The Master of Demon Gorge: A Chinese History Podcast

Qin Shi Huang, the First Emperor, did a lot of stuff. He burned books he didn't like and buried their authors alive. He ordered the construction of the Great Wall. He standardized the Chinese language. And he sought the elixir of immortality, believing that his dynasty ought to last for a thousand years.But in the end, death comes for us all, even emperors and empires...Support the show

As the soon-to-be Qin Shi Huang or First Emperor stood on the verge of total conquest of the Six Kingdoms, the crown prince of the Kingdom of Yan made a last ditch effort to stop him. He recruited a most unusual man and entrusted him with the mission of assassinating the would-be ruler of all that was under heaven. In the over 2,200 years since this most celebrated of assassination attempts, Jing Ke has become legend: one man with a dagger standing against the might of an empire. In the Chinese imagination, Jing Ke represents freedom from tyranny, even if tyranny ultimately won...Support the show

Today the Chinese Communist Party celebrated the centennial of its own founding. The CCP nowadays often identifies itself with Qin Shi Huang, the First Emperor, for his record of reunifying China after a prolonged period of division. Never mind that his dynasty lasted all of 15 years; never mind that he is mostly remembered as a brutal tyrant.Moreover, although everyone knows that Qin Shi Huang reunified China in 221 B.C., no one is certain whether he was even his own father's son. And that was just one of the many scandals and palace intrigues of the Qin court during this period...Support the show

To paraphrase a couple of Avengers: You and I remember Beijing very differently. Around 1900, a group of kung fu practitioners in China who came to be known as "the Boxers" began assaulting just about any foreigners they could find. In response, an alliance of eight countries send expeditionary armies to China, where they in turn killed a good many and destroyed a great deal. Today, the event is painfully remembered in China but all but forgotten internationally. It's not even known by the same name in the Chinese-speaking world and outside of it. Yet you cannot understand modern China without knowing about it. And it is no coincidence that the membership of the alliance of the Eight Nations in 1900 is almost identical to the G7 in 2021...Support the show

Sex! One of the greatest works of fiction in Chinese literature, "The Plum in the Golden Vase," is also one of the most risqué. We discuss this Ming Dynasty novel alongside other works of erotic fiction, with comparisons to the Marquis de Sade (and references to China in his novel "Justine"), as well as James Joyce's maxim that true art hangs in suspension between didacticism and pornography.Support the show

In the early months of 1644, everything seemed to be crashing down upon Chongzhen. Fated to hang himself from a tree, the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty faced a massive domestic rebellion led by a proto-communist (and future role model for Chairman Mao) as well as invasion by the Manchus. Though an earnest man who tried his best, Chongzhen was simply not equipped to handle all of these challenges.And, as a 17th century man, he could not have possibly understood that behind many of his troubles lay the problem of global climate change...Support the show

Religion in Chinese culture contrasts sharply with religions in other civilizations. For one thing, many Chinese gods were flesh-and-blood human beings who came to be deified, unlike most ancient gods of Europe or the Middle East or Egypt. Mazu, the Goddess of the Sea, is one example. And today she is becoming the patron goddess of Taiwan. Alice tells us about the reporting she did this year on the annual Mazu Festival, which 300,000 Taiwanese attended.Another notable phenomenon is the historical belief that certain personalities, such as the poet Li Bai, might have been avatars of gods.But do people genuinely believe? We discuss the use of religion in politics. In contemporary Taiwan, politicians still sometimes claim to receive signs from Mazu. Historically, a general in the Song Dynasty who was thought to be a god's avatar happily exploited his troops' faith for his own purpose.Support the show

During his years on the throne, Louis XIV, the Sun King of France, longed to make the acquaintance of Emperor Kangxi of China. The two men had a great deal in common: they both acceded to the throne as young children, both for a time had no real power, and both went on to rule their respective countries well and for many decades. But whereas Louis waited for his chief minister to die of his own accord before assuming full control, a 14-year-old Kangxi plotted against his own regent, announcing to all the world what kind of emperor he would become...Support the show

Students of Chinese history know that Qin Shi Huang, the First Emperor and the founder of the Qin Dynasty, ended the Warring States Era and unified China in 221 B.C. But unification by the Kingdom of Qin could have, would have, and maybe should have happened four decades earlier. After launching a massive campaign in 262 B.C. against the neighboring Kingdom of Zhao, the Qin laid siege to the Zhao capital. It was poised to win dominion over the Central Plains.But, in that moment, three men--a butcher, a doorman, and a prince--faced the inexorable tide of history and said: "Not today."Support the show

Did a 3,000-year-old Chinese book of divination anticipate modern computer science? When a Jesuit missionary brought him a copy of the I Ching, or more properly Yi Jing, "The Book of Changes," the German mathematician Leibniz was deeply amazed. Some of his own work seemed already represented in its mysterious pages. And Leibniz was an era-defining genius in his own right. It would be nearly another three centuries before we were able to fully implement Leibniz's work, in these little machines that we now call "computers."Support the show