With Chinese Characteristics

Natalie and Cherrie
  • 4.9 (29)
  • HISTORY
  • UPDATED BIWEEKLY

A podcast where Natalie and Cherrie discuss Chinese history and stuff.We think we're funny but we're probably not.Episodes every other Sunday

  1. 05/01/2025

    Saucier Lessons from the Book of Swindles

    We explore MORE crimes and scams in the late ming dynasty with the excellently translated Book of Swindles. This time with magic.  https://cup.columbia.edu/book/the-book-of-swindles/9780231178631

    1h 25m
  2. The First Chinese International Students in America

    02/15/2025

    The First Chinese International Students in America

    In the 19th century, an unlikely international initiative took place. Despite the Qing government's reputation for conservatism and isolationist policies, it actually sponsored a group of 120 Chinese boys to study in the United States. This is the story of the Chinese Education Mission (CEM). An ambitious experiment— it built a short lived but very real bridge between two very different worlds. It was a story of political ambition, and cultural collision, but also one of baseball.  References: - My Life in China and America, by Yung Wing - When I was a boy in China, by Yan Phou Lee - Autobiography with Letters, by William Lyon Phelps - 纪录片《幼童》(2004) -Dr. Xiaoxing Xi on false science espionage accusations, advocacy, and Oppenheimer, MIT Science Policy Review Cover photo:  The "Orientals" baseball club of the CEM boys, taken in front of the Chinese Educational Mission Headquarters, Hartford, 1878. 2-1-11, Thomas E. LaFargue Papers, 1873-1946. Courtesy Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC), Washington State University Libraries.

    1h 49m
  3. Lessons from the Book of Swindles

    01/13/2025

    Lessons from the Book of Swindles

    We explore crimes and scams in the late ming dynasty with the excellently translated Book of Swindles. https://cup.columbia.edu/book/the-book-of-swindles/9780231178631

    1h 5m
  4. Water Margin Ch 18: The Filial and Gallant Dark Third Master

    02/06/2024

    Water Margin Ch 18: The Filial and Gallant Dark Third Master

    We finally meet everyone's favorite guy (Song Jiang), and learn about song dynasty interrogation techniques.

    31 min
  5. Seals of Yore - Stamps with Chinese Characteristics, Part 1

    11/19/2023

    Seals of Yore - Stamps with Chinese Characteristics, Part 1

    This episode delves into Chinese stamps/seals/chops (印章), exploring the origins, ritualization, and various cultural conventions associated with this ancient practice. Given their existence predating the invention of paper in China, what surfaces did ancient Chinese court officials typically stamp upon? Did different dynasties enforce distinct rules regarding stamps? Was the loss of an emperor's jade seals believed to signify the loss of the mandate of heaven? In the late Qing dynasty, the penalty for misusing the stamp could be as severe as death. Was this penalty genuinely enforced, or was it akin to many other historical (and current day) Chinese laws—a fallback scapegoat system? Tune in to uncover the answers!

    1h 2m
  6. The Self Strengthening Movement: Making the Qing Great Again

    10/30/2023

    The Self Strengthening Movement: Making the Qing Great Again

    In this episode we discuss the Qing Dynasty's 'Self Strengthening Movement' of roughly 1861-1890.  Recognizing the superiority of european weapons, technology, and scientific knowledge, the Qing Dynasty attempted to adopt and integrate them into an otherwise unchanged Confucian bureaucracy.   Ambitious Westerners flocked to the country, lured by Qing silver, and with the support of towering Chinese figures such as Li Hongzhang and Cixi, helped the Qing reach a level of power and prosperity that had not been seen for a century.  However, in resisting deeper, more structural changes, the Qing Dynasty would place itself on the wrong side of history, and eventually fall at the hands of more dynamic revolutionaries and reformers.

    1h 6m
  7. WCCBC: Water Margin Ch 17, Exiled to ______ Province

    10/03/2023

    WCCBC: Water Margin Ch 17, Exiled to ______ Province

    Hello everyone. More water margin. Zhang Yhi has to make life changes, and we learn how to motivate your police inspectors.

    48 min
  8. WCCBC: Water Margin Ch 16, Yang Zhi Screws it up Again

    09/14/2023

    WCCBC: Water Margin Ch 16, Yang Zhi Screws it up Again

    In this episode we get to the long awaited robbery of the birthday gifts (worth 100,000 strings of cash). Will our 7 (or 8) brave heroes succeed?

    43 min
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4.9
out of 5
29 Ratings

About

A podcast where Natalie and Cherrie discuss Chinese history and stuff.We think we're funny but we're probably not.Episodes every other Sunday

Information

  • Creator
    Natalie and Cherrie
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2025
  • Episodes
    82
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2025 With Chinese Characteristics
  • Show Website
    With Chinese Characteristics