The History of China Podcast

Zheng He's Treasure Fleet finally arrives on the African coast, and the Yongle Emperor celebrates the apex of his reign with the grand opening of Beijing and the Forbidden City. But dark clouds continue to build, but in the emperor's aged, troubled mind, and literally on the horizon... a storm is coming... Time Period Covered: 1416-1424 CE Major Historical Figures: The Yongle Emperor (Zhu Di) [r....

Having laid waste to the once glorious city of Baghdad, Hulegu Ilkhan now sets his sights east of the Euphrates, to the fertile lands of Syria and Egypt beyond. But what's to follow will set of a momentous clash in Galilee, at a spring called Ain Jalut, that will shake the very fundaments of history... Time Period Covered: 1258-1260 CE Major Historical Figures: Mongol Empire: Mongke Khaghan Khubil...

The treasure Fleet goes on missions 2-4, resulting in increasingly strange, valuable, and even divine gifts being presented to Great Ming. Time Period Covered: 1407-1415 CE Major Historical Figures Ming: Yongle Emperor (Zhu Di) [r. 1402-1424] Admiral Zheng He [1371-1435] Commodore Yang Min Ma Huan, translator & chronicler [1380-1460] Kingdom of Malacca: King Parameswara [r. 1402-1414] Major Works...

A live retelling (wart & all) of Genghis Khan's invasion of Khwarazmia ca. 1221, and the doomed flight of all who stood against his wrath... followed by a Q&A. From the 2021 Intelligent Speech Conference!

There once was a fleet that put to sea All in name of the Imperial Ming With phoenix sterns, & dragon prows Oh go, my baochuan, go! Soon may the Treasure Fleet moor To bring ceramics & silk galore One day, when the trading is done They’ll take our spice & go Commanded by an admiral So tall he seem unnatural His voice rang out like temple bell To get those treasures stowed Soon may the Treasure Fle...

Zheng He & Co. have left the station and are sailing out! They leave the safety of the Yangtze River and set their compasses southbound and down, first to Fujian, then to Vietnam, Java, Sri Lanka, and finally all the way to India, all in the name of trade and riches. But the return journey will turn out to be anything but a pleasure-cruise. Between pirate raiders adn deadly storms, they might need...

What does the aftermath of a massacre entail, on the world stage? CIA Memo 6/10/89 - Begins: 2:25 US Beijing Embassy Cable 7/11/89 - Begins: 6:05

Rebroadcast: 6/4: UK Cable on Tiananmen Square Massacre by Chris Stewart

The Yongle Emperor decides it's time for Great Ming to bust out its swim trunks and its flippy-floppies... because he's going to make the biggest, bestest oceanic fleet of awesomesauce that the world has ever seen! And put in command is his trusted, tried-and-true battle-buddy: the Grand Admiral Zheng He! Time Period Covered: 1371-1405 CE Significant Historical Figures: The Yongle Emperor (Zhu Di)...

We're back with Part 2 of my conversation with Caroline Vahrenkamp of The Wonders of the World Podcast, this time all about the little city that Yongle built mostly to show his dead dad up - Beijing, and at its heart, the city-within-the-city, the Imperial Purple Palace - The Forbidden City!

Part 1 of my interview with Caroline Vahrenkamp of "The Wonders of the World Podcast" all about Beijing and it's meteoric rise as (the once and future) capital of China in the early Ming Dynasty!

The Yongle Emperor decides to build a new capital. It goes well! He also decides to invade both Mongolia and Vietnam. It goes not so well. Time Period: 1402-1424 CE Major Historical Figures: Ming: The Yongle Emperor (Zhu Di) [r. 1402-1424] General Zhang Fu [1375-1449] Gen. Mu Sheng [1368-1439] Mongol Khanates: Bunyashiri of the Eastern Tribes [d. 1412] Mahmud of the Oirat [d. 1416] Arughtai of the...

