Yuán Shìkǎi 袁世凯 was post-imperial China’s first president. He led China’s first exploration of democracy down a dead end, and his presidency was “disastrous,” says historian James Carter in an essay that inspired this podcast.

Jay is a historian and author of This Week in China’s History, and a number of books on China’s history. Jay is also Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia.

In this episode, we discuss:

* The Rise of Yuan Shikai

* Yuan’s presidency and early governance

* Political turmoil and assassination

* Yuan as emperor

* The aftermath of Yuan’s rule

* The Warlord Era and personal loyalties

* Yuan’s American advisor, Frank Johnson Goodnow

* Astroturfing, democratic façades

* Challenges in American higher education today

The Rhyming Chaos podcast is produced by Jeremy Goldkorn and Maria Repnikova, and edited by Cadre Scripts. The theme music is Paper Boy, composed and performed on the guzheng by Wu Fei. Our closing music is Erik Satie’s Gymnopédie No. 1, arranged and performed by Wu Fei. Our cover art is by Li Yunfei.

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