The China History Podcast

Our eight-part series on the history of Tang Poetry concludes with this episode that looks at the lives of three more poets: Li He, Du Mu, and Li Shangyin. And for an encore, Laszlo will recite poems from all three of these greats. The Late Tang period of Chinese poetry was marked with all the signs of an imperial house in decline. It was a sad and melancholy time and quite a few Late Tang poems expressed the hopelessness felt during these sorrowful years. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this seventh installment of the history of Tang poetry we move on to the Middle Tang period. While the poetry might not be as celebrated as that produced during the High Tang, there were still many figures beloved in their own time and all through the centuries. We'll look at three of them in this episode: Bai Juyi, Yuan Zhen and Xue Tao. Next episode we'll finish off the series with the Late Tang poets. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Laszlo finishes up the High Tang period of Chinese poetry. Wang Wei and Meng Haoran are showcased in this episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is the Du Fu episode. Along with Li Bai, discussed last episode, he's considered the greatest poet in Chinese history. That's of course a matter of opinion. We'll take a brief look at the rough road Du Fu had to walk most of his years. In addition to looking at his life we'll hear a few of his regulated verse poems. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Li Bai is showcased in this fourth installment of Laszlo's not very deep dive into the history of Tang poetry. We're still in the High Tang period of Chinese poetry. This episode will focus more on Li Bai's story (and legend) rather than an in-depth analysis of his poetry. He, along with several other poets from this time are cultural icons and treasures of the Chinese people. Check the links and resources for other scholarly and biographical info on Li Bai, Du Fu and other great Tang poets. This episode is especially geared towards those CHP listeners who may have never heard these names before. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Finally in this part 3 episode Laszlo gets to the Tang poetry part of the series. After finishing up some of the good stuff that came out of the Six Dynasties, we'll get a first look at the Early and High Tang periods. More poets and more great poetry compilations will also be introduced. A lot of names and titles of works this episode. Feel free to check the terms from the episode and read up on some of them. Plenty of links to translated works of Classical Chinese poetry. If this series is piquing your interest, even a little, there's a whole world out there for you to explore. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Part 2 Laszlo will finish up an overview of pre-Tang poetry and show where everything went from the Classic of Poetry and Songs of Chu. Fu rhapsodies, Yue Fu poetry and the works from the Jian'an era will be introduced. Tang poetry didn't arise out of nothing. It was the collective genius and creativity of all these pre and post-Qin Chinese literati who built the foundation that the Tang masters built on. Please come back for Part 3 where we'll finally get to the early Tang (maybe). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this first of a series introducing the history of the development of Chinese poetry, Laszlo focuses on the two most important works from Pre-Qin China. These were the Classic of Poetry and the Songs of Chu. Though we will not get to the Tang Dynasty in this episode, we'll look at what came prior and how each new style impacted newer emerging styles of poetry. The life of Qu Yuan and Chu Kingdom will also be introduced. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Laszlo continues his shallow dive into the Hokkien people with a focus on the history of the Hokkien diaspora who populated many cities and towns throughout Southeast Asia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're back in ancient times once again, this time looking at the homeland of the Hokkien people. As we've done with other groups of Southern Chinese (Teochew, Toi San, Hakka) this time Laszlo provides a broad overview of the people from the south of Fujian Province, the Hokkien or Hoklo people. Before we get into the Qing era diaspora, Laszlo focuses on how Fujian developed from a land populated by Yuè people to a part of Han Dynasty China with a focus on the Minyue Kingdom. