The China History Podcast

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.

Ep. 362 | The Lin Biao Incident (Part 1) 04/16/2025

Ep. 362 | The Lin Biao Incident (Part 1) 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 early life and how he rose up on Mao's coattails, going back to the Jiangxi Soviet era. I'll take this episode up to the Lushan Plenum of 1970. That was the beginning of the end of Lin Biao. Be looking for Part 2 in a bit. Thanks, everyone. /episode/index/show/be7f8b11-c1d1-43ec-b3ff-e615f54dfb5f/id/35983450

Ep. 361 | McKinley, Tariffs, and the Open Door Policy 04/02/2025

Ep. 361 | McKinley, Tariffs, and the Open Door Policy 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, and unfettered trade with China. By the 1890’s and a few humiliating unequal treaties later, the dream finally came true. That’s when the real problems started. Thanks to Dan Stein for this topic idea we discussed over lunch recently. If you'd like to support the China History Podcast and listen ad-free and get new episodes weeks or months early: CHP Premium: , CHP Patreon: /episode/index/show/be7f8b11-c1d1-43ec-b3ff-e615f54dfb5f/id/35909600

Ep. 360 | Plant Hunters during the Qing Dynasty (Part 2) 03/19/2025

Ep. 360 | Plant Hunters during the Qing Dynasty (Part 2) 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. /episode/index/show/be7f8b11-c1d1-43ec-b3ff-e615f54dfb5f/id/35774475

Ep. 359 | Plant Hunters during the Qing Dynasty (Part 1) 03/05/2025

Ep. 359 | Plant Hunters during the Qing Dynasty (Part 1) 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 four trip /episode/index/show/be7f8b11-c1d1-43ec-b3ff-e615f54dfb5f/id/35735405

Introducing: History Daily 03/01/2025

Introducing: History Daily Calling all fans of podcast great, Lindsay Graham! Here's a sampling of the very popular podcast, History Daily. /episode/index/show/be7f8b11-c1d1-43ec-b3ff-e615f54dfb5f/id/35735410

Laszlo and Andrew Shaw discuss the History of Jade 02/19/2025

Laszlo and Andrew Shaw discuss the History of Jade 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. /episode/index/show/be7f8b11-c1d1-43ec-b3ff-e615f54dfb5f/id/35735420

Looted China Treasures, Laszlo chats with Andrew Shaw and his book, "Spoil" 02/02/2025

Looted China Treasures, Laszlo chats with Andrew Shaw and his book, "Spoil" 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 extent of wh /episode/index/show/be7f8b11-c1d1-43ec-b3ff-e615f54dfb5f/id/35735425

"The Second Journey" An interview with Joel Bigman 01/22/2025

"The Second Journey" An interview with Joel Bigman 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 cultures. It /episode/index/show/be7f8b11-c1d1-43ec-b3ff-e615f54dfb5f/id/35735435

Ep. 358 | The History of Singapore (Part 10) 01/19/2025

Ep. 358 | The History of Singapore (Part 10) 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. /episode/index/show/be7f8b11-c1d1-43ec-b3ff-e615f54dfb5f/id/35735440

Ep. 357 | The History of Singapore (Part 9) 01/05/2025

Ep. 357 | The History of Singapore (Part 9) 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. We'll look a /episode/index/show/be7f8b11-c1d1-43ec-b3ff-e615f54dfb5f/id/35735450

Ep 356 | The History of Singapore (Part 8) 12/22/2024

Ep 356 | The History of Singapore (Part 8) 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 sensi /episode/index/show/be7f8b11-c1d1-43ec-b3ff-e615f54dfb5f/id/35735455

Ep. 355 | The History of Singapore (Part 7) 12/08/2024

Ep. 355 | The History of Singapore (Part 7) Post-WWII Singapore was a time that was loaded with historical events that shaped how matters would unfold throughout the 1950s and into the 1960s. The matter of how to handle the future of Malaya and Singapore begins to be seriously discussed and hotly debated. To showcase what the British and political leaders in Malaya and Singapore were up against, we'll first review the events of the 1950 Maria Hertogh case and the disturbances that followed. In this episode we'll begin to explore the early life of the /episode/index/show/be7f8b11-c1d1-43ec-b3ff-e615f54dfb5f/id/35735460

