Long before social media and camera lenses, ancient China had its own “paparazzi” who wielded ink, paper and a sharp tongue to unsettle the lives of the powerful.In those days, gossip was more than idle chatter; it formed an informal information network linking teahouses, stage stations, street tabloids and officialdom.During the Eastern Han dynasty (25–220), the imperial court established the Censorate, a body charged with monitoring official conduct.Its censors watched for misconduct that...