Jeremiah Jenne
@jeremiahjenne.com
Writer. Traveler. History Ph.D. Co-host of the Barbarians at the Gate Podcast.
Short Bio: Birth. School. Work. More School. China. The World.
Short Bio: Birth. School. Work. More School. China. The World.
Pinned
In this archival edition of Barbarians at the Gate, we examine the 1860 destruction of the Old Summer Palace in Beijing and how history and narrative are used and misused today.
jeremiahjenne.substack.com/p/the-destru...
jeremiahjenne.substack.com/p/the-destru...
My latest for the @chinabooksreview.com
Before he became an award-winning novelist, the Indian writer Vikram Seth was an exchange student in China. In the 1980s, he traveled overland from Beijing to Delhi.
Read @jeremiahjenne.com latest Archive Pick: chinabooksreview.com/2025/11/06/h...
Read @jeremiahjenne.com latest Archive Pick: chinabooksreview.com/2025/11/06/h...
November 11, 2025 at 1:22 PM
My latest for the @chinabooksreview.com
Reposted by Jeremiah Jenne
In this week’s Compass Dispatch, your correspondent visits the Swiss Alps and ponders the relationship between mountains and the people who climb them. Also cocoa. Lots of cocoa.
bytheirowncompass.substack.com/p/compass-di...
bytheirowncompass.substack.com/p/compass-di...
Compass Dispatches: Eiger Dreams and Overpriced Cocoa in the Swiss Alps
Of humans, heights and the reliably beautiful but historically tragic alpine vistas of Central Switzerland
bytheirowncompass.substack.com
November 6, 2025 at 8:56 PM
In this week’s Compass Dispatch, your correspondent visits the Swiss Alps and ponders the relationship between mountains and the people who climb them. Also cocoa. Lots of cocoa.
bytheirowncompass.substack.com/p/compass-di...
bytheirowncompass.substack.com/p/compass-di...
After one of my last walking tours in Geneva, a guest told me that she really enjoyed the walk because I “didn’t quiz the guests.” I know what she meant, and it’s a peeve of mine as well.
Let me explain.
jeremiahjenne.substack.com/p/stop-quizz...
Let me explain.
jeremiahjenne.substack.com/p/stop-quizz...
Stop Quizzing Me, I’m on Vacation
Some guides think engagement means turning the experience into a pub quiz. Here’s why a good tour should be a conversation, not a test.
jeremiahjenne.substack.com
November 5, 2025 at 5:41 AM
After one of my last walking tours in Geneva, a guest told me that she really enjoyed the walk because I “didn’t quiz the guests.” I know what she meant, and it’s a peeve of mine as well.
Let me explain.
jeremiahjenne.substack.com/p/stop-quizz...
Let me explain.
jeremiahjenne.substack.com/p/stop-quizz...
In this archival edition of Barbarians at the Gate, we examine the 1860 destruction of the Old Summer Palace in Beijing and how history and narrative are used and misused today.
jeremiahjenne.substack.com/p/the-destru...
jeremiahjenne.substack.com/p/the-destru...
November 4, 2025 at 8:25 AM
In this archival edition of Barbarians at the Gate, we examine the 1860 destruction of the Old Summer Palace in Beijing and how history and narrative are used and misused today.
jeremiahjenne.substack.com/p/the-destru...
jeremiahjenne.substack.com/p/the-destru...
On the latest episode of Barbarians at the Gate, we look at the 15th-century voyages of the Chinese admiral Zheng He. It’s giraffes, medieval globalization, and what might have been if Zheng He had decided Europe was worth the trip.
jeremiahjenne.substack.com/p/barbarians...
jeremiahjenne.substack.com/p/barbarians...
October 24, 2025 at 2:49 AM
On the latest episode of Barbarians at the Gate, we look at the 15th-century voyages of the Chinese admiral Zheng He. It’s giraffes, medieval globalization, and what might have been if Zheng He had decided Europe was worth the trip.
jeremiahjenne.substack.com/p/barbarians...
jeremiahjenne.substack.com/p/barbarians...
Reposted by Jeremiah Jenne
Link to episode: bytheirowncompass.substack.com/p/ibn-battut...
Ibn Battuta
Taking the long way from Turkey to India
bytheirowncompass.substack.com
October 15, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Link to episode: bytheirowncompass.substack.com/p/ibn-battut...
