The China History Podcast

Though the villainous empresses always seem to generate the most popular interest, this time we'll look at the life of one of the many good ones, an outstanding one if I may add. Empress Zhangsun was the bride of Tang Dynasty heavy Li Shimin. When he became the second Tang emperor following one of the most dramatic events in early Chinese history, he reigned as Emperor Taizong. We remember Empress...

On October 24th, 1871 the Los Angeles Chinatown Massacre took place near the present-day location of Union Station, just north of the core downtown L.A. area. Though mostly unknown rather than forgotten, this incident that happened one hundred fifty years ago this month will be remembered through a number of commemorative events. The Chinese American Museum (today located adjacent to where the atr...

In addition to the latest CHP episode on the L.A. Chinatown Massacre, I also wanted to offer you a reading of an article that appeared in an 1894 edition of The Historical Society of Southern California journal. This article by C.P. Dorland was written only twenty-three years after the incident took place and described the events leading up to, during, and after the tragic event of October 24, 287...

We're going to wind things down with this episode. 1863-1864, the bitter and bloody end of the Taiping Rebellion. Charles George Gordon has his walk-on but Zeng Guofan and brother Zeng Guoquan take the limelight in the ultimate showdown with the Taiping holdouts. When it was all over, the Taiping Rebellion ended up having quite a consequential impact on China's trajectory into the 20th century. We...

After the Convention of Beijing was signed in 1860, the foreign pers weren't so sure about the Taiping's anymore. For the sake of preserving their hard-won gains in the Second Opium War, they hopped down off that fence and sided with the Qing forces. In this episode, we hear about Frederick Townshend Ward and the Ever Victorious Army. 1862 was the pivotal year for the allies lined up against the T...

After seizing the all-important city of Nanjing in March 1853 and basking in the afterglow of this victory, the Taiping leadership launches two military expeditions, one to the north to capture the capital, Beijing, and the other to the west. In this episode, we'll see how those two ventures panned out. Then in 1856, comes the first major political crisis that happens at the very top of the Taipin...

We're back with more of the Taiping Rebellion. In this episode, we trace the Taiping Rebels as they make their way from Yong'an in Guangxi all the way to the southern capital of Nanjing. As they make their way north and east towards western Jiangsu they grow in numbers and seize great amounts of weapons, silver, and boats. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Now's as good a time as any to finally feature this well-known, regularly requested topic from Qing history. This is arguably the pivotal event that got the dominos falling that led to the Warlord Era and the later founding of the PRC. For anyone unfamiliar with the Taiping Rebellion, how it got started, and the situation in China during the mid 19th century, over the next few episodes, I'll try a...

Laszlo picks up in 1818 with the Napoleonic Wars finished and the Dutch returning to their colonies to put everything back the way it was when they left. The struggle between the Dutch and the Chinese kongsis of West Borneo discussed previously continues with a fight to the finish in Part 2. The legacy of this century of history that occurred in Kalimantan Barat between 1750-1884, lives on in our...

The history of the Overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia is rich with all kinds of lesser-known or forgotten tales, like this one. A kongsi 公司 today means a company. But when Chinese immigrants from Eastern Guangdong and Southern Fujian were heading in the direction of West Borneo to engage in gold mining, kongsis were established as associations where its members were organized and led. The Chines...

Laszlo is pleased to present an interview with longtime Hong Kong resident, writer, and cartoonist Larry Feign to discuss his new novel "The Flower Boat Girl". The story is about Zheng Yi Sao, who was one of the most feared pirates in the early 19th century, and at one point, had command of a fleet of over 1,500 ships. Her life was the subject of Episode 174 of The China History Podcast, and in th...

In this China History Podcast episode, Laszlo teams up with Rob Moore and Lee Moore (no relation) from The Chinese Literature Podcast to explore the life and work of the highly influential writer Lin Yutang. Though rather unknown in our day, there was a time when Lin Yutang was the most recognizable name in the West who wrote and spoke about China. This episode explores his early years and later l...

Just in time, we look at all the recent finds at the newly discovered six sacrificial pits at Sanxingdui. Archaeologists and historians are pretty sure all these exciting discoveries going back to 1986 at Sanxingdui, Jinsha, Shangwangjiaguai are from the ancient state of Shu. This topic has been requested constantly throughout the years. I'm glad I waited until now to unleash it on you. Be looking...

