On Dec. 25, 2021, the eminent historian Jonathan D. Spence died at the age of 85.

Li Weihua, an associate professor at Yunnan University’s School of Ethnology and Sociology, studied with Professor Spence in 2013.

Spence was preoccupied, not just with history, but its telling. When I asked him why he chose to study Chinese history, he compared the field with mushroom picking. A novice may only find one mushroom each time he goes picking, he told me, whereas an expert seems to find them under every rock. Sometimes you look among leaves, sometimes you search in the wet soil, and occasionally you look for hours without finding anything, and then suddenly come across a hollow tree filled with mushrooms just waiting to be harvested. China, as he saw it, is a land replete with drama, rich historical records, and countless stories worth telling. It was a forest filled with mushrooms — provided you knew where to look.