Barbarians at the Gate

In this episode, we reconnect with an old friend of the podcast, Canadian performer Mark Rowswell, better known in China as Dashan, or “Big Mountain.” Mark reflects on his early career in China, where his remarkable fluency in Mandarin launched him from a young foreign newcomer into the world of xiangsheng (相声, crosstalk), and soon after into a highly sought-after TV host and cultural ambassador bridging East and West.He also shares insights into his latest creative project: a series of online videos featuring his recitations of classic Chinese poetry. What began during the pandemic with a relatively obscure Chu Ci (楚辞) poem that went viral has since grown to include well-known works by Li Bai and Su Shi, with Mark’s fresh approach—eschewing the traditional, formal style of langsong (朗诵) in favor of a more natural, conversational delivery—quickly gaining a wide audience. Over time, the project has grown increasingly ambitious, incorporating longer poems and rich musical collaborations, including performances with the Toronto and Winnipeg Symphony Orchestras.Finally, Mark offers a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at his role in adapting The Shawshank Redemption into a Chinese-language stage production performed by an all-foreign cast. He discusses recruiting Mandarin-speaking actors, translating and culturally adapting the script, and the production’s warm reception among Chinese audiences.Chinese Glossarytuōkǒu xiù 脱口秀 — Stand-up comedy (derived from “talk show”)Tǔcáo Dàhuì 吐槽大会 — A popular roast-style comedy show formatcābiānqiú 擦边球 — Literally “edge ball”; skirting the line of what is acceptablebēiqiū 悲秋 — Mourning the arrival of autumn; a metaphor for agingpíng píng zè zè 平平仄仄 — Strict alternating tonal meter in classical poetryDìngfēng Bō 定风波 — A classical poem noted for syncing well with musical rhythmShēngshēng Màn 声声慢 — A famous lyric poem (ci) with musical accompanimentQiāng Jìn Jiǔ 将进酒 — Li Bai’s boisterous drinking poemChánghèn Gē 长恨歌 — “The Song of Everlasting Regret,” a 10-minute tragic epicChūnfēng táolǐ huākāi rì 春风桃李花开日 — A line from Changhen Genǐ néng shuō ràokǒulìng ma? 你能说绕口令吗？ — “Can you say a tongue twister?” Tā zhēn huì! 他真会！ — “He really knows his stuff!” Zhāng Kēmín 张科民 — Pianist and composerLǐ Délún 李德伦 — Zhang Kemin’s grandfather; pioneered symphonic music in modern ChinaZhāng Guólì 张国立 — Actor and directorLinksDashan’s YouTubeLi Bai, “Bring the Wine” 李白《将进酒》 (folk rock version)Comments on the Chinese stage Shawshank RedemptionNight Rain by Bai Juyi 白居易《夜雨》, music by David MoserDing Feng Bo 《定风波》苏轼, music by David Moser (also in the episode)“Ballad of the Pipa” by Bai Juyi 白居易《琵琶行》

Lee Moore's new book challenges both Chinese state propaganda and Western pundits on Taiwan, Xinjiang, the Chinese economy, and Hong Kong with 1400 endnotes, and a drinking game for beheadings.A historian who writes about Ming emperors getting stabbed in the balls, a drinking game for beheadings in Xinjiang, and why almost everything politicians say about Taiwan’s history is wrong. Lee Moore joins Barbarians at the Gate to discuss his new book.In this episode, we talk with Lee Moore about China’s Backstory: The History Beijing Doesn’t Want You to Read. It is often said that China is the most talked-about country that Americans know the least about. Lee’s book seeks to enlighten readers with a fresh perspective and a deep dive into four China-related topics that frequently appear in American media: Taiwan, Xinjiang, the Chinese economy, and Hong Kong.Despite his academic credentials, Lee has chosen to write the book in an accessible style that Jeremiah characterizes as “making the complex simple and the simple complex — complicating narratives without complicating the language, and simplifying complicated histories without dumbing them down.”With this lively and occasionally risqué prose style (one chapter is entitled “The Most Important Motherfucker in Taiwanese History”), Lee challenges the simplistic historical narratives that often dominate both Chinese state propaganda and Western commentary on China.Our conversation explores several of the historical questions raised in his book. Was Taiwan always a part of China? It did not even appear on Chinese maps until the 17th century, and the Qing Dynasty did not take control of the island until a year after William Penn founded Philadelphia. Were the Uyghurs the first inhabitants of Xinjiang? The answer is complicated, but the region’s earliest known inhabitants may actually have been Indo-European. And is the Chinese Communist Party’s tight state control over the economy really the “secret sauce” behind China’s rise? Lee takes direct aim at Western pundits who have argued exactly that.Lee also explains how he makes extensive use of Chinese poetry — from Tang Dynasty border verse to Qing-era colonial writing — translated into colloquial English, to convey the emotions and states of mind of the historical figures who populate his book.Lee Moore has a PhD in Chinese literature. He is the founder of the Chinese Literature Podcast and has written for The Economist, the China Books Review, and The China Project.China’s Backstory: The History Beijing Doesn’t Want You to Read is available from Unsung Voices Books wherever books are sold. Find the Chinese Literature Podcast wherever you get your podcasts.Warning/Advertisement: This episode contains explicit language. 