Reposted by Jeremiah Jenne
Literary Chinese for bust-ass dynasties:
鋪眉苫眼早三公
Cozen. Flatter. Ingratiate --
The Three High Offices of state.
(from 譏時 'The Times We Live In' by Zhang Mingshan 張鳴善, fl. 14th c.)
鋪眉苫眼早三公
Cozen. Flatter. Ingratiate --
The Three High Offices of state.
(from 譏時 'The Times We Live In' by Zhang Mingshan 張鳴善, fl. 14th c.)
October 6, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Literary Chinese for bust-ass dynasties:
鋪眉苫眼早三公
Cozen. Flatter. Ingratiate --
The Three High Offices of state.
(from 譏時 'The Times We Live In' by Zhang Mingshan 張鳴善, fl. 14th c.)
鋪眉苫眼早三公
Cozen. Flatter. Ingratiate --
The Three High Offices of state.
(from 譏時 'The Times We Live In' by Zhang Mingshan 張鳴善, fl. 14th c.)
Talking about Sima Qian with Alexander Boyd leads to the uncomfortable realization that a belief in cosmic consequences for bad leadership feels like a quaint notion in 2025.
Link to the full episode: jeremiahjenne.substack.com/p/barbarians...
Link to the full episode: jeremiahjenne.substack.com/p/barbarians...
October 1, 2025 at 12:18 PM
Talking about Sima Qian with Alexander Boyd leads to the uncomfortable realization that a belief in cosmic consequences for bad leadership feels like a quaint notion in 2025.
Link to the full episode: jeremiahjenne.substack.com/p/barbarians...
Link to the full episode: jeremiahjenne.substack.com/p/barbarians...
In this special episode of Barbarians at the Gate, I’m joined by Alexander Boyd of China Books Review to discuss Sima Qian, The Records of the Grand Historian, and what it means to speak truth to power.
open.substack.com/pub/jeremiah...
open.substack.com/pub/jeremiah...
September 30, 2025 at 10:02 AM
In this special episode of Barbarians at the Gate, I’m joined by Alexander Boyd of China Books Review to discuss Sima Qian, The Records of the Grand Historian, and what it means to speak truth to power.
open.substack.com/pub/jeremiah...
open.substack.com/pub/jeremiah...
Reposted by Jeremiah Jenne
William Adams didn’t set out to become the first Englishman in Japan, a confidant of a warlord, or the inspiration for James Clavell’s Shōgun. It just all rather happened.
Link to this week's Compass Dispatch Newsletter:
bytheirowncompass.substack.com/p/compass-di...
Link to this week's Compass Dispatch Newsletter:
bytheirowncompass.substack.com/p/compass-di...
September 25, 2025 at 3:05 PM
William Adams didn’t set out to become the first Englishman in Japan, a confidant of a warlord, or the inspiration for James Clavell’s Shōgun. It just all rather happened.
Link to this week's Compass Dispatch Newsletter:
bytheirowncompass.substack.com/p/compass-di...
Link to this week's Compass Dispatch Newsletter:
bytheirowncompass.substack.com/p/compass-di...
After years teaching and leading educational travel in Asia, I moved to Geneva and had an existential crisis about medieval Swiss politics. What I learned about communication after 20+ years of making history interesting to strangers:
open.substack.com/pub/jeremiah...
open.substack.com/pub/jeremiah...
The Three Pillars of Great Guiding
Studying a lot of facts is important, but so is the ability to curate that information and deliver a compelling narrative.
open.substack.com
September 24, 2025 at 12:31 PM
After years teaching and leading educational travel in Asia, I moved to Geneva and had an existential crisis about medieval Swiss politics. What I learned about communication after 20+ years of making history interesting to strangers:
open.substack.com/pub/jeremiah...
open.substack.com/pub/jeremiah...
Reposted by Jeremiah Jenne
Antifa? You mean Wanyan *Aguda?* Founding emperor of the Jurchen Jin Dynasty, and ancestor of the Manchus??
September 19, 2025 at 2:43 AM
Antifa? You mean Wanyan *Aguda?* Founding emperor of the Jurchen Jin Dynasty, and ancestor of the Manchus??
Reposted by Jeremiah Jenne
Media outlets that fail to report on Jeffrey Epstein’s upstanding behavior and model lifestyle can expect swift prosecution.
by Pam Bondi
by Pam Bondi
September 19, 2025 at 2:55 AM
Media outlets that fail to report on Jeffrey Epstein’s upstanding behavior and model lifestyle can expect swift prosecution.
by Pam Bondi
by Pam Bondi
Reposted by Jeremiah Jenne
This week's Compass Dispatch includes observations from Sicily on the intersection of film tourism and historical reality. The Godfather locations reveal how Hollywood mythology can overshadow complex local histories.
Also mosquitoes.
bytheirowncompass.substack.com/p/compass-di...
Also mosquitoes.
bytheirowncompass.substack.com/p/compass-di...
September 19, 2025 at 9:30 AM
This week's Compass Dispatch includes observations from Sicily on the intersection of film tourism and historical reality. The Godfather locations reveal how Hollywood mythology can overshadow complex local histories.
Also mosquitoes.
bytheirowncompass.substack.com/p/compass-di...
Also mosquitoes.
bytheirowncompass.substack.com/p/compass-di...
Reposted by Jeremiah Jenne
The sinologist David Moser talks about moving to China in 1989, his first appearance on the Spring Festival Gala in 1999, and learning xiangsheng from the masters.
Listen to the episode of Peking Hotel: chinabooksreview.com/2025/09/16/p...
Listen to the episode of Peking Hotel: chinabooksreview.com/2025/09/16/p...
September 16, 2025 at 12:01 PM
The sinologist David Moser talks about moving to China in 1989, his first appearance on the Spring Festival Gala in 1999, and learning xiangsheng from the masters.
Listen to the episode of Peking Hotel: chinabooksreview.com/2025/09/16/p...
Listen to the episode of Peking Hotel: chinabooksreview.com/2025/09/16/p...
I will be moderating Yale's Prof. Valerie Hansen on "The Song Dynasty (960-1276): Was China Modern Before Europe?" Why did historians see Song China as early modern centuries before Europe hit that phase? Wed Sept 17, 8-9pm Beijing | 1-2pm UK | 8-9am EST.
September 15, 2025 at 4:01 PM
I will be moderating Yale's Prof. Valerie Hansen on "The Song Dynasty (960-1276): Was China Modern Before Europe?" Why did historians see Song China as early modern centuries before Europe hit that phase? Wed Sept 17, 8-9pm Beijing | 1-2pm UK | 8-9am EST.
Reposted by Jeremiah Jenne
Pest is your great-aunt who started vaping at age 68 and still outdrinks rugby players at her local. Buda is the great-aunt who summers in Margate with her cats and her collection of Royal Worcester. We picked a side.
open.substack.com/pub/bytheiro...
open.substack.com/pub/bytheiro...
Compass Dispatches: Budapest
A brief missive from the banks of the Danube, where your correspondents contemplate the fine art of graceful deterioration
open.substack.com
September 12, 2025 at 6:48 AM
Pest is your great-aunt who started vaping at age 68 and still outdrinks rugby players at her local. Buda is the great-aunt who summers in Margate with her cats and her collection of Royal Worcester. We picked a side.
open.substack.com/pub/bytheiro...
open.substack.com/pub/bytheiro...
The Shiji abounds with examples of corrupt, venal, or stupid rulers getting cosmic comeuppance. In today's timeline, it's almost quaint to believe in a universal order that punishes terrible leaders.
Read more in my latest for @chinabooksreview.com
chinabooksreview.com/2025/09/09/s...
Read more in my latest for @chinabooksreview.com
chinabooksreview.com/2025/09/09/s...
Sima Qian: Records of the Grand Historian | China Books Review
History is supposedly written by the victors. Sima Qian, author of China's original historical classic, showed it could also be written by the condemned.
chinabooksreview.com
September 10, 2025 at 10:48 AM
The Shiji abounds with examples of corrupt, venal, or stupid rulers getting cosmic comeuppance. In today's timeline, it's almost quaint to believe in a universal order that punishes terrible leaders.
Read more in my latest for @chinabooksreview.com
chinabooksreview.com/2025/09/09/s...
Read more in my latest for @chinabooksreview.com
chinabooksreview.com/2025/09/09/s...
Reposted by Jeremiah Jenne
History is supposedly written by the victors. Sima Qian, author of China's original historical classic, showed it could also be written by the condemned.
Read Jeremiah Jenne's essay on the urtext for Chinese history, the Shiji or Records of the Grand Historian: chinabooksreview.com/2025/09/09/s...
