This is our 2022 Lunar New Year special edition. We hope you enjoy this episode and Happy New Year!

Every year around late January or early February, people all over the world celebrate the Lunar New Year according to the traditional lunisolar calendar.

As for the United States, in the 1950th, grand celebrations and American style parades in San Francisco Chinatown brought the concept of the Chinese New Year to the general American public, first to fight against racism and to show loyalty to the United States during the Cold War, as well as to boost Chinatown tourism business, although reinforcing the modal minority myth as well as other racial stereotypes , these public displays of Americanness during Chinese New Years celebrations contributed to a unique identity forward for Chinese Americans as well as for Chinatowns all around North America. Then, in the 1970s, American presidents started wishing the public "Happy Chinese New Year". In the 1980s and 90s, we see the transition from "Chinese New Year" to "Lunar New Year", we see an Asian American and AAPI identity emerging.

Throughout these historical changes, much like the "War on Christmas", for a Chinese celebrity or an international institution, to say "Happy Chinese New Year" or "Happy Lunar New Year" can be seen as a political stance. Was there really a war on Chinese New Year? Or, should we all fight for the Lunar New Year in observance of solidarity as well as intersectionality in today's America as well as the world?

Before the release of Edward Hunter's 1951 book, the term 'Brainwashing' did not exist in the English Language. Originally a translation of a Chinese term for political reeducation (洗腦，or "wash brain"), the term might have remained unknown in the US. However in the the next two years several thousand American (and international) Prisoners would undergo this 'Brain Washing' during the Korean War.

The fact that this process seemed so effective (23 Americans refused to return to the US, wanting to stay in China) lead to an explosion of interest in Brainwashing and Mind Control, both in fiction and policy.

In this episode we discuss reports of those initial 'Brain Washings', how it was done, how to resist it, and the results it could achieve.

We also discuss the US's reaction, and the CIA's attempts to compete with its own ambitious brain washing program, and its successes and failures.

Selected Sources:

Brain-Washing in Red China: The Calculated Destruction of Men's Minds (1951), Edward Hunter

Brainwashing: The Story of Men Who Defied It (1956), Edward Hunter

Maoism: A Global History (2019), Julia Lovell

The Search for the "Manchurian Candidate" (1991), John Marks

The Korean War (1987), Max Hastings

While naturalistic expeditions in the colonial era were cloaked in the mantle of progress and discovery, they often had a more opportunistic motive. Native plants, animals, and techniques which had already long been known to others were 'rediscovered' by Europeans and mass produced across their colonies on an industrial scale.

After the events of the first Opium war, Chinese methods of Tea cultivation eventually became a casualty of this process.

In this episode we talk about the industrial espionage that lead to the British Empire breaking China's monopoly on tea production, as well as the system of Royal Botanical gardens that facilitated the spread of economically useful plants across the empire.

Since the founding of the Peoples Republic of China in 1949, it has had a special focus on Africa. Referred to often as 'African Brothers' (非洲兄弟), the PRC sought new markets, new communist comrades, and international recognition, in the emerging continent.

In order to gain this they freely sent arms, aid and propagranda, hoping to imbue Africa with some Chineses characteristics of its own. In this periodic series, we'll attempt to touch on every major Sino-African relationship, from 1949 to the present day.

In this Episode, we discuss Tanzania, and China's involvement in it, from the Cultural Revolution inspired social movements, to the impressive works of infrastructure development.

China has always had a piracy problem. However in the early 18th century, Piracy quickly morphed from scattered opportunists, into a massive state-like operation. With hundreds of ships and 10s of thousands of men, they quickly overwhelmed the Qing Naval forces, and were able to extract tribute from Chinese and Foreigners alike.

Much of this was due to the organizational and diplomatic skill of Shi Yang, AKA Ching Shih, who, with her various husbands, forged the various fleets into a powerful pirate confederacy.

In this episode we discuss the history of Chinese piracy, how it differed from the west, how Shi Yang organized this massive confederacy, and why it eventually negotiated for a peaceful settlement with the Qing Empire.

Chinese novels on crime, mystery and justice have a long and separate history from crime novels in the west. Often written by retired officials, they are useful both as entertaining, and as a description of how courts, laws, and investigations happened in the Imperial Chinese Justice system.

Today we talk about Judge Dee（狄仁杰）, a real Tang Dynasty judge and statesman, subject of countless works. Specifically the 18th century novel that was translated by Robert Van Gulik as 'Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee'. Listen in and learn how magistrates solve crimes, how trials are conducted, and why you never want to find yourself in an Imperial Chinese court (as a victim or a defendant!).

After the failures of the Cultural Revolution, and the advent of economic liberalization, the Communist Party needed to refocus its propaganda efforts to stay current.

1997s 'The Opium War' was the country's most expensive film to date. Made partially to commemorate the return of Hong Kong to Chinese control, it attempted to tell a version of the 1st Opium War that aligned to the CCPs narrative of the century of shame.

In this movie we talk the good, the bad, and the funny, going over the movie, and comparing it to the actual historical event.

The extract of the Opium Poppy is one of humanities oldest drugs, and has been widely used and traded for thousands of years. However when the mass production of refined Opium by the East India Company combined with a new and efficient method of smoking it, a worldwide sensation ensued.

At the height of its popularity, Opium was a worldwide sensation. On major cities across the globe, sumptuously appointed opium dens could be found where the rich, famous, and adventurous could enjoy a pipe of the drug. Imaginatively styled after the private chambers of oriental princes, they were a fixture of nightlife in many cities for almost a century.

In this episode we talk about the history of opium, the history of its abuse, and how it eventually fell out of favor and was replaced by stronger alternatives.

The extract of the Opium Poppy is one of humanities oldest drugs, and has been widely used and traded for thousands of years. However when the mass production of refined Opium by the East India Company combined with a new and efficient method of smoking it, a worldwide sensation ensued.

At the height of its popularity, Opium was a worldwide sensation. On major cities across the globe, sumptuously appointed opium dens could be found where the rich, famous, and adventurous could enjoy a pipe of the drug. Imaginatively styled after the private chambers of oriental princes, they were a fixture of nightlife in many cities for almost a century.

In this episode we talk about the history of opium, the history of its abuse, and how it eventually fell out of favor and was replaced by stronger alternatives.

In 1833 the East India Company would lose its monopoly on Chinese trade. This change, and the lack of an effective structure to replace it, would create a power vacuum in and around China's only western trading port (Canton).

British Opium Traders took this opportunity to flood in and make fortunes, and to use those fortunes to promote a more belligerent diplomatic stance towards China.

As the Qing Empire attempted to stamp out the Opium trade, Canton, now awash with Opium, became the flashpoint for a conflict neither the British Empire, nor the Qing Empire actually wanted.

The First Opium War is often seen as the beginning of China's 'Century of Shame' , a time when Foreigners ran rampant, and China lacked the ability to set its own destiny.

However even without the aggression of Great Britain, China (Qing Dynasty) was undergoing a series of internal crisis, each with the potential to end the dynasty.

Rebellion, Inflation, Ethnic Tension, Failures of Government, Piracy, and waning military power, all seemed to strike at once, and help explain why the Qing Dynasty would be so ineffective against the British during the 1840 Opium War.

Its 1949 and Pandas are more popular than ever. Within Communist China, they achieve a rock star status, they appear on every product imaginable, and fuel attempts at scientific reform.

Outside of China, as Pandas die in captivity one after another, they become the poster child for conservation and the highest prize imaginable for zoos to obtain.

As China normalizes its relationship with most of the world Post 1972, Pandas would continue to be many things to many different people, National Symbol, Conservation Project, Money Maker, and Political Bargaining chip.

Despite their superstar status today, Pandas has spent most of history in relative obscurity. Living in remote, bamboo covered hills, they were rarely seen, and even more rarely recorded.

However with the explosion of westerners entering the country in the late Qing dynasty, came hunters, 'zoologists' and others interested in killing or capturing Pandas. These interlopers would for better or worse, catapult the Panda onto the international scene, and for a brief period they could be found in Zoos across the world.

