The History of China

A chat with Vince and Cassie of the Autocrat Podcast comparing and contrasting the Roman and Chinese origins and genesis legends, folktales, & mythos.

Find Autocrat Podcast at: autocratpodcast.wordpress.com

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A hefty second helping of weird, whimsical, wondrous, and wicked tales of the supernatural from the Zhou, Han, Liu Song, Yuan, and Qing Dynasties, for evenings when leaves quake from branches & the walls between the worlds grows thin.

0:00:00 - "Finishing Jiao's Poem" By: The One Within the Mound (Tr. Larry Hammer & Chris Stewart).

0:02:51 - "The Taoist Monk" Liaozhai Zhiyi, vol. 3.

0:09:57 - "A Report From the Qin Imperial Envoy At Xicheng, Gan Zong" Baopuzi.

0:11:33 - "The Ghoul" Shuyiji.

0:14:23 - "The Devil's Advocate" Liaozhai zhiyi, vol. 3.

0:21:57 - "REPORT: Flock of Bears Goes Rogue" Xu Yijian zhi.

0:23:13 - "The Face-Stealer" Shuyiji.

0:26:39 - "Manfox/Foxman" Liaozhai zhiyi, vol. 10.

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By Edgar Allen Poe [1809-1849]

Published: 1845

Happy Halloween 2024!

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A trio of seasonal tales about the Korean version of the classic fox spirit, the kumiho (huli jing [CN]/kitsune [JP]) as well as their implications bout the societies they stemmed from.

"The Maiden's Grave" - 02:21

"The Bone The Was a Fox" - 03:39

"The Fox Sister" - 06:22

From:

Fenkl, Heinz Inzu. "Fox Wives & Other Dangerous Women."

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The Kangxi Emperor of Great Qing squares off again Galdan Khan of the Dzungar Khanate in the sociopolitical-religio-military showdown of the late 17th century! Kangxi wants to flex his imperial muscle - in person! - up to and including enacting a "Final Solution" against the un-subdued Mongol peoples under Galdan, but the wily khan will amply demonstrate that all the imperial planning from Beijing in the world means nothing once your army is out in the wilds of the steppe.

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Time Period Covered:

ca. 1690 CE

Major Historical Figures:

Great Qing:

The Kangxi Emperor (Aisin Gioro Xuanye) [r. 1661-1722]

The Lifan Yuan (Office of Barbarian Control)

Dzungar Khannate:

Galdan, the Boshugtu Khan [r. 1679-1697]

Other Mongols:

Erdeni Qosuuci

Morgen Alana Dorji

Lobzang Gunbu Labdan

Batur Erke Jinong [d. 1709]

Prince Gandu

Lamist Tibet:

The Fifth Dalai Lama, Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso [1617–1682]

Russian Empire:

Count Fedor Alekseevich Golovin [1650-1706]

Major Works Cited:

Munkh-Erdene, Lamsuren. The Taiji Government and the Rise of the Warrior State.

Perdue, Peter C. China Marches West: The Qing Conquest of Central Eurasia.

Thokmay, Darig. “Game Changers of the Tibetan Buddhist Political Order in Central Asia in the Early Eighteenth Century” in The Tibet Journal, Vol. 46, No. 1.

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A brief history of Mid-Autumn Festival, and the tale of Hou Yi the Archer & the Ten Suns, and Chang'e & the Moon

In other words, please be true

In other words, I love you.

Sources:

Barlett, Scarlett. The Mythology Bible: The Definitive Guide to Legendary Tales.

Masaka, Mori. “Restoring the ‘Epic of Hou Yi’” in Asian Folklore Studies, vol. 52, no. 5.

Yang, Lihui, Demin An, and Jessica Anderson Turner. Handbook of Chinese Mythology.

Republication, original Episode Sept. 22, 2022.

