Chinese Lore Podcast

Sun Wukong and his new master have a difference of opinion on when it's ok for a Buddhist monk to spill someone's brains and loot their clothes.

All's well that ends well, except for the princess whose soul gets dragged out of her mortal coil and hustled off to hell.

Everybody kept telling me how dangerous the journey to the West was, but seriously how bad can it possibly ... oh my god what are those things and what are they doing to my men?!!!

Somehow a trip to the underworld adds decades to the Tang emperor's life.

Guanyin crashes the emperor's Buddhist party and tells all the monks of the East what she really thinks of their scriptures.

We embark on a three-episode mini-arc to find out why the Tang emperor was convening a big gathering of monks.

The blind regains sight, and the dead rises. Is it a miracle ... or a zombie apocalypse?

The Buddha shows how far he would go (or make someone else go) to avoid paying to ship some scriptures to the East.

Sun Wukong makes a high-stakes wager with heaven's latest mediator.

Sun Wukong proves to be such a handful that heaven has to go get a hero from another novel to take him on.

The Jade Emperor decides to take a different approach to try to keep Sun Wukong under control.

A trip to Hell nets Sun Wukong a visit to Heaven.

Sun Wukong goes looking for a weapon befitting his newfound powers.

The Monkey King gets a name and some special treatment from his teacher.

An immaculate conception shakes heaven and earth, and an anarcho-syndicalist commune gives itself over to a king.

A brief introduction to Journey to the West, the next novel we'll cover.

Some listener questions and closing thoughts on Investiture of the Gods.

A look at the real historical figures of the Zhou Dynasty's father-and-son founding duo.

In one afternoon's work, Jiang Ziya expands the pantheon of Chinese folk religion, and he's not too particular about who makes the cut.

A quick look at Jiang Ziya the historical figure vs. Jiang Ziya the fictional character.

A new day dawns for the kingdom, which is good news to everyone except Jiang Ziya's ex-wife.

With his back against the wall, King Zhou opts for a dramatic exit.

The rebel forces come face to face with their chief enemy, and Jiang Ziya's got receipts.

With the enemy closing in, King Zhou is reduced to putting out "Help Wanted" posters to find anyone willing to fight for him.

Yang Jian gets some divine assistance as he attempts to slay a slippery simian foe.

As one demon buddy after another show their true form, the Shang commander keeps telling his human comrades that, "I had no idea those guys were snakes and pigs and goats. I swear!"

The Zhou forces find themselves stymied by a pair of new enemy recruits who seem to be always a step ahead of them.

A quick dive into the backstory of one of Jiang Ziya's top Daoist warriors.

King Zhou takes an interest in human physiology, much to the chagrin of his people.

Casualties continue to mount on both sides as the siege of Mianchi County drags on, while King Zhou gets help from some shady characters.

It's a whirlwind of fortunes for the Zhou forces as they continue their march.

The Shang forces at Lintong Pass were holding their own thanks to a macabre banner, but then the worst possible thing happened -- their king sent reinforcements.

A Daoist elder shows up and tells the sect leaders, "I don't care who started it (though Grandmaster of Heaven clearly started it)! Now swallow these magic poison pills!"

Members of the Chan Sect upgrade their transportation options at the expense of their Jie Sect rivals.

The author recycles plot again as the Zhou forces encounter another pestilence-wielding sorcerer.

Jiang Ziya gets help from a guy with eye-popping powers.

Politics turn blood relations into blood enemies.

King Zhou gets literal and puts a figure of speech into practice, with predictably disastrous results.

The Chan and Jie Sects stop pretending they're frenemies and start acting like straight-up enemies.

A Shang commander learns the pros and cons of letting your kids talk to random beggar monks.

One of the Zhou's officers discovers that his powers aren't so unique after all.

A member of the Chan sect discovers that there's no such thing as friendly competition with those jerks from the cow college down the road.

What looked like an easy victory for the Zhou turns into a bit of a nightmare.

The Zhou army gets a timely visit from a helpful but uppity Buddhist friend in their fight against Kong Xuan.

Some quick background on two minor characters whose pacifist message fell on deaf ears.

The Zhou army meets its first real resistance on its march East.

Marking a decade since I first started doing this.

Ji Fa decides that while he couldn't live with attacking his tyrannical king, he CAN live with paying said king a visit with a large army in tow, just to, you know, talk.

Jiang Ziya is finally ready to head East to dethrone the Shang, but then his king goes, "Wait, can't we all just get along?"