The History of China

In the summer of 1861, the strangest siege of the war took shape on the banks of the Yangtze. As Heaven itself sent forth cosmic signs – of victory or disaster, no one could be quite sure – an imperial army had a rebel city completely surrounded.Only for a different rebel army to surround that imperial ringing army.But they were, all of them, deceived... for somewhere out past the hills, another ring was made...Inside the walls, the gardens were planted, the rations were holding, and the markets were open for business.They would stay open to the very end…Time Period Covered:Apr.–Sept. 1861 CEMajor Historical Figures:The Qing:The Xianfeng Emperor [1831–1861]Yixin, Prince Gong [1833–1898]Imperial Commissioner Zeng Guofan [1811–1872]Zeng Guoquan, commander of the siege of Anqing [1824–1890]Zhu Hongzhang, commander of the Guizhou divisionCommander Bao Chao [1828–1886]Duolonga, Manchu cavalry general [1817–1864]Zuo Zongtang, general holding Jingdezhen [1812–1885]Hu Linyi, Governor of Hubei [1812–1861]The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom:Hong Xiuquan, the Heavenly King [1814–1864]Hong Rengan, the Shield King [1822–1864]Chen Yucheng, the Brave King [1837–1862]Li Xiucheng, the Loyal King [1823–1864]Li Shixian, the Attending King [1834–1865]Lai Wenguang, commander at Huangzhou [1827–1868]Liu Canglin, commander at the Jixian PassYang Fuqing, commander of the last relief armyCheng Xueqi, the Brave King's vanguard commander; defected to the Qing [1829–1864]The British:Frederick Bruce, British Minister to China [1814–1867]Harry Parkes, interpreter & negotiator [1828–1885]Major Works Cited:Fairbank, John K., ed. The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 10: Late Ch'ing, 1800–1911, Part 1.Jen, Yu-wen. The Taiping Revolutionary Movement.Platt, Stephen R. Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom: China, the West, and the Epic Story of the Taiping Civil War.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're rascals and scoundrels, we're villains and knaves. We're devils and black sheep, we're really bad eggs. We're beggars and blighters and ne'er do-well cads, Aye, but we're loved by our mommies and dads, Stand up me hearties, yo ho! Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me! Time Period Covered: ca. 1521-1550 CE Sources Cited: Andrade, Tonio and Xing Hang. “Introduction: The East Asian Maritime Realm in Global History: 1500-1700” in Sea Rovers, Silver, and Samurai: Maritime East Asia in Global History, 1500-1700. Chin, James K. “Merchants, Smugglers, and Pirates: Multinational Clandestine Trade on the South China Coast, 1520-50” in Elusive pirates, pervasive smugglers: violence and clandestine trade in the Greater China Seas. Geiss, James. “The Chia-ching reign, 1522-1566” in The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 7: The Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644, Part I. Laver, Michael. “Neither Here nor There: Trade, Piracy, and the ‘Space Between’ in Early Modern East Asia” in Sea Rovers, Silver, and Samurai: Maritime East Asia in Global History, 1500-1700. Petrucci, Maria Grazia. “Pirates, Gunpowder, and Christianity in Late Sixteenth-Century Japan” in Elusive pirates, pervasive smugglers: violence and clandestine trade in the Greater China Seas. Wills, John E. “Maritime China from Wang Chih to Shih Lang: Themes In Peripheral History” in From Ming to Ch’ing: Conquest, Region, and Continuity in Seventeenth-Century China. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A brief history of Mid-Autumn Festival, and the tale of Hou Yi the Archer & the Ten Suns, and Chang'e & the Moon In other words, please be true In other words, I love you. Sources: 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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Jiajing Emperor rounds out the back-half of his interminably long reign by hiding away in his personal palace, and only occasionally coming out to tell everyone what a terrible job they're all doing. The Mongols seize on Ming weakness to basically do whatever they want, and the Ming respond by turtling even harder and building more walls. Without a imperial guiding hand, the ministers are left to their own devices... with predictably selfish and myopic results. Time Period Covered: 1550-1567 CE Major Historical Figures: Ming Empire: The Jiajing Emperor (Zhu Houcong) [r. 1521-1567] Gen. Qiu Ruan [d. 1552] Grand Secretary Xia Yan [1482-1548] Grand Secretary Yan Song [1480-1567] Grand Secretary Xu Jie [1512-1578] Mongolia: Altan Khan [1507-1582] Prince Toghto Major Works Cited: Bacon, Francis. “Of empire” in The essays of Francis Bacon (1908). Geiss, James. “The Chia-ching reign, 1522-1566,” in The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 7: the Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644, Part I. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Let the state be small and the people few: So that the people… fearing death, will be reluctant to move great distances and, even if they have boats and carts, will not use them. So that the people… Will find their food sweet and their clothes beautiful, will be content with where they live and happy in their customs. Though adjoining states be within sight of one another and cocks crowing and dogs barking in one can be heard in the next, yet the people of one state will grow old and die without having had any dealings with those of another. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.