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With its southern border finally pacified, the Qing Dynasty under its Kangxi Emperor must now contend with a rising challenge to the northeast: the ascent and enthronement of a real steppe wildcard, the chieftain Galdan, as reigning Khan of the Dzungar Mongols. Kangxi will strive to use him as he has used all other neighboring petty-potentates - as semi-disposable ablative armor for the soft innards of China proper under the longstanding guidelines of "Use The Barbarians to Deal With the Barbarians" foreign policy... but Galdan is mercurial enough to have ideas of his own, and friends in surprisingly high places (the Tibetan Highlands).

Time Period Covered:

~1679-1684 CE

Major Historical Figures:

Great Qing:

The Kangxi Emperor (Aisin Gioro Xuanye) [r. 1661-1722]

The Lifan Yuan (Office of Barbarian Control)

Dzungar Khannate:

Galdan, the Boshugtu Khan [r. 1679-1697]

Other Mongols:

Erdeni Qosuuci

Morgen Alana Dorji

Lobzang Gunbu Labdan

Batur Erke Jinong [d. 1709]

Prince Gandu

Lamist Tibet:

The Fifth Dalai Lama, Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso [1617–1682]

Russian Empire:

Count Fedor Alekseevich Golovin [1650-1706]

Major Works Cited:

Munkh-Erdene, Lamsuren. The Taiji Government and the Rise of the Warrior State.

Perdue, Peter C. China Marches West: The Qing Conquest of Central Eurasia.

Thokmay, Darig. “Game Changers of the Tibetan Buddhist Political Order in Central Asia in the Early Eighteenth Century” in The Tibet Journal, Vol. 46, No. 1.

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Across the trackless expanses of the northwestern frontier zones, far beyond the final vestiges of Great Qing sovereignty or protection, independent, oasis trade hubs survive and even thrive across central Asia during the chaos of the 16th & 17th centuries. They and their denizens, though largely cut off from the rest of the wider world, nevertheless serve a vital – though fragile – linkage between east and west. Here, north of the Taklamakan Desert, the Oirat Mongols continue to live much as they have these past several centuries… until a group known as the Dzungars under a rising leader called Batur Hong Taiji will start dreaming bigger: an Albany Plan of Union… with Mongol characteristics…

Time Period Covered:

~1680 CE

Major Historical Figures:

Four Oirat/Dzungar Mongols:

Baibagas Khan [r. 1585-1640]

Chechen Khan (Ochirtu) [r. 1640~1670]

Zaya Pandita [d. 1662]

Khara Khula [d. 1634]

Batur Hongtaiji [r. 1634-1653]

Sengge [r. 1653-1671]

Queen Anu of the Khoshuts [~1653-1696]

Boshoghtu Khan (Galdan) [1644-1697, r. 1671-97]

Other Mongols:

Altan Khan of the Golden Horde

Jasaku Khan of the Khalkhas

Dge-lugs-pa Tibetan Buddhist Sect:

The 5th Dalai Lama (Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso] [1617-1682]

Great Qing:

The Kangxi Emperor (Aisin Gioro Xuanye) [r. 1661-1722]

Major Work Cited:

Amitai-Preiss, Reuven & David O. Morgan (eds.) The Mongol Empire & its Legacy.

Halkovic, Jr., Stephen A. The Mongols of the West.

Miyawaki, Junko. “The Chinggisid Principle In Russia” in The Frontier In Russian History, Vol. 19, No. 1/4.

Perdue, Peter C. China Marches West: The Qing Conquest of Central Eurasia.

Taupier, Richard. “Yeke Caaji, the Mongol-Oyirod Great Code of 1640: Innovation In Eurasian State Formation” in Asian Literature and Translation, Vol. 5, No. 1, 2018.

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With border disputes and foreign affair emergencies levelling off, the Kangxi Emperor is able to turn his attentions inward toward the domestic, the home and hearth. But it's not all bbqs and pickleball there, either - there's the questions of succession, for one... who will be next when Kangxi is no more? And an heir there is... but... does something seem a little *off* about the crown-prince??

Time Period Covered:

~1660-1722 CE

Major Historical Figures:

The Kangxi Emperor (Xuanye) [r. 1661-1722]

Yunreng, Heir-apparent [1674-1725]

Prime Minister Songgotu [1636-1703]

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A set of short fever dreams from Chinese folklore to beat the summer heat...

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