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this longer than expected Part 2 episode, we look at Wellington Koo's role in the Paris Peace Conference and all the drama that surrounded this historic event from one hundred years ago. Then we'll look at the rest of Koo's career as a statesman, diplomat, and later as a judge. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the centenary of the Paris Peace Conference now upon us this month, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to commemorate the event by introducing the life of Wellington Koo. In this first of a two-part series, we will look at the historical events that shaped his early life and career. In this Part 1 episode, we will look at the backstory and set up for the Conference. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this final episode of the series, Laszlo introduces the Shanghai Ghetto, the final years of WWII and the aftermath. Please check the show notes at the web site for all kinds of books and videos from this period. Thanks to everyone who made it through all six episodes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The drama continues with the final arrivals of European Jewish refugees into Shanghai, 1941-42. Afterward, the China option, that had previously served as a safety net for Jews seeking refuge far from the Nazi's, was no longer available. Sugihara Chiune, Tadeusz Romer, Laura Margolis and others are also introduced in this episode. The series will conclude in the next episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Laszlo looks at Japanese attitudes towards the Jews and how it affected their treatment in Shanghai. The focus will be on the year 1939 when the greatest wave of Jewish refugees arrived in Shanghai. Then we will look at a little-known tidbit from history concerning a plan championed by Sun Ke (son of Sun Yat-sen) to rescue Europe's Jews. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This third episode in a series examining the history of the Jewish refugees who found sanctuary on the east coast of China focuses on escalating events in Europe around 1938-1939. With the consolidation of Hitler's rise, it didn't bode well for many Jews. As the countdown to Kristallnacht gets closer the situation becomes more urgent and Shanghai as a destination becomes more popular. The great humanitarian He Fengshan (何凤山) will also be introduced. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the story of the Harbin Jews mostly out of the way, Laszlo moves on to the smaller and less known Jewish community of Tianjin. Then as the 1930s unfolded and after Hitler came to power, our story shifts to the European Jews. In this episode, we'll look at the events leading up to Kristallnacht in November 1938. In Part 3, we'll focus on 1938 and 1939.

Laszlo is back with a new series that looks at the history of the Jewish refugees who came to China during the first part of the twentieth century. In this episode, after a long drawn-out intro that examines a bit of background on Jewish history, Laszlo explains how many Jews made their way to China to escape hard times back home. In the next episode, the story will continue with more from Harbin, Tianjin, and Shanghai.

In commemoration of the American Labor Day Holiday, Laszlo brings you a rather forgotten tale from the annals of Chinese modern history. As discussed in previous CHP episodes, the Chinese Labour Corps played a thankless but critical role in the allied victory over Germany in WWI. Who could have predicted the series of events that would happen as a result of the story of these men and the subsequent peace treaty that didn't recognize them or their country? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Laszlo introduced the great Nederlander Robert van Gulik. In his relatively short life, van Gulik made a name for himself as a scholar, diplomat, and writer. Judge Dee was based on the historical person Di Renjie, an important official and minister of state during the reign of Empress Wu Zetian. Van Gulik was fascinated with the Chinese "gong'an" detective novel genre of literature and did a lot to popularize it around the world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Laszlo presents another story from the annals of Chinese-American history. This one takes place during the Exclusion years and spotlights the Chinese colony of Eastern Oregon. This is the story of Ing "Doc" Hay and his lifelong friend and business partner Long On, two Toi Son immigrants who built their American dream on the frontier. Ing Hay was a trained Chinese herbal doctor and pulsologist, and he brought this unique skill to the American West.

We continue on from the last episode's overview of the Chinese martial arts history timeline. Today we zero in on the history and (mostly) legends behind the Wing Chun style of king fu. Thanks to Detroit's attorney and unofficial Wing Chun ambassador Michael Benkstein for all the support and input that went into this series. And thanks also to Peter Söderbaum for his kind comments == Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Don't be fooled by the title. Wing Chin and Ip Man will be covered next episode. Today's the first in a two-part series that offers up a survey of the development of martial arts in China from the mythical times of the Yellow Emperor to the present day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From Zhao Tuo to the present day, the history of the relations of these two great countries and frenemies is a great story. In this episode we enter the 20th century and explore the end of French domination in Indochina, Vietnam's fight to unify the country and the most recent Sino-Viet history. Although this six-part series was only a simple 走马看花 overview of the subject, I hope anyone not schooled in the basics of this history is leaving the table satisfied. Cảm ơn đã lắng nghe! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The series picks up in the early part of the Later Lê and finishes off in the 19th century with the arrival of La France and the beginnings of Indochine. Many heroes from Vietnam history will make appearances in this episode. Be sure to come back next time for the exciting conclusion of this overview of China-Vietnam Relations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this landmark 200th episode Laszlo carries the story of China-Vietnam forward, beginning with the three Mongol invasions of Đại Việt during the Trần Dynasty. We'll get as far as the great (Later) Lê Dynasty founding emperor and resistance hero Lê Lợi. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The CHP series covering the history of China-Vietnam Relations continues with Part 3. This episode will take the history all the way up to the Tran Dynasty on the eve of the Mongol invasions from Yuan Dynasty China. Heroes from Vietnam history making an appearance in this episode include Ngô Quyền, Lê Hoàn, Lý Thái Tổ, Lý Thường Kiệt, and Trần Thái Tông. I'll keep everything listed in the terms from each episode found on the webpage at teacup.media. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Shi Xie's impact on bringing Chinese culture to the Jiao region is discussed. For most of this period, Vietnam remained under the direct administrative control of China. Aside from a few quiet moments, there was sustained local unrest to deal with. Either local Viets were rising up against their Chinese overlords or there was a constant battle being fought with Lao, Linyi, Champa, and other tribes, states, and kingdoms that surrounded Vietnam to the west and south. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this first of a multipart series, Laszlo explores the ancient relationship between China and Vietnam. In this episode, the earliest days going back to Zhao Tuo and the Nanyue Kingdom are discussed. A thousand apologies for the poor editing job splicing the Vietnamese pronunciation. I'm hoping for an A for the effort at least. The remaining episodes will go off more smoothly. Thank you for your understanding. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Laszlo finishes off this brief overview of The Honorable Company as tea takes center stage in history. It's a very rough landing for the East India Company as their commercial rivals and political enemies gradually put an end to their winning run going back to the 17th century. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Maybe this isn't the most "China history flavored" topic but The Honorable Company did play a somewhat starring role during the Qing Dynasty starting from about the Jiaqing Emperor. In this first of a two-part series, I am offering you an overview of who they were, where they came from and how they came to be so hated by so many. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Laszlo looks at U.S. Immigration during the bad old days of Chinese Exclusion. The subject will be examined through the telling of the stories of three rather plain and non-extraordinary brothers from Haiyang Village in Toi San (Taishan in Mandarin). These three Moy brothers were featured in Scott Seligman's 2013 book "Three Tough Chinamen" (Earnshaw Books). In addition to the Chinese Exclusion laws, Laszlo briefly introduces the life of another Toisanese, Ng Poon Chew. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Laszlo tries something new. This time we look at the life and times of Whitey Smith, an important figure in the context of not only Shanghai Jazz, but the entirety of jazz history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Laszlo finishes off the overview of the Rape of Nanking as well as the stories of John Rabe, Robert O. Wilson, Minnie Vautrin, Rev. William Magee, and others who directed the Nanjing Safety Zone during the worst weeks of the atrocities. The aftermath of the Nanjing Massacre is also examined. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is a very emotional, controversial, and sensitive subject for a whole lot of reasons. Over the next two episodes, Laszlo will review material from past episodes to discuss the lead-up to the Massacre. Then in Part 2 the actual event itself as well as the story of the Nanjing Safety Zone and some of the foreigners who became eyewitnesses to the horrors of the Nanjing Massacre, also known as The Rape of Nanking. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At last, the early years of Russia-China relations can see the light of day. As you can see, this is another one of those hour-plus episodes that were not long enough for two episodes and a bit overly long for one. This episode primarily covers the beginnings back in the late Ming when they first met and mostly in the Qing where all the history happened. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Many people don't know that the first preaching of Christianity in China pre-dated the Jesuits by more than nine centuries. We'll take a second cursory look at the Jesuits as part of a bigger story that includes Christianity in China during the Tang and Yuan dynasties. We'll see that prior to the arrival of Matteo Ricci, there were two other lesser-known attempts to grow Christianity in China. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thanks to Carole in Virginia for giving me enough of a push to get this episode finally produced. This might have been one of the first ten topics I came up with when I began writing the original list back in 2010. The history of silk is really an amazing testament to humankind's ingenuity and the randomness of life since Neolithic times. I hope you enjoy this episode. It turned out to be a much greater story than I was ever aware of. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In part two of this series examining the forgotten life of William Mesny, we hear the second half of his story in China. We're mostly using author David Leffman's 2016 book "The Mercenary Mandarin". Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this first part of a two-part series, we examine the forgotten life of William Mesny. Drawing from author David Leffman's 2016 book "The Mercenary Mandarin," Laszlo discusses an unknown character from the bad old days of late Qing Dynasty China. Though he never made it to the history books, he nonetheless witnessed and took part in a lot of it. Through Mesny we can once again wander through some of Imperial China's worst years. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Laszlo explains a little about the "Gagi Nang", the 自己人 or 家己弄, known the world over as the Teochew (Chiu Chow or Chaozhou) people. Their language and culture are unique. Their food and Chaozhou culture is celebrated in more places than Chaozhou and not just by the people from that region. There are Chaozhounese people on every continent except maybe Antarctica. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In America, we have Washington Irving, Mark Twain, Hemingway, and so on. In China, Su Dongpo, (also known referred to as Su Shi) would be mentioned when rattling off their best of the best. He was definitely a major guy not only in the Song but in the overall world of Chinese culture as well. If you're interested to check out some of his poetry, here's an amazon link to a book of his poems translated by Burton Watson: Selected Poems of Su T'ung-P'o. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this latest episode, Laszlo finally gets around to the oft-requested subject of piracy in early 19th century China. Pirates had been a fact of life going back to the most olden days. Mid to late Qing Dynasty the amount of trade being plied on the China coast attracted pirates like never before. Zheng Yi Sao ("Zheng Yi's Wife") was a tough woman from the Pearl River Delta who married the most notorious pirate of his day Zheng Yi. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Laszlo offers up the exciting conclusion to the 3-part series introducing the Tong Wars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this Part 2 episode, the Tong Wars begin in earnest. The first and second Tong Wars are discussed. "Tong Wars, The Untold Story of Vice, Money and Murder in New York's Chinatown" Scott Seligman's Amazon Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B001IGHOAO/allbooks?ingress=0&visitId=24d82f31-2703-4b29-ad95-129e3d303e4b&ref_=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&ccs_id=31d8c0f7-2b8e-4f3b-871a-5ad5acff810f

In this episode, Laszlo explains the Tong Wars of New York's Chinatown. With the help of Scott Seligman's latest book we go back to late 19th - early 20th century America and focus on New York's Chinatown. These were terribly unpleasant days for most citizens of Chinese ancestry and especially for those immigrants who either had not begun the process or lived in the shadows illegally. For a list of terms used in this episode, check out the CHP website at teacup.media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Laszlo finishes up the story of the Yuan Dynasty, founded in 1271. The parts of China not yet conquered were done in by 1276 and the last holdouts went by 1279. But the Great Yuan didn't last long. This episode takes a nice little overview of the dynasty, its slow demise, and the legacy they left. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this long-overdue episode with a deceiving title, we don't actually get around to the Yuan Dynasty. However, a nice handy and confusing overview tracing the rise of the Mongol nation is presented which includes a bio on Genghis Khan. We'll get to the rise of Kublai Khan this time and look at the Yuan Dynasty next episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this bonus one hour plus episode we look at the last six years of Zhou Enlai's life. It was a bittersweet end for Premier Zhou. In between doing great things for China and guiding the country's general well-being, he was forced to play a central role in some of the worst internecine politics in CCP history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this longer than expected seventh episode of the series, the Cultural Revolution gets underway, something that Zhou will have to deal with until his dying day. Aside from this, China's illustrious premier also has his hands full with a thousand other responsibilities, both foreign and domestic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices