The History of China

Though the Japanese bow out of the race for Taiwan with the establishment of the Sakoku "Closed Country" laws, the Spanish set up shot on the northern shore in an effort to stymie Dutch efforts at Ft. Zeelandia in the south. Of course you realize this means war. And surely the Chinese must be around here somewhere, right? Also, there will be rice... and sugar.Time Period Covered:~1630-1643 CEMajor Historical Figures:Dutch East India Co./ Ft. Zeelandia:Governor Hans PutmansIberian Union/Santissama Trinidad/Manila:King Philip IILuis Perez Dasmariñas, Governor of ManilaHurtado de Corcuera, Governor-General of the PhilippinesMing Dynasty:Zheng ZhilongOther:Yan SiqiAboriginal Factions:TaparriKimaurriMattauSoulangBaccluan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. 1600-1639Major Historical Figures:Dutch East India Company/Batavia/Ft. Zeelandia:Capt. Elie RiponPieter Nuyts, Governor of Formosa [1598-1655]Catholic Church:Georgius Candidus [1597-1647]Independent Traders/Pirates of Taiwan:Salvador Diaz of MacauYan Siqi [d. ~1625]Li Dan "Captain China" [d. ~1625]Li Kuiqi ("Quitsicq")Zhong BinLiu XiangMing 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 scionTaiwan Aboriginal Groups:the Sinkanthe MattauMajor 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

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

Nemo me impune lacessit.In pace requiescat!by: Edgar Allen Poe, 1846 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 CEMajor 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

A panoply of season spookiness for your yearly, ear-ly shocks and delights!0:00:44 - "The Secrets of Hanlin Academy" - Old haunts have many mysteries contained within, some best left alone...0:04:55 - "Meat Vegetables" - You are what you eat...0:08:30 - "The Appearance of the Sha" - Sometimes they come back...0:16:10 - "What Qi Becomes" - ... And sometimes they want more than what you're willing to give...0:21:02 - "That Which Remains" - Justice is swiftly forgotten; injustice frequently lasts beyond the grave...0:25:05 - "A Conversation With a Friend About the End of Things" - What do we leave behind? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A brief history of Mid-Autumn Festival, and the tale of Hou Yi the Archer & the Ten Suns, and Chang'e & the MoonFill my heart with song, and let me sing forever moreYou are all I long for, all I worship and adoreSources:Barlett, Scarlett. The Mythology Bible: The Definitive Guide to Legendary Tales.Masaka, Mori. “Restoring the ‘Epic of Hou Yi’” in Asian Folklore Studies, vol. 52, no. 5.Yang, Lihui, Demin An, and Jessica Anderson Turner. Handbook of Chinese Mythology. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 CEMajor 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 1800Struve, 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

Beijing has been brutally captured, with the Ming emperor committing suicide rather than face the bandit army of Li Zicheng. However, before he can get comfortable, the full might of the Qing are on their way to "liberate" the Chinese empire from, well, the Chinese. What follows is as chaotic as it is lightning swift, as the Manchu hordes, chase the fleeing remnants of the fallen Ming court south to what they pray will be a refuge: Nanjing.Time Period Covered:Apr. 1644- Nov. 1645Major Historical Figures:Qing:The Shunzhi Emperor (Aisin Gyoro Fulin) [r. 1643-1661]Dorgon, Prince Ruizhong [1612-1650]Ajige, Prince Ying [1605-1651]Dodo, Prince Yu [1614-1649]Prime Minister Fan Wencheng [1597-1666]Ming:The Chongzhen Emperor [r. 1627-1644]General Wu Sangui [1612-1678]General Hong Chengchou [1593-1665]General Zuo Liangyu [1599-1645]General Shi Kefa [1601-1645]Bandit:Li Zicheng [d. 1644] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's been a hot summer, and a long break for me! Let's get back into things with a little extra Mongol action...“The imperial city was ripped open … Zhongdu was not one but four cities. We took each of them in turn, methodically killing and razing everything that dared stand upright under Tenggeri. The palaces and gardens of the King of Gold [Jin] were ransacked, revealing such riches that the tribute paid three seasons before by the Jin emperor now seem derisory and humiliating.“A whole moon was needed to collect the bodies and count them. And the city burned for another moon still, creating such a stench that even the scavengers kept away.”- Jöchi, ca. 1215 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices