The China History Podcast

The CHP series covering the history of China-Vietnam Relations continues with Part 3. This episode will take the history all the way up to the Tran Dynasty on the eve of the Mongol invasions from Yuan Dynasty China. Heroes from Vietnam history making an appearance in this episode include Ngô Quyền, Lê Hoàn, Lý Thái Tổ, Lý Thường Kiệt, and Trần Thái Tông. I'll keep everything listed in the terms fr...

Shi Xie's impact on bringing Chinese culture to the Jiao region is discussed. For most of this period, Vietnam remained under the direct administrative control of China. Aside from a few quiet moments, there was sustained local unrest to deal with. Either local Viets were rising up against their Chinese overlords or there was a constant battle being fought with Lao, Linyi, Champa, and other tribes...

In this first of a multipart series, Laszlo explores the ancient relationship between China and Vietnam. In this episode, the earliest days going back to Zhao Tuo and the Nanyue Kingdom are discussed. A thousand apologies for the poor editing job splicing the Vietnamese pronunciation. I'm hoping for an A for the effort at least. The remaining episodes will go off more smoothly. Thank you for your...

Laszlo finishes off this brief overview of The Honorable Company as tea takes center stage in history. It's a very rough landing for the East India Company as their commercial rivals and political enemies gradually put an end to their winning run going back to the 17th century. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Maybe this isn't the most "China history flavored" topic but The Honorable Company did play a somewhat starring role during the Qing Dynasty starting from about the Jiaqing Emperor. In this first of a two-part series, I am offering you an overview of who they were, where they came from and how they came to be so hated by so many. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Laszlo looks at U.S. Immigration during the bad old days of Chinese Exclusion. The subject will be examined through the telling of the stories of three rather plain and non-extraordinary brothers from Haiyang Village in Toi San (Taishan in Mandarin). These three Moy brothers were featured in Scott Seligman's 2013 book "Three Tough Chinamen" (Earnshaw Books). In addition to the Chi...

In this episode, Laszlo tries something new. This time we look at the life and times of Whitey Smith, an important figure in the context of not only Shanghai Jazz, but the entirety of jazz history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Laszlo finishes off the overview of the Rape of Nanking as well as the stories of John Rabe, Robert O. Wilson, Minnie Vautrin, Rev. William Magee, and others who directed the Nanjing Safety Zone during the worst weeks of the atrocities. The aftermath of the Nanjing Massacre is also examined. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is a very emotional, controversial, and sensitive subject for a whole lot of reasons. Over the next two episodes, Laszlo will review material from past episodes to discuss the lead-up to the Massacre. Then in Part 2 the actual event itself as well as the story of the Nanjing Safety Zone and some of the foreigners who became eyewitnesses to the horrors of the Nanjing Massacre, also known as Th...

At last, the early years of Russia-China relations can see the light of day. As you can see, this is another one of those hour-plus episodes that were not long enough for two episodes and a bit overly long for one. This episode primarily covers the beginnings back in the late Ming when they first met and mostly in the Qing where all the history happened. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit meg...

Many people don't know that the first preaching of Christianity in China pre-dated the Jesuits by more than nine centuries. We'll take a second cursory look at the Jesuits as part of a bigger story that includes Christianity in China during the Tang and Yuan dynasties. We'll see that prior to the arrival of Matteo Ricci, there were two other lesser-known attempts to grow Christianity in China. Lea...

Thanks to Carole in Virginia for giving me enough of a push to get this episode finally produced. This might have been one of the first ten topics I came up with when I began writing the original list back in 2010. The history of silk is really an amazing testament to humankind's ingenuity and the randomness of life since Neolithic times. I hope you enjoy this episode. It turned out to be a much g...

In part two of this series examining the forgotten life of William Mesny, we hear the second half of his story in China. We're mostly using author David Leffman's 2016 book "The Mercenary Mandarin". Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this first part of a two-part series, we examine the forgotten life of William Mesny. Drawing from author David Leffman's 2016 book "The Mercenary Mandarin," Laszlo discusses an unknown character from the bad old days of late Qing Dynasty China. Though he never made it to the history books, he nonetheless witnessed and took part in a lot of it. Through Mesny we can once again wander through som...

In this episode, Laszlo explains a little about the "Gagi Nang", the 自己人 or 家己弄, known the world over as the Teochew (Chiu Chow or Chaozhou) people. Their language and culture are unique. Their food and Chaozhou culture is celebrated in more places than Chaozhou and not just by the people from that region. There are Chaozhounese people on every continent except maybe Antarctica. Learn more a...

In America, we have Washington Irving, Mark Twain, Hemingway, and so on. In China, Su Dongpo, (also known referred to as Su Shi) would be mentioned when rattling off their best of the best. He was definitely a major guy not only in the Song but in the overall world of Chinese culture as well. If you're interested to check out some of his poetry, here's an amazon link to a book of his poems transla...

In this latest episode, Laszlo finally gets around to the oft-requested subject of piracy in early 19th century China. Pirates had been a fact of life going back to the most olden days. Mid to late Qing Dynasty the amount of trade being plied on the China coast attracted pirates like never before. Zheng Yi Sao ("Zheng Yi's Wife") was a tough woman from the Pearl River Delta who married the most no...

Laszlo offers up the exciting conclusion to the 3-part series introducing the Tong Wars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this Part 2 episode, the Tong Wars begin in earnest. The first and second Tong Wars are discussed.  "Tong Wars, The Untold Story of Vice, Money and Murder in New York's Chinatown" Scott Seligman's Amazon Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B001IGHOAO/allbooks?ingress=0&visitId=24d82f31-2703-4b29-ad95-129e3d303e4b&ref_=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&ccs_id=31d8c0f7-2b8e-4f3b-871a-5ad5acff810f  

In this episode, Laszlo explains the Tong Wars of New York's Chinatown. With the help of Scott Seligman's latest book we go back to late 19th - early 20th century America and focus on New York's Chinatown. These were terribly unpleasant days for most citizens of Chinese ancestry and especially for those immigrants who either had not begun the process or lived in the shadows illegally. For a list o...

Laszlo finishes up the story of the Yuan Dynasty, founded in 1271. The parts of China not yet conquered were done in by 1276 and the last holdouts went by 1279. But the Great Yuan didn't last long. This episode takes a nice little overview of the dynasty, its slow demise, and the legacy they left. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this long-overdue episode with a deceiving title, we don't actually get around to the Yuan Dynasty. However, a nice handy and confusing overview tracing the rise of the Mongol nation is presented which includes a bio on Genghis Khan. We'll get to the rise of Kublai Khan this time and look at the Yuan Dynasty next episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this bonus one hour plus episode we look at the last six years of Zhou Enlai's life. It was a bittersweet end for Premier Zhou. In between doing great things for China and guiding the country's general well-being, he was forced to play a central role in some of the worst internecine politics in CCP history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this longer than expected seventh episode of the series, the Cultural Revolution gets underway, something that Zhou will have to deal with until his dying day. Aside from this, China's illustrious premier also has his hands full with a thousand other responsibilities, both foreign and domestic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More Zhou Enlai again. This time we look at the second half of the 1950s. Zhou was as busy as ever, setting up the government, handling foreign relations, and dealing with Chairman Mao. This episode will see Zhou during the Gao Gang Affair, Hundred Flowers, Anti-Rightist, San Fan and Wu Fan Campaigns, Land Reform, rapid agricultural collectivization, and the disastrous Great Leap Forward. Learn mo...