History of China Ming + Qing

Celebration of a Hippy Halloween - Love, peace, and Ghosts

This Legend crowd, whose band name is more than ironic allusion to the 1970s film of the same name, are certainly a tight group of musicians, and the introduction of the boozy brass, certainly evokes a haunting Hallowe’en feel – again very appropriate for the approaching All Hallow’s Eve.

This is definitely a must listen tune. - Peter Donnelly feshonthenet.co.uk

Legends of The  Seven Golden Vampires - Autumn Fall

Great Ming has a pirate problem on its hands. Unable to effectively suppress it militarily, the officials in charge turn to wheeling and dealing to get the seabooters to give up their outlaw ways. But when the Jiajing Emperor starts sticking his nose in to such affairs from way up in Beijing, suddenly all bets are off...

Time Period Covered:
1549-1567 CE

Major Historical Figures:
Ming:
The Jiajing Emperor (Zhu Houcong) [r. 1521-1567]
Grand Chancellor Yan Song [1480-1567]
Nanjing Minister of War Zhang Jing [d. 1555]
Censor Zhao Wenhua [d. 1557]
Censor Hu Zongxian [1512-1565]
Commander Yu Dayou [1512-1579]
Commander Qi Zhiguang [1528-1588]

Pirates:
Wang Zhi, CEO of the High Seas [d. 1559]
Captain Xu Hai [d. 1556]
Lord Shimazi of Osumi Province

Works Cited:
Andrade, Tonio and Xing Hang. “Introduction: The East Asian Maritime Realm in Global History: 1500-1700” in Sea Rovers, Silver, and Samurai: Maritime East Asia in Global History, 1500-1700.
Chin, James K. “Merchants, Smugglers, and Pirates: Multinational Clandestine Trade on the South China Coast, 1520-50” in Elusive pirates, pervasive smugglers: violence and clandestine trade in the Greater China Seas.
Geiss, James. “The Chia-ching reign, 1522-1566” in The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 7: The Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644, Part I.
Laver, Michael. “Neither Here nor There: Trade, Piracy, and the ‘Space Between’ in Early Modern East Asia” in Sea Rovers, Silver, and Samurai: Maritime East Asia in Global History, 1500-1700.
Petrucci, Maria Grazia. “Pirates, Gunpowder, and Christianity in Late Sixteenth-Century Japan” in Elusive pirates, pervasive smugglers: violence and clandestine trade in the Greater China Seas.
Wills, John E. “Maritime China from Wang Chih to Shih Lang: Themes In Peripheral History” in From Ming to Ch’ing: Conquest, Region, and Continuity in Seventeenth-Century China.

The History of China

#243 - Ming 29: Ahh, Curse Your Sudden But Inevitable Betrayal!

We revisit the pivotal Battle of Sarhu of 1619/20, but this time from the Ming perspective. Then we'll finally send the Wanli Emperor into his tomb and take stock of his reign and legacy, before getting into our final few emperors Great Ming has left in the tank.

Time Period Covered:
1619-1621 CE

Major Historical Figures:
Ming:
The Wanli Emperor (Zhu Yujin) [r. 1572-1620]
The Taichang Emperor (Zhu Changluo) [r. 1620-1620]
The Tianqi Emperor (Zhu Youjiao) [r. 1620-1627]
Consort Li
Supreme Commander Yang Hao [d. 1629]
General Du Song, "The Madman" [d. 1619]
General Ma Lin [d. 1619]
General Li Rubo [d. 1621]
General Liu Ting [d. 1619]

Manchu/Later Jin:
Nurhachi [r. 1616-1626]
Amba Beile Daisan [1583-1648]
Hong Taiji [1592-1643]

#251 - Ming 36: The Last Showdown

Host Meg Wolitzer presents three stories about social masks and what might lie beneath.  Truman Capote’s “A Lamp in a Window” introduces an eccentric character with a secret.  It’s performed by Arian Moayed. In Molly Giles’ “What Do You Say?” a mother and daughter lunch at a diner, where the mother encounters a bit of her past.  The reader is Parker Posey. And novelist Zadie Smith channels the legendary singer Billie Holiday in “Crazy They Call Me,” performed by Karen Pittman.

Behind Her Eyes

Beijing has been brutally captured, with the Ming emperor committing suicide rather than face the bandit army of Li Zicheng. However, before he can get comfortable, the full might of the Qing are on their way to "liberate" the Chinese empire from, well, the Chinese. What follows is as chaotic as it is lightning swift, as the Manchu hordes, chase the fleeing remnants of the fallen Ming court south to what they pray will be a refuge: Nanjing.

Time Period Covered:
Apr. 1644- Nov. 1645

Major Historical Figures:
Qing:
The Shunzhi Emperor (Aisin Gyoro Fulin) [r. 1643-1661]
Dorgon, Prince Ruizhong [1612-1650]
Ajige, Prince Ying [1605-1651]
Dodo, Prince Yu [1614-1649]
Prime Minister Fan Wencheng [1597-1666]

Ming:
The Chongzhen Emperor [r. 1627-1644]
General Wu Sangui [1612-1678]
General Hong Chengchou [1593-1665]
General Zuo Liangyu [1599-1645]
General Shi Kefa [1601-1645]

Bandit:
Li Zicheng [d. 1644]

256 - Qing 2: Greeted As Liberators

Manchu occupation of the lands south of the Yangtze River proceed smoothly... right up until Prince Dorgon is convinced by some of his advisors that everyone needs a haircut.

Within Southern Ming, multiple princes vie for power - such as it it - at pretty much the worst possible time to be having a throne-fight.

Time Period Covered:
1645-1646 CE

Major Historical Actors:
Qing:
Prince Dorgon, Regent of Great Qing [1612-1650]
Dodo, Prince of Yu [1614-1649]
Bolo, Prince Duanzhong [1613-1652]
Hong Chengchou [1593-1665]

Southern Ming:
Zhu Yujian, Prince of Tang/Longwu Emperor [1602-1646]
Zhu Yihai, Prince of Lu, Regent of Great Ming [1618-1662]
General Zheng Hongkui [d. 1654]
Zheng Zhilong (Nicholas Iquan Gaspard), Marquis of Tong'an [1604-1661]
Zheng Chenggong (Koxinga) [1624-1662]


Major Works Cited:
Dennerline, Jerry. "The Shun-chih Reign" in The Cambridge History of China, Volume 9, Part One: The Ch'ing Empire to 1800

Struve, Lynn A. "The Southern Ming, 1644-1662" in The Cambridge History of China, Volume 7 The Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644, part I.

Wakeman, Frederic. The Great Enterprise: The Manchu Reconstruction of Imperial Order in Seventeenth-Century China.

#257 - Qing 3: Lose Your Hair, Or Lose Your Head

Christian est le père de Nicolas, il a 68 ans et il passe sa retraite à se soigner. Les hanches, les genoux, le dos, il est tout cassé. Christian était menuisier pendant 38 ans à la cité universitaire d’Antony, la plus grande d’Europe. Pendant longtemps, il a fait son job : construire, réparer et poser des meubles, pour les étudiants. Il travaillait le bois, se sentait utile et il adorait son métier.

Évidemment, cet artisan magicien capable de fabriquer des meubles, mais aussi des jouets faisait l’admiration de son fils, qu’on peut entendre grâce à des conversations enregistrées il y a 30 ans sur le magnétophone familial.

Mais le métier de Christian a changé. On a externalisé, réduit les effectifs et on a commandé les meubles plutôt que de les fabriquer. Peu à peu, on lui a confié d’autres tâches, souvent plus pénibles, il était seul, il faisait beaucoup de manutention et de moins en moins de menuiserie. Alors, il a voulu se reconvertir, mais une cheffe l’a pris en grippe et ses projets ont été bloqués. Il a dû se contenter de ces taches qui n’avaient plus de sens, son corps a pris des coups et a fini par lâcher.

Finalement, il est parti écœuré et usé, sa retraite n’est pas une récompense, elle est une épreuve.  Nicolas enrage de voir son père dans cet état. Alors il a voulu le faire témoigner, dans ce podcast qui est autant un hommage à son père qu’à la classe ouvrière.

Nicolas Lansalot est journaliste et réalisateur de documentaires pour RMC Sport. C’est son premier podcast.

Enregistrements : mai-juin 2023 - Réalisation : Arnaud Forest - Illustration : Chez Gertrud - Production : ARTE Radio

Gueule de bois

Prince Regent Dorgon of Great Qing is riding high, at the height of his majesty, power, and untouchability. Why, he's even starting to think of himself as more of the ruler than the 6-year-old emperor who is his charge. Those are mighty fine wings you've got there, Icarus...

Time Period Covered:
1646-1651 CE

Major Historical Actors:
Qing:
The Shunzhi Emperor (Fulin) [r. 1663-1661]
Prince Dorgon, Regent of Great Qing [1612-1650]
Ajige, Prince Ying of the First Rank [1605-1651]
Dodo, Prince of Yu [1614-1649]
Bolo, Prince Duanzhong [1613-1652]
Hong Chengchou [1593-1665]
Jirgalang, Prince Zheng of the First Rank [1599-1655]
Haoge, Prince Su [1609-1648]
Mandahai, Prince Xunjian of the First Rank [1622-1652]
Gen. Tantai of the Plain Yellow Banner [1594-1651]
Gen. Wu Sangui, "Prince of Western Pacification" [1612-1678]

Southern Ming:
Zhu Yujian, Prince of Tang/Longwu Emperor [1602-1646]
Zhu Yihai, Prince of Lu, Regent of Great Ming [1618-1662]
General Zheng Hongkui [d. 1654]
Zheng Zhilong (Nicholas Iquan Gaspard), Marquis of Tong'an [1604-1661]
Zheng Chenggong (Koxinga) [1624-1662]

Other Rebel Forces:
Zhang Xianzhong, "Emperor of Xi" [r.1644-1647]
Jin Shenghuan [d. 1649]
Mi-la-yin [d. 1650]

Major Works Cited:
Dennerline, Jerry. "The Shun-chih Reign" in The Cambridge History of China, Volume 9, Part One: The Ch'ing Empire to 1800.

Struve, Lynn A. "The Southern Ming, 1644-1662" in The Cambridge History of China, Volume 7 The Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644, part I.

Wakeman, Frederic. The Great Enterprise: The Manchu Reconstruction of Imperial Order in Seventeenth-Century China.

#259 - Qing 4: Dorgon's Domination, Death, & Downfall

Pirates!

Headhunters!

Samurai!

The Dutch!

Every day's high-stakes adventure on the island everyone's totally ignored until the 1600s!

#260 - Qing 5: Taiwan Incognita, Pt.1

Events on the high seas and islands alike reach a fevered pitch as the Dutch, Japan, China, and Portugal all vie for profit and supremacy over Taiwan and its lucrative trade. Meanwhile - call them what you will (because it's hard to keep track - but the "independent merchants" or "pirate lords" ... sometimes even turned government agents keep looking to exploit every opportunity to enrich themselves while avoiding the noose.

Take what you can, give nothin' back!

Timeframe Covered:
ca. 1600-1639

Major Historical Figures:
Dutch East India Company/Batavia/Ft. Zeelandia:
Capt. Elie Ripon
Pieter Nuyts, Governor of Formosa [1598-1655]

Catholic Church:
Georgius Candidus [1597-1647]

Independent Traders/Pirates of Taiwan:
Salvador Diaz of Macau
Yan Siqi [d. ~1625]
Li Dan "Captain China" [d. ~1625]
Li Kuiqi ("Quitsicq")
Zhong Bin
Liu Xiang

Ming China:
Chen Di, Ming imperial official [1541-1617]
Xu Xinsu ("Simpsou"), merchant-contact
"Patrolling Admiral" Zheng Zhilong [1604-1661]

Shogunate Japan:
Toyotomi Hideyoshi, "The Great Unifier" [1537-1598]
Suetsugu Heizo Masanao, merchant-lord [1546-1630]
Suetsugu Heizo Masafusa, the scion

