Ep. 345 | Howqua
Anyone vaguely familiar with the Qing Dynasty and the lead-up to the Opium War knows of Howqua.
Shanghai's Uchiyama Bookstore with Naoko Kato
Laszlo interviews Dr. Naoko Kato about her new book that introduces the life of Uchiyama Kanzō and his historic bookstore in Shanghai's International Settlement.
Special Episode | Qing Era Snuff Bottles with Andrew Singer
Laszlo invites Mr. Andrew Singer onto the CHP to satiate the curiosity of anyone wishing to know more about what snuff is and the elegant bottles they were housed in.
CHP Special Episode | Interview w/ Larry Feign on The Pirate Queen Zheng Yi Sao
Laszlo is pleased to present an interview with longtime Hong Kong resident, writer, and cartoonist Larry Feign to discuss his new novel The Flower Boat Girl.
CHP Special Episode | Ian McCollum & Pistols of the Warlord Era
In this special CHP Special Episode, Laszlo is thrilled to welcome Mr. Ian McCollum to discuss his new book Pistols of the Warlord: Chinese Domestic Handguns, 1911-1949.
Ep. 196 | The British East India Company (Part 2)
Laszlo finishes off this brief overview of The Honorable Company. It’s a very rough landing for the East India Company as their commercial rivals and political enemies gradually put an end to their winning run going back to the 17th century.
Ep. 195 | The British East India Company (Part 1)
The Honorable East India Company played a somewhat starring role during the Qing Dynasty starting from about the Jiaqing Emperor. In this first of a two-part series, I am offering you an overview of who they were, where they came from, and how they came to be so hated by so many.
Ep. 179 | The Ancient History of Silk
The history of silk is really an amazing testament to humankind’s ingenuity and the randomness of life since Neolithic times.
Ep. 178 | William Mesny (Part 2)
In Part 2 of this series examining the forgotten life of William Mesny, we hear the second half of his story in China.
Ep. 177 | William Mesny (Part 1)
In this first part of a two-part series, we examine the life of William Mesny, an unknown character from the old days of late Qing Dynasty China. Though he never made it to the history books, he nonetheless witnessed and took part in a lot of it.
Ep. 176 | The History of the Teochew People
In this episode, Laszlo explains a little about the Teochew people. They’re a proud group of people with a collective track record that is admirable by any standards of human achievement.
Ep. 174 | The Pirate Queen Zheng Yi Sao
Zheng Yi Sao was a tough woman from the Pearl River Delta who married the most notorious pirate of his day, Zheng Yi. Upon his death, she took control of his massive pirate fleet and grew it to what was, at the time, the largest pirate fleet that preyed on coastal dwellers and vessels engaged in trade.
Ep. 173 | The Tong Wars of New York Chinatown (Part 3)
Laszlo offers up the exciting conclusion to the China History Podcast’s 3-part series introducing the Tong Wars of New York’s Chinatown.
Ep. 172 | The Tong Wars of New York Chinatown (Part 2)
In this Part 2 episode, the Tong Wars begin in earnest. Please join us as Laszlo takes a deep dive into the First and Second Tong Wars.
Ep. 171 | The Tong Wars of New York Chinatown (Part 1)
In this oft-requested episode, Laszlo overviews the Tong Wars of New York’s Chinatown. With the help of Scott Seligman’s latest book, Tong Wars, The Untold Story of Vice, Money, and Murder in New York’s Chinatown, we go back to late 19th – early 20th century America and focus on New York’s Chinatown.
Ep. 153 | The History of Opium in China
In this episode, Laszlo examines opium’s history in China and Britain’s participation in the Opium War. The focus of this episode is on opium’s history in China prior to the Opium War.
Ep. 140-6 | Camellia sinensis, Superstar
Just like rock n'roll after Elvis, tea starts to rapidly develop. This episode we'll look at the tea poet Lu Tong and the earliest renowned styles of tea ware.
Ep. 140-5 | The Classic of Tea
It wasn't a very long book but it certainly was consequential. This time we'll look at the granddaddy of all tea treatises (and there were a lot of them that followed).
Ep. 140-4 | The Sage of Tea
This time we look at the great Lu Yu and all that he did to improve the people's understanding and enjoyment of tea.
Ep. 140-3 | Tea Hits the Big Time
The development of Chinese civilizations starts to pick up the pace in the Sui and Tang dynasties. The same went with the taste of tea.