Ep. 138 | Sir Edmund Backhouse (Part 2)

The China History Podcast
Written By Laszlo Montgomery

Fast on the heels of Part 1 of this CHP overview of the life of the Sinologist Sir Edmund Backhouse, we present Part 2, which looks at the years between 1911-1924, the year’s in which Backhouse committed a litany of frauds and established himself in London and Beijing as someone not to be trusted.

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Terms in Episode

Pinyin/TermChineseEnglish/Meaning
Baijiu白酒Chinese fiery clear alcoholic beverage, between 40-60% ABV
Cixi慈禧The Empress Dowager Tzu Hsi
Daoguang道光The Daoguang Emperor
Jing Shan景善a.k.a. Ching Shan, The court official whose diary Backhouse faked
Kang Youwei康有为Controversial figure in late 19th century China politics, closely associated with the Hundred Days of Reform under the Tongzhi Emperor
laowai老外foreigner
Li Lianying李蓮英Grand Eunuch during the reign of the Dowager Empress
Liang Shiyi梁士诒Yuan Shikai’s finance minister, a high-up guy in the Beiyang Government
Prince Chun醇亲王Father of the Guangxu Emperor, grandfather of Puyi, half brother of the Xianfeng emperor
Puyi溥仪The Last Emperor
Rong Lu荣禄Also known as Jung-lu, Cixi’s most trusted official, a major power in China
Xu Shichang徐世昌President of the ROC from 1918-1922…Yuan Shikai’s closest advisor and ally

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