The Master of Demon Gorge: A Chinese History Podcast

Henri Cernuschi, an Italian revolutionary who became a French banker, came to collect East Asian and particularly Chinese artifacts later in life.Today, a walk through the Cernuschi Museum in Paris is amounts to a stroll through Chinese history.Support the show

Sven Hedin, a scholar-explorer, and Aurel Stein, an influential archaeologist, join forces with sinologist Paul Pelliot, art historian Langdon Warner, Japanese monk Kozui Otani, and Russian archaeologist Sergey Oldenburg to discuss the captivating rediscovery of the Mogao Caves. They delve into the drama of their explorations, the treasures they unearthed, and the ethical controversies surrounding the acquisition of artifacts, which many view as cultural theft. Their insights shed light on the complexities of cultural heritage during a tumultuous time.

Discover the fascinating history behind the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang, a key site along the Silk Road. Marvel at the extraordinary murals and statues left by thousands of travelers over centuries. Dive into the world of ancient languages with lost texts like Khotanese and Old Uyghur, reflecting the rich cultural exchanges of the time. Learn about the impactful rediscovery of these caves in the 20th century, which reshaped our understanding of history and heritage.

Quite likely the greatest female poet in Chinese history, Li Qingzhao might be deemed a Sappho of the East or the Emily Dickinson of China.Living during the Song Dynasty, Li Qingzhao came from an extraordinary family background and received the best possible education in imperial China. As a teenager, she already wrote better verses than most of the men who attained the jinshi degree in the civil service examination: the highest level of distinction. She then had the good fortune of a loving marriage.But then tragedies both national and personal struck. The Jurchen invasion in 1127 forced millions of refugees to move from northern China to the south, including Li and her husband. Shortly afterward, he died.In spite of her personal tribulations, or because of them, Li Qingzhao left us with a unique body of work, poems with a distinctly feminine voice that soars above a literary pantheon otherwise full of men.Support the show

Two of the longest-reigning emperors in Chinese history ruled during the Qing Dynasty: Kangxi, who sat on the throne from 1662 until 1722, and his grandson Qianlong, who ruled from 1735 until 1799.The figure sandwiched between them was Emperor Yongzheng. Son of Kangxi and father of Qianlong and to some extent eclipsed by both, Yongzheng was in fact an important and highly competent ruler.His competence, though, was substantially dedicated to centralizing imperial authority around his own person. And the Yongzheng era came to be strongly associated with "wenziyu" or "language prison": the practice of imprisoning or executing individuals for writings that angered the emperor. The notorious "Lü Liuliang Case" was particularly egregious.In time, a number of myths grew up around Yongzheng reflecting popular discomfort with his role as the competent totalitarian. Support the show

A handful of women are remembered in Chinese history and popular imagination as the epitome of feminine beauty. One of them is Xishi.Living in the 5th century B.C., Xishi played a key role in the longstanding rivalry between the Kingdoms of Wu and Yue. In the centuries since, though, she has endowed the Chinese language with a number of expressions that we cannot do without.Support the show

Sure, we've already done an episode on Three Kingdoms. But so many interesting characters and gripping tales come from that era, both as history and in fictionalized form from "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms," that we can easily do a dozen episodes or more.This time, let's focus on the trio of men whose friendship opens the novel and serves as the through line for much of the rest of the book: Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei.Not only that, but the relationship among these three goes on to help define Chinese civilization, its values and its foibles. The peach garden in which the three swear allegiance to one another remains today a symbol of undying friendship.Not to mention their respective individual impacts on Chinese culture: Guan Yu, for one, comes to be deified as the god of war.Support the show

Certain literary figures loom so large in Chinese culture that they substantial define the nature of that culture for all posterity, not to mention live in eternal acclaim.One such figure is Su Shi, also know by his nom de plume Su Dongpo, "Dongpo" meaning "Eastern Slope."Su Shi lived during the Northern Song Dynasty in the 11th century. Though he came from arguably the most distinguished literary family of his time, he suffered disappointment after disappointment in his career as a mandarin.And, in the end, he earned immortality not through his political career but through literature and art, as a poet and an essayist, and (maybe) even through contributions to Chinese cuisine.Support the show

He's known by several different titles: the Marquis of Haihun, the Prince of Changyi, and Emperor Feidi of the Han Dynasty.Sadly for him, "Feidi" means "the abolished emperor."This is the story of the man who sat on the throne for all of 27 days before getting fired. But it's also the story of the famous minister, Huo Guang, who held such sway at court that he could dethrone the emperor at will.Support the show

The time: May, 1645.  The place: the city of Yangzhou, not far northeast of the capital of the surviving Southern Ming government, Nanjing. A year earlier, Manchu cavalry had swept south from Manchuria to take Beijing. As far as history books are concerned, the Qing Dynasty already replaced the Ming. But Ming loyalists still gathered in the south, determined to resist the "barbarians." And now the Qing army has reached Yangzhou.The Minister of Defense of the Southern Ming, a rectitudinous man named Shi Kefa, now personally took command of the Yangzhou's defenses. What followed was a battle--and also a massacre--that will go down in Chinese history as one of the most memorable and infamous.Support the show