Category: China

The myth of Tai Chi Chuan

Did Tai Chi exist before 1850? In this episode we begin a new series of episodes on this subject by setting the scene and historical background to the mythmaking around the origins of Tai Chi that occurred starting from the middle of the Nineteenth Century in response to social turmoil and unrest exemplified by the Taiping Rebellion and Opium Wars.

The 98th Regiment of Foot at the attack on Chin-Kiang-Foo (Zhenjiang), 21 July 1842, effecting the defeat of the Manchu government. Watercolour by military illustrator Richard Simkin (1840–1926).

#37 XingYi Part 9

Four_Generals_of_Song
General Zhang Jun (left). From The “Four Generals of Zhongxing” painted by Liu Songnian during the Southern Song Dynasty.

In this episode we discuss the role of General Zhang Jun in the survival of Yue Fei’s tradition, as well as in the survival of members of Yue Fei’s extended family. We also discuss how Zhang Jun managed to protect himself from the purges carried out by Qin Hui.

 

#28 Kublai and Mongke (Kublai Khan part 2)

Möngke Khan. 4th Khagan of the Mongol Empire
(Supreme Khan of the Mongols) King of Kings
By Unknown – http://old.news.mn/r/276459, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=72784270

In this episode we examine how Kublai and his older brother Mongke built the Mongol Empire to the point where it was ready to do what the Jin Empire hadn’t been able to – overthrow the Song Dynasty.

Podcast link.

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#27 The Heretics Bible: Genesis I

Fifth Day of Creation (from the 1493 Nuremberg Chronicle) By Hartmann Schedel – Self-scannedlanguage: Latin, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=899075

The Book of Genesis disagrees in many ways with both modern Christianity and modern Judaism. It also incorporates many earlier traditions, including those of Mesopotamia, and even China. This is the originally intended first episode of the Heretics Podcast (before we got sidetracked).

Podcast link.

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Categories: China Christianity

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#26 The Nestorian Christian Heresy and the Women who ran the Mongol Empire (Kublai Khan pt. 1)

Tului With Queen Sorgaqtani. Rashid al-Din – Rashid al-Din, “Djami al-Tawarikh”, 14th century. Reproduction in Genghis Khan et l’Empire Mongol by Jean-Paul Roux, collection “Découvertes Gallimard” (nº 422), série Histoire.

Two powerful women, one a christian of the Nestorian Heresy, ran the Mongol Empire in the years before Kublai and his elder brother Mongke became Great Khans.

Podcast link.

Listen to “#26 The Nestorian Christian Heresy and the Women who ran the Mongol Empire (Kublai Khan pt. 1)” on Spreaker.

Patrons-only episode: ‘Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon’ review

Image scource: Goldposter https://www.goldposter.com/77608/full/

Damon and Graham dedicated a whole episode to reviewing the classic Wuxia film, which has cropped up a number of times previously on the podcast. We finally get to the root of why Damon doesn’t like the film and find out a little bit more about the original novel the movie is based on and the birth of Communism in China.

Podcast link

Categories: China Communism Movies

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#25 Ogedei Khan

By unknown / (of the reproduction) National Palace Museum in Taipei – Dschingis Khan und seine Erben (exhibition catalogue), München 2005, p. 304 https://theme.npm.edu.tw/opendata/DigitImageSets.aspx?Key=元太宗, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4126253

Ogedei was the least well-known of the three Mongol “superkhans”, but actually the one who drove the empire to its greatest scope and extent, the largest land area conquered by anyone, ever. He ushered in a new era of prosperity to the Silk Road and laid the foundation from which Kubilai Khan would later found the Yuan Dynasty in China.

Podcast link.

Listen to “#25 Ogedei Khan” on Spreaker.