A great conversation with Alex & Peter of "History's Most" about the worst civil war many have *still* never heard of - the Taiping Rebellion! Check out their great show at: https://historysmost.libsyn.com/

The Yongle Emperor has taken command... and we're in for a really, really, really great time.... Time Period Covered: 1402-1424 CE

The civil war between the Jianwen Emperor and his uncle, the Prince of Yan, rages on across the realm. Both sides will feel the terror and pain of the fearsome realities combat... but in the end, only one will be left standing. Time Period Covered: 1399-1402 CE Major Historical Figures: The Jianwen Emperor (Zhu Yunwen) [r. 1398-1402] Zhu Di, the Prince of Yan [1360-1424] Minister Huang Zicheng [13...

In the wake of the Hongwu Emperor's death, his grandson - Zhu Yunwen - will assume command. He's been brought up and trained in the highest of Confucian ethics and morals, and will seek to curb the excesses of his dear grandfather's... more bloodthirsty policies. But not everyone is thrilled at the new leaf being turned in the book of the regime... especially those who stand to lose much more than...

The Hongwu Emperor enters the twilight of his life. But before he's ready to ride off into that long sunset, he's going to take a hell of a lot more people with him... Time Period: 1387-1398 CE Major Historical FIgures: The Hongwu Emperor (Zhu Yuanzhang) [r. 1368-1398] Crown Prince Zhu Biao [1355-1392] Crown Prince Zhu Yunwen (The Jianwen Emperor) [1377-1402] Zhu Shuang, the Prince of Qin [1356-13...

(NOTE: This is Pt. 1 or 2. The Full Episode & all other bonus content is available via Patreon.com/thehistoryofchina) Mongke has ascended as the Great Khan of the Mongols and set loose his younger brother, Hulegu Ilkhan to bring the Islamic world to heel. The Caliph of the Abbasid Dynasty, al-Mustasim, sits ensconced in his citadel city of Baghdad - the jewel of Islam - and believes that Allah abo...

To both the north and south, the armies of Great Ming continue to achieve order from chaos and stability across the realm, in the imperial palace at Nanjing, the Hongwu Emperor sits the Dragon Throne - as mercurial and temperamental as its very namesake... and woe betide anyone who stokes the dragon's wrath. Still, in the name of greater peace (and fewer mass slaughters), many a brave (and often f...

Following the destruction of the Khwarazmian Empire in 1221, the Mongol Empire's appetite for conquest to the west is whetted. It will take a few Great Khans to kick it off, but with the accession of Möngke to the throne in 1251, the way will be laid bare - to be led by his brother Hülegü Khan. The only thing standing between him and the beating heart of Islam is a ragged band of heretics scattere...

The founder of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, the Hongwu Emperor... has got a bit of a trust problem. It starts with him getting upset that his officials are "cutting corners" when it comes to official counts of tribute payments & the stamped documents verifying them. But it quickly spirals into full-blown paranoia that absolutely everyone is out to get them, and the only was he knows how to con...

You might not be able to go on a real holiday - but today we take a little audio trip to the city of Hangzhou, Zhejiang... famed across the millennia for its beautiful bay, canals, and the famous West Lake. This is no ordinary tourist get-away, though, because we'll be skipping across time, looking at the highlights of its early history. Time Period Covered: ca. 5,000 BCE- ca. 960 CE Major Sources...

The Hongwu Emperor officially accedes to the throne as the founding ruler of Great Ming, to as much pomp and circumstance as his ministers can possibly pack in to the ceremony. After the parties are all done and the sacrifices all made, however, the real work of governing an empire that has been ravaged for centuries begins… and not everyone is happy about having a new sovereign sitting atop the d...

"The list of their disasters was much lengthened [...] and whenever they tried to force a way into the borders of the empire, they were beaten back. They were once more confined to the great desert, whence they originally sprang.” “Although I am a woman, I have avenged the vengeance of my husband. When I die, there will be no regret.” Time Period Covered: 1368~1399 CE Major Historical Figures: Yua...

You are invited to a very exclusive party. Everyone who's anyone will be there, dressed to the nines. You're sure to have the time of your life, and won't even know where the time's gone... Story by: Edgar Allen Poe