The China History Podcast

36:27

Ep. 363 | The Lin Biao Incident (Part 2)

The China History Podcast ·

2025/04/30

This is only a 2-parter, so this exciting episode will bring the curtain down on Lin Biao and his famous "Incident." We resume the story following the 1970 Lushan Plenum. Lin, or Lin's ambitious manipulators, pushed Chairman Mao just a bit too much at this meeting, and he decided to take immediate action. This whole 913 Incident, as you will hear, was a huge embarrassment to the Chinese Communist Party. Therefore, it's not surprising that they circled the wagons and went beyond the call of duty to

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39:50

Ep. 362 | The Lin Biao Incident (Part 1)

The China History Podcast ·

2025/04/16

This is Part 1 of a 2-Part series looking at the life of Lin Biao and the actual Lin Biao Incident itself. This bit of history is documented to death. I downloaded a dozen scholarly papers, read a few books, went through my entire library, and gathered as much information as possible. But practically every source ends with "cannot be proved." The Lin Biao Incident is China's version of the Kennedy assassination. So much we know. So much we have no idea. In this Part 1 episode, I cover Lin Biao's

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43:49

Ep. 361 | McKinley, Tariffs, and the Open Door Policy

The China History Podcast ·

2025/04/02

Just in time for Liberation Day, I'm presenting this timely episode. Back in 1890, with the aim of protecting American companies from foreign competition, tariffs were jacked up significantly. With all the advances in transport, logistics, and new technologies, world trade was shifting into a higher gear. For a few centuries, the Ming and Qing emperors did their damnedest to regulate the invasion of European traders clamoring to do business with Chinese merchants. The foreigners wanted free, open,

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44:18

Ep. 360 | Plant Hunters during the Qing Dynasty (Part 2)

The China History Podcast ·

2025/03/19

This is the second of a two-part mini-series introducing the world of European plant hunting in China. In this episode, we look at some of the more noteworthy names and their accomplishments. After the exploits of Robert Fortune, many other plant hunters followed in his footsteps to China. We'll look at Henry Fletcher Hance, Père David, Augustine Henry, Ernest Wilson, and George Forrest, among others. Thanks to all for for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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55:01

Ep. 359 | Plant Hunters during the Qing Dynasty (Part 1)

The China History Podcast ·

2025/03/05

I was afraid I'd barely be able to scrape together enough material for a short episode. Instead, this one is gonna take almost two hours to tell. I hope no one minds that I opted not to drown anyone with Latin names and to go easy on the scientific aspects behind plants. The focus will be on the European and later, American plant hunters who came to China between the 16th and 20th centuries. This episode will look at some of the exploits of the early Jesuit missionaries up through Robert Fortune's

en

51:32

Ep. 359 | Plant Hunters during the Qing Dynasty (Part 1)

The China History Podcast ·

2025/03/05

I was afraid I'd barely be able to scrape together enough material for a short episode. Instead, this one is gonna take almost two hours to tell. I hope no one minds that I opted not to drown anyone with Latin names and to go easy on the scientific aspects behind plants. The focus will be on the European and later, American plant hunters who came to China between the 16th and 20th centuries. This episode will look at some of the exploits of the early Jesuit missionaries up through Robert Fortune's

en

33:39

Introducing: History Daily

The China History Podcast ·

2025/03/01

Calling all fans of podcast great, Lindsay Graham! Here's a sampling of the very popular podcast, History Daily. On History Daily, they do history, daily. Every weekday, host Lindsay Graham (American Scandal, American History Tellers) takes you back in time to explore a momentous event that happened ‘on this day’ in history. Whether it’s to remember the tragedy of December 7th, 1941, the day “that will live in infamy,” or to celebrate that 20th day in July 1969, when humankind reached the moon,

en

37:08

Introducing: History Daily

The China History Podcast ·

2025/03/01

Calling all fans of podcast great, Lindsay Graham! Here's a sampling of the very popular podcast, History Daily.On History Daily, they do history, daily. Every weekday, host Lindsay Graham (American Scandal, American History Tellers) takes you back in time to explore a momentous event that happened ‘on this day’ in history. Whether it’s to remember the tragedy of December 7th, 1941, the day “that will live in infamy,” or to celebrate that 20th day in July 1969, when humankind reached the moon,

en

39:37

Laszlo and Andrew Shaw discuss the History of Jade

The China History Podcast ·

2025/02/19

Former BBC reporter and master jade carver Andrew Shaw is back. What an informative interview this one turned out to be! I hope you all enjoy this discussion of the history and legends behind jade. I learned quite a bit during this brief talk. I hope you do too.Links to Andrew Shaw's books about jade: "A Jade Treasury" https://a.co/d/f2ynsRF "Jade Life" https://a.co/d/0yvYPbZ CCTV Documentary https://youtu.be/GWxFucq1o60?si=rsMeqqjMgy9Fbrg- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit

en

38:08

Laszlo and Andrew Shaw discuss the History of Jade

The China History Podcast ·

2025/02/19

Former BBC reporter and master jade carver Andrew Shaw is back. What an informative interview this one turned out to be! I hope you all enjoy this discussion of the history and legends behind jade. I learned quite a bit during this brief talk. I hope you do too. Links to Andrew Shaw's books about jade: "A Jade Treasury" https://a.co/d/f2ynsRF "Jade Life" https://a.co/d/0yvYPbZ CCTV Documentary https://youtu.be/GWxFucq1o60?si=rsMeqqjMgy9Fbrg-

en

32:12

Looted China Treasures, Laszlo chats with Andrew Shaw...

