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PODCAST

The China History Podcast

Laszlo Montgomery

Since 2010, The China History Podcast, presented by Laszlo Montgomery brings you over 350 episodes of curated topics from China"s antiquity to modern times.

history

All Episodes

40:41

Ep. 369 | Chenxiang, Pound for Pound, Costs More than...

The China History Podcast ·

2025/10/23

Here's something a little different from the usual CHP fare. It concerns a natural substance that's not too well-known outside of Asia, mainly because it's so dang expensive! Chénxiāng 沉香 or Agarwood as it's also known, grows inside the heartwood of certain Aquilaria trees. Chenxiang has a few interesting things about it and is often mentioned in Chinese literature. This episode includes a bunch of poems and a couple of chengyu's that all contain references to chénxiāng. While I was on the subject,

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51:14

Ep. 368 | Wang Jingwei

The China History Podcast ·

2025/10/01

Hi Everyone, just coming up for air. This is actually one of the several new episodes that have been available on Patreon and CHP Premium since July, three months ago. This is a brief overview of the life and times of Wang Jingwei, the 中国头号大汉奸. Strong words. Why is he so despised? What drove him to make the decisions he did that forever branded him as a traitor to the Chinese people? He's another figure from those early ROC years that everyone has heard of but perhaps not so sure of the role he

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39:58

Introducing The Chinatown Sting: Lucky Bird

The China History Podcast ·

2025/09/23

Here’s a preview of a new podcast, The Chinatown Sting, from our friends at Pushkin Industries. In the late 1980s, a group of women connected through the mahjong parlors in Manhattan’s Chinatown were caught in a massive undercover drug bust. But this bust was just the beginning of an even bigger case. Host Lidia Jean Kott and co-reporter Shuyu Wang interview sources who’ve never spoken on record before, including witnesses, defendants, and federal prosecutors, to reconstruct a case that still has

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28:46

Ep. 369 | The Unsung Chinese Heroes of D-Day

The China History Podcast ·

2025/08/05

Here's another quickie for you, only a half hour long. It seems not only are the portions at fast-food chains shrinking, so are the CHP episodes. Thanks to a team of amateur historians, WWII enthusiasts, and survivors, this interesting tale can now be told. It concerns a forgotten man named Mr. Lam Ping Yu 林炳堯, who left behind a WWII diary from 1944 that was rediscovered by chance in 2015. I hope you'll enjoy this story. For more info, you can visit the website: https://www.dday.hk/. Thanks to Mr

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58:44

Ep. 366 | The Guangxi Massacre

The China History Podcast ·

2025/06/12

This is a rather long episode, running at just about one hour. The Guangxi Massacre is one of those dark chapters from the Cultural Revolution. Down in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, it was particularly dark. I was listening to Stanford Professor of Anthropology Andrew G. Walder on the New Books Network discussing his 2023 book covering this topic. That gave me the initial inspiration. Dr. Walder's book and a few others are very disturbing to read. I didn't dwell on some of the more gory

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36:57

Ep. 365 | Anson Burlingame, the 1868 Treaty, and the...

The China History Podcast ·

2025/05/28

In this episode, we look at the life of Anson Burlingame, a well-known name in California. During Lincoln's term as president, he was appointed Chief Minister to China, arriving in Beijing in the summer of 1862. Already well-known in the US as a fiery abolitionist and a man who believed everyone should be treated fairly and with all due respect, he sympathized with the Chinese government. When he arrived in post-Opium Wars, post-Treaty of Tianjin/Convention of Beijing China, he used his respected

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38:30

Ep. 364 | Wade and Giles

The China History Podcast ·

2025/05/14

Here's a nice little standalone episode on the life and work of Thomas Wade and Herbert Giles. And you can't mention Herbert Giles without mentioning his son, Lionel Giles. And of course, Robert Morrison must be mentioned as well as all the earliest Western scholars of Sinology going back to Michele Ruggieri. And it wouldn't be fair to only talk about Wade and the two Giles's without giving a nod to their contemporaries elsewhere on the continent and in Asia. So this is a slightly meandering survey

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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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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

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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

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,

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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,

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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

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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-

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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

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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

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

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