In this first of a 2 part series, we discuss the history of Pandas from time immemorial to the dawn of the People's Republic of China (1949).

By the late 1700s, the United Kingdom was by far China's largest European trade partner. Millions of tons of Tea, Porcelain, silks, and other goods came from China every year on British ships, creating vast wealth both in trade, and in taxes, for the Crown.

Despite this, relations with the Qing court remained, as ever, frosty. To remedy this a grand embassy was sent from London to Peking, in order to cement a deeper relationship (and acquire a large number of financial and territorial goals).

Despite its lofty goals, arrogance, cultural misunderstandings, and simple overreach would plague the mission, perhaps even dooming it from the start.

From Ming Empire remnants, to anti-Japanese rebels, the Island of Taiwan has a long history of self determination.

When the remnants of the Republic of China fled the mainland to Taiwan in 1949, it was a republic in little but name. With corrupt elections, single party politics, and a byzantine electoral process, the average citizen had little chance of influencing politics.

In this episode we discuss the long, painful, and often bloody road by which Taiwan (ROC) exited martial law, reformed its politics, and created what is now possibly the most progressive and vibrant democracy in Asia (if not the world!).

After Mao's death and the end of the cultural revolution, the Communist party engaged in the policy of 拨乱反正 (eliminating chaos and returning to normal). A feature of this time period, was a relative lack of censorship, and an acceptance of self reflection. One form of new literature that emerged was 伤痕文学 (scar literature / literature of the wounded), which were works that attempted to make sense of the human tragedy China had experienced over the preceding decade.

Today we look at two Chinese produced films inspired by that movement, 1993's The Blue Kite, and 1994's To Live. Both films explore the tragedy and loss of a family during the Maoist period of China, and were both banned locally after being completed.

They're really good and you should watch them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Live_(1994_film)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blue_Kite

The character of Fu Manchu isn't just an insensitive stereotype, or a villain that happens to be asian. It was the direct result of a failed author knowingly and purposefully cashing on on racist fears and tensions he sensed around his home city of 1910s London.

Poorly written, and with essentially no factual information, its more racist propaganda than adventure series. It is an embarrassment that the novels are available for purchase on major storefronts, and that they are sold and marketed as fun crime stories, like Sherlock Holmes, or the Invisible man.

Natalie and Cherrie discuss the work, its origin, and its historical context.

While there are many delicate issues that can affect foreign businesses in China, one of increasing scope and frequency are public boycotts. Often coming quickly and without warning, a company can go from beloved to hated almost overnight, for something as simple as the wrong label on a website menu, or a statement concerning the ethical sourcing of cotton.

In this episode we discuss the origin of boycotts amongst the birth of Chinese nationalism, and their reemergence in the 21st century. While originally spontaneous grassroots affairs, these modern boycotts are supported by Chinese State Media, and are often used as an unofficial arm of state policy.

However, despite their high profile, these boycotts seem to have a mixed result in actually changing the way foreign companies do business in china, or in changing the habits of Chinese consumers.

In 1912, Yuan Shikai would become the interim President of the new Republic of China. However, despite the hope heaped on him, his 3 year term would be marked by assassination, authoritarian power consolidation, and his founding of a new imperial dynasty.

Despite some accomplishments, this disastrous term would poison the well of Chinese representative government, destroying any real chance of actual power sharing or rule of law for decades.

In this episode we discuss the how and the why. Was Yuan Shikai simply a power hungry autocrat who had bidden their time, or was he a deluded old man who would not compromise his vision of China's future.

Probably a little of both!

In 1912, Yuan Shikai seemed sure to go down in history as China's beloved George Washington. Beloved and respected by both reformers and conservatives, he owed his position as China's first true president by both unanimous election, and Imperial decree.

Within a few short years though, he would become China's greatest villain. Join us for a two part episode where we discuss the rise and fall of the man who transitioned China from an Empire to a Republic, and attempted to keep it together in the process.

In this episode, we discuss his rise. How a man who never passed a civil service examination could rise so high and so quickly within the rigid world of Imperial China. How his bravery, cunning, and administrative skill made him famous and respected, not just within China, but worldwide.