History

Historical Battles: Rewriting China's Past to Shape the Future

Historical Battles: Rewriting China's Past to Shape the Future

Jeffrey Wasserstrom joins Barbarians at the Gate to discuss the legacy of the Hong Kong protests, Xi Jinping’s patriotic education law, and how Beijing’s control over historical narratives is reshaping academic engagement with China.

Dan Snow's History Hit The Creation of the People's Republic of China

Dan Snow's History Hit The Creation of the People's Republic of China

How China transitioned from imperial rule to Chinese Socialism and all about the key characters whose opposing visions for China's future created so much chaos along the way.

Philip Kuhn: Sorcery and Bureaucracy in Qing China

Philip Kuhn: Sorcery and Bureaucracy in Qing China

A supernatural crisis pits an anxious autocrat against his own functionaries when a hunt for soul-stealing sorcerers turns into a political witch-hunt among 18th-century China’s “deep state.”

Edge of Empire with author and journalist Edward Wong

Edge of Empire with author and journalist Edward Wong

In this episode of Barbarians at the Gates, Edward Wong of the New York Times joins David and me to discuss Ed's new book, At the Edge of Empire. We discuss frontiers, what the Qing Dynasty means for China, and the different generational perspectives on China's recent past.

There and Back Again: Deng Xiaoping's Southern Tour and the Legacy of Reform and Opening in China

There and Back Again: Deng Xiaoping's Southern Tour and the Legacy of Reform and Opening in China

In this episode, Jonathan Chatwin discusses his book "The Southern Tour," focusing on Deng Xiaoping's 1992 tour to revitalize market reforms in China, Deng's legacy, Xi Jinping's stance on these reforms, and the challenges of publishing about China today.

Seeking News, Making China

Seeking News, Making China

In this episode of Barbarians at the Gate, we talk to historian John Alekna about his new book "Seeking News, Making China," which examines the role of information technology in 20th-century China, from the early radio era to the Cultural Revolution.

Peter Goullart: Forgotten Kingdom

Peter Goullart: Forgotten Kingdom

20 years after “Shangri-La” was coined in the Western imagination, a Russian adventurer published a memoir from the valley of Lijiang, southwest China, that is strikingly similar yet a world apart.

Ellen La Motte: An American Nurse in Peking

Ellen La Motte: An American Nurse in Peking

In 1916, an American activist and writer traveled to China from the frontlines of World War I. What she saw in the city delighted her; what she saw in the opium trade appalled her.

History Wars: The PRC pushes back against unsanctioned views of the past

History Wars: The PRC pushes back against unsanctioned views of the past

David and I discuss what's going on with the Qing history project, a controversy about Genghis Khan in France, and how PRC continues punching back against potentially problematic pasts.

Asymmetrical warfare in the battle over China’s past

Asymmetrical warfare in the battle over China’s past

Chinese history — very distant and very near — is filled with people who did not, and do not, abide by the government's "official" version of events. Ian Johnson gives them a voice in his latest book, Sparks.

How the Whampoa Academy Gave Birth to Famous Enemies in Chinese Political History

How the Whampoa Academy Gave Birth to Famous Enemies in Chinese Political History

When classes first convened on June 16, 1924, China’s first modern military academy aimed to reunite a divided nation. It didn’t quite work out that way.

Blood on the Tracks: The Story of China’s Greatest Train Robbery

Blood on the Tracks: The Story of China’s Greatest Train Robbery

Author James Zimmerman’s new book examines the surprising stories behind the 1923 robbery of the Peking Express, China’s most modern train at the time

The Forbidden City with Matthew Hu

The Forbidden City with Matthew Hu

On this episode of Barbarians at the Gate, Matthew Hu of the Beijing Cultural Heritage Preservation Center joins Jeremiah and David Moser to look at the Forbidden City's past, present, and future and the challenges of restoring and exhibiting the museum’s 1.8 million artifacts.

Mistrust on Both Sides: On Terry Lautz’s “Americans in China” and John Delury’s “Agents of Subversion”

Mistrust on Both Sides: On Terry Lautz’s “Americans in China” and John Delury’s “Agents of Subversion”

“The success of US-China relations relies on forging relationships at a personal level,” writes Jeremiah Jenne reviewing John Delury’s “Agents of Subversion” and Terry Lautz’s “Americans in China."