Chinese feminists and revolutionaries were active before and during China's 1911 Revolution. Qiu Jin wore men's clothing, was ahead of her time by writing in Standard Chinese instead of Classical Chinese and in making speeches to engage all ages in the struggle for women's rights and women's education. These women believed that women had to seek their own rights, rather than depend on men. Wu Shuqing imagined and then created the Women's Revolutionary Army, which fought at Hankou and Nanjing dur...
Jul 22, 2023•13 min•Season 1Ep. 34
Yuan Shikai consolidates power as President of the Republic of China. His greatest threats now come from outside China. Russia eyes Mongolia and Britain takes interest in Tibet. The First World War changes the dynamic and Japan seizes Germany's concessions in Shandong. Then Japan issues Twenty-One Demands on China. Yuan negotiates and softens the blow, but suffers from the humiliation. Yuan Shikai's son and others push for a new monarchy and Yuan goes along. The Grand Constitutional Monarchy is ...
Jul 16, 2023•28 min•Season 1Ep. 33
Yuan Shikai promised to respect China's constitutional republic. A mutiny by unpaid members of the Beiyang Army causes riots in Beijing and other cities. Yuan avoids moving to Nanjing. He de-mobilizes provincial troops and wins a power struggle with the Chinese Premiers. Yuan Shikai puts his own men in important positions. The Guomindang (KMT) is founded and wins the first election after the 1911 Revolution. Song Jiaoren, KMT's leader, expects to be the new Premier. Instead, he is assassinated. ...
Jul 09, 2023•16 min•Season 1Ep. 32
An update on the Chinese Revolution series made in July 2023. Image: "Revolution of 1911" by Gary Lee Todd, Ph.D. is marked with CC0 1.0. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jul 02, 2023•58 sec
Yuan Shikai's New Army becomes a national model and military reforms spread throughout China. The death of the Empress Dowager brings Zaifeng in as regent to Pu Yi, the three year old emperor. Yuan is sacked and briefly fears for his life. He quietly retires for over two years. A Qing railway reorganization in Sichuan leads to rebellion. Imperial troops are moved south and the remaining Wuchang Garrison launches a mutiny. The 1911 Revolution has begun and the Qing Court appoints Yuan as Governor...
Jul 02, 2023•21 min•Season 1Ep. 31
Part 2 of a look at Yuan Shikai. Yuan resigned as Imperial Commissioner to Korea and served as a logistics officer during the Sino-Japanese war. Following China's defeat to Japan, Yuan wrote a 13,000 word memo to the emperor outlining his ideas for military reform. Yuan Shikai was then appointed and became the father of China's New Army. He was then promoted to Governor of Shandong and then Zhili provinces. He had to deal with the Boxer Rebellion underway and navigate foreign concessions and the...
Jun 25, 2023•26 min•Season 1Ep. 30
This episode looks at the early life of Yuan Shikai, future president of the Republic of China. Born to a concubine in a leading gentry family in Henan province, Yuan was adopted by his uncle at age 5. He studied the Confucian classics, learned boxing, martial arts and horseback riding. He took over managing the family assets as a teenager and was already working for the empire. He never passed any of the imperial examinations, but rose quickly in the army. A chance military assignment in Korea ...
Jun 18, 2023•26 min•Season 1Ep. 29
In this third and final part, Sun Yat-sen's comeback from failed revolutionary is examined. He goes on the offensive against the reformers in Hawaii and in the world's Chinatowns. He builds on contacts with the French to gain weapons and workers for uprisings near the French Indochina border. He helps found the Revolutionary Alliance and becomes its President. More and more revolts are planned and the Wuchang Uprising finally succeeds. A garrison takes control. Organizers from the Revolutionary ...
Jun 09, 2023•22 min•Season 1Ep. 28
Sun Yat-sen leaves London and lives in Japan for 3 years. He gains Japanese supporters and is considered their Chinese Hero. They fund him, his efforts and newspapers, as well as arming guerillas in the Philippines. Kang Youwei considers Sun to be an uneducated bandit and they compete for followers. An uprising near Huizhou in Guangdong province starts well, but gets distracted and falls apart. Key allies die as a result. Sun has yet another failed uprising to his name. Can he stage a comeback? ...
Jun 02, 2023•16 min•Season 1Ep. 27
Dr. Sun Yat sen is a legend in mainland China, on Taiwan and in the Chinatowns of the world. This revolutionary's picture can be found at Tiananmen Square in Beijing and in the Legislative Chamber in Taipei. Few people are recognized as heroes by both the Chinese Communist Party and the KMT. Dr. Sun Yat-sen is one of them. This episode explores his early life and education in Cuiheng Village, in Honolulu, in Guangzhou and in Hong Kong. Against his older brother's wishes, he is baptized and conve...
May 26, 2023•23 min•Season 1Ep. 26
A short look at Kang Youwei's utopian The Book of Great Unity. What do you think of this utopia? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
May 20, 2023•58 sec•Season 1Ep. 25
A discussion of Kang Youwei, the famous Chinese scholar, writer, reformer and speaker. His early years, Buddhist meditations, success passing through the Qing examinations system and activism are considered. His exile following the 100 days of Reform to the Chinatowns of Canada and southeast Asia are described, including the founding of the Society to Protect the Emperor. It achieved, at least initially, much more popularity than Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary movement. Kang also lived in India and...
May 19, 2023•14 min•Season 1Ep. 25
A discussion with Anthony Vernon about Daoism, Confucianism, Kang Youwei, the Boxer Rebellion and the end of the Qing Dynasty. Image: "Boxer Prisoners Captured By 6th US Cavalry, Tientsin, China [1901] Underwood & Co [RESTORED]" by ralphrepo is licensed under CC BY 2.0. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
May 12, 2023•26 min•Season 1Ep. 24
A deep dive into anti-Christian riots in Tianjin in 1870. Stories of kidnapped, blinded and dead children are investigated. What are these new Christians up to? An official from the Forbidden City is sent to get to the truth. Who is to blame? Image: "Old church, Tianjin" by caitriana is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
May 07, 2023•9 min•Season 1Ep. 23
This is the third part of the discussion with Lauren Schill about Cixi. We discuss her takeover from her adopted son the Emperor Guangxu following the 100 days of Reform and her role arming the Boxer Rebellion. Cixi and the Emperor flee to Xian and then return to Beijing. Cixi starts a charm offensive, institutes further reforms including for women's education and to end foot binding. She and the Emperor Guangxu die within a day of each other, him with high levels of arsenic. Within 3 years of h...
Apr 30, 2023•46 min•Season 1Ep. 22
This is the second part of the discussion about Cixi and we discuss her son Emperor Tongzhi's marriage, nighttime escapades, death from smallpox and Cixi's adoption of her nephew Emperor Guangxu and relegation of Prince Chun. Cixi deals with the Russians in Xinjiang, the French in Vietnam and the Japanese over Korea. The Dowager Empress builds up the Chinese navy, only to have it cut back by her successors. She is brought out of retirement again during the Sino-Japanese war and Emperor Guangxu s...
Apr 23, 2023•57 min•Season 1Ep. 21
A discussion with Lauren Schill, Host of the Well Behaved Women podcast, about Empress Dowager Cixi. This is the first part of the discussion about Cixi and discuss her childhood, family background, as well as becoming a concubine and rising through the ranks. The coup that takes her to power follows the Second Opium War and her husband's death at the Imperial Hunting Lodge. Cixi and Cian rule from behind the silk curtain and begin modernization of China, while facing resistance from conservativ...
Apr 16, 2023•46 min•Season 1Ep. 20
Meiji Japan learns from the West and builds its economy, its army and the Japanese Imperial Navy. Japan begins its own gunboat diplomacy and takes control of the Ryukyu Islands. It defeats China in the Sino-Japanese War and gains Penghu and Taiwan, as well as control over Korea. Russian and Japanese tensions build. Great Britain allies with Japan and the Japanese Imperial Navy launches a sneak attack on Port Arthur (Dalian). Japan destroys two Russian fleets and Teddy Roosevelt negotiates the pe...
Apr 10, 2023•30 min•Season 1Ep. 19
Choshu rebels attack foreign ships and suffer the consequences. Choshu and Satsuma reach a secret alliance. The Bakufu plans a punitive expedition against Choshu but is out-maneuvered. The sudden death of the Emperor and a coup in the Imperial Court leads to Choshu receiving an amnesty. Choshu and Satsuma use the Imperial Pennants to defeat the Bakufu. The Tokugawa era ends in Japan with the final shoguns of Japan. The Meiji Restoration ends 265 years of Tokugawa rule in Japan. Image: "DSC21873,...
Apr 03, 2023•29 min•Season 1Ep. 18
The Tokugawa shogunate in Japan prohibited ocean going vessels or travel between Japan and most countries. Japan rejected offers to commence trade with the West. Commodore Perry forced a first treaty on a reluctant Japan. The Samurai and country wanted to resist, but instead Japan began to open up and build a navy and build up a more western military. American desires for a new trade treaty uncover fractures among the Bakufu and with the Imperial Court. Image: "Samurai" by Tekniska museet is lic...
Mar 27, 2023•22 min•Season 1Ep. 17
During the 19th century, there were far more Chinese men abroad than women. Mui Tsai women were bonded to affluent Chinese families as maidservants or concubines. Amahs worked as paid domestic servants overseas. Some lived in collective sisterhoods and refused to couple with men. China Mary was a pioneer woman in Sitka, Alaska. Oei Hui-lan was the daughter of a Javanese sugar merchant and married the future Chinese Ambassador to Great Britain and the United States. Chinese women overseas had inf...
Mar 19, 2023•10 min•Season 1Ep. 16
Increased shipping in the Chinese treaty ports leads to Chinese migration abroad. Workers flock to Old Gold Mountain near San Francisco and Gold Mountain near Melbourne, Australia. The Chinese do better when they can work freely rather than as indentured coolies. Abuses and racism greet them worldwide. The Chinese learn non-violent resistance with Gandhi and self-advocacy in English speaking democracies. A national re-awakening accompanies remittances from abroad. Image: "Local Villager Mining f...
Mar 12, 2023•11 min•Season 1Ep. 15
The Taiping take some steps towards modernizing China. More provincial armies are formed and a Taiping warlord faces off against Qing allied warlords and the Ever Victorious Army. Nanjing falls and the Heavenly Kingdom with it. The Young Monarch is hunted and killed. The remaining Taiping ally with the Nian rebels, but are also exterminated. Some lessons for the future can be learned from this unsuccessful rebellion. Image: "Monument to American Soldier of Fortune Fredrick Townsend Ward, Organiz...
Mar 04, 2023•14 min•Season 1Ep. 14
The Taiping defeat a besieging army. Assassinations rock the Heavenly Capital. First, Yang Xiuqing, the East King, is assassinated and then the North King. The Taiping lose central strategic leadership and Taiping commanders begin to operate autonomously. The Hunan Provincial Army advances along the Yangtze River. The British are not amused with the Taiping Rebellion. Image: "Sunset on the Yangtze River" by Stanley Zimny (Thank You for 52 Million views) is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0. Hosted on ...
Feb 26, 2023•9 min•Season 1Ep. 13
Yang Xiuqing consolidates his position among the Taiping and organizes a Northern Expedition and a Western Expedition. The gentry organize to oppose the Taiping and Zeng Guofan founds a provincial army to counterattack. The Taiping reach their high-water mark as they control central China and the Yangtze River. Map of the Northern Expedition. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Feb 25, 2023•11 min•Season 1Ep. 12
The newly proclaimed Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace marches north towards the Yangtze River. This Taiping movement grows among the poor and discontented, but has trouble sieging cities. A local corps gives the Taiping its first defeat. The Taiping then gain strength after reaching the Yangtze and is able to sail downstream and capture cities along the way to Nanjing. The Taiping rename the city Tianjing: the Heavenly Capital. The West King and other original followers die and are replaced by ma...
Feb 19, 2023•10 min•Season 1Ep. 11
In this episode, the background to the Taiping Rebellion is described, as well as its founders, leaders and religious inspiration. Hong Xiuquan considered himself to be the younger brother of Jesus Christ. Influenced by Christian missionaries in Guangzhou, he and his followers found the God Worshippers Society. It grows, especially among Hakka Villages, into the Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace. Image: "Hakka Tulou, Chuxi" by Hayden Opie is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. You can support this sho...
Feb 13, 2023•12 min•Season 1Ep. 10
In this episode, the Treaty of Nanjing and the other Unequal Treaties are discussed, as well as the growth of foreign concessions in China. During the Second Opium War, also known as the Anglo-French Expedition to China, the Imperial Summer Palace is looted and burned. China losses vast territories to Russia. These events were humiliating to China but the treaties freed its resources to battle the many rebellions growing in Qing Dynasty China. Image: "China ChengDe - Qing Summer Report & Pal...
Feb 11, 2023•9 min•Season 1Ep. 9
In this episode, Henry Pottinger takes over as British Superintendent of Trade. The British retake Zhoushan Island, which had been abandoned by Charles Elliott and advances up the Yangtze River. Negotiations conclude the Opium War with the Treaty of Nanjing. It is now remembered as the first unequal treaty and the beginning of a century of humiliations for China. Image: Kongma, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons You can support this show through Buy me a coffee. https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thec...
Feb 06, 2023•33 min•Season 1Ep. 8
The British capture Chinese forts and take Guangzhou. British trade returns to southern China. Rural peasants self-organize against the British invaders. Charles Elliott is replaced by British authorities in London. Image: "19th Century Cannon" by Gary Lee Todd, Ph.D. is marked with CC0 1.0. You can support this show through Buy me a coffee. https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thechineserevolution Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Feb 03, 2023•30 min•Season 1Ep. 7
