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What ‘Chang An’ Gets Right — and Wrong — About China’s Greatest Dynasty

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

VOICES & OPINION

For decades, films set in the Tang dynasty were plagued by Shakespearean pretensions, geisha-inspired makeup, and anachronistic props. ‘Chang An’ dodges those pitfalls, while falling into a few new ones.

The Princess Who Might Have Ruled China

Chinese historians liked to say Empress Wu Zetian favored her daughter, Princess Taiping, above all her other children. So why did the princess never come near the throne?

Wu Zetian and the Quest for Feminism in All the Wrong Places

She was the only Chinese woman to rule as empress regnant. Is that enough to make her a proto-feminist icon?