Ep. 354 | The History of Singapore (Part 6) 11/24/2024

Ep. 354 | The History of Singapore (Part 6) In this episode, we see how Japan marched and bicycled their way across the Johor Strait and proceeded to quickly defeat the British Commonwealth troops. Then we see how Japan carried out a brutal and repressive occupation. Massacres at Alexandra Hospital and against the local Chinese residents of Singapore (Sook Ching Massacre) will also be introduced. After Japan's defeat, the British will attempt to resume business as usual. We'll see how the independence movement in Malaya had other plans and why the Ma /episode/index/show/be7f8b11-c1d1-43ec-b3ff-e615f54dfb5f/id/35735465

Ep. 353 | The History of Singapore (Part 5) 11/10/2024

Ep. 353 | The History of Singapore (Part 5) Although all kinds of tension brewed beneath the surface, the mid to late 19th Century saw a continued bonanza for Singapore. A prosperous combination of hard-working men and women, fearless entrepreneurs, and fortunes made in tin, rubber, and oil refining turned Singapore into the best thing to happen for the British Empire since Trafalgar, or maybe even the defeat of the Spanish Armada. World events, new technologies, and geopolitical shakeups all happened in such a way that Singapore benefited. Today's e /episode/index/show/be7f8b11-c1d1-43ec-b3ff-e615f54dfb5f/id/35735470

Ep. 352 | The History of Singapore (Part 4) 10/27/2024

Ep. 352 | The History of Singapore (Part 4) Part 4 continues with the aftermath of the 1824 Treaty of London. John Crawfurd takes over from a disgraced William Farquhar as First Resident. Singapore commences its never-ending building and infrastructure process. The Straits Settlements are created in 1826. With a spike in labor demand and with slavery recently abolished, the East India Company comes up with a novel solution. Up in Johor, Daing Ibrahim takes over as the new Temenggong and becomes a ruler that the East India Company can work with. The m /episode/index/show/be7f8b11-c1d1-43ec-b3ff-e615f54dfb5f/id/35735475

Ep. 351 | The History of Singapore (Part 3) 10/13/2024

Ep. 351 | The History of Singapore (Part 3) With Singapore formally established, we look at those first months and years. As soon as the document was signed, Raffles left the island and William Farquhar took over as First Resident. It would be hard to find a more capable person to manage what needed to get the new enterprise up and running. Taking advantage of his personal connections in Melaka and the political and technological dynamic of the time, Farquhar got the ball rolling in Singapore. The Dutch were outraged and plenty of fancy footwork and /episode/index/show/be7f8b11-c1d1-43ec-b3ff-e615f54dfb5f/id/35735480

Ep. 350 | The History of Singapore (Part 2) 09/29/2024

Ep. 350 | The History of Singapore (Part 2) With the arrival of the Portuguese and their 1511 victory, the history of this region began to move in s new direction. The Portuguese and the Dutch rather ignored Singapore and focused their trade and colonizing efforts on the Melaka Coast and in Indonesia. The Johor Sultanate begins its early rise to prominence. The conflict between Britain and the Netherlands ends up having a major effect on the Malay Peninsula and led to the founding of Singapore in 1819 by Sir Stamford Raffles. We'll take a brief look /episode/index/show/be7f8b11-c1d1-43ec-b3ff-e615f54dfb5f/id/35735485

Ep. 349 | The History of Singapore (Part 1) 09/15/2024

Ep. 349 | The History of Singapore (Part 1) Requests to present the history of Singapore go back to 2010 or 2011. At long last, here's an easy-to-consume and digest overview of The Lion City. In Part 1 we'll look at the watered world of Southeast Asia and the Monsoon Winds that led to the earliest intra-Asian sea trade. And of course, the legendary 14th century founding of Singapore will be told. Sri Vijaya, Sang Nila Utama, Temasek, and the five kings of Singapura. The visit of Yuan Dynasty explorer Wang Dayuan will also be introduced as well as his /episode/index/show/be7f8b11-c1d1-43ec-b3ff-e615f54dfb5f/id/35735490

Chinese-Mexican History - Laszlo chats with Hugo Wong 09/13/2024

Chinese-Mexican History - Laszlo chats with Hugo Wong First off, let me apologize for the less-than-optimal audio quality. This is a very informative interview. And for those of you who missed my very old episode from 2013 or thereabouts covering this topic, this discussion will be a real eye-opener. The history of the Chinese immigrant experience in Mexico (and Latin America) is not that well known. Hugo's ancestors emigrated to Mexico from Guangdong back in the 19th century. One of them, Wong Fook Chun was a major figure in the history of those times and he /episode/index/show/be7f8b11-c1d1-43ec-b3ff-e615f54dfb5f/id/35735495

Ep. 348 | Paper Sons and the Chinese Confessions Program 09/01/2024

Ep. 348 | Paper Sons and the Chinese Confessions Program This is surprisingly not very well-known and certainly wasn't taught in my US history classes. Here's a story for you that many might find hard to believe. Perhaps you're already familiar with the history of America's Chinese Paper Sons. Less known is the story of the 1957 Chinese Confessions Program. In this episode, we'll look back on the early to mid-20th century. First I'll present a general overview of San Francisco's Paper Sons and some of the history and culture that surrounded it. Then we can take /episode/index/show/be7f8b11-c1d1-43ec-b3ff-e615f54dfb5f/id/35735500

Ep. 347 | The Grand Canal 08/18/2024

Ep. 347 | The Grand Canal In this episode, I'm presenting a simple but still informative overview of not only the Grand Canal but also the bigger subject of canals in China. The history of the Grand Canal isn't one clean linear story of a structure built all at one time. Although it measures over a thousand miles long, much of that distance was pre-existing in the form of rivers and old canals that were joined together to form an uninterrupted passage. A lot of the academic papers I used to research this topic, despite water being t /episode/index/show/be7f8b11-c1d1-43ec-b3ff-e615f54dfb5f/id/35735505

Laszlo chats with Scott Crawford about the Han Dynasty, the Xiongnu, and Rome 08/15/2024

Laszlo chats with Scott Crawford about the Han Dynasty, the Xiongnu, and Rome Here's another CHP Special Episode. Not too long ago I had the chance to chat with Yokohama-based Scott Crawford, author of "Silk Road Centurian", "The Han-Xiongnu Wars", and a new one coming out any day now (co-written with his wife Alexis Kossiakoff), "The Phoenix and the Firebird." Scott has also written several works of short fiction that have appeared in fantasy, mystery, and horror magazines and anthologies. We talked mostly about the Han Dynasty and two books he has written, one non-fiction and ano /episode/index/show/be7f8b11-c1d1-43ec-b3ff-e615f54dfb5f/id/35735510

The unlikely tale of Chinese slave, soldier and tycoon Jiang Zonghan 08/11/2024

The unlikely tale of Chinese slave, soldier and tycoon Jiang Zonghan Here's a reading of an article recently published in the South China Morning Post, written by travel writer David Leffman. On his most recent trip to Yunnan to work on his upcoming book on the 1875 Margary Affair, David had a chance encounter with a taxi driver who was a sixth-generation descendent of Jiang Zonghan, someone closely related to the little-known but rather consequential event that took place in February 1875 along the Yunnan-Myanmar border. Here's a link to the article. https://www.scmp.com/ma /episode/index/show/be7f8b11-c1d1-43ec-b3ff-e615f54dfb5f/id/35735515

