67 episodes
Barbarians at the Gate Barbarians at the Gate
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- History
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4.8 • 17 Ratings
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A semi-serious deep dive into Chinese history and culture broadcast from Beijing and hosted by Jeremiah Jenne and David Moser.
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Barbarians at the Gate Podcast: The An Lushan Rebellion
Our inaugural episode looks at An Lushan: the outsider who charmed his way into the court of the Tang Dynasty in the eighth century and who almost succeeded in bringing down the empire. It’s a story made for imperial slash fic: The aging emperor, his rotund but sexy concubine, and the foreigner who came between them.
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Barbarians at the Gate Podcast: A couple of characters talking about Chinese characters
David Moser (Beijing Capital Normal University, Sinica Podcast) and Brendan O'Kane (Paper Republic, University of Pennsylvania) join Jeremiah to discuss David's new book, A Billion Voices, the history of language reform and national unity in China, the best way to learn Chinese, and the debate over whether it's okay to hate on Chinese characters.
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Barbarians at the Gate Podcast: Keeping up with the Khitans
In this episode of Barbarians at the Gate, James and Jeremiah discuss the history of the Khitans, their empire and their legacy with a little help from the Godfather Trilogy and Dragon Barbie from Game of Thrones.
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Barbarians at the Gate Podcast: China’s territorial claims on the rocks in the South China Sea
On Tuesday, an international tribunal at the Hague ruled that China’s attempts to claim almost the entire South China Sea as sovereign territory had no legal basis.
In a special emergency podcast, Jeremiah and James talk about the implications of the decision at the Hague, the reaction here in Beijing, and the use (and abuses) of history in establishing contemporary territorial claims. -
Barbarians at the Gate Podcast: Yaqub Beg and the Provincializing of Western China
Jeremiah and James look at the life and times of Yaqub Beg (1820-1877) and what his legacy means for Beijing's relationship with Western China and Central Asia today.
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The Language and History of Public Health in China
The outbreak of Covid-19 has drawn attention to public health in China and around the world. In the early stages, there was considerable criticism of China's initial handling of the outbreak. This criticism drew an emotional response in China. In this episode of Barbarians at the Gate, Jeremiah Jenne and David Moser look at the intimate link in Chinese history between public health, hygiene, and modernity.
Note: In the podcast, we mention China's expulsion of Wall Street Journal reporters Josh Chin, Chao Deng, and Philip Wen (https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-expels-three-wall-street-journal-reporters-11582100355). Since we taped the podcast, the situation has escalated and last week the government pulled the press cards of all US citizens working as reporters in China for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/17/business/media/china-expels-american-journalists.html). Local employees at those bureaus have also been pressured to leave their jobs (https://www.ft.com/content/c5cfe8f8-6bf4-11ea-9bca-bf503995cd6f). We don’t mention those events here, but we will be discussing the situation on an upcoming podcast.
Here are links to some of the articles, books, and websites mentioned during the podcast:
Walter Russell Mead, China is the Sick Man of Asia (https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-is-the-real-sick-man-of-asia-11580773677), Wall Street Journal (February 3, 2020)
Jeremiah Jenne, Empires of Disease: Why the Coronavirus is an emotional issue for China and the World (https://radiichina.com/empires-of-disease-why-the-coronavirus-is-such-an-emotional-issue-for-china-and-the-world/), Radii China (February 10, 2020)
Ruth Rogaski, Hygienic Modernity: Meanings of Health and Disease in Treaty-Port China (https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520240018/hygienic-modernity) (2004)
Mao Zedong, “A Study of Physical Education (https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-6/mswv6_01.htm)” (New Youth xin qingnian, 1917)
Karl Taro Greenfeld, China Syndrome: The True Story of the 21st Century's First Great Epidemic (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000SEHJLQ/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1) (2009)
Chinese Propaganda Posters website (https://chineseposters.net/)
Poster: "Everybody must take precautions against epidemics (https://chineseposters.net/posters/e13-964.php)" (1952)
Poster: "Less births, better births, to develop China vigorously (https://chineseposters.net/posters/e13-871.php)" (1987)
6.8.0
Customer Reviews
Characters talking about characters
I, personally, think it’s much ado about nothing. Of course, as a 58yr old former medical professional, now severely disabled and house-bound for the most part; I may not be your average non-native student. My Son is currently finishing his MBA and preparing to move to China. Although he began learning Chinese about 11 years ago, he feels that new learners today are “spoiled” with the wide, free and inexpensive, resources for both learning and actually using characters.
About 13 years ago, I spent 3 years studying Sanskrit-still an alphabetical system, setting the Devanagari apart from Simplified or Traditional Chinese characters. However, by integrating calligraphy and art into my studies, I found it much easier to remember the characters. I’m doing the same thing with Chinese characters. My Son is much too busy and the distance between us makes it impossible for him to help me much. Instead, he connected me with some of his Chinese friends in Shenzhen and Guangzhou, who run companies and distribution centers that deal directly with American and European, English-speaking consumers. Over the past 6 months, I’ve put together my own self-study program with their assistance. My kids now joke that “Moms kids in China”, have “reverse-adopted” me, sending me books, calligraphy supplies and many little Knick-knacks, scrolls and even free products. I’ve helped them out by writing and re-writing their sales copy to make it more legible and attractive to English speakers. Eventually, I am going to start translating instruction booklets for some new products as well as re-write instructions for current products with those “impossible to follow” google-translated instructions people often complain about.
The best part about this new journey I find myself on, is realizing how and why my Son fell in love with China, its people and culture. I’ve not only gotten to know these incredible kids; but I have also gotten to know some of their families. Last month, some of the kids took me along, by live video, to their Spring Festival and New Years celebrations. I was able to virtually experience everything from the State’s official concert and fireworks in Beijing, to a traditional Opera in Shanghai, to family feasts and small village celebrations. I’ve become friends with Grandma Lili, who recently retired from teaching English at a major university, and who has made my education in Chinese and calligraphy her personal project.
My personal physician and long-time friend says he hasn’t seen me this excited about anything since medical school. Unfortunately, I may never make it over to China physically; but I can honestly say this was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
As an aside; I tried out several online platforms and well-known instructors before I got to know the kids. Almost every one of them strongly advised that I completely ignore the characters for at least a year. They insisted that with today’s technology, even doing direct translations doesn’t require you to be able to read the characters. I have grown to strongly disagree. I’ve even convinced some of the kids to do calligraphy with me, as, like you all mentioned, they have forgotten many of the characters from disuse.
I guess my son is right, we ARE “spoiled” with the resources available today! 谢谢！