Taiwan Aboriginal Groups:
the Sinkan
the Mattau

Major Sources Cited:
Andrade, Tonio (2005). How Taiwan Became Chinese: Dutch, Spanish, and Han Colonization in the Sevententh Century.
Andrade, Tonio (2004). "The Company's Chinese Pirates: How the Dutch East India Company Tried to Lead a Coalition of Pirates to War against China, 1621-1662" in Journal of World History, Vol. 15, No. 4 (Dec., 2004).
Clements, Jonathan (2004). Coxinga and the Fall of the Ming Dynasty.
Ripon, Elie [Leonard Blussé & Jaap de Moor, trans.] (2016). Captain Ripon’s Maritime Adventures in the East Indies: The Diary of a Mercenary Soldier, 1617-1627.

#261 - Qing 6: Taiwan Incognita, Pt. 2

When a small town relies on tourists flocking to its baths, will a report of dangerously polluted waters be enough to shut them down? Henrik Ibsen weighs the cost of public health versus a town’s livelihood and skewers the complicity of the masses in his classic and still timely play.

Includes a conversation with Joel K. Bourne, Jr., former senior environment editor for National Geographic, on man-made environmental disasters, climate change, and the state of the world's water supply.

This play is part of L.A. Theatre Works’ Relativity Series featuring science-themed plays. Lead funding for the Relativity Series is provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, bridging science and the arts in the modern world.

Directed by Martin Jarvis
Producing Director: Susan Albert Loewenberg
Rosalind Ayres as Catherine Stockman
Gregory Harrison as Peter Stockman
Richard Kind as Dr. Thomas Stockman
Alan Mandell as Morten Kill
Alan Shearman as Captain Horster
Jon Matthews as Billing
Josh Stamberg as Hovstad
Emily Swallow as Petra
Tom Virtue as Aslaksen

An Enemy Of The People (Part 2)

Rurik Skywalker of The Slavland Chronicles discusses the false East-West divide and how the real name of the game is convergence: creating a one-world elite. The oligarchies in Washington, London, Brussels, Moscow, and Beijing are all feudal lords, they're just competing to see who gets to be the boss. The totalitarian system in the West is more refined. Patriots in the East like Igor Strelkov are also rounded up and jailed. He discusses personalities like Arestovych, where the Ukraine War is headed, Dugin, BRICS, Russian 15-minute cities, how Orwell is pro-Trotsky propaganda, and how we are well on our way to dystopia since there is nothing stopping it.

*Support Geopolitics & Empire:
Donate https://geopoliticsandempire.com/donations
Consult https://geopoliticsandempire.com/consultation
Become a Member https://geopoliticsandempire.substack.com
Become a Sponsor https://geopoliticsandempire.com/sponsors

**Visit Our Sponsors
Above Phone https://abovephone.com/?above=geopolitics

Websites
Slavland Chronicles https://slavlandchronicles.substack.com
X https://twitter.com/SlavlandStalker

About Rolo Slavskiy AKA Rurik Skywalker
Rurik Skywalker mostly writes about Russia and Eastern Europe. Slavland Chronicles includes analyses of the history as well as the dismal present and his hopes of a brighter future for the Slavlands. He enjoys thinking about meta-politics as well. You can find a spirited defense of Populism and Authoritarianism in the Dao of Populism section.

Finally, he is a connoisseur of alternative models for metaphysics. If you want to hear him rag on your demon-god, feel free to head over to the Metaphysical Marcionism section.

*Podcast intro music is from the song "The Queens Jig" by "Musicke & Mirth" from their album "Music for Two Lyra Viols": http://musicke-mirth.de/en/recordings.html (available on iTunes or Amazon)

Rurik Skywalker: The Real Game is Convergence...the Creation of a One-World Elite #402

Psychedelic Salon

538 - Terence McKenna: "Are Psychedelics Spiritual?"

Podcast 589 - Terence McKenna: "Understanding the Chaos at History's End" - Part 1

Reappearance

An audio journey through the 5000 year history of one of the world's oldest continuous civilizations.

#259 - Qing 4: Dorgon's Domination, Death, & Downfall

The History of China

Related tracks