In this CHP Special Episode Laszlo is thrilled to welcome Mr. Ian McCollum to discuss his new book, "Pistols of the Warlords: Chinese Domestic Handguns, 1911 – 1949." If you're a fan of antique and historical firearms, you already might know Ian from his Forgotten Weapons YouTube Channel. What poetry was to the Tang Dynasty, arms manufacturing, and procurement was to the Chinese Warlord Era. A spe...

Here's a brief intro to the life of Dr. Yuan Longping who passed away on. May 22, 2021. It was covered quite extensively last week in the Chinese and international press as well as in all the China newsletters. But just in case you missed reading about him I wanted to post this short intro to his life and achievements.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're going to finish off this survey of Henan from Neolithic times to the 20th century. In this episode, you'll get a closer look at Zhengzhou and a few other noteworthy slivers of Henan history. We'll close off with the hard times that hit Henan in 1887, 1938, 1942, 1959, and 1975. If you never appreciated Henan's place in Chinese history I hope this three-part series was able to offer you a gat...

The saga continues. More poking around Henan in Part 2. We'll look at the Zhou Dynasty era states that made up the province in ancient times. We'll also focus on Luoyang, Kaifeng and Anyang. If the multitude of Chinese names starts to overwhelm, go to the website at Teacup. Media and download a nice cheat sheet I put together especially for you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm...

This is Part 1 of a four-part series focusing on the Chinese history that happened in one of China's oldest provinces. In Part 1 we get the lay of the land in Henan, discuss its mythical beginnings as well as the neolithic cultures of Peiligang, Yangshao, Longshan, and Erlitou. We also take the offramp to look at a couple of the more well-known Henan dishes. We'll get as far as the Xia and Shang d...

In this shortest CHP episode since 2011, we conclude the series that explored the lives of eunuchs in Chinese history. This time around we wind things down with eunuchs during the time of the Last Emperor Puyi in the course of his residency in the Forbidden City, Tianjin and Manchukuo. Then we look briefly at the life of the Last Eunuch Sun Yaoting and the Ming Dynasty "good eunuch" Tian Yi. A big...

In this penultimate episode of the Eunuchs series, we finally make it to the Qing Dynasty. After everything that transpired during the Ming, the Qing is tame by those standards. From Dorgon to Daoguang things were pretty tame in the Qing. But once Empress Dowager Cixi grabs hold of the reigns of power, she allows her eunuchs, most notably An Dehai and Li Lianying, to do their worst. We'll finish o...

Three of the Four Tigers, Wang Zhi, Liu Jin, and Wei Zhongxian get a once over this time around in Part 4. Many historians agree these guys offered the most generous contribution to the fall of the Ming Dynasty. At least no emperors were captured in battle during their time in the palace. But one emperor did have to hang himself from a tree thanks in no part to one of them. Learn more about your a...

The story continues. After wrecking the Han and Tang Dynasties, the eunuchs emerge again in the Ming as a particularly destructive force. In this episode we'll also look at the Song Dynasty eunuch general and politician Tong Guan. Then we'll look at the life of the first of the so-called Four Eunuch Dictators of the Ming Dynasty, Wang Zhen. His greed and avarice almost caused the Ming Dynasty to f...

This time we look at eunuchs in the Tang from Xuanzong to hapless Emperor Ai. We'll see how it was a long hard downhill slide once Xuanzong let Gao Lishi amass so much power. Subsequent emperors were either too weak or too young to push back against eunuchs who, once given an inch of authority, took a mile more and never let go. They grew in power and venality at the expense of the dynasty's fortu...

This topic was coming sooner or later. Laszlo offers up another general overview of Chinese history, this time with eunuchs serving as the prism to view it all. In this episode we'll look at the story of the maybe/maybe not eunuch/official from the Qin Dynasty Zhao Gao and his antics trying to cover up the sudden and unexpected death of Qin Shihuang. Then we'll finish off with eunuchs in the Later...

This time Laszlo introduces an outstanding Chinese-American scientist who will be honored in the United States on February 11, 2021 with a new commemorative postage stamp. Dr. C.S. Wu came to America in 1936 and due to circumstances in her homeland, ended up staying in the US for good. She made many contributions in the field of physics and worked on the Manhattan Project. Dr. Wu was role model an...