The China History Podcast

You didn't ask for it. But you're getting it anyway. This week's Chinese Sayings Podcast reaches back all the way to those fateful years following the fall of the Qin Dynasty and the contentious period of conflict between Liu Bang of Han and Xiang Yu of Chu. As these two rivals battle it out, Liu Bang sought advice from one of his advisors on a plan of action. But as we'll see, that plan is blown...

Laszlo welcomes Dr. Naoko Kato onto the CHP to talk about her new book: "Kaleidoscope: The Uchiyama Bookstore and its Sino-Japanese Visionaries." During one of the most fertile periods in modern Chinese literature following the May Fourth Movement, Uchiyama Kanzō operated a bookstore and cultural salon on Sichuan Road that attracted many big names among leftist writers and intellectuals. Most nota...

In this Part 13 installment, in what I can tell you now, will be a 15-Part series, we look at some of the main events from 1977-1987. This was the final decade in the life of Chiang Ching-Kuo. He ended martial law and set Taiwan on the course that we all recognize today. In this episode, we'll look at the Zhongli Incident, the rise of Xu Xinliang 许信良 and a more emboldened political opposition,...

I don't do this too often but I'm featuring this week's Chinese Sayings Podcast in the CHP feed . Firstly this is a tale rooted in 7th century BC Spring and Autumn history. But also, just in case you never heard of this other show of mine, I wanted to introduce it to you. You can find the Chinese Sayings Podcast wherever you find the CHP. Here comes one more textbook chengyu from the Spring and Au...

Another barnburner of an episode here in Part 12. The 1960s and 70s witnessed a lot of turbulence in Taiwan. Following the Sino-Soviet Split, Chiang Kai-shek had a funny feeling his U.S. ally was going to try to make hay of this opportunity. Facing an uncertain future Chiang front-burner'd economic reform. As things gather steam throughout the 1970s, a middle class emerges and grows. Taiwan was mo...

The focus for this time will be on the main events of 1957-1962. The KMT and the ROC government had been on a wartime footing throughout the 1950s. We'll also look at the infamous KMT repression and martial law as well as the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis. By the end of this episode, Chiang figures out the US is never going to back him in any attempts to recover the mainland and overthrow the CCP.  ...

The first five years of the 1950s were ones to remember. The Korean War, the Cold War, The First Taiwan Strait Crisis, the Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty, Formosa Resolution Act, Tuapse Incident, May 24th Incident, the MAAG, the USTDC, and all these other acronyms that surrounded the US-Taiwan alliance. Buckle your seatbelts and sit back for the next forty minutes. If you think tensions in to...

We finished last time with the 228 Incident. In Part 9 Chiang Kai-shek has to not only mop up from this PR disaster but get the island all prepped and ready for his later arrival, along with more than a million others feeling the communists. With the three victorious campaigns of 1948-49, the Nationalists are cornered and The Great Retreat steps into high gear. Everything that Chiang will need to...

Surfing and China are two words I didn't think you could put together in the same sentence. It turns out not only is there a rather large surfing scene in China, there's also a history that dates back to the Song Dynasty. Italian Nik Zanella first came to China in 1993 and is now based in Surfer's Paradise of Western Hainan. He came out with a book several years ago called "Children of the Tide" (...

This Part 8 episode of the History of Taiwan series runs a little longer than usual. About 50 minutes. This time we'll look at the period immediately following the handover of sovereignty in 1945. Needless to say, things didn't go so smoothly and the tone was set for the next several decades on Taiwan. The smash-and-grab events following Retrocession and the infamous 228 Incident are discussed in...

Taiwan's history continues into the 1930s during the period of Japanese rule. We pick up where we left off last time in 1930. In Part 7 we'll take the history all the way to the end of WWII and the defeat of Japan. We'll look at several of the events of the 1930s such as The Taiwan Exposition, the Kōminka Movement, Taiwan's role in the war, and what happened when it was all over.   Learn more abou...

The History of Taiwan continues with the Japanese colonial period during the 1920s. Despite all the transformational things the Japanese were carrying out on the island, not everyone was signing up for allegiance to the emperor. The Beipu Uprising, the 2nd Truku War, Ta-Pa-Ni Incident, and the horrific Musha Incident were all evidence of anti-Japanese resistance and retribution. We also look at Ji...

