Bamboo History

A stereotype of Asian parents in Western countries is that they place emphasis on their children’s education, so much so that the pressure they place on their children has been labelled as “tiger parenting”. Today's story is about an ancient Chinese Asian tiger parent, the mother of the famous Chinese philosopher Mencius.   Tune in! (Remember, give your kids a break every now and then) Don’t forge...

History has the most random stories, such as a time during the 8th century when the Arabs and Chinese clashed in battle in Central Asia. What happened? Tune in to find out! Oyyyyyyyyyyyy   Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to my podcast! And FOLLOW my Instagram @bamboohistorypodcast. Please DM me on Insta for any feedback, topic suggestions and/or general comments. You can also email me on: enquiries@bamb...

Happy Halloween everyone! To celebrate this festival, we will talk about the famous jiangshi, aka the Chinese jumping zombie. We will talk about the origins of the jiangshi, including the story of an artist and a real-life job! And how does one fight a jiangshi when they meet one? TUNE IN to find out!   Check out a cool Instagram reel that I made for this episode @bamboohistorypodcast. I also made...

Water buffalo noodles > beef noodles > modern pho noodles > pho burritos? We’re excited to talk about the history of Vietnamese pho noodle soup with Andrea Nguyen! Andrea Nguyen is a famous chef and cookbook writer from the US as well as the author of “The Pho Cookbook” which was published in 2017 and won the James Beard Award, aka the Oscars for cookbooks, in 2018. In this episode, Andrea and I w...

The Wokou pirates ruled the Chinese seas in the 16th century, and they thought they would live happily ever after. But the Ming Chinese government decided to fight back. How did they go? Tune in to the final part of our 2 part series to find out.   Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to my podcast! I also have an Instagram: @bamboohistorypodcast. My Instagram has visual content for my podcast episodes and e...

Yarrrrr me hearties, tune in for part 1 of our 2 part series on the infamous East Asian “Wokou” pirates. Where be the gold and silver? Yarrrr   Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to my podcast! I also have an Instagram: @bamboohistorypodcast. My Instagram has visual content for my podcast episodes and extra historical content so FOLLOW my Instagram too. Thanks! Please DM me on Insta for any feedback, topic...

“Men ke” (门客) or retainers/house guests, was a job in ancient China where you were given a salary, food, and accommodation and in return, you did nothing! Well, sort of… Tune in to find out more about this unique Chinese occupation!   Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to my podcast! I also have an Instagram: @bamboohistorypodcast. My Instagram has visual content for my podcast episodes and extra histori...

Editing a podcast episode takes ages, and there are so many things that get edited out.  So here is an episode of some snippets of things (aka mess ups) that have been cut out from the episodes posted so far.  Pls don't judge and enjoy :)   Remember to SUBSCRIBE to my podcast and FOLLOW my Insta @bamboohistorypodcast. I'm still on hiatus but will be back in a couple of weeks! Hope everyone is doin...

Liubo was an ancient Chinese board game that went extinct over 1000 years ago. Tune in to get a brief understanding on this mysterious board game! I'm still on break, and will be back posting regular episodes from 6 October. In the meantime, please check out my existing episodes and my Instagram @bamboohistorypodcast.

In the 1st century CE, the Han Dynasty controlled northern Vietnam and treated the local Vietnamese as second class citizens, forcing them to assimilate into Chinese culture and imposing heavy taxes on them. It needed two young Vietnamese girls to remind their people that they were able to fight back and take back what was theirs… What happened? Tune in to find out!   Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to...

Today we explore a famous Chinese board game, Xiangqi, also known as Chinese Chess, and its origins. Hope you don’t get…bored… of this board game history episode 😊 Tune in to discover the history of this beautiful game and how it's played!   Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to my podcast! I also have an Instagram: @bamboohistorypodcast. My Instagram has visual content for my podcast episodes and extra h...

On a chilly morning in the year 1542, the Ming Dynasty Emperor, the Jiajing Emperor, was fast asleep at his wife’s room in the palace. Then, 15 palace maids slipped into the room, and 1 of them had a long, thick rope in her hand… What happens next? Tune in to find out!   Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to my podcast! I also have an Instagram: @bamboohistorypodcast. My Instagram has visual content for my...

Bringing to you all the first story from one of ancient China's Four Great Classical Novels, the "San Guo Yan Yi" Romance of the Three Kingdoms.  In the year 228 CE, during the Three Kingdoms "San Guo" Period, the kingdom of Wei’s commander Sima Yi, leads a 150,000 strong army to attack the city of Xicheng. Inside Xicheng is the kingdom of Shu’s commander Zhuge Liang and only 2,500 defenders. Surr...