Read Jeremiah Jenne's essay on the urtext for Chinese history, the Shiji or Records of the Grand Historian: chinabooksreview.com/2025/09/09/s...
chinabooksreview.com
September 9, 2025 at 12:05 PM
History is supposedly written by the victors. Sima Qian, author of China's original historical classic, showed it could also be written by the condemned.
Read Jeremiah Jenne's essay on the urtext for Chinese history, the Shiji or Records of the Grand Historian: chinabooksreview.com/2025/09/09/s...
Read Jeremiah Jenne's essay on the urtext for Chinese history, the Shiji or Records of the Grand Historian: chinabooksreview.com/2025/09/09/s...
Are the A's, Rockies, and White Sox enough of an argument that American sports leagues should adopt relegation?
And not just in baseball. I'm all in on having the most recent edition of the New England Patriots justify their spot in the NFL by making them beat Ohio State twice in a season.
And not just in baseball. I'm all in on having the most recent edition of the New England Patriots justify their spot in the NFL by making them beat Ohio State twice in a season.
September 9, 2025 at 4:46 AM
Are the A's, Rockies, and White Sox enough of an argument that American sports leagues should adopt relegation?
And not just in baseball. I'm all in on having the most recent edition of the New England Patriots justify their spot in the NFL by making them beat Ohio State twice in a season.
And not just in baseball. I'm all in on having the most recent edition of the New England Patriots justify their spot in the NFL by making them beat Ohio State twice in a season.
Reposted by Jeremiah Jenne
Every traveler shares one universal experience, regardless of era: digestive challenges far from home. Our latest newsletter dives into how archaeologists track ancient journeys through the "evidence" left behind. (1/2)
September 5, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Every traveler shares one universal experience, regardless of era: digestive challenges far from home. Our latest newsletter dives into how archaeologists track ancient journeys through the "evidence" left behind. (1/2)
Reposted by Jeremiah Jenne
Ok its ‘feed it off an aux, speak, grunt no strength, the ladder start to clatter with fear fight down height, wire in a fire representing seven games, a government for hire and a combat site’.
September 5, 2025 at 4:13 AM
Ok its ‘feed it off an aux, speak, grunt no strength, the ladder start to clatter with fear fight down height, wire in a fire representing seven games, a government for hire and a combat site’.
Does technology enhance language learning or is it cheating? In this episode of Barbarians at the Gate, David and Jeremiah consider the evolution of digital aids to studying Chinese from looking up radicals in paper dictionaries to Pleco to AI.
jeremiahjenne.substack.com/p/ai-laoshi-...
jeremiahjenne.substack.com/p/ai-laoshi-...
September 4, 2025 at 12:12 PM
Does technology enhance language learning or is it cheating? In this episode of Barbarians at the Gate, David and Jeremiah consider the evolution of digital aids to studying Chinese from looking up radicals in paper dictionaries to Pleco to AI.
jeremiahjenne.substack.com/p/ai-laoshi-...
jeremiahjenne.substack.com/p/ai-laoshi-...
TV. Computers. Internet. AI. Teachers seem to always have a new technology to fret about. In this episode, we look at how AI is transforming language learning, and how educators can integrate these tools while maintaining focus on human connections.
jeremiahjenne.substack.com/p/ai-laoshi-...
jeremiahjenne.substack.com/p/ai-laoshi-...
September 2, 2025 at 1:50 PM
TV. Computers. Internet. AI. Teachers seem to always have a new technology to fret about. In this episode, we look at how AI is transforming language learning, and how educators can integrate these tools while maintaining focus on human connections.
jeremiahjenne.substack.com/p/ai-laoshi-...
jeremiahjenne.substack.com/p/ai-laoshi-...
I see over the weekend, America unlocked the “leader hasn’t been seen for a few days, is he dead?” level of authoritarianism.
As a historian of China, let me welcome you into our club, here's a T-Shirt and official tote bag. The open bar starts service in five minutes. 热烈欢迎!
As a historian of China, let me welcome you into our club, here's a T-Shirt and official tote bag. The open bar starts service in five minutes. 热烈欢迎!
September 1, 2025 at 3:46 AM
I see over the weekend, America unlocked the “leader hasn’t been seen for a few days, is he dead?” level of authoritarianism.
As a historian of China, let me welcome you into our club, here's a T-Shirt and official tote bag. The open bar starts service in five minutes. 热烈欢迎!
As a historian of China, let me welcome you into our club, here's a T-Shirt and official tote bag. The open bar starts service in five minutes. 热烈欢迎!