Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2023 May 1

= May 1 =

Weh Antiok Khusrau
The article spite house says: In 541, after the conquest of Antioch, Sassan Emperor Khosrau I built a new city near Ctesiphon for the 30,000 inhabitants he captured, he modelled this city after the original Antioch and was said to have forced the inhabitants to live in their old homes/old workplaces. There’s no source. Where can I read more about this? Amisom (talk) 20:46, 1 May 2023 (UTC)


 * Our Ctesiphon article has a mysterious reference, "Dingas, Winter 2007, 109" which isn't listed in the Bibliography section.
 * The History of Ancient Iran p. 327 has a brief mention.
 * A less reliable source is this blog. If this is correct, it seems that the spite was against the Byzantine emperor rather than the Antiochians, who apparently did rather well out of the deal.
 * Hopefully another editor can do better. Alansplodge (talk) 21:49, 1 May 2023 (UTC)
 * The Dingas, Winter reference is to  Following it up, I find they tell us that "Not far from the Sasanian capital Ktēsiphōn he [Xusrō] built a new city that was modelled upon the conquered city; he named the new foundation Veh-Antiok-Xusrō (='Xusrō made this city better than Antioch') and settled Antioch's deported population here." --Antiquary (talk) 11:22, 2 May 2023 (UTC)  And I've added that ref in full to the Spite house and Ctesiphon articles. --Antiquary (talk) 11:32, 2 May 2023 (UTC)  Ah yes, I now see the IP below was pointing to that ref. --Antiquary (talk) 11:53, 2 May 2023 (UTC)


 * See also: Weh Antiok Khosrow (and sources therein).  136.56.52.157 (talk) 05:38, 2 May 2023 (UTC)
 * That article doesn’t repeat the claim though. Amisom (talk) 06:09, 2 May 2023 (UTC)
 * Not directly, but some of it can be implied from the name meaning "better than Antioch, Khosrow built this" and prisoners-of-war from the cities of Sura, Beroea, Antioch, Apamea, Callinicum, and Batnai in Osrhoene were deported to this new city. Perhaps source(s) can provide more details.  136.56.52.157 (talk) 13:00, 2 May 2023 (UTC)

Countries that recognized the old Republic of China
Is there an RS with a full list of countries that diplomatically recognized the 1912-1949 Republic of China? Republic_of_China_(1912-1949) mentions some, saying there were 59 countries, but without a reference, History of foreign relations of China appears useless in that regard and elsewhere I had a difficulty with finding (possibly there are Taiwanese sources too, but I don't speak Chinese). Thanks. 212.180.235.46 (talk) 23:02, 1 May 2023 (UTC)
 * Uff, I difficult to find a single source with a full listing. I think we have to narrow the question somewhat, are we speaking about cumulative for the entire period 1912-1949 or do we speak about a number of countries at a certain juncture (say 1949)? Considering 1912-1949 spans both WWI and WWII the list of countries available would differ greatly. --Soman (talk) 01:10, 2 May 2023 (UTC)
 * (pp. 415-416) has a list of Westeners in Nanjing 1937-1938, it mentions American Embassy, French Embassy, Dutch Legation, Italian Embassy, British Embassy, German Embassy. Page 351 mentions a Belgian Embassy in Nanjing. Page 88 mentions Japanese Embassy in Shanghai. Page 338 mentions that a house on 4, Chibi Road had been rented to the Mexican Embassy. Page 104 mentions diplomatic relations between China and Germany were suspended in 1942. Page 328 mentions a "Swedish envoy" (to China? can't say for sure due to snippet view). Page 365 mentions that China had a legation in Mexico in 1917, and an embassy in Portugal in 1926. And so forth. --Soman (talk) 01:31, 2 May 2023 (UTC)
 * The Swedish envoy was Johan Hugo Beck-Friis, Swedish Minister to China. --Lambiam 16:58, 2 May 2023 (UTC)


 * Recognitions might have been highest in the Nanjing decade (after the Northern Expedition and before the Japanese invasion of China). Of course, there were a lot fewer independent nations in the world than there are today... AnonMoos (talk) 02:53, 2 May 2023 (UTC)


 * A couple of thoughts - did the League of Nations require mutual recognition of members? and presumably recognition by the United Kingdom would imply recognition by the Dominions? DuncanHill (talk) 17:40, 2 May 2023 (UTC)

In 1920, The Republic of China (hereafter, “China”) was one of 42 founding members of the League of Nations, which over time had a total of 63 member states; it is highly unlikely that any one member would not recognize another. However, Foreign Minister Wellington Koo refused to sign the Treaty of Versailles because the document handed German concessions in China to Japan, rather than return them to China. 34 nations were party to those peace talks. China also was one of the 50 founding members of the United Nations. DOR (ex-HK) (talk) 20:33, 3 May 2023 (UTC)
 * We also have states that could have had relations/recognition with China but that were finished by 1920. The Ottoman Empire opened an embassy in China 1904, but I don't know how they reacted to the foundation of the republic. --Soman (talk) 12:27, 5 May 2023 (UTC)