The Context

In our last podcast, we talked about China’s 1400-year-old inland waterway called the Grand Canal. Today, we’re going to further explore how changes in the Grand Canal’s course over the centuries also changed the course of history.

In the first installment of what will be a two-part feature, we’re going to discuss how an inland waterway was the key to toppling one strong dynasty while underpinning the prosperity of the next in ancient China.

Today, we will talk about the profound cultural significance that tigers hold in China, where for centuries the mighty beasts have been revered as powerful symbols of strength and protection.

In the post-Covid era with the worst of the pandemic behind us, we all witnessed the vulnerability of the elderly among us, and in today’s podcast we’ll explore how authorities in ancient China addressed the challenges of elderly care and consider its relevance to contemporary society.

Today, we’ll explain how mass migrations have impacted the nation throughout its history. Unlike today, ancient Chinese people didn’t move away from home in large numbers looking for work or education. If they moved at all, more often than not, they were forced to leave. 

Today, we’ll discuss the historical efforts of Chinese authorities to boost fertility rates, which has been a key indicator of the nation's strength and vitality throughout Chinese history.

Today, we’ll talk about how extreme floods have exposed a lack of historic preservation in Shanxi Province, home to millions of ancient sites and relics, many of which are abandoned and unprotected.

Today, we’re going to delve deeper into the famous painting A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains with a special focus on the continuous mysteries related to the young painter himself.

In the first installment of what will be a two-part feature, we’ll discuss a time-honored masterpiece painted by a remarkably talented individual at the mere age of 18. We’ll also delve into the mysteries and speculations surrounding the artwork itself.

Today, we’ll talk about how authorities are combating the recent surge in tomb robbery and cultural relics trafficking with more trained professionals and revisions to the existing laws.

Today, we’ll talk about the rampant tomb robbery trend that has become increasingly professional, inconspicuous, and run by gangs. Experts say it is crucial to break the illegal chain of excavation and sales to better protect ancient tombs and cultural relics.

Today, we’ll talk about a record-breaking song derived from a nearly 400-year-old collection of short stories that weave together the supernatural and the mundane, delving into a world where ghosts and fox spirits intersect with human desires and disrupting societal norms.

Today, we will delve into a painting masterpiece created nearly a millennium ago that holds the distinction of being the inaugural piece to undergo expert appraisal following the reestablishment of the Chinese Ancient Art Appraisal Group.

Today, we’ll look into the life and times of King Zhou – the most infamous tyrant in Chinese history who was cinematically brought back to life in a much-anticipated summertime blockbuster this year.

Today, we’ll introduce you to the world’s oldest hydrographic station that measured water level changes in the Yangtze River for more than 1,000 years. It’s located in southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality, and as a precious cultural relic, the site was turned into the world’s first underwater museum.

Today, we’ll tell you about an animated summertime blockbuster that brings to life some of the most iconic figures in Chinese literary history and has revived interest in a Tang Dynasty poet whose name alone can evoke legends.

Today, we’re going to further explore the thousand-year-old painting called Night Revels of Han Xizai. We will also reveal what happened to the disillusioned scholar official after the “spy report” was presented to the emperor, as well as the fortune of the fragile kingdom and the truth about the painting itself.

In the first installment of what will be a two-part feature, we’re going to tell the story behind a painting during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period from more than 1,000 years ago. Originally intended as a “spy report”, the painting offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the scandalous intrigues of court life.

Today, we’ll tell the life story of an encyclopedic figure at the turn of the 20th century, who was best known for his advocacy for modernization and social reform, as well as his contributions to Chinese literature, philosophy, and political thought.

Today, we’ll talk about Robert Morrison, a 19th-century Protestant missionary who is credited as the initial translator of the Bible into Chinese and compiled the first Chinese-English dictionary – and that was just the beginning.

Today, we’ll talk about a 16th century medical expert who dedicated thirty years of his life to correcting, standardizing, and expanding the practice of herbal medicine in China by writing a medical masterpiece that is still celebrated to this day.

Today, we’ll introduce a popular museum in southwest China’s Sichuan Province that is set to open a new exhibition hall in July to display newly excavated artifacts that offer insights into a civilization that’s more than 3,000-year-old and still shrouded in mystery.

Today, we will continue talking about Chinese shipwrecks but today’s story is a relatively modern one about a steamship packed with refugees fleeing the mainland for Taiwan on the eve of Chinese New Year in 1949 when it collided with a cargo ship, leaving almost no survivors.

Today, we’ll talk about the discovery and exploration of two 500-year-old shipwrecks in the South China Sea as well as some of the history of China’s underwater archaeology and its recent technological advancements.

Today, we’ll introduce a Chinese explorer from more than 2,000 years ago who was the first person to provide the Han empire with a reliable account of the uncharted lands of Central Asia thus paving the way for the development of the Silk Road.