The China History Podcast

We continue on from the last episode's overview of the Chinese martial arts history timeline. Today we zero in on the history and (mostly) legends behind the Wing Chun style of king fu. Thanks to Detroit's attorney and unofficial Wing Chun ambassador Michael Benkstein for all the support and input that went into this series. And thanks also to Peter Söderbaum for his kind comments == Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Don't be fooled by the title. Wing Chin and Ip Man will be covered next episode. Today's the first in a two-part series that offers up a survey of the development of martial arts in China from the mythical times of the Yellow Emperor to the present day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From Zhao Tuo to the present day, the history of the relations of these two great countries and frenemies is a great story. In this episode we enter the 20th century and explore the end of French domination in Indochina, Vietnam's fight to unify the country and the most recent Sino-Viet history. Although this six-part series was only a simple 走马看花 overview of the subject, I hope anyone not schooled in the basics of this history is leaving the table satisfied. Cảm ơn đã lắng nghe! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The series picks up in the early part of the Later Lê and finishes off in the 19th century with the arrival of La France and the beginnings of Indochine. Many heroes from Vietnam history will make appearances in this episode. Be sure to come back next time for the exciting conclusion of this overview of China-Vietnam Relations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this landmark 200th episode Laszlo carries the story of China-Vietnam forward, beginning with the three Mongol invasions of Đại Việt during the Trần Dynasty. We'll get as far as the great (Later) Lê Dynasty founding emperor and resistance hero Lê Lợi. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The CHP series covering the history of China-Vietnam Relations continues with Part 3. This episode will take the history all the way up to the Tran Dynasty on the eve of the Mongol invasions from Yuan Dynasty China. Heroes from Vietnam history making an appearance in this episode include Ngô Quyền, Lê Hoàn, Lý Thái Tổ, Lý Thường Kiệt, and Trần Thái Tông. I'll keep everything listed in the terms from each episode found on the webpage at teacup.media. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Shi Xie's impact on bringing Chinese culture to the Jiao region is discussed. For most of this period, Vietnam remained under the direct administrative control of China. Aside from a few quiet moments, there was sustained local unrest to deal with. Either local Viets were rising up against their Chinese overlords or there was a constant battle being fought with Lao, Linyi, Champa, and other tribes, states, and kingdoms that surrounded Vietnam to the west and south. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this first of a multipart series, Laszlo explores the ancient relationship between China and Vietnam. In this episode, the earliest days going back to Zhao Tuo and the Nanyue Kingdom are discussed. A thousand apologies for the poor editing job splicing the Vietnamese pronunciation. I'm hoping for an A for the effort at least. The remaining episodes will go off more smoothly. Thank you for your understanding. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Laszlo finishes off this brief overview of The Honorable Company as tea takes center stage in history. It's a very rough landing for the East India Company as their commercial rivals and political enemies gradually put an end to their winning run going back to the 17th century. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Maybe this isn't the most "China history flavored" topic but The Honorable Company did play a somewhat starring role during the Qing Dynasty starting from about the Jiaqing Emperor. In this first of a two-part series, I am offering you an overview of who they were, where they came from and how they came to be so hated by so many. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Laszlo looks at U.S. Immigration during the bad old days of Chinese Exclusion. The subject will be examined through the telling of the stories of three rather plain and non-extraordinary brothers from Haiyang Village in Toi San (Taishan in Mandarin). These three Moy brothers were featured in Scott Seligman's 2013 book "Three Tough Chinamen" (Earnshaw Books). In addition to the Chinese Exclusion laws, Laszlo briefly introduces the life of another Toisanese, Ng Poon Chew. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Laszlo tries something new. This time we look at the life and times of Whitey Smith, an important figure in the context of not only Shanghai Jazz, but the entirety of jazz history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Laszlo finishes off the overview of the Rape of Nanking as well as the stories of John Rabe, Robert O. Wilson, Minnie Vautrin, Rev. William Magee, and others who directed the Nanjing Safety Zone during the worst weeks of the atrocities. The aftermath of the Nanjing Massacre is also examined. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is a very emotional, controversial, and sensitive subject for a whole lot of reasons. Over the next two episodes, Laszlo will review material from past episodes to discuss the lead-up to the Massacre. Then in Part 2 the actual event itself as well as the story of the Nanjing Safety Zone and some of the foreigners who became eyewitnesses to the horrors of the Nanjing Massacre, also known as The Rape of Nanking. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At last, the early years of Russia-China relations can see the light of day. As you can see, this is another one of those hour-plus episodes that were not long enough for two episodes and a bit overly long for one. This episode primarily covers the beginnings back in the late Ming when they first met and mostly in the Qing where all the history happened. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Many people don't know that the first preaching of Christianity in China pre-dated the Jesuits by more than nine centuries. We'll take a second cursory look at the Jesuits as part of a bigger story that includes Christianity in China during the Tang and Yuan dynasties. We'll see that prior to the arrival of Matteo Ricci, there were two other lesser-known attempts to grow Christianity in China. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thanks to Carole in Virginia for giving me enough of a push to get this episode finally produced. This might have been one of the first ten topics I came up with when I began writing the original list back in 2010. The history of silk is really an amazing testament to humankind's ingenuity and the randomness of life since Neolithic times. I hope you enjoy this episode. It turned out to be a much greater story than I was ever aware of. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In part two of this series examining the forgotten life of William Mesny, we hear the second half of his story in China. We're mostly using author David Leffman's 2016 book "The Mercenary Mandarin". Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this first part of a two-part series, we examine the forgotten life of William Mesny. Drawing from author David Leffman's 2016 book "The Mercenary Mandarin," Laszlo discusses an unknown character from the bad old days of late Qing Dynasty China. Though he never made it to the history books, he nonetheless witnessed and took part in a lot of it. Through Mesny we can once again wander through some of Imperial China's worst years. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Laszlo explains a little about the "Gagi Nang", the 自己人 or 家己弄, known the world over as the Teochew (Chiu Chow or Chaozhou) people. Their language and culture are unique. Their food and Chaozhou culture is celebrated in more places than Chaozhou and not just by the people from that region. There are Chaozhounese people on every continent except maybe Antarctica. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices