The Master of Demon Gorge: A Chinese History Podcast

In part one of two discussing Christianity in China, we look at the elephant in the room when it comes to this subject: the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (1850-64).  It's no big deal, just the third most destructive war in all of human history, behind only the two World Wars. And it began when a disappointed scholar, in a vulnerable moment, came across some Christian missionary literature. Reading...

Regarding the history, myths, and traditions associated with the Mid-Autumn or Lunar Festival. Of course we end with a recitation of one the most famous poems ever by the great Su Dongpo, written in the 11th century. Support the show

Recently, one Taiwanese politician compared another to Emperor Huidi of the Jin Dynasty, as a term of abuse.  Huidi of the Jin (r. 290-307 A.D.) was notorious for his stupidity. And his mismanagement of imperial affairs substantially ensured the brevity of the Western Jin regime and the long chaos of the period known as the Wei-Jin North and South Dynasties. We discuss Huidi's lamentable care...

If you caught the latest Marvel release over the weekend, you might have wondered about the Chinese mythological creatures depicted therein. They mostly come out of Shan Hai Jing, "The Book of Mountains and Seas," an anonymous ancient tract describing world geography as well as fauna that might or might not have been real. Here is a spoiler-free run-down of the fanciful creatures, with d...

In the previous episode we discussed the many wars that Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty fought against the Xiongnu, or the Hun, a nomadic people who occupied China's northern borderlands for centuries. But were the "Xiongnu" described in Chinese sources truly the same people as the "Hun" that Roman sources later reported as ravaging Europe? French scholar Joseph de Guignes...

The third-longest reigning emperor in Chinese history, Wudi (meaning "the Martial Emperor") of the Han Dynasty (r. 141-87 B.C.) sent legendary generals sallying forth from the Chinese heartland for the sake of conquest. Their campaigns and his heavy-handed imperialist policies vastly expanded China's territories.  But the wars were terribly costly in both human and economic terms. A...

What does the First Opium War in China have to do with the First Anglo-Afghan War and the disastrous British retreat from Kabul? Everything. Here is a story about the scarlet thread that runs through history. Support the show

When you've been to a place personally, then that place is no longer theoretical, no longer just an abstract idea that you may hear people mention on the news. Travel has a way of making the world both real and personal. In 2015, I traveled through Afghanistan, visiting Mazar-i-Sharif, Kabul, and Herat. Recent news about its now all-but-certain fall to the Taliban makes me reminisce about tha...

Troubling news on the climate front keeps on coming, which makes me think of the Anshi Rebellion. Begun in 755 A.D., the uprising led by An Lushan and Shi Siming, two Sogdian (modern Afghan) men in the service of the Tang Empire, brought an end to China's golden age. Emperor Xuanzong himself became a refugee. And according to census data from the period, the war killed two-thirds of the Chine...

Thanks to Hollywood, many of us around the world grew up with the tale of Mulan, and recently a new version by Disney has introduced it to a new generation. Everyone knows the basic plot: When war comes, and the emperor orders every family to provide one man to serve in the army, Mulan, a young woman, disguises herself as a man and enters the service instead of her aging father, ultimately rising...

The Chinese never called it "great" and still don't. In large part, it was the foreigners who taught the Chinese to elevate the Wall to a national symbol and object of pride. But should it be? Throughout Chinese history, since the First Emperor ordered the construction of what we now see as the first iteration of it, the Wall has been a Janus-like symbol representing both strength a...

"Even if only three households remain in the Kingdom of Chu, the Chu will still prove to be the death of the Qin." This was the prophecy circulating around China during the last years of the Qin Dynasty.  A brilliant cast of characters were about to put that prophecy to the test: Xiang Yu, the dashing young hero and greatest warrior of his generation; Lady Yu, his faithful wife and the m...