It’s another Barbarians at the Gate crossover with China Books Review. This month’s China Archives column covers Decadence Mandchoue by Edmund Backhouse, edited and annotated by Derek Sandhaus. CBR Associate Editor Alexander Boyd and I sat down to talk about all things Backhouse and try to parse one of Sinology’s more controversial memoirs.Backhouse was the son of a British baronet who dropped out of Oxford, fled to Beijing in 1898, and spent the next four decades as a fixer, translator, and professional eccentric in the hutongs. He was also a forger, a fabulist, possibly a fascist sympathizer, and the author of what may be the most explicit expat China memoir ever written. His central claim: an extended sexual relationship with Empress Dowager Cixi. His central problem: almost nobody believed him.And there’s a good reason. He almost certainly invented the whole thing.The real question isn’t whether Backhouse was making stuff up. He was. A lot. The question is whether this gifted fabulist, writing from inside (or at least adjacent to) the world he’s fabricating, can still tell us something real about the fall of the Qing Dynasty.Join us as we explore the decadent world of sex, lies, and power during one of the most tumultuous periods of Chinese history.

Welcome to a special episode of Barbarians at the Gate. David and Jeremiah are off this week preparing for Chinese New Year, but as a special gift to our listeners, we are cross-posting this bonus episode about the life and China travels of the American writer Emily "Mickey" Hahn. This episode is from By Their Own Compass, a podcast looking at historical travelers and past journeys co-hosted by Jeremiah with travel expert Sarah Keenlyside.Emily Hahn partied with poets (and her pet gibbon) at Shanghai soirees. Wrote biographies while dodging bombs in wartime Chongqing, and did her best to keep herself and her family alive in Japanese-occupied Hong Kong. Along the way, she became famous (some might add “notorious”) for her affairs, including with Chinese writer Sinmay Zau (Shao Xunmei 邵洵美) and the head of British intelligence in Hong Kong, Charles Boxer.Mickey lived through some of China’s most tumultuous moments. While many foreigners experienced these events, Mickey gave her readers an unvarnished look at what was happening, with a style all her own.We hope you enjoy this special bonus episode. Follow By Their Own Compass at bytheirowncompass.com or search for By Their Own Compass on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or where you get your podcasts.Links:Books referenced in the episodeChina to Me by Emily HahnNobody Said Not To Go by Ken Cuthbertson (biography of Emily Hahn)I Wonder as I Wander: An Autobiographical Journey by Langston HughesThe Soong Sisters by Emily HahnTours & Resources:Historic Shanghai - walking tours (Patrick Cranley and Tina Kanagarathnam)Further Reading:Her Lotus Year: China, the Roaring Twenties, and the Making of Wallis Simpson by Paul FrenchHong Kong Holiday by Emily HahnNo Hurry to Get Home: A Memoir by Emily HahnMr Pan by Emily Hahn

Yajun Zhang, a global strategist in Thailand who decodes Chinese social media and travel tastes, and Thomas Bird, a travel writer and China watcher with deep Southeast Asia experience, explore why Chinese mass tourism to Thailand collapsed. They discuss viral scam panics on WeChat, the shift from package tours to independent travelers, and Mandarin’s growing role across Southeast Asia and new diaspora hubs.

Following a tumultuous 2025, we gallop into the Year of the Horse. Tradition says it should be a year of dynamism and progress, but which way is the stampede heading?To help us read the tea leaves, we welcome back our occasional co-host, Zhang Yajun. As a global strategist and former innovation lead at the World Economic Forum, Yajun has spent over 16 years translating complex shifts, from AI to cultural narratives, for international audiences. She joins us to look past the headlines and offer a reality check on where China’s policies, social fabric, and daily life are actually going in 2026.Topics include:The Expat Exodus: After American student numbers hit historic lows, can China lure them back? Is the "China Dream" for foreign talent dead, or can the country overcome deep-seated geopolitical friction to become a destination for career-building again?The AI Reality Check: Beyond the state-level hype, how is Artificial Intelligence reshaping the rhythm of the street? We look at how aggressive government promotion of the sector is filtering down to everyday life.The Death of the Dining Room: The delivery apps are winning. As take-out replaces the communal table, restaurants are closing at an alarming rate. Are we witnessing the end of China’s boisterous, public food culture?Character Amnesia: As digital input methods proliferate, muscle memory is fading. With fewer people able to write by hand, will the Ministry of Education double down on rote discipline, or is the era of handwritten Chinese officially over?Yajun Zhang, Global Strategy & Innovation Leader | AI & XR for Policy | East–West ConnectorLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yajun-zhang-strategist/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@yajun_zhangSubstack: https://yajunzhang.substack.com/

Champions Day in the city of Shanghai, November 1941.The world was at war, but the clubhouse at the Shanghai Race Club (now People's Park) was packed with owners and punters cheering on the pony. The funeral of Shanghai's richest widow, Liza Hardoon, was a spectacle that filled the streets of the International Settlement. Japanese occupiers and their Chinese collaborators came together in a bizarre ritual to celebrate the birthday of revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sen. The opening of a new movie featuring, of all subjects, Charlie Chan had folks lining up at the local cinema box office.The world had changed, but the "Lone Island" of Shanghai persisted, as it had since becoming a treaty port a century earlier.In this encore episode from 2020, historian James Carter joins us to discuss his fascinating book Champions Day: The End of Old Shanghai. Carter brings to life the vivid tableau of an era coming to an end. By the end of the year, Japanese authorities would take control of Shanghai and the city would never again be the same. What did the end of the colonial era mean for Shanghai and its residents? Why were race tracks such powerful symbols?Join us as we discuss the history of horse racing, colonialism, and the last days of Old Shanghai.

