Log in

goodpods headphones icon

To access all our features

Open the Goodpods app
Close icon
headphones
The History of China

The History of China

Chris Stewart

A journey through the 5000 years of history documented by one of the world's oldest continuous civilizations. For all the episodes for free, as well as additional content, please subscribe and/or visit http://thehistoryofchina.wordpress.com.
profile image

5 Listeners

bookmark
Share icon

All episodes

Best episodes

Top 10 The History of China Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best The History of China episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to The History of China for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite The History of China episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

The History of China - #1 - Origins 1: The Mythical Origins Of The Middle Kingdom
play

11/25/13 • 31 min

In episode 1, we begin with an introduction to this podcast, followed by a brief overview of what we’ve come to know about early human migration and settlement in the region that will eventually become China. Finally, we’ll delve into the mythological origin story that purports to tell of the three divine Sovereigns who would create and then rule over the Han people. I’m very excited to be getting this journey underway! Once again welcome, and thank you for listening. UPDATE: As of 08/28/2016, this episode has been completely rebooted from the ground-up. Enjoy!

Transcript Available (paywalled): Transcript

Donate to Help the Show!: https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchina

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2 Listeners

bookmark
plus icon
share episode
The History of China - #270 - Qing 14: From Russia, Rome, and Ningxia With Love
play

05/18/24 • 40 min

Be sure to check out Airwave Media's list of 100 Best podcasts! ThoC is #69 (Nice!):

https://blog.feedspot.com/airwave_media_podcasts/

The Kangxi Emperor squashes his beef with the three rebellious feudatories of the south by squashing their traitorous lords, only to have to pivot northward once again to face down... who? The Russians? And the Mongols?! And Tibetans?! And the Catholic Church?!

Time Period Covered:

1670-1722 CE

Major Historical Figures:

Great Qing:

The Kangxi Emperor [r. 1661-1722]

Crown-Prince Yunreng [1674-1725]

Grand Secretary Songgotu [1636-1703]

Fan Chengmo, Governor-General of Fujian [1624-1676]

Nian Gengyao, Viceroy of Sichuan and Tibet [1679-1726]

Mei Wending, mathematician [1633-1721]

Tsarist Russia:

Tsar Alexis Romanov, "The Quietest" [r. 1645-1676]

Tsar Feodor III [r. 1676-1682]

Tsar Ivan V [r. 1682-1696]

Tsar/Emperor Peter I, "the Great" [r. 1682-1725]

Izmailov

Roman Catholic Church:

Pope Clement XI [1649-1721]

Cardinal Charles-Thomas Maillard de Tournon [1668-1710]

Jesuit Missionaires:

Fr. Jean-François Gerbillon [1654-1707]

Fr. Tomé Pereira [1645-1708]

Fr. Joachim Bouvet [1656-1730]

Ö

löd/Mongol/Dzungar Khanate:

Erdeniin Galdan, Boshugtu Khan [r. 1671-1697]

Tsewang Araptan [r. 1697-1727]

General Chereng Dondub the Elder [d. 1737]

Major Works Cited:

Perdue, Peter C. (2009). China Marches West: The Qing Conquest of Central Eurasia.

Spence, Jonathan D. "The K'ang-Hsi Reign" in The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 9: The Ch'ing Dynasty, Part 1: To 1800.

Wakeman, Frederic Evans. The Great Enterprise: The Manchu Reconstruction of Imperial Order In Seventeenth-Century China.

Wakeman, Frederic Evans. "Romantics,Stoics, and Martyrs In Seventeenth Century China" in The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 43, No. 4.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2 Listeners

bookmark
plus icon
share episode
The History of China - #2 - Origins 2: Five Emperors, Twelve Islands
play

11/26/13 • 29 min

This episode, we enter the second half of our gaze into the Chinese origins mythos. Focusing on the Five Emperors descended from the Yellow Emperor, this period marks the beginning of the transformation of the Huaxia People from settled tribe, to dynastic feudal kingdom. There will be betrayal, cataclysmic flooding, bird kingdoms, the Vietnamese, magical earth, and – of course – dragons.

UPDATE: as of 08/28/2016, this episode has been fully rebooted from the ground up. Enjoy!

Transcript Available (paywalled): Transcript

Become a Patron: Click Here

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1 Listener

bookmark
plus icon
share episode
The History of China - #259 - Qing 4: Dorgon's Domination, Death, & Downfall
play

10/23/23 • 48 min

Prince Regent Dorgon of Great Qing is riding high, at the height of his majesty, power, and untouchability. Why, he's even starting to think of himself as more of the ruler than the 6-year-old emperor who is his charge. Those are mighty fine wings you've got there, Icarus...

Time Period Covered:

1646-1651 CE

Major Historical Actors:

Qing:

The Shunzhi Emperor (Fulin) [r. 1663-1661]

Prince Dorgon, Regent of Great Qing [1612-1650]

Ajige, Prince Ying of the First Rank [1605-1651]

Dodo, Prince of Yu [1614-1649]

Bolo, Prince Duanzhong [1613-1652]

Hong Chengchou [1593-1665]

Jirgalang, Prince Zheng of the First Rank [1599-1655]

Haoge, Prince Su [1609-1648]

Mandahai, Prince Xunjian of the First Rank [1622-1652]

Gen. Tantai of the Plain Yellow Banner [1594-1651]

Gen. Wu Sangui, "Prince of Western Pacification" [1612-1678]

Southern Ming:

Zhu Yujian, Prince of Tang/Longwu Emperor [1602-1646]

Zhu Yihai, Prince of Lu, Regent of Great Ming [1618-1662]

General Zheng Hongkui [d. 1654]

Zheng Zhilong (Nicholas Iquan Gaspard), Marquis of Tong'an [1604-1661]

Zheng Chenggong (Koxinga) [1624-1662]

Other Rebel Forces:

Zhang Xianzhong, "Emperor of Xi" [r.1644-1647]

Jin Shenghuan [d. 1649]

Mi-la-yin [d. 1650]

Major Works Cited:

Dennerline, Jerry. "The Shun-chih Reign" in The Cambridge History of China, Volume 9, Part One: The Ch'ing Empire to 1800.

Struve, Lynn A. "The Southern Ming, 1644-1662" in The Cambridge History of China, Volume 7 The Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644, part I.

Wakeman, Frederic. The Great Enterprise: The Manchu Reconstruction of Imperial Order in Seventeenth-Century China.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1 Listener

bookmark
plus icon
share episode
The History of China - #257 - Qing 3: Lose Your Hair, Or Lose Your Head
play

09/17/23 • 49 min

Manchu occupation of the lands south of the Yangtze River proceed smoothly... right up until Prince Dorgon is convinced by some of his advisors that everyone needs a haircut.

Within Southern Ming, multiple princes vie for power - such as it it - at pretty much the worst possible time to be having a throne-fight.

Time Period Covered:

1645-1646 CE

Major Historical Actors:

Qing:

Prince Dorgon, Regent of Great Qing [1612-1650]

Dodo, Prince of Yu [1614-1649]

Bolo, Prince Duanzhong [1613-1652]

Hong Chengchou [1593-1665]

Southern Ming:

Zhu Yujian, Prince of Tang/Longwu Emperor [1602-1646]

Zhu Yihai, Prince of Lu, Regent of Great Ming [1618-1662]

General Zheng Hongkui [d. 1654]

Zheng Zhilong (Nicholas Iquan Gaspard), Marquis of Tong'an [1604-1661]

Zheng Chenggong (Koxinga) [1624-1662]

Major Works Cited:

Dennerline, Jerry. "The Shun-chih Reiegn" in The Cambridge History of China, Volume 9, Part One: The Ch'ing Empire to 1800

Struve, Lynn A. "The Southern Ming, 1644-1662" in The Cambridge History of China, Volume 7 The Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644, part I.

Wakeman, Frederic. The Great Enterprise: The Manchu Reconstruction of Imperial Order in Seventeenth-Century China.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1 Listener

bookmark
plus icon
share episode
The History of China - #3 - Xia 1: The Xia, China's First Dynasty
play

11/26/13 • 27 min

This week we move into the beginnings of China’s dynastic period where rulers began favoring birthright over merit – and the consequences will be almost immediately apparent. Beginning with the triumphant reign of the heroic Yu the Great, the Xia’s semi-accidental trip into dynastic succession will swiftly spiral downward, eventually leaving a usurping general in power, and the House of Xia all but exterminated after decades in exile. Rebooted as of 09/06/2016

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1 Listener

bookmark
plus icon
share episode
The History of China - #261 - Qing 6: Taiwan Incognita, Pt. 2
play

11/22/23 • 41 min

Events on the high seas and islands alike reach a fevered pitch as the Dutch, Japan, China, and Portugal all vie for profit and supremacy over Taiwan and its lucrative trade. Meanwhile - call them what you will (because it's hard to keep track - but the "independent merchants" or "pirate lords" ... sometimes even turned government agents keep looking to exploit every opportunity to enrich themselves while avoiding the noose.