Qin Shi Huang, the First Emperor, did a lot of stuff. He burned books he didn't like and buried their authors alive. He ordered the construction of the Great Wall. He standardized the Chinese language. And he sought the elixir of immortality, believing that his dynasty ought to last for a thousand years. But in the end, death comes for us all, even emperors and empires... Support the show

As the soon-to-be Qin Shi Huang or First Emperor stood on the verge of total conquest of the Six Kingdoms, the crown prince of the Kingdom of Yan made a last ditch effort to stop him. He recruited a most unusual man and entrusted him with the mission of assassinating the would-be ruler of all that was under heaven.  In the over 2,200 years since this most celebrated of assassination attempts, Jing...

Today the Chinese Communist Party celebrated the centennial of its own founding. The CCP nowadays often identifies itself with Qin Shi Huang, the First Emperor, for his record of reunifying China after a prolonged period of division. Never mind that his dynasty lasted all of 15 years; never mind that he is mostly remembered as a brutal tyrant. Moreover, although everyone knows that Qin Shi Huang r...

To paraphrase a couple of Avengers: You and I remember Beijing very differently.  Around 1900, a group of kung fu practitioners in China who came to be known as "the Boxers" began assaulting just about any foreigners they could find. In response, an alliance of eight countries send expeditionary armies to China, where they in turn killed a good many and destroyed a great deal.  Today, th...

Sex! One of the greatest works of fiction in Chinese literature, "The Plum in the Golden Vase," is also one of the most risqué. We discuss this Ming Dynasty novel alongside other works of erotic fiction, with comparisons to the Marquis de Sade (and references to China in his novel "Justine"), as well as James Joyce's maxim that true art hangs in suspension between didactic...

In the early months of 1644, everything seemed to be crashing down upon Chongzhen. Fated to hang himself from a tree, the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty faced a massive domestic rebellion led by a proto-communist (and future role model for Chairman Mao) as well as invasion by the Manchus. Though an earnest man who tried his best, Chongzhen was simply not equipped to handle all of these challenge...

Religion in Chinese culture contrasts sharply with religions in other civilizations. For one thing, many Chinese gods were flesh-and-blood human beings who came to be deified, unlike most ancient gods of Europe or the Middle East or Egypt.  Mazu, the Goddess of the Sea, is one example. And today she is becoming the patron goddess of Taiwan. Alice tells us about the reporting she did this year on t...

During his years on the throne, Louis XIV, the Sun King of France, longed to make the acquaintance of Emperor Kangxi of China. The two men had a great deal in common: they both acceded to the throne as young children, both for a time had no real power, and both went on to rule their respective countries well and for many decades. But whereas Louis waited for his chief minister to die of his own ac...

Students of Chinese history know that Qin Shi Huang, the First Emperor and the founder of the Qin Dynasty, ended the Warring States Era and unified China in 221 B.C. But unification by the Kingdom of Qin could have, would have, and maybe should have happened four decades earlier. After launching a massive campaign in 262 B.C. against the neighboring Kingdom of Zhao, the Qin laid siege to the Zhao...

Did a 3,000-year-old Chinese book of divination anticipate modern computer science? When a Jesuit missionary brought him a copy of the I Ching, or more properly Yi Jing, "The Book of Changes," the German mathematician Leibniz was deeply amazed. Some of his own work seemed already represented in its mysterious pages. And Leibniz was an era-defining genius in his own right. It would be nea...

In the years immediately before and after 1,000 A.D., three generations of the Yang family, men and women, defended the northern borders of Song Dynasty China. Their (surprisingly feminist) legends have grown deeply ingrained in Chinese culture. And one story resonates particularly deeply among people of Taiwan of a particular generation and background. Support the show

The Three Kingdoms era following the collapse of the Han Dynasty was a pivotal period in Chinese history. Many Chinese traditions date to this time. And the many heroes that rose up like a rushing spring in this age of chaos are still revered. Indeed, names like Zhuge Liang and Guan Yu are still household names in East Asia just as names like Odysseus and Achilles are still known across Western cu...

In the 4th century B.C., a reclusive master of all trades and his four students shaped China's destiny. Support the show