How does a teenage girl from Beijing’s hutongs end up ruling the world’s largest empire—without ever technically sitting on the throne? In this episode, Jeremiah traces the improbable ascent of Empress Dowager Cixi, who entered the Forbidden City as a minor concubine and departed as the most powerful woman in Chinese history.The story begins in imperial catastrophe: the Xianfeng Emperor dies in the wake of the humiliating looting of the Summer Palace, leaving behind a four-year-old son and a power vacuum waiting to be filled. Cixi, her fellow empress dowager Ci’an, and Prince Gong move quickly to take control, using the child emperor as both symbol and shield. Jeremiah explains the peculiar constitutional fiction known as “ruling from behind the curtain” (垂帘听政), a political maneuver that allowed Cixi and Ci’an to steer the empire while officially remaining in the shadows.When Cixi’s own son, the Tongzhi Emperor, dies at eighteen, she executes another audacious maneuver—installing her young nephew, the Guangxu Emperor, ensuring that the throne remains occupied by someone conveniently underage. For a brief period—one hundred days, to be exact—Guangxu confers with intellectuals like Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao, planning an ambitious series of bureaucratic and military reforms. Cixi, unconvinced that constitutional monarchy and radical modernization were viable at the time, pulls the plug.Jeremiah and David examine the mystery surrounding the death of Zhenfei, the Pearl Concubine, as well as the lingering question of whether the Guangxu Emperor was poisoned by his aunt. Finally, we weigh the verdict of history: was Cixi a ruthless “Dragon Lady” who strangled China’s chances at modernity—or a pragmatic, formidable ruler judged by a double standard?Related Links:Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China (Jung Chang)Two Years in the Forbidden City by Princess Der LingWith the Empress Dowager of China by Katharine CarlDecadence Mandchoue by Edmund BackhouseJeremiah's review of Katharine Carl on the China Books Review website

In 1981, the Indian writer and poet Vikram Seth traveled from Nanjing, where he was studying literature, to his hometown of Delhi. Moving by train across China to Gansu, then hitchhiking southwest through Qinghai and Tibet, it was an itinerary that makes sense when a traveler has a surfeit of curiosity but a shortage of funds. Armed with half-decent Mandarin, a fistful of foreign exchange certificates, and a scrap of paper authorizing his route, he negotiated China just as it was emerging from the Maoist era. No WeChat. No Trip.com. No Google Translate. Just a student improvising his way home as the date on his travel pass crept ever closer: fording rivers in rickety trucks, suffering altitude sickness, dealing with roadside thieves and the occasional military checkpoint.From Heaven Lake, the book that came out of that trip is sharp, observant, funny in places, bleak in others. A snapshot of a country trying to reinvent itself while one traveler tries to get home before his paperwork expires.In this Barbarians at the Gate crossover with China Books Review, Jeremiah sits down with Alexander Boyd to talk about Seth’s strange, scrappy journey, what travel in China looked like in 1981, and how a writer from India saw things Western visitors of the same era tended to miss in the early 1980s.

David and Jeremiah are traveling this week, which means, like the days of summer TV (pre-Internet and pre-InfiniteStreamingNetflixVerse), we are replaying one of our favorite earlier episodes. We hope you enjoy this "one from the vault" and we'll be back with fresh episodes in November.Yuanmingyuan, the "Garden of Perfect Brightness," commonly referred to as the Old Summer Palace, was a Qing Dynasty imperial residence comprised of hundreds of buildings, halls, gardens, temples, artificial lakes, and landscapes, covering a land area five times that of the Forbidden City and eight times the size of Vatican City. This expansive compound, once referred to by Victor Hugo as "one of the wonders of the world," now exists only as a sprawl of scattered ruins on the northern outskirts of Beijing, having been thoroughly burned and looted by the French and British over three days in October 1860, in the aftermath of the Second Opium War.The razed remnants of the glorious gardens have been left in place by the Chinese government as an outdoor museum of China's "Century of Humiliation" at the hands of foreign powers. On the 160th (now 165th) anniversary of the destruction of Yuanmingyuan, Jeremiah and David discuss the political and cultural clashes that led to the action, the significance of the incident for China's national self-image, and the government's attempts to repatriate the massive amounts of looted artifacts found scattered among the museums of Europe and the West. The conversation also explores the changing symbolic significance of the ruins in the context of a rejuvenated and economically powerful China.This episode was originally posted on October 26, 2020.