The History of China
by Chris StewartA journey through the 5000 years of history documented by one of the world's oldest continuous civilizations. For all the episodes for free, as well as additional content, please subscribe and/or visit http://thehistoryofchina.wordpress.com.
Copyright: 2013-Present
Episodes
#223 - Ming 14: Maybe The Real Treasure Was The Friends We Made Along The Way
42m · Published
While dying emperors, shifting policies, and vindictive princes keep the capital busy, Admiral Zheng He will manage to sneak in on last joy-ride into the sunset aboard his beloved Treasure Fleet...
Time Period Covered:
1424-1435 CE
Major Historical Figures:
The Hongxi Emperor (Zhu Gaochi) [r. 1424-1425]
The Xuande Emperor (Zhu Zhanji) [r. 1425-1435]
Zhu Gaoxu, the Prince of Han [1380-1426]
Zhu Gaosui, the Prince of Zhao [1383-1431]
Grand Admiral Zheng He [1371-1433]
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#222 - Ming 13: Trouble In Paradise
39m · Published
Zheng He's Treasure Fleet finally arrives on the African coast, and the Yongle Emperor celebrates the apex of his reign with the grand opening of Beijing and the Forbidden City. But dark clouds continue to build, but in the emperor's aged, troubled mind, and literally on the horizon... a storm is coming...
Time Period Covered:
1416-1424 CE
Major Historical Figures:
The Yongle Emperor (Zhu Di) [r. 1402-1424]
The Noble Consort Zhaoxian, née Wang [d. ca. 1420]
Grand Admiral Zheng He [1371-1435]
Mirza Sharukh, Sultan of the Timurid Dynasty [r. 1405-1447]
Major Works Cited:
Chan, Hok-lam. “The Yung-lo reign” in The Cambridge History of China, vol. 7: The Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644, Pt. I.
Dreyer, Edward L. Zheng He: China and the Oceans in the Early Ming Dynasty, 1405-1433.
Levathes, Louise. When China Ruled the Seas: The Treasure Fleet of the Dragon Throne, 1405-1433.
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#221 - Mongol 18: Goliath's Fall
1h 7m · Published
Having laid waste to the once glorious city of Baghdad, Hulegu Ilkhan now sets his sights east of the Euphrates, to the fertile lands of Syria and Egypt beyond. But what's to follow will set of a momentous clash in Galilee, at a spring called Ain Jalut, that will shake the very fundaments of history...
Time Period Covered:
1258-1260 CE
Major Historical Figures:
Mongol Empire:
Mongke Khaghan
Khubilai Ilkhan
Ariq Boke
Ilkhanate:
Hulegu Ilkhan
General Baiju
General Kitbuqa
Ayyubid Dynasty:
al-Muzzam Turanshah
al-Malik al-Nasir Yusuf
al-Aziz
al-Zayn al-Hafizi
Mamluks:
Saif ad-Din Qutuz
Baybars al Bunduqdari, "The Great Lord Panther"
European Christendom:
King Louis IX of France
Bohemond V of Antioch
Bohemond VI of Antioch
King Hethum I of Cilicia
Major Sources Cited:
Amitai, Reuven. Mongols and Mamluks: The Mamluk Ilkhanate War, 1260-1281.
Amitai, Reuven. “An Exchange of Letters in Arabic Between Abakha Ilkhan and Sultan Baybars (A.H. 667/A.D. 1268-69)” in Central Asiatic Journal, Vol. 38, No. 1.
Gillespie, Alexander. Causes of War, Volume II: 1000 CE to 1400 CE.
Grousset, René. Empire of the Steppes: A history of Central Asia.
Subani, Hamad. The Secret History of Iran.
Richard, Jean. The Crusades, C.1071-1291.
Runciman, Steven. A History of the Crusades, Volume 3, The Kingdom of Acre and the Later Crusades.
Tschanz, David W. “History’s Hinge: ‘Ain Jalut” in Saudi Aramco World.
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#220 - Ming 12: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Gift Them
42m · Published
The treasure Fleet goes on missions 2-4, resulting in increasingly strange, valuable, and even divine gifts being presented to Great Ming.
Time Period Covered:
1407-1415 CE
Major Historical Figures
Ming:
Yongle Emperor (Zhu Di) [r. 1402-1424]
Admiral Zheng He [1371-1435]
Commodore Yang Min
Ma Huan, translator & chronicler [1380-1460]
Kingdom of Malacca:
King Parameswara [r. 1402-1414]
Major Works Cited:
Chan, Hok-lam. “The Yung-lo reign” in The Cambridge History of China, vol. 7: The Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644, Pt. I.
Dreyer, Edward L. Zheng He: China and the Oceans in the Early Ming Dynasty, 1405-1433.
Levathes, Louise. When China Ruled the Seas: The Treasure Fleet of the Dragon Throne, 1405-1433.
Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. “Kéramos” in Keramos and Other Poems: A Book of Sonnets, Part II.
U.N. Museum. “Nanjing pagoda – Seven wonders of the medieval world.” www.unmuseum.org
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#219 - Intelligent Speech 2021: Escaping the Mongols (Or at Least Trying!)
