancient writings and metamorphosing into various mythical horses.

Sheng Wenqiang

In Art, China’s History With the Horse Is a Glorious Story

Cultural artifacts from Chinese dynasties show both the country’s history with horses and the high regard in which they were held.

Bao Wenwei

The Year of the Horse Has Arrived. But When Did Horses Arrive in China?

The Year of the Horse, which began this month, is considered auspicious. How did China’s love for the horse come to be?

Liu Yiting

What Exactly Is a Qipao?

The ubiquitous garment has become an icon of East Asian fashion and has transformed as Chinese society underwent massive changes. It also begs the question: Does something so timeless have a true form?

Yu Ying

What’s In a Name? How Kalgan Transformed From Gate, to City, to Planet

Many know Zhangjiakou as a top destination for winter sports, but not too long ago, it was once known as Kalgan — capturing the imaginations of travelers, presidents, and science fiction writers alike.

Shanghai Sessions: Four Notes From a City in Swing

SPECIAL PROJECTS

A brief history of the misfits, migrants, and mavericks who improvised a musical revolution.

Sixth Tone

On the Trail of Shanghai Jazz

The Ups and Downs of Shanghai’s ‘Saint of Songs’

The Filipino conductor who made Shanghai dance and shaped Hong Kong’s Cantopop sound.

Cai Yiwen

Street Angels: Meet the Women Who Became China’s First Pop Stars

Originally dismissed as lightweights, the women of Shanghai’s jazz age remade both the sound and the image of modern China.

Ticket to Shanghai: How an American Trumpeter Rocked China’s Jazz Scene

Before Count Basie and Harlem fame, Buck Clayton found respect, freedom, and a glimpse of jazz without borders in Shanghai.

The Music Teacher Who Rewrote the Rules of Chinese Pop

Reviled by elites, adored by the masses, Li Jinhui turned Shanghai’s din into China’s first pop music.

The MingKwai Experiment: Typing Chinese Before Computers

Unveiled in 1947, the MingKwai typewriter was the product of a Chinese novelist’s yearslong obsession to build a machine that tackled the problem of typing Chinese decades before personal computers arrived.

Liu Yuli

Her Eye, Her Era, Her Archive: Xiao Zhuang, One of China’s First Female Photojournalists, Dies at 93

Beginning as a young army photographer, Xiao’s eye for everyday human moments led her to document the rise of a nation.

In Wuhan, A Race to Study a 3,500-Year-Old City Between Seasons

Articles that cut to the core of contemporary China. In-depth, informed, and carefully crafted, every piece is carried by the voices of the story’s participants.

FEATURES

At Panlongcheng, archaeologists race against seasonal rains and hostile soil to recover a 3,500-year-old city that reshaped understanding of early Chinese civilization, knowing much of it may remain forever underwater.

Wu Haiyun

The Archeological Menagerie: China Uncovers 3,000-Year-Old ‘Zoo’

Timely reports on issues and events from across China. Drawing on a vast range of sources, these succinct articles provide insights into the significance of each issue in a wider context.

NEWS

The findings shed light on an ancient system of acquiring and keeping captive a variety of wild animals, likely for use as sacrifices by ancient elites.