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The Context

NewsChina explores the perspectives driving today’s China and its people with a deep dive into the histories that shaped them.
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Episodes

Dragon Boats on Grand Canal: The Rule of Water

In the first installment of what will be a two-part feature, we’re going to discuss how an inland waterway was the key to toppling one strong dynasty while underpinning the prosperity of the next in ancient China.

Nov 21, 202314 min

Tigers: Lost in the Wild, Lasting in Culture

Today, we will talk about the profound cultural significance that tigers hold in China, where for centuries the mighty beasts have been revered as powerful symbols of strength and protection.

Nov 14, 202312 min

Elderly Care in Ancient China: the Honor of Being Old

In the post-Covid era with the worst of the pandemic behind us, we all witnessed the vulnerability of the elderly among us, and in today’s podcast we’ll explore how authorities in ancient China addressed the challenges of elderly care and consider its relevance to contemporary society.

Nov 07, 202314 min

Ancient Migration: Wars and Walls

Today, we’ll explain how mass migrations have impacted the nation throughout its history. Unlike today, ancient Chinese people didn’t move away from home in large numbers looking for work or education. If they moved at all, more often than not, they were forced to leave.

Oct 31, 202313 min

Ancient Population Policy: Baby Boom Prosperity

Today, we’ll discuss the historical efforts of Chinese authorities to boost fertility rates, which has been a key indicator of the nation's strength and vitality throughout Chinese history.

Oct 24, 202313 min

Heritage Conservation: Treasures at Stake

Today, we’ll talk about how extreme floods have exposed a lack of historic preservation in Shanxi Province, home to millions of ancient sites and relics, many of which are abandoned and unprotected.

Oct 17, 202319 min

Tomb Robbery: Grave Situation

Today, we’ll talk about how authorities are combating the recent surge in tomb robbery and cultural relics trafficking with more trained professionals and revisions to the existing laws.

Sep 26, 202313 min

Tomb Robbery: Catch Me If You Can

Today, we’ll talk about the rampant tomb robbery trend that has become increasingly professional, inconspicuous, and run by gangs. Experts say it is crucial to break the illegal chain of excavation and sales to better protect ancient tombs and cultural relics.

Sep 19, 202321 min

Indomitable Spirits: The Life and Seminal Work of Pu Songling

Today, we’ll talk about a record-breaking song derived from a nearly 400-year-old collection of short stories that weave together the supernatural and the mundane, delving into a world where ghosts and fox spirits intersect with human desires and disrupting societal norms.

Sep 12, 202314 min

Captivating Vistas: Grazing by the River

Today, we will delve into a painting masterpiece created nearly a millennium ago that holds the distinction of being the inaugural piece to undergo expert appraisal following the reestablishment of the Chinese Ancient Art Appraisal Group.

Sep 05, 202313 min

Creation of the Gods: The Wronged King Zhou of Shang

Today, we’ll look into the life and times of King Zhou – the most infamous tyrant in Chinese history who was cinematically brought back to life in a much-anticipated summertime blockbuster this year.

Aug 29, 202312 min

White Crane Ridge: The Great Underwater Wonder

Today, we’ll introduce you to the world’s oldest hydrographic station that measured water level changes in the Yangtze River for more than 1,000 years. It’s located in southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality, and as a precious cultural relic, the site was turned into the world’s first underwater museum.

Aug 22, 202312 min

Poet Li Bai: The Banished Immortal

Today, we’ll tell you about an animated summertime blockbuster that brings to life some of the most iconic figures in Chinese literary history and has revived interest in a Tang Dynasty poet whose name alone can evoke legends.

Aug 15, 202315 min

The Night Revels of Han Xizai: A Spy Report-Turned Masterpiece (II)

Today, we’re going to further explore the thousand-year-old painting called Night Revels of Han Xizai. We will also reveal what happened to the disillusioned scholar official after the “spy report” was presented to the emperor, as well as the fortune of the fragile kingdom and the truth about the painting itself.

Aug 08, 202312 min

The Night Revels of Han Xizai: A Spy Report-Turned Masterpiece (I)

In the first installment of what will be a two-part feature, we’re going to tell the story behind a painting during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period from more than 1,000 years ago. Originally intended as a “spy report”, the painting offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the scandalous intrigues of court life.

Aug 01, 202313 min

Liang Qichao: Between the Old and the New

Today, we’ll tell the life story of an encyclopedic figure at the turn of the 20th century, who was best known for his advocacy for modernization and social reform, as well as his contributions to Chinese literature, philosophy, and political thought.

Jul 25, 202313 min

Robert Morrison: Man on a Mission

Today, we’ll talk about Robert Morrison, a 19th-century Protestant missionary who is credited as the initial translator of the Bible into Chinese and compiled the first Chinese-English dictionary – and that was just the beginning.

Jul 18, 202315 min

Li Shizhen: Father of Traditional Chinese Medicine

Today, we’ll talk about a 16th century medical expert who dedicated thirty years of his life to correcting, standardizing, and expanding the practice of herbal medicine in China by writing a medical masterpiece that is still celebrated to this day.

Jul 11, 202315 min

Sanxingdui: The Lost Civilization

Today, we’ll introduce a popular museum in southwest China’s Sichuan Province that is set to open a new exhibition hall in July to display newly excavated artifacts that offer insights into a civilization that’s more than 3,000-year-old and still shrouded in mystery.

Jul 04, 202313 min

China’s Titanic: The Forgotten Wreck

Today, we will continue talking about Chinese shipwrecks but today’s story is a relatively modern one about a steamship packed with refugees fleeing the mainland for Taiwan on the eve of Chinese New Year in 1949 when it collided with a cargo ship, leaving almost no survivors.

Jun 27, 202315 min

A New Chapter in Deep-sea Archaeology

Today, we’ll talk about the discovery and exploration of two 500-year-old shipwrecks in the South China Sea as well as some of the history of China’s underwater archaeology and its recent technological advancements.

Jun 20, 202317 min

Zhang Qian: Pioneer of the Silk Road

Today, we’ll introduce a Chinese explorer from more than 2,000 years ago who was the first person to provide the Han empire with a reliable account of the uncharted lands of Central Asia thus paving the way for the development of the Silk Road.

Jun 13, 202312 min

Cao Cao: Warlord of the Three Kingdoms

Today, we’ll introduce a brand new museum that was an instant hit when it opened in central China’s Henan Province that boasts over 400 cultural relics and offers a glimpse into the life of one of the most complicated and dubious characters in Chinese history.

Jun 06, 202313 min

Chien-Shiung Wu: The First Lady of Physics

Today, we are going to talk about a legendary Chinese-American scientist who devoted her life to the study of nuclear and particle physics and made significant contributions to the Manhattan Project.

May 30, 202316 min

Dunhuang Grottoes: Multicultural Oasis on the Silk Road

Today, we’ll talk about the mysterious beginnings of the famed Mogao Grottoes of Dunhuang, their unique place in Chinese history, and how an international cast of dubious characters spirited away crates and crates of priceless relics at garage-sale prices in the waning years of the Qing.

May 23, 202317 min

Robert van Gulik: The Dutch Mandarin

Today, we are going to tell the fascinating story of Robert van Gulik, a Dutch diplomat and sinologist whose writings during the mid-20th century offered the war-torn world a deeper more fact-based view of both modern and ancient China.

May 16, 202316 min

The Story of the Tomb of Southern Yue King

Today, we’ll introduce you to the 2,000-year-old tomb of Zhao Mo, second ruler of the Southern Yue State, that has been turned into a wildly popular museum in Guangzhou giving visitors insights into the ancient Maritime Silk Road and the state’s twisted relationship with the Han empire.

May 09, 202315 min

Yang Jiang: The Story of a Literary Legend

Today, we are going to tell the story of Yang Jiang, a renowned lady who is remembered by Chinese readers for her translations and witty memoirs that gave a voice to the tragedies and triumphs of modern China.

May 02, 202313 min
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