The China History Podcast

Don't let their names fool you. Ida Kahn was born Kang Aide and Mary Stone, Shi Meiyu. Born into a Methodist Episcopal community in the Treaty Port city of Jiujiang in Jiangxi Province, these two women became pioneers in introducing Western medicine to the women of Jiangxi province. And as role models for other women across China in the early 20th century, they inspired generations of women to become doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For any and all cat lovers worldwide, here's a special episode for you. Fellow cat lover (ailurophile) Lee Moore of the Chinese Literature Podcast joins Laszlo for this CHP Special Episode where they chat about cats in Chinese history and offer up a few interesting anecdotes and stories. They both recite a selection of cat poems from the Song and Ming dynasties and go all out to discuss their favorite animal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this final sixth episode of the History of Guangzhou series, the events of the Nanjing Decade and the city's role as a bastion of anti-Chiang Kai-shek factions will be discussed. Then we'll wind things down with a rush to the finish, reviewing the Japanese occupation, the fall of Guangzhou to the Communists, and finally take a quick look at the Special Economic Zones that helped to transform Guangzhou and the entire Pear River Delta Region. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Most of us have never tried old-fashioned snuff as they did back in the 17th to 19th centuries. But we've all heard of it. I invited Mr. Andrew Singer onto the CHP to satiate the curiosity of anyone wishing to know more about it and these gorgeous little bottles. Snuff bottles were extremely popular with the nobles and aristocrats of the Qing Dynasty. And a number of emperors too engaged in this pastime. Though snuff itself is not so popular today, the snuff bottles that came out of this period became an obsession of passionate collectors the world over. Join Andrew Singer and me in a discussion about the snuff and snuff bottle culture during the Qing Dynasty. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More Guangzhou history. This time we look at the events between the Second Opium War to the Northern Expedition. Featuring prominently in this episode will be Sun Yat-sen and the warlords. Before we get to them, however, we're stuck reliving all the historical short-sightedness of the foreign powers during the Daoguang and Xianfeng eras. I'm sure they all felt invincible back then against a rotted-out China government. Guangzhou became the headquarters for the Anti-Qing and later Anti-Warlord movements. As it was before in Guangzhou history, because of the local unrest, a lot of commerce shifted to other ports in China. We should be able to finish this series off next time in Part 6.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Few topics have been requested more than the Forbidden City, located in the center of the great city of Beijing. To help introduce this iconic palace complex, Laszlo invited longtime Beijing resident, Jeremiah Jenne of "Barbarians at the Gate Podcast" fame onto the CHP to discuss the history of the Forbidden City from its construction in the Ming Dynasty up to the present day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The history continues with the many exciting and historically consequential events of the mid-19th century. In this Part 4 episode, the history of Guangzhou takes a dramatic turn as the Europeans start showing up in greater numbers clamoring for more trade and more access to the China market. The Qianlong Emperor calls for the Canton System which leads to a number of "stepping stones" that ultimately results in the Treaty of Nanjing. And now with four additional treaty ports opened to trade, Guangzhou's importance starts to wane. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The history continues of China's great and historic "Window to the World", the city of Guangzhou. This time we pick up in the Yuan dynasty, where everything culturally, politically, and commercially picks up the pace going back to the Tang. Quanzhou in Fujian province outpaces Guangzhou as far as China's most important trade port. But that will change once we get the Ming and Qing dynasties. In this episode, the Europeans will finally, after more than 2,000 years, get their chance to get to know China face to face and up close. Needless to say, it didn't go too well.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're picking up in the Tang Dynasty. Guangzhou continues its leading role as the gateway to Southern China coming from the South China Sea and beyond. Heaven is high and the emperor is far away. Despite its importance to the dynasty even in the 7th century, Guangzhou was still a place of banishment and not yet completely integrated with everything happening in the north. Arab and Persian traders and diplomats were regular visitors to Guangzhou and enjoyed a mini-golden age of cultural and commercial interaction. The Maritime Silk Road was in full bloom and Guangzhou was at the center of it. But all was not business as usual. Two violent disturbances will hit Guangzhou that shatters the peace. And Guangzhou's misfortune will become Quanzhou's opportunity. In this episode, we'll also look at the Southern Han Dynasty from the Five Dynasties Ten Kingdoms period that followed the fall of the Tang. Liu Yan based his dynasty in Guangzhou and left behind ruins and relics that are still around today. We'll finish off in the Southern Song Dynasty when Guangzhou's economic importance to the country reached an all-time high. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Laszlo invited Kyle Anderson onto the CHP to discuss the life of the oft-called "Belgian Schindler" Qian Xiuling 钱秀玲. Kyle is the translator of the Xu Feng book "忘记我" (Forget Me) which details Madame Qian's incredible life, growing up in Yixing, Jiangsu, and later moving to Belgium for her university studies. She married, had a family, a career, and lived a quiet life until the German occupation of Belgium in 1940. Her story and the bravery and humanity she exhibited during the Nazi occupation earned her the moniker "Belgium's Schindler". Her's was a life worth knowing about, despite her modesty and wishes to be forgotten. The descendants of the hundred or so lives she saved back in the 1940s today number in the many thousands. The translated version of the book will be coming out soon. For now, please enjoy this conversation between Laszlo and Kyle Anderson as they introduce the life of someone you may not have heard of before. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices