The Master of Demon Gorge: A Chinese History Podcast

Be warned, boys and girls, for this is a gruesome tale.We previously told the story of the founding of the Han Dynasty and its first emperor, Liu Bang. This is the story of his wife, Empress Lü. After being married to Liu by her father, the future Empress Lü stuck by her husband even during his lowest periods, until finally he triumphed over all the other warlords to become emperor.But he didn't stick by her quite as much. Instead, he picked up a favorite concubine, Lady Qi. And he had sons with both women, half-brothers who were now competitors for the throne. When Liu Bang died in 195 B.C., it was time for Empress Lü to exact her vengeance...And yet, as the Chinese proverb says: "A praying mantis may capture a cicada, but the finch watches from behind"...Support the show

We've already done several episodes relating to events and personalities from the Tang Dynasty. Retroactively, then, let's set the stage for how the Tang came into being.The Tang era can boast many achievements. Chinese poetry reached its zenith during this period, never to be surpassed or even equalled subsequently. The Tang Empire was one of the most expansive versions of "China" ever to exist on the face of the earth. The first half of the dynasty at least is often hailed as China's golden age. And the famous Emperor Taizong, whose portrait serves as this podcast's cover art, commanded the obedience and respect of nations from the Korean Peninsula to the Middle East.And yet, the way it began was not necessarily auspicious. Overthrowing the short-lived Sui Dynasty, the Li family that ruled the Tang were actually cousins of the Yang family of the Sui. And as much as Emperor Yangdi of the Sui was guilty of fratricide, Emperor Taizong of the Tang was as though a man in a glass house throwing stones...Support the show

Tsui Hark, that maestro of Hong Kong cinema, has in recent years churned a trilogy of films set in ancient China about one "Detective Dee" who goes around solving strange crimes in the manner of Sherlock Holmes.In reality, Tsui Hark got this idea for a Chinese Holmes from, of all people, a Dutchman. Robert van Gulik was a Dutch diplomat and Sinologist who was posted in China during WWII, and he took to translating, then rewriting, a Qing Dynasty novel featuring one Di Renjie as a genius criminal investigator.And who was the real Di Renjie? As is so often the case, the truth is more interesting than the fiction...Support the show

Renowned Western sinologist and author on Chinese history, Jonathan Spence, is fondly remembered. Topics discussed include understanding China's past to comprehend the present, comparison between Jonathan Spence and French sinologist Jacques Pompano, China's cultural achievements in the late 16th century, and delving into 'Journey to the West' and other significant works in Chinese history.

The Chinese-American sci-fi fantasy writer Ken Liu draws a lot from Chinese tradition. In his short story collection, "The Hidden Girl and Other Stories," between sci-fi stories about the singularity and space exploration, he rewrites a short story from the late-Tang Dynasty called "Nie Yinniang," literally "The Hidden Lady Nie."For all of its kung fu fighting, though, "Nie Yinniang" is often not the work of Tang fiction considered the founding document of the wuxia or martial arts genre. That honor belongs to "The Man with the Dragon Beard," which has no fight scenes...So what do we ultimately owe these Tang era authors?Support the show

My friend and special guest calls in from New York, and we reminisce on traveling in China as well as his experiences teaching English in a relatively obscure corner of that country. It was only a few years ago, yet so much has changed between the pandemic and the politics that it feels like reminiscence from another era...Support the show

The orange was originally indigenous to China, and the great poet Qu Yuan wrote an ode to the orange tree back in 314 B.C. Since its earliest cultivation in China, the fruit has become ubiquitous around the world. And the various names that different languages have for it can tell us a surprising amount about history.Support the show

Current events remind me of two stories from ancient China.First, a philosophical argument from an ancient Chinese equivalent of a Sophist from the Warring States Era reasoning that "a white horse is not a horse."Second, a notorious incident from the Qin Dynasty during which a chancellor displayed his total power by demanding others to pretend that a stag was in fact a horse.Why does the news make me think of these stories? That's up to you.Support the show

As another example of our common human culture, here's a compendium of Chinese and Tibetan folk stories that just may share sources with their Western counterparts.Support the show

Culminating our series on Chinese national heroes, we tell the history-changing story of Zheng Chenggong, known in Western sources as "Koxinga," literally "Lord Imperial Surname."Born in 1624 to a Japanese mother and a Chinese father who happened to be the greatest pirate in the Pacific, Koxinga was just old enough to stand and be counted when, in 1644, the Ming Dynasty began collapsing all around him. With the Chongzhen Emperor dead in Beijing and the Manchu cavalry having breached the Great Wall, what remained of the Ming regime withdrew to southern China and fought desperately for survival. Amidst the chaos, after the Manchus killed his mother and imprisoned his father, Koxinga swore eternal vengeance against the Manchus and undying loyalty to the Ming. An energetic military leader, he soon became the Ming's last best hope for restoration, at one point retaking a large swath of central China.By 1661, though, Koxinga had concluded that the areas he controlled on China's southeastern coast were insufficient for his purposes, and his position on the Mainland had grown untenable. He needed a new base, and he looked eastward to Taiwan, at this time administered by Dutch colonists. His landing outside the city of Tainan and his victory over the Dutch are now often considered Taiwan's founding moment, when the island inexorably began a new historical path leading to today...Support the show