In today’s episode, we will talk about the world’s longest artificial river constructed by the ancient Chinese, The Grand Canal, or known in Chinese as the “Da Yun He (大运河)”. Steady your sails, ready your paddles, you’re in for a wild canal ride of an episode. Water you waiting for? Tune in!   Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to my podcast! I also have an Instagram: @bamboohistorypodcast. My Instagram...

Chinese dumplings, known in Chinese as ‘jiaozi’ (饺子) is a famous dish that many people around the world enjoy, but how did this dish originate? Tune in to discover the origins of jiaozi dumplings, which involves the story of a doctor, a depressed Emperor and some hungry Japanese soldiers.   Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to my podcast! I also have an Instagram: @bamboohistorypodcast. My Instagram has...

Empress Dowager Cixi was largely the de facto leader of the Qing Dynasty China between the years 1861 to 1908. She has been vilified in modern Chinese discourse as being primarily responsible for the downfall of Qing China, which resulted in China being carved up and humiliated by the West.   However, was Cixi as bad as she was perceived? Or was she a mere scapegoat of China’s downfall during that...

4000 years ago, a great flood ravaged all of China, and many people lost their land, their homes, and their lives. From these disastrous waters, a man named Yu rose up to tackle the floods. How did he fight the floods? Tune in to find out!   I thought I would do an episode on the ancient Chinese flood in light of the recent floods that have swept across my home city of Sydney and the state of New...

Throughout history, Chinese alchemists tried their best to create an elixir of immortality so they could live forever. What they ended up creating was something completely opposite… Tune in to discover humankind’s most ironic invention, gunpowder!   Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to my podcast! I also have an Instagram: @bamboohistorypodcast. You can find visual content for my episodes and additional h...

There are 12 animals on the Chinese zodiac, each representing a year on the Lunar calendar. This year is the year of the tiger. However, I’ve always been curious as why the cat isn’t on the zodiac. There is actually a…furry good story about this. Tune in to hear this… pawsitively good story.   Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to my podcast! I also have an Instagram: @bamboohistorypodcast. You can find vi...

Shui Hu Zhuan (Water Margin), San Guo Yan Yi (Romance of the Three Kingdoms), Xi You Ji (Journey to the West) and Hong Lou Meng (Dreams of the Red Chamber) are commonly noted as the 4 Great Classical Novels in Chinese culture and have a high place in Chinese literature. What were these novels about? Tune in to find out!   Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to my podcast! I also have an Instagram: @bamboohi...

In 1970, a man was on a bus ride near the Helan mountains in north-western China, when he spotted hundreds of dirt mounds in the distance that were shaped like tall cylinders, stout hemispheres and large, majestic…pyramids. What were these mysterious dirt mounds and what secrets did they contain? Tune in to find out!   Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to my podcast! I also have an Instagram: @bamboohisto...

Set during the 8th century BCE, King You of the Zhou Dynasty had a beautiful wife named Bao Si who was always depressed and never laughed. To make her laugh, King You decided to play a prank, a prank that had disastrous consequences… Tune in to find out what happened!   Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to my podcast! I also have an Instagram: @bamboohistorypodcast. You can find visual content for my epis...

FRIDAY SPECIAL! Today is Duanwu Festival (端午节), or the Dragon Boat Festival, and it is celebrated by Chinese people to commemorate Qu Yuan (340 BCE - 278 BCE), a poet and government minister from the State of Chu during the Warring States Period of China (476 BCE - 221BCE). Tune in to find out the traditions of Duanwu Festival as well as its origin story. Have a happy Dragon Boat Festival and...

Described by ancient Chinese historians as “southern barbarians”, the Baiyue people lived in Southern China and Vietnam between around 1000 BCE to 1000 CE. Tune in to hear about stories about the Baiyue, including a Vietnamese sea dragon, an ancient sword and a chieftain captured and released seven times by the same guy.   Please subscribe to my podcast! Instagram: @bamboohistorypodcast. You can f...

“Cao Chong Weighs an Elephant” (曹冲称象) and “Sima Zhong’s Meat Porridge”  (何不食肉糜?) are famous stories in Chinese culture which highlight intelligence and stupidity respectively. These stories are based on two princes, who both lived during the 3rd century, and both had fathers who were capable leaders. They were the smart prince Cao Chong, and the stupid prince Sima Zhong.   Tune in to hear...