Chinese Lore Podcast

How do you rise up to be the future ruler's right-hand man? Certainly not through brilliance or hard work.

The capital is facing a crisis, and the only hope is basically the 12th-century Chinese equivalent of Anakin Skywalker from "The Phantom Menace." Ugh.

An overview of the podcast and an introduction to the Water Margin, aka Outlaws of the Marsh, one of China’s great classic literary works.

A reflection on this four-year ride, and a glimpse of things to come.

A rapid-fire look at a bunch of supporting players in the novel.

One hundred and fifty-three episodes later, we have finally reached the “long divided, must unite” part of the novel.

A look at what they ate and drank during the Three Kingdoms era.

While their respective states are sizing each other up for conquest, the Jin and Wu commanders at the borders are getting along famously.

Sure I just lost my kingdom, but look at all the fun stuff they have in the Wei capital!

We look at the architect of the Sima clan's rise to power.

Everyone has a hidden agenda, except maybe for the guy suspected of hatching an insurrection. (Note: Special guest narrator this week)

A Shu commander tries to live up to his father's legacy, while a Shu prince refuses to follow his father's example.

A dive into the real life of the guy who ran the family business for 50-plus years.

While Jiang Wei scrambles to mount a last-ditch defense, his old nemesis searches for a way to go around his roadblock.

Meet two statesmen who really mastered the art of saying, "That's not in my job description."

Tired of Shu's perpetual encroachment on its borders, Wei decides to take the fight to its nemesis.

Jiang Wei finally gets the better of Deng Ai, but even that ends up backfiring.

Discord between lord and vassal simmers in the court of Shu, while things boil over in the court of Wei.

While the Shu and Wei continue to slug it out in the West, the kingdom of Wu deals with internal unrest at the highest level.

Sima Zhao takes the emperor on a buddy road trip to put down another insurgence in a particularly troublesome part of the kingdom.

Oh look: Another Northern campaign by the kingdom of Shu. Yawn.

We say so long to the novel's pivotal player and wonder if he was really the genius the book made him out to be.

A couple generals down South stir up trouble for Sima Shi. Now if only their forces knew the way to his camp ....

Jiang Wei's Northern invasion meets the same fate as Zhuge Liang's, while Sima Shi borrows a few pages from Cao Cao's playbook for how to deal with imperial puppets who don't know their place.

Things go well for the kingdom of Wu and its political leader ... until they bite off more than they can chew.

Aided by an unexpected defection, Jiang Wei restarts the Northern campaigns by setting his sights first on the Northwest.

It's been a while since someone made a play to seize power from within. That changes this week.

A new threat emerges on Wei's northeastern borders, and he is just as bad at battle strategy as Jon Snow.

While Zhuge Liang sails off into eternal fame, the Wei emperor Cao Rui goes in search of eternal youth.

The death of its indispensable man is just the start of the Riverlands' troubles.

A stunning turn of events in the showdown between Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi.

Again and again, Sima Yi is made to rue the day he stole Zhuge Liang's invention.

We delve into the story of the one-armed assassin and the guy who kicked his butt AFTER being assassinated.

Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi match wits over the latest in wheelbarro

After another promising Northern campaign gets short-circuited, Zhuge Liang prays to his former lord for the strength to carry on, because he's made up his mind and he ain't wasting no more time.

Just as he was getting into a groove, Zhuge Liang is rudely interrupted in the field by an urgent dispatch from his emperor.

A brief explanation of the story behind the most famous secret crossing in Chinese history.

You've seen Zhuge Liang kill someone with just his tongue. Now watch him kill someone with the written word.

Zhuge Liang's third Northern expedition gets off to a promising start, but what else is new?

Did you know that we had actually been rolling with just two official kingdoms all this time? Well, Sun Quan will fix that this week.

Zhuge Liang toys with Cao Zhen time and again on his second Northern expedition.

We delve into the life and career of the real Liu Bei to see if he is really as virtuous as the novel made him out to be (spoiler alert: No one can be as virtuous as the novel made Liu Bei out to be).

Zhuge Liang prepares to take another shot at Wei, but one old friend will not be joining him.

While Zhuge Liang picks up the pieces after his aborted Northern campaign, a Wei commander falls for a trick from the South.

When his campaign takes a drastic turn for the worse, Zhuge Liang is forced to resort to a desperate gamble.

Meng Da totally misses the point of a SECRET rebellion. Can Zhuge Liang's advice help him pull it off anyway?

While the Wei forces have their hands full with Zhuge Liang along the border, a new threat lurks deep inside their territory

Wei forces sent to stop Zhuge Liang first try to out-talk him, and then try again to outsmart him.

Matching wits with Zhuge Liang sounds like a horrible idea, but that won't stop multiple Wei officers from trying.

Zhuge Liang sends a 70-something general and a tax collector to lead the way for his Northern expedition.