Laszlo had the honor and pleasure to welcome Mr. William Lindesay onto the CHP to discuss The Great Wall, a topic he is most eminently qualified to speak about. Sit back and enjoy this very informative and entertaining episode introducing the history and lore behind The Great Wall. A special thanks to William for his time and for sharing his Great Wall experiences over the past 35 years. We're pla...

More Taiwan history for you in Part 5. This time we only get as far as the first decade of the Japanese colonial period. Quite a bit of exciting and little-known stuff went down in Taiwan between the Treaty of Shimonoseki and the moment the Japanese tamped down major resistance, seized control, and got to photograph themselves under a "Mission Accomplished" banner. The first years were characteriz...

The history of Taiwan continues during the difficult decades of the Qing Dynasty. With Shi Lang's defeat of the Dongning Kingdom in 1683, Taiwan finally became part of China. But times were anything but peaceful on the island. The outcome of the Opium Wars had opened up treaty ports on Taiwan. Foreign trade ramped up quickly bringing with it all the positive and negative influences it had on the h...

In this Part 3 episode, we look at Shi Lang and his victory over Zheng Jing, Liu Guoxian, and the Dongning Kingdom. When it was all over in 1683, for the first time in history, Taiwan fell under China rule. Now the Manchus needed to figure out what to do with this prize. Corrupt officials and heavy-handed governing methods contributed to the endless uprisings and rebellions witnessed on the island...

The new Anna May Wong quarters are here, issued by The US Mint as part of a set honoring five women achievers and trailblazers: writer and civil right activist Maya Angelou, Astronaut Sally Ride, Native American activist, and former Cherokee Nation Chief Wilma Mankiller, suffragist, educator, and politician Nina Otero-Warren. And for the fifth coin, the US Mint selected none other than movie star,...

In this Part 2 episode, we will look at Dutch and Spanish Formosa and the history of these two would-be colonizers of Taiwan. The Dutch were the first to try and make a serious go at colonizing Taiwan. Zheng Zhilong and his famous son Zheng Chenggong will also be covered in this episode. Zheng Chenggong, better known in the West as Koxinga, is probably the most well-known person in Taiwan's histor...

Several years ago William Han set out from Xinjiang, following in the footsteps of Gan Ying who was tasked, in 97 AD, to seek out and establish relations with Da Qin (Rome). All the sights and experiences are detailed in William's new book, "From the Wall to the Water". It was quite an eye-opening journey from the end of the Great Wall to the Persian Gulf. Laszlo also discusses William's The Maste...

No topic gets requested more than the history of Taiwan. In this first of a multi-part series, Laszlo looks at the geologic formation of the island and Taiwan's prehistoric past. How the indigenous Austronesian people of Taiwan migrated throughout the South Pacific, the South China Sea, and beyond is also introduced. Several encounters between native people living in Taiwan and visitors from Fujia...

Don't let their names fool you. Ida Kahn was born Kang Aide and Mary Stone, Shi Meiyu. Born into a Methodist Episcopal community in the Treaty Port city of Jiujiang in Jiangxi Province, these two women became pioneers in introducing Western medicine to the women of Jiangxi province. And as role models for other women across China in the early 20th century, they inspired generations of women to bec...

For any and all cat lovers worldwide, here's a special episode for you. Fellow cat lover (ailurophile) Lee Moore of the Chinese Literature Podcast joins Laszlo for this CHP Special Episode where they chat about cats in Chinese history and offer up a few interesting anecdotes and stories. They both recite a selection of cat poems from the Song and Ming dynasties and go all out to discuss their favo...

In this final sixth episode of the History of Guangzhou series, the events of the Nanjing Decade and the city's role as a bastion of anti-Chiang Kai-shek factions will be discussed. Then we'll wind things down with a rush to the finish, reviewing the Japanese occupation, the fall of Guangzhou to the Communists, and finally take a quick look at the Special Economic Zones that helped to transform Gu...

Most of us have never tried old-fashioned snuff as they did back in the 17th to 19th centuries. But we've all heard of it. I invited Mr. Andrew Singer onto the CHP to satiate the curiosity of anyone wishing to know more about it and these gorgeous little bottles. Snuff bottles were extremely popular with the nobles and aristocrats of the Qing Dynasty. And a number of emperors too engaged in this p...

More Guangzhou history. This time we look at the events between the Second Opium War to the Northern Expedition. Featuring prominently in this episode will be Sun Yat-sen and the warlords. Before we get to them, however, we're stuck reliving all the historical short-sightedness of the foreign powers during the Daoguang and Xianfeng eras. I'm sure they all felt invincible back then against a rotted...