By many historical accounts, the Ming dynasty’s doom was sealed when Li Zicheng, the leader of a peasant rebel army, invaded Beijing in 1644. Less than 24 hours after the rebel forces breached Beijing’s inner defences, Chongzhen, the Ming dynasty’s emperor, hanged himself on Jing Hill behind the Forbidden City. The moment marked the end of 276 years of Ming rule. The Ming dynasty’s eunuch dictatorship, factionalism among civil officials, devastating peasant uprisings and the rise of the Manchus...

A materials scientist whose career took him from rural China to California is heading for a post in Macau after 30 years in the United States. According to the University of Macau’s website, Pei Qibing has been appointed chair professor and director of the Institute of Applied Physics and Materials Engineering. Pei, an emeritus professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, began his studies in a very different world, attending a small rural school on an island in the Yangtze River in...