The Weilue, a 3rd-century Chinese historical literature, contains details of Roman life. The Chinese and Roman empires had relatively little mutual knowledge.

The papers show only a few instances of direct conversation. MORE: A Third Century Chinese Account of the Roman Empire

During the Great Leap Forward, between 1958 and 1962, the Four Pests campaign was one of the initial initiatives. Rats, mosquitoes, flies, and common sparrows were the four plagues to be eradicated, according to Chinese authorities. The extinction of the sparrows caused a catastrophic ecological imbalance and was one of the causes of the Great Chinese Famine, which killed tens of millions of people between 1958 and 1962. MORE: The Tragic Four Pests Campaign to Wipe Out the Sparrow

The story of Shee Pei Pu, an opera singer, and spy, pretended to be a woman and had a 20-year sexual connection with a French employee in order to collect information. MORE: The bizarre story of the Chinese spy Shi Pei Pu

Tiandihui, or the Society of Heaven and Earth, is a Chinese fraternal organization and religious group. It is also known as Hongmen. MORE: Tiandihui or Hongmen, the Society of Heaven and Earth

The White Lotus was a Buddhist political and religious movement that believed in an all-powerful female divinity known as the "Unborn Old Mother," who would collect all of her offspring into one giant family at the end of the millennium. MORE: History of the White Lotus

Zhang Ling, commonly known as Zhang Daoling, developed the Way of the Celestial Masters. In the year 142, Zhang Ling established a theocratic state in the region that is now known as Sichuan. MORE: Way of the Celestial Masters

Around 17 A.D., the people were unable to support themselves due to the mistakes in governance made by Wang Mang, the Han dynasty's usurper, particularly the introduction of new land reform, conscription, and the simultaneous flooding of the Yellow River, which particularly affected the region of today's Shandong and northern Jiangsu. MORE: History of the Red Eyebrows