Take what you can, give nothin' back!

Timeframe Covered:

ca. 1600-1639

Major Historical Figures:

Dutch East India Company/Batavia/Ft. Zeelandia:

Capt. Elie Ripon

Pieter Nuyts, Governor of Formosa [1598-1655]

Catholic Church:

Georgius Candidus [1597-1647]

Independent Traders/Pirates of Taiwan:

Salvador Diaz of Macau

Yan Siqi [d. ~1625]

Li Dan "Captain China" [d. ~1625]

Li Kuiqi ("Quitsicq")

Zhong Bin

Liu Xiang

Ming China:

Chen Di, Ming imperial official [1541-1617]

Xu Xinsu ("Simpsou"), merchant-contact

"Patrolling Admiral" Zheng Zhilong [1604-1661]

Shogunate Japan:

Toyotomi Hideyoshi, "The Great Unifier" [1537-1598]

Suetsugu Heizo Masanao, merchant-lord [1546-1630]

Suetsugu Heizo Masafusa, the scion

Taiwan Aboriginal Groups:

the Sinkan

the Mattau

Major Sources Cited:

Andrade, Tonio (2005). How Taiwan Became Chinese: Dutch, Spanish, and Han Colonization in the Sevententh Century.

Andrade, Tonio (2004). "The Company's Chinese Pirates: How the Dutch East India Company Tried to Lead a Coalition of Pirates to War against China, 1621-1662" in Journal of World History, Vol. 15, No. 4 (Dec., 2004).

Clements, Jonathan (2004). Coxinga and the Fall of the Ming Dynasty.

Ripon, Elie [Leonard Blussé & Jaap de Moor, trans.] (2016). Captain Ripon’s Maritime Adventures in the East Indies: The Diary of a Mercenary Soldier, 1617-1627.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1 Listener

bookmark
plus icon
share episode
The History of China - #265 - Qing 10: Zeelandia Has Fallen
play

02/16/24 • 41 min

Koxinga takes Taiwan by storm, forcing the Dutch East India Company off the island for good, and heralding the dawn of Chinese rule over that overseas outpost.

Time Period Covered:

1661-1664 CE

Major Historical Figures:

Southern Ming Loyalists [Xiamen, Fujian]:

Zheng Chenggong (Koxinga), Lord of the Imperial Surname [1624-1662]

Yang Ying, Court Revenue Officer & Recordkeeper

Dutch East India Co. (VOC) [Ft. Zeelandia, Taiwan]:

He Tingbin, Headman & translator

Cornelius Caesar [Governor, 1651-1656]

Frederick Coyett [Governor, 1656-1662]

Hermanus Clenk van Odesse [Governor-select, dispatched 1662]

Admiral Jan van der Laan

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1 Listener

bookmark
plus icon
share episode
The History of China - #260 - Qing 5: Taiwan Incognita, Pt. 1
play

11/15/23 • 34 min

Pirates!

Headhunters!

Samurai!

The Dutch!

Every day's high-stakes adventure on the island everyone's totally ignored until the 1600s!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1 Listener

bookmark
plus icon
share episode
The History of China - #4 - Xia 2: Revenge of the Xia!
play

11/29/13 • 22 min

This time, we take an in depth look into Shao Kang, the prince born in hiding who would rise from his dynasty's ashes to seek revenge against the Usurper-General Han Zhuo who had ruthlessly pursued him. Through a combination of skill, luck, and patience, Shao Kang will cobble together a force able to meet Han Zhuo's armies in battle.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1 Listener

bookmark
plus icon
share episode

Show more best episodes

Toggle view more icon

FAQ

How many episodes does The History of China have?

The History of China currently has 376 episodes available.

What topics does The History of China cover?

The podcast is about History and Podcasts.

What is the most popular episode on The History of China?

The episode title '#270 - Qing 14: From Russia, Rome, and Ningxia With Love' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on The History of China?

The average episode length on The History of China is 38 minutes.

How often are episodes of The History of China released?

Episodes of The History of China are typically released every 9 days, 16 hours.

When was the first episode of The History of China?

The first episode of The History of China was released on Nov 25, 2013.

Show more FAQ

Toggle view more icon

Comments