41m · Published
A live retelling (wart & all) of Genghis Khan's invasion of Khwarazmia ca. 1221, and the doomed flight of all who stood against his wrath... followed by a Q&A. From the 2021 Intelligent Speech Conference!
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The Sea Shanty of Zheng He
3m · Published
There once was a fleet that put to sea
All in name of the Imperial Ming
With phoenix sterns, & dragon prows
Oh go, my baochuan, go!
Soon may the Treasure Fleet moor
To bring ceramics & silk galore
One day, when the trading is done
They’ll take our spice & go
Commanded by an admiral
So tall he seem unnatural
His voice rang out like temple bell
To get those treasures stowed
Soon may the Treasure Fleet moor
To bring ceramics & silk galore
One day, when the trading is done
They’ll take our spice & go
They sailed the southern seas so vast
They’d catch the wind with all nine masts
Astrologers would watch the skies
From Champa to Guangzhou
Soon may the Treasure Fleet moor
To bring ceramics & silk galore
One day, when the trading is done
They’ll take our spice & go
But on wave-crest a Pirate Lord
He spied the fleet and greedily roared
“Make ready all your cannon shot,
We’ll take all their cargo!”
Soon may the Treasure Fleet moor
To bring ceramics & silk galore
One day, when the trading is done
They’ll take our spice & go
Through flame and smoke they battled on
Til in a flash a month was gone
The Pirate Lord would taste defeat
His ships sunk deep below
Soon may the Treasure Fleet moor
To bring ceramics & silk galore
One day, when the trading is done
They’ll take our spice & go
At last they came to Indian shores
In search of spice and jewels and more
The deal was struck, with solemn vow
To pay all that was owed
Soon may the Treasure Fleet moor
To bring ceramics & silk galore
One day, when the trading is done
They’ll take our spice & go
But homeward bound the skies grew dim
The winds did howl, their fate seemed grim
The sailors prayed, “Help us, Tianfei!”
The masts began to glow
Soon may the Treasure Fleet moor
To bring ceramics & silk galore
One day, when the trading is done
They’ll take our spice & go
The Goddess heard their earnest pleas
She stilled the waves & calmed the breeze
The sailors gave their sober thanks
She’s spared them from their woe
Soon may the Treasure Fleet moor
To bring ceramics & silk galore
One day, when the trading is done
They’ll take our spice & go
Soon may the Treasure Fleet moor
To bring ceramics & silk galore
One day, when the trading is done
They’ll take our spice & go
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#218 - Ming 11: Soon May the Treasure Fleet Come
40m · Published
Zheng He & Co. have left the station and are sailing out! They leave the safety of the Yangtze River and set their compasses southbound and down, first to Fujian, then to Vietnam, Java, Sri Lanka, and finally all the way to India, all in the name of trade and riches. But the return journey will turn out to be anything but a pleasure-cruise. Between pirate raiders adn deadly storms, they might need a miracle to pull this off...
Time Period Covered:
1405-1407 CE
Major Historical Figures:
Grand Admiral Zheng He [1371-1433/5]
Chen Zuyi, Pirate Lord Extraordinaire [d. 1407]
Ma Huan, Chinese Muslim translator & chronicler [1380-1460]
Major Sources Cited:
Chan, Hok-lam. “The Chien-wen, Yung-lo, Hung-xi, Hsüan-te Reigns” in The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 7: The Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644, Part I.
Levathes, Louise. When China Ruled the Seas: The Treasure Fleet of the Dragon Throne, 1405-1433.
Pregadio, Fabrizio (2004). The Encyclopedia of Taoism.
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05/35: Tiananmen Revisited
22m · Published
What does the aftermath of a massacre entail, on the world stage?
CIA Memo 6/10/89 - Begins: 2:25
US Beijing Embassy Cable 7/11/89 - Begins: 6:05
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Rebroadcast: 6/4 UK Cable on the Tiananmen Square Massacre
12m · Published
In this darkest of timelines, flickers of remembrance are more precious than ever...
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#217 - Ming 10: I'm On A Boat!
54m · Published
The Yongle Emperor decides it's time for Great Ming to bust out its swim trunks and its flippy-floppies... because he's going to make the biggest, bestest oceanic fleet of awesomesauce that the world has ever seen! And put in command is his trusted, tried-and-true battle-buddy: the Grand Admiral Zheng He!
Time Period Covered:
1371-1405 CE
Significant Historical Figures:
The Yongle Emperor (Zhu Di) [r. 1402-1424]
Grand Admiral Zheng He (né Ma He) [1371-1433]
Tianfei, the Goddess of the Sea and Patron Protector of Sailors [eternal]
Sources Cited:
Chan, Hok-lam. “The Chien-wen, Yung-lo, Hung-xi, Hsüan-te Reigns” in The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 7: The Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644, Part I.
Levathes, Louise. The China Ruled the Seas:The Treasure Fleet of the Dragon Throne, 1405-1433.
Paterson, Erik T. “James Lind, Zheng He and the Prevention of Scurvy” in The Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine, Vol. 20, No. 4.
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The History of China has 307 episodes in total of non- explicit content. Total playtime is 194:07:43. The language of the podcast is English. This podcast has been added on February 22nd 2023. It might contain more episodes than the ones shown here. It was last updated on May 29th, 2024 16:10.
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