The History of China

4.6 (1.1K)
History
Semiweekly Series

A journey through the 5000 years of history documented by one of the world's oldest continuous civilizations. For all the episodes for free, as well as additional content, please subscribe and/or visit http://thehistoryofchina.wordpress.com.

08/08/2025

Special 1: To Qianlong, From George...

"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
08/15/2025

#302 - Qing 37: Palace of Mirrors

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).
08/23/2025

#303 - Qing 38: The Macartney Expedition

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.
08/31/2025

#304 - Qing 39: Twilight of the Dragon

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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Chris Stewart

Host

4.6

out of 5

1,101 Ratings

Pretty dang good

09/29/2025

Deedo2017

The host is friendly and information is well presented
AI Scripting?

Mar 3

socuchdbshai

Hi— generally huge fan of the podcast through the mid Qing episodes. That said, around episode 303 it becomes pretty clear that the scripts are a SIGNIFICANTLY lower quality than earlier episodes, which is sad as a longtime supporter of the podcast. I sincerely hope Chris addresses the fairly clear use of AI in his recent episodes and commits to a return to his own writing as before. It’s just sad to get so deep into a podcast and have it rendered unlistenable out of nowhere. 5/5 rating for earlier episodes, 1/5 for the new AI slop episodes. We listen for your personal voice and your generally very strong narrative choices, not for regurgitated wikipedia facts poorly strung together by chatgpt. Hopefully this isn’t needlessly harsh because there is SO much I love about the earlier podcast installments, but it has impacted the quality enough that I feel like it needed to be said.
AI why?

Feb 20

Naomi Kan

Like previous users I have noticed a drop in quality lately. It felt like multiple episodes were covering the same events, and it was hard to keep the chronology straight. Then I noticed that Chris was speaking in a way reminiscent of AI. For instance he would have strings of vague adjectives or would use “It’s not just x, it’s y” language formulations. Then I came on here and saw two other reviews noting the AI use. I don’t object to the AI by itself, but the drop in quality is quite startling and honestly a bit depressing. Chris started this project in 2013. I have gone through thousands of years of Chinese history with him. And now, near the end, he is destroying that legacy. I deleted the remaining episodes from my podcast player and likely won’t listen again. Wish he would somehow scrub and re-record the AI episodes but I know that likely won’t happen. Just a very sad turn of events.
Strong star but weakens as it goes on

Jan 23

AdriaticOakSea

As a long time listener, I am lowering my rating to 3 stars due to the clear (and poor) use of AI for the latest episodes. Content is clearly repetitive and poorly formatted, this drop in quality is not obvious to Chris is beyond me. Prior to this I would have rated the show 4.5 stars.

A journey through the 5000 years of history documented by one of the world's oldest continuous civilizations. For all the episodes for free, as well as additional content, please subscribe and/or visit http://thehistoryofchina.wordpress.com.