Ep. 346 | The Hungry Ghost Festival 08/04/2024

Ep. 346 | The Hungry Ghost Festival This is the third time the history and traditions behind a Chinese holiday is being introduced. The history behind the Chinese New Year and Mid-Autumn Festival were both presented back in the days when I knew even less than I do now about how to podcast. The Hungry Ghost Festival goes by a number of names, mainly because it's one of those rare festivals that is celebrated by both Daoists and Buddhists. It's called the Zhōngyuán 中元， Qīyuèbàn 七月半, Yúlánpén 盂兰盆, and Ullambana Festiva /episode/index/show/be7f8b11-c1d1-43ec-b3ff-e615f54dfb5f/id/35735530

Ep. 345 | Howqua 07/21/2024

Ep. 345 | Howqua Once dubbed "the richest man in the world" back in his day, the first half of the 19th century, Wu Bingjian 伍秉鉴 was a leading figure in the pre-Opium War world of foreign trade. He's best known as someone who epitomized the "bad old days" of The Canton System. He's a well-known name from this period in Chinese history. but like many prominent names, little is known about his life story. He was quite a fascinating character in his day. /episode/index/show/be7f8b11-c1d1-43ec-b3ff-e615f54dfb5f/id/35735535

Laszlo discusses historical novels with author, Janie Chang 07/14/2024

Laszlo discusses historical novels with author, Janie Chang It must have been three or four years ago that I started bouncing this idea off Janie about a discussion regarding historical fiction rooted in Chinese history. Janie, being a successful writer of this genre, was perfect to have this discussion. Today the historical fiction genre is quite substantial and new authors are publishing new content online and in print every day. Many of these novels are set against the backdrop of Chinese history (in China or Overseas). The way historical novelists present this h /episode/index/show/be7f8b11-c1d1-43ec-b3ff-e615f54dfb5f/id/35735540

Ep. 344 | James Hong 07/07/2024

Ep. 344 | James Hong With the 18-part History of Chinese Philosophy series finally out of the way, we're back with all new CHP content. Here's one that introduces the life of one of my favorite Hollywood legends, Mr. James Hong. He's someone with a great Hollywood story who thrived as an actor, despite all the well-known challenges faced by Asian American artists throughout the Golden Age of Hollywood. This episode looks at his life and work. To call him a prolific actor and voiceover artist is quite an understatement. James Ho /episode/index/show/be7f8b11-c1d1-43ec-b3ff-e615f54dfb5f/id/35735545

S9E10 | Finished behind the last place guy 06/30/2024

S9E10 | Finished behind the last place guy Firstly, hats off to Emma and her 团队 at the CYZ for all their hard work, all season-long. We close out the season 9 with an amusing story from a source, as yet never featured on this long-running educational program, called the Guòtínglù 过庭录. The author was Song literary figure Fàn Gōngchēng 范公偁 who had the misfortune to be born during the exact time when the Northern Song ended and the Southern Song began. In this tale, our young hero Sūn Shān 孙山 heads off to the capital to take /episode/index/show/be7f8b11-c1d1-43ec-b3ff-e615f54dfb5f/id/35735550

The History of Chinese Philosophy (Part 18) 06/30/2024

The History of Chinese Philosophy (Part 18) For this 18th and final episode in the series, we'll focus on the rival philosophies of Lu Xiangshan 陆象山 and Zhu Xi 朱熹。 We'll also look at more of the philosophy of Wang Yangming. Then we'll end it with a few loose ends and mentions of The Five Elements and Zou Yan’s 邹衍 Alchemy. I'll also recommend a book called “The Path.” /episode/index/show/be7f8b11-c1d1-43ec-b3ff-e615f54dfb5f/id/35735555

The History of Chinese Philosophy (Part 17) 06/23/2024

The History of Chinese Philosophy (Part 17) We're almost at the end. We continue on in Part 17 with Zhu Xi and his philosophy. There will be more discussion about Qi, Han Studies (Han Xue) and the pushback against Neo Confucianism. We begin looking at the final philosopher in this series, Wang Shouren (a.k.a. Wang Yangming). Then we look at the primary difference between the Cheng-Zhu School vs. the Lu-Wang School. /episode/index/show/be7f8b11-c1d1-43ec-b3ff-e615f54dfb5f/id/35735560

The China History Podcast

TOPICS