Piracy in Great Qing surges to a "golden age" during the Qianlong & Jiaqing eras. Corsair Confederations like Zheng Yi Sao’s vast-beyond-reckoning Red Flag Fleet, backed by the likes of Vietnam’s Tay Son rebels, dominating the South China Sea through organized plunder and shadow economies. Jiaqing’s shift to accomodation, while necessary, may expose Qing naval vulnerabilities, paving the way for foreign interventions and imperial decline...

Time Period Covered:

Prelude: ca. 15th-18th Cs.

Main: ~1780-1810 CE

Major Sources Cited:

Antony, Robert J. Like Froth Floating on the Sea: The World of Pirates and Seafarers in Late Imperial South China.

Andrade, Tonio. Lost Colony: The Untold Story of China’s First Great Victory over the West.

Murray, Dian H. Pirates of the South China Coast, 1790–1810.

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

Qing Shilu (Veritable Records of the Qing Dynasty).

Spence, Jonathan D. The Search for Modern China.

Woodside, Alexander. "The Ch'ien-lung Reign" in The Cambridge History of China Vol. 9, Pt. 1: The Ch'ing Empire to 1800.

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For nearly a quarter century, Heshen served the Qing Empire - and in the process managed to amass a fortune that nearly rivaled the throne itself. Yet with the death of his patron Qianlong, the once-favored Grand Councilor would find his remaining state tenure as short as the length of silk ultimately left in his cell.

Time Period Covered:

1799-1800 CE

Major Historical Figures:

The Qianlong Emperor (Aisin-Gioro Hongli) [r. 1735–1796, d. 1799]

The Jiaqing Emperor (Aisin-Gioro Yongyan) [r. 1796-1820]

Heshen, Grand Councilor, Chief Grand Secretary, Minister of the Imperial Household, etc., etc. [1750-1799]

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As both the Qianlong Emperor's extensive reign and the Eighteenth Century itself comes to a close, the Qing Empire faces - in spite of its outward posturing of timeless grandeur and invulnerability - an ever more uncertain future. By this time his successor, the Jiaqing Emperor, assumes power in fact, the winds of historic change have already begun to blow.

Time Period Covered:

~1735-1800

Major Historical Actors:

The Qianlong Emperor [Aisin-Gioro Hongli) [r. 1735-1796, d. 1799]

The Jiaqing Emperor (Aisin-Gioro Yongyan) [r. 1796-1820]

Grand Secretary Heshen [1750-1799]

Major Sources Cited:

Crossley, Pamela Kyle. A Translucent Mirror: History and Identity in Qing Imperial Ideology.

Hsü, Immanuel C. Y. The Rise of Modern China. 6th ed.

Jones, Susan Mann, and Philip A. Kuhn. “The Chia-ch’ing Reign.” In The Cambridge History of China, Volume 9, Part Two: The Ch’ing Empire to 1911.

Rowe, William T. China’s Last Empire: The Great Qing.

Woodside, Alexander. The Centre and the Borderlands in Chinese Political Culture.

Woodside, Alexander. “The Ch’ien-lung Reign” In The Cambridge History of China, Volume 9, Part One: The Ch’ing Empire to 1800.

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From London’s harbors to Canton’s bustling hongs and the Qianlong Emperor’s Dragon Throne, Lord George Macartney’s 1792-94 mission to Great Qing unveils profound cultural divides, shaping centuries of Sino-Western relations. This series explores a pivotal diplomatic clash that redefined global history.

Time Period Covered:

1792-1794 CE

Major Historical Figures:

Qing Empire:

The Qianlong Emperor (Aisin-Gioro Hongli) [r. 1735–1796]

Chief Minister Heshen (1750–1799)

Wang Wenxiong, mid-level imperial bureaucrat

British Empire:

Lord George Macartney, ambassador extraordinaire [1737–1806]

Sir George Staunton [1737-1801]

William Alexander [1767–1816]

John Barrow, Comptroller [1764-1848]

Sgt. Maj. Samuel Holmes, 11th Lt. Dragoons

Major Works Cited:

Berg, Maxine. The Birth of the Modern World, 1780–1914: Global Connections and Comparisons.

Cranmer-Byng, John. “The Chinese Documents Relating to the Macartney Embassy.” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1961.

Gao, Hao. Creating the Opium War: British Imperial Attitudes Toward China, 1792–1840.