The China History Podcast ·

2025/02/02

I welcomed Wuhan-based Andrew Shaw onto the CHP to talk about his book. It's all about the plundering of China's cultural treasures and imperial artifacts by not just the British, French, and Americans. It seems everyone got in on the act. Even the local people. It's a miracle there was anything left for Chian's museums. Many of you are familiar with the stories about looting that took place in China between the 1840s and the turn of the century. In Andrew Shaw's book, "Spoil" we'll look at the

en

36:14

Looted China Treasures, Laszlo chats with Andrew Shaw...

The China History Podcast ·

2025/02/02

I welcomed Wuhan-based Andrew Shaw onto the CHP to talk about his book. It's all about the plundering of China's cultural treasures and imperial artifacts by not just the British, French, and Americans. It seems everyone got in on the act. Even the local people. It's a miracle there was anything left for Chian's museums. Many of you are familiar with the stories about looting that took place in China between the 1840s and the turn of the century. In Andrew Shaw's book, "Spoil" we'll look at the

en

39:10

"The Second Journey" An interview with Joel Bigman

The China History Podcast ·

2025/01/22

With the Singapore History series out of the way, and 2025 off and running, here's the first special interview episode of the year. Not too long ago, I had the pleasure of interviewing Mr. Joel Bigman, author of a new book called "The Second Journey." If you're familiar with the Ming Dynasty novel "Journey to the West," this one by Joel might sound familiar. You might never look at "Journey to the West" the same way again. This was quite an interesting and unique story that combined two ancient

en

37:41

"The Second Journey" An interview with Joel Bigman

The China History Podcast ·

2025/01/22

With the Singapore History series out of the way, and 2025 off and running, here's the first special interview episode of the year. Not too long ago, I had the pleasure of interviewing Mr. Joel Bigman, author of a new book called "The Second Journey." If you're familiar with the Ming Dynasty novel "Journey to the West," this one by Joel might sound familiar. You might never look at "Journey to the West" the same way again. This was quite an interesting and unique story that combined two ancient

en

51:09

Ep. 358 | The History of Singapore (Part 10)

The China History Podcast ·

2025/01/19

First of all, to all of you who lasted through the entire series up to this concluding episode, I extend to you, my deepest appreciation. I hope you learned a few things about Singapore.Here it is, the final installment of the series. I worked on this particular episode during my Oct-Nov China-HK-Cambodia trip. I recorded this one in Phnom Penh at the home studio of Dr. Digby James Wren. Digby's a long-time CHP listener and I gave him a ring when I hit town. Fortunately, he was in PP and generously

en

47:40

Ep. 358 | The History of Singapore (Part 10)

The China History Podcast ·

2025/01/19

First of all, to all of you who lasted through the entire series up to this concluding episode, I extend to you, my deepest appreciation. I hope you learned a few things about Singapore. Here it is, the final installment of the series. I worked on this particular episode during my Oct-Nov China-HK-Cambodia trip. I recorded this one in Phnom Penh at the home studio of Dr. Digby James Wren. Digby's a long-time CHP listener and I gave him a ring when I hit town. Fortunately, he was in PP and generously

en

45:33

Ep. 357 | The History of Singapore (Part 9)

The China History Podcast ·

2025/01/05

In its hour of need, quite a few leaders rose to the occasion in Singapore. Lee Kuan Yew didn't transform the nation by himself. Last time we saw how S. Rajaratnam carried the flag around the world and advanced Singapore diplomatically. In this episode, I'll also introduce Dutch economist Dr. Albert Winsemius and his good advice. Winsemius suggested a number of priorities for Singapore to gain some economic traction. The man who had to make these ideas happen in real life was Dr. Goh Keng Swee

en

42:04

Ep. 357 | The History of Singapore (Part 9)

The China History Podcast ·

2025/01/05

In its hour of need, quite a few leaders rose to the occasion in Singapore. Lee Kuan Yew didn't transform the nation by himself. Last time we saw how S. Rajaratnam carried the flag around the world and advanced Singapore diplomatically. In this episode, I'll also introduce Dutch economist Dr. Albert Winsemius and his good advice. Winsemius suggested a number of priorities for Singapore to gain some economic traction. The man who had to make these ideas happen in real life was Dr. Goh Keng Swee

en

45:04

Ep 356 | The History of Singapore (Part 8)

The China History Podcast ·

2024/12/22

We left off last time with Singapore being granted sovereignty by Britain on June 3, 1959, and Tunku Abdul Rahman’s “Grand Design” speech concerning a merger between Malaysia and Singapore. Lee Kuan Yew took this pro-merger message directly to the people of Singapore. We’ll see how Lee deals with the political left by launching Operation Coldstore on February 2, 1963. Once the merger was completed, Singapore and Malaysia gave it their best shot to make it work. Happening concurrently with this

en

48:33

Ep 356 | The History of Singapore (Part 8)

The China History Podcast ·

2024/12/22

We left off last time with Singapore being granted sovereignty by Britain on June 3, 1959, and Tunku Abdul Rahman’s “Grand Design” speech concerning a merger between Malaysia and Singapore. Lee Kuan Yew took this pro-merger message directly to the people of Singapore. We’ll see how Lee deals with the political left by launching Operation Coldstore on February 2, 1963. Once the merger was completed, Singapore and Malaysia gave it their best shot to make it work. Happening concurrently with this

en

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