The Master of Demon Gorge: A Chinese History Podcast
Stories from ancient China, and whatever else comes to mind.
Yuan-Javanese War, 1293
When the Mongol Yuan Dynasty sent an expedition to modern-day Indonesia.
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Guo Shoujing and the Survey of 1279
Regarding the Yuan Dynasty astronomer and the South China Sea.
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Bian Que, Physician
Regarding one of the most famous, if also most elusive, of ancient Chinese physicians.
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The Datong Massacre
The rebellion in Datong in 1649 presented the greatest challenge against the Qing during its period of consolidation, and in ended in a massacre.
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The Pheasant Cap Master
On one of the most neglected but also mysterious texts of Warring States philosophy.
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Liang Qingbiao: Art Collector
The most important Chinese art collector of the 17th century.
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The Zizhi Revolt & King Zhao of Yan
The Zizhi Revolt in 314 BC upended Warring States politics and led to the rise to power of King Zhao of Yan.
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Zou Yan and the Five Elements
The Warring States thinker who gave us one of the most influential if mystical theories about dynastic changes.
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Tuva or Bust!
That republic within the Russian Federation that used to be a part of China.
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Su Dingfang and the Western Turkic Empire
One of the great but largely forgotten military leaders in Chinese history.
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Shengyu Guangxun or Broader Disquisitions on the Sagely Edicts
From the 16 Points of 1670 to the exegesis of 1724: one of the most widely read documents during the Qing Dynasty.
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Ying Shao and the General Treatise on Customs
On the late-Han Dynasty text on customs and its author.
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Cheng Yaojin Comes Out of Nowhere
Regarding one of the most significant personalities of the early-Tang Dynasty and his fictionalization.
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Madam Xian
Regarding the remarkable 6th century leader of the Li people.
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Three Cases After the Southern Crossing
Three mysteries in 1644-45.
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Li Zicheng, the Truculent King
About the man who actually brought down the Ming Dynasty.
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Yining Incident or Revolution of the Three Districts
What is the origin of the term "East Turkestan"? The complicated history of Xinjiang in the 1930s and '40s.
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Zhang Zhidong
Another of the "Four Great Ministers of the Late-Qing."
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Li Hongzhang
One of the most important mandarins of the late-Qing was also one of the most controversial figures in Chinese history.
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Feng Dao, Political Survivor
Regarding the unique career of Feng Dao of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms.
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Matteo Ricci
One of the most important missionaries in the history of Christianity in China.
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Emperor Jiajing of Ming
The second-longest reigning emperor of the Ming Dynasty was an out-too-devout follower of religious Daoism.
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Sino-Burmese War of 1765
From 1765 to 1769, Qing China invaded Burma four times...
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Biographies of Some Exemplary Women
Regarding the Han Dynasty "Biographies of Exemplary Women," Queen Jiang, Zhongli Chun, Cai Wenji, and Xie Daoyun.
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Tan Sitong of the 100-Day Reform
One of the leading figures of the reform of 1898.
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Cao Xueqin
Regarding the author of "The Dream of the Red Chamber," the greatest novel ever written in the Chinese language.
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Mao and "Outlaws of the Marsh"
I think the Ming Dynasty novel contains in it a history of the Chinese Communist Party written centuries before the Party existed.
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Wu Sangui and Chen Yuanyuan
The tale of the Ming Dynasty general who switched sides and helped to bring it down and the woman whose legendary beautiful supposedly made him do it.
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Cai Jing: Calligrapher and Perfidious Minister
Regarding one of the greatest calligraphers who ever lived, and one of the worst prime ministers in Chinese history
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Chong Family Generals
A most significant military family during the Northern Song Dynasty.
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“To Rise with the Cockcrow to Practice Swordsmanship”
About a classical Chinese expression and the two men behind it.
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Qian Qianyi: Hero or Turncoat?
Regarding the late-Ming mandarin and his ethical choices.
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Nanchang Uprising: Birth of the PLA
August 1, 1927: a date that lives in PRC history.
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A History of Lushan
Mt. Lu or Lushan, the object of so much classical Chinese poetry, the site of so much modern Chinese history.
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Luoxia Hong: Why Chinese New Year Is When It Is
The Han Dynasty inventor of the Taichu Calendar.
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Altai: of Gold and One-Eyed Folks
Tales from the Altai Mountains.
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Yu Yunwen, Hero of the Southern Song
A lesser known figure who saved the Southern Song Dynasty in 1161.
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Destruction of the Buddha During the Huichang Era
The reason why so few Buddhist temples from before the mid-9th century survive in China.
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Zhu Zaiyu: Prince, Musician, Mathematician
The Ming Dynasty prince who worked out the modern musical scale.
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Miscellaneous Morsels of Youyang and the Chinese Cinderella
The Chinese version of the Cinderella story and the 9th century collection in which it appears.
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