The Taiping Rebellion and the First Visions of Hong Xiuquan In this episode, we look at the influences working on Hong Xiuquan, founder of the movement behind the Taiping Rebellion and look at his beginning visions. We look briefly at the Jade Record, a Buddhist/Daoist tact functioning like a Dante's Inferno associating wicked deeds on earth with punishments in hell. We also look at the book Good Words to Admonish the Age by Liang Afa, the first Chinese ordained Protestant minister. Hong...

The Taiping Rebellion: Introducing Hong Xiuquan In this episode, we introduce the founder of the Taiping Rebellion, Hong Xiuquan. The books we are relying on: God’s Chinese Son by Jonathan D. Spence Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom by Stephen R. Platt Historical Context of Taiping Rebellion Because the Taiping Rebellion kicks off in the aftermath of the First Opium War (1839-1842), our coverage of the Taiping Rebellion will intertwine with the evolution of foreign intervention in Chinese...

The Opium War: War Because Drugs This week, we talk about the Opium War and cracking China open for revolution. We won't go into great detail about the war itself, but we'll look at how it made things possible for revolution in China. Our narrative relies for just one more episode on Imperial Twilight by Stephen Platt. Actually Doing the Crackdown Even though Charles Elliot promised to turn 20,000 chests of opium over to the Chinese government, it's not because he was overawed by imperial...

Lin Zexu Cracks Down on the Opium Trade In today's episode, we look at exactly the inciting incident for the Opium War. The British official on the scene, Charles Elliot, wanted to protect British subjects but also keep good relations between Chinese and British subjects. Chinese officials in Canton wanted to avoid direct conflict, but Beijing wanted to suppress the opium trade. Increasing Measures Taken Against Foreigners In December 1838, Chinese soldiers built a public execution site in...

Prelude to the Opium War In this episode, we directly pick up the main track of this podcast. Here, we're looking at EXACTLY what came before the Opium War. Next episode will be about the precise incident that set the British wheels in motion to send a naval expedition against China. Charles Elliot, the official in charge of British trade at Canton The British sent Charles Elliot to see to the safety of British subjects doing trade in China, make sure they weren't engaged in criminal...

Protestant Missionaries Going to China 2 of 2 In this episode, we look a bit more at the work that Protestant missionaries are trying to do and why they spend so much time trying to learn the language and culture. We look at how this paved the way for the Taiping Rebellion to emerge. What Missionaries Try to Do Protestant missionary work in China started with translating the Bible into Chinese. The critical work went into things like determining exactly what to call God, how to express...

Protestant Missionaries Going to China, 1 of 2 In this episode, we look at one of the key parties playing a part in the Taiping Rebellion: foreign Protestant Christian missionaries. Christianity is a universal faith (it means you too!) with a message revolutionary in magnitude. Though it isn't the main player, it's a critical background player. Quick Rundown of Church History Christianity was founded by Christ. All of the ancient churches (Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, etc.)...

Chinese Scholarly Discussion of Foreign Trade, Before the Opium Wars In this episode, we look at how Chinese scholars examined trade with foreign countries, prior to the First Opium War (1839-1842). Chinese academia was extremely sophisticated, but it was aimed toward passing exams for the traditional Confucian civil service in China. Bao Shichen (1775-1855) One of the key scholars examining foreign trade was Bao Shichen, from Anhui province. He passed the provincial level exams, but he...

The Opium Trade In this episode, we look at the opium trade into China. It's drug trade, pure and simple. How one of the first multinational corporations was bound up in it partly led to the First Opium War. This episode draws heavily from Imperial Twilight by Stephen Platt. Origins of East India Company Involvement Occupying India drained EIC finances, and the China trade was the last profitable part of EIC operations. The opium trade was too illegal for them to engage in directly, but...

The Macartney Expedition, Part Two In this episode, we get to see how it actually went, when Macartney's embassy made it to China. Because of a lot of "lost in translation" and incongruent notions about how diplomacy is supposed to go, it went down in flames. What the British Brought The British brought an array of scientific and military technology to show off their advances to try to impress the Chinese. They sent their cutting edge stuff: a huge mechanical planetarium, modern guns, luxury...

The Macartney Expedition On this episode, we talk about the Macartney Expedition, a diplomatic mission from Britain that reached China in 1793. Last week I appeared on the Man Tools Podcast to talk about living in China and some thoughts about Chinese history. The guys behind the podcast, Eric Madrid and Trevor Lane, were great to talk to. Check them out! Exact link to the episode I was on: https://mantoolsmedia.com/chinese-revolutions-nathan-bennett-man-tools-147/ The Context for the...

Chinese Historical Context: So What Changes in All These Revolutions? This episode is a Wikipedia-fueled survey of traditional Chinese structures being changed by the revolutions we're about to cover. Today we cover three main things: Chinese imperial system Confucian examination system Chinese economy Chinese imperial system Qin Shihuang, the "first emperor of China" set the precedent in traceable history for a unified China. He standardized imperial rule, Chinese writing, weights and...

Foreign Trade at Canton and the Foreign Settlement As we get up to the Taiping Rebellion, we're looking at the Opium Wars as the historical background. In this episode, pay attention to the ordinary Chinese in and around foreign traders. Portuguese Macau In 1554, the Portuguese formally rented Macau from the Ming Dynasty. It was the foreign foothold right on the Chinese coast, the one place that held up in the transition from the Ming to the Qing Dynasties. Missionaries and traders would...

The East India Company In this episode, we are answering why the British government was in a position to be sending military force to China in 1839. The short answer: the East India Company and trade with the East vital to British national security. Founding of the East India Company and Monopoly Francis Drake and other English adventurers discovered possibilities when they went out raiding the Spanish and Portuguese. In 1599, Queen Elizabeth ! granted a Royal Charter to the “Governor and...

The beginning of the trouble before the Opium Wars. Setting the historical conditions leading to British warships coming to China.

The books that inspired me to start the Chinese Revolutions podcast.

Setting the historical stage for this podcast. Conditions and factors contributing to the revolutions about to kick off in the mid-1800s.

Forerunners to modern Chinese revolutions, showing traditions of dynastic change and the precedents for revolutionary change in Chinese history.

Definition of revolution to be used on Chinese Revolutions podcast. Insights from The Dictator’s Handbook on political power.