Hevia, James L. Cherishing Men from Afar: Qing Guest Ritual and the Macartney Embassy of 1793.

Holmes, Samuel. Journal of the Macartney Expedition.

Macartney, Lord George. Journal of the Macartney Expedition.

Peyrefitte, Alain. The Immobile Empire: The First Great Collision of East and West. Knopf, 1992.

Qing Archival Records. Tr. in Presents and Tribute: Documents on the Macartney Embassy.

Staunton, George. An Authentic Account of an Embassy from the King of Great Britain to the Emperor of China.

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Qianlong's empire shines as a beacon of both martial might and cultural splendor, yet its mirrored glory hides truths too fragile for celestial ambitions.

Time Period Covered:

~1770-1799CE

Major Historical Figures:

Qing Empire:

The Qianlong Emperor (Aisin-Gioro Hongli) [r. 1735–1796, d. 1799]

Grand Councillor Heshen [1750-1799]

Great Britain:

Lord George Macartney (1737-1806)

Major Sources Cited:

Bland, J.O.P. and Lord Edmund Backhouse. Annals and Memoirs of the Court at Peking.

Fairbank, John King, and Denis Twitchett, eds. The Cambridge History of China, Volume 9, Part 1: The Ch'ing Empire to 1800.

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

Woodside, Alexander. The Qing in the Age of Confucian Empire.

Yuan, Wei. Shengwu ji (Sacred Military Achievements).

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"O King of Wherever, New Throne Who Dis?"

0:00:00 - Edict of Emperor Qianlong to King George III, 1793

0:06:34 - The Second Edict to George III (in reply to Macartney's note)

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"Dear Emperor of China, will you be my friend? Check Yes or No..."

0:00:00 - Letter of Credence from King George III to Emperor Qianlong, 1793 CE

0:10:20 - Author's note

0:11:44 - Lord Macartney's Sixfold Proposals for the Improvement of Trade

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In the wake of military victory, Qianlong turns inward—launching literary purges, rewriting history, and curating an image of himself as the enlightened ruler of a Confucian empire. Through censorship, spectacle, and the manipulation of memory, the Qing court fights a new kind of war: one for cultural supremacy and imperial legitimacy.

Time Period Covered:

~ 1735–1760 CE

Major Historical Figures:

The Qianlong Emperor (Aisin-Gioro Hongli) [r. 1735-1796]

Grand Secretary No'chin [d. 1749]

Historican Wei Yuan [1794-1857]

Major Works Cited:

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

Qian, Zhongshu – Tán Yì Lù, "On the Art of Poetry."

Qianlong Emperor. The Siku Quanshu (四库全书) - Qing Imperial Encyclopedia.

Woodside, Alexander. Lost Modernities: China, Vietnam, Korea, and the Hazards of World History.

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What does it take to hold an empire together when conquest alone isn’t enough?

In this sweeping episode, we explore how the Qianlong Emperor fused culture, coercion, and Confucian performance to stabilize a multiethnic empire—crafting an imperial image as powerful as his armies.

Time Period Covered:

~ 1735–1760 CE

Major Historical Figures:

The Qianlong Emperor (Aisin-Gioro Hongli) [r. 1735-1796]

Grand Secretary No'chin [d. 1749]

Historican Wei Yuan [1794-1857]

Major Works Cited:

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

Qian, Zhongshu – Tán Yì Lù, "On the Art of Poetry."

Qianlong Emperor, The Siku Quanshu (四库全书) - Qing Imperial Encyclopedia.

Woodside, Alexander. Lost Modernities: China, Vietnam, Korea, and the Hazards of World History.

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This was no peace borne of reconciliation; this was silence, enforced by amnesia.

Time Period Covered:

~ 1739-1759 CE

Major Historical Figures:

Qing Empire:

The Qianlong Emperor (Aisin Gioro Hongli) [r. 1735–1796]

Minister Fuheng

General Bandi [d. 1755]

General Yongchang

Khalka Mongols:

Prince Erinchindorj [d. 1756]

Prince Chingünjav [d. 1757]

Dzungar Mongols:

Amursana [d. 1757]

Major Sources Cited:

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

Woodside, Alexander. "The Ch'ien-Lung Reign" in The Cambridge History of Vol. 9: The Ch'ing Dynasty, Part 1: To 1800.

Woodside, Alexander. Lost Modernities: China, Vietnam, Korea, and the Hazards of World History.

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