History Accounts

Paper Son: Chinese American Citizen.  Chinese immigration to America was unique for various reasons.  All of this is the subject of my new series. I begin with the historical account of early American naturalization and immigration events, politics, and jurisprudence.  From the early years I work through and discuss first the Gold Rush and then the construction of the intercontinental railroad to the onslaught of Chinese immigration into the United States. Eventually leading to violence, exclusion, and deportation of Chinese persons.  All this finally led to the United States Government's acknowledgement and apology.  Including a recognition of Chinese American contributions. The discussion about naturalization and immigration inevitably leads to the questions of (1) who should be an American; and (2) what is an American?Support the show

Paper Son: Chinese American Citizen.  Chinese immigration to America was unique for various reasons.  All of this is the subject of my new series. I begin with the historical account of early American naturalization and immigration events, politics, and jurisprudence.  From the early years I work through and discuss first the Gold Rush and then the construction of the intercontinental railroad to the onslaught of Chinese immigration into the United States. Eventually leading to violence, exclusion, and deportation of Chinese persons.  All this finally led to the United States Government's acknowledgement and apology.  Including a recognition of Chinese American contributions. The discussion about naturalization and immigration inevitably leads to the questions of (1) who should be an American; and (2) what is an American?Support the show

Paper Son: Chinese American Citizen.  Chinese immigration to America was unique for various reasons.  All of this is the subject of my new series. I begin with the historical account of early American naturalization and immigration events, politics, and jurisprudence.  From the early years I work through and discuss first the Gold Rush and then the construction of the intercontinental railroad to the onslaught of Chinese immigration into the United States. Eventually leading to violence, exclusion, and deportation of Chinese persons.  All this finally led to the United States Government's acknowledgement and apology.  Including a recognition of Chinese American contributions. The discussion about naturalization and immigration inevitably leads to the questions of (1) who should be an American; and (2) what is an American?Support the show

Paper Son: Chinese American Citizen.  Chinese immigration to America was unique for various reasons.  All of this is the subject of my new series. I begin with the historical account of early American naturalization and immigration events, politics, and jurisprudence.  From the early years I work through and discuss first the Gold Rush and then the construction of the intercontinental railroad to the onslaught of Chinese immigration into the United States. Eventually leading to violence, exclusion, and deportation of Chinese persons.  All this finally led to the United States Government's acknowledgement and apology.  Including a recognition of Chinese American contributions. The discussion about naturalization and immigration inevitably leads to the questions of (1) who should be an American; and (2) what is an American?Support the show

Paper Son: Chinese American Citizen. Chinese immigration to America was unique for various reasons.  All of this is the subject of my new series. I begin with the historical account of early American naturalization and immigration events, politics, and jurisprudence.  From the early years I work through and discuss first the Gold Rush and then the construction of the intercontinental railroad to the onslaught of Chinese immigration into the United States. Eventually leading to violence, exclusion, and deportation of Chinese persons.  All this finally led to the United States Government's acknowledgement and apology.  Including a recognition of Chinese American contributions. The discussion about naturalization and immigration inevitably leads to the questions of (1) who should be an American; and (2) what is an American?Support the show

Paper Son: Chinese American Citizen.  Chinese immigration to America was unique for various reasons.  All of this is the subject of my new series. I begin with the historical account of early American naturalization and immigration events, politics, and jurisprudence.  From the early years I work through and discuss first the Gold Rush and then the construction of the intercontinental railroad to the onslaught of Chinese immigration into the United States. Eventually leading to violence, exclusion, and deportation of Chinese persons.  All this finally led to the United States Government's acknowledgement and apology.  Including a recognition of Chinese American contributions. The discussion about naturalization and immigration inevitably leads to the questions of (1) who should be an American; and (2) what is an American?Support the show

Chinese immigration to America was unique for various reasons.  All of this is the subject of my new series. I begin with the historical account of early American naturalization and immigration events, politics, and jurisprudence.  From the early years I work through and discuss first the Gold Rush and then the construction of the intercontinental railroad to the onslaught of Chinese immigration into the United States. Eventually leading to violence, exclusion, and deportation of Chinese persons.  All this finally led to the United States Government's acknowledgement and apology.  Including a recognition of Chinese American contributions. The discussion about naturalization and immigration inevitably leads to the questions of (1) who should be an American; and (2) what is an American?Support the show

Paper Son: Chinese American Citizen.  Chinese immigration to America was unique for various reasons.  All of this is the subject of my new series. I begin with the historical account of early American naturalization and immigration events, politics, and jurisprudence.  From the early years I work through and discuss first the Gold Rush and then the construction of the intercontinental railroad to the onslaught of Chinese immigration into the United States. Eventually leading to violence, exclusion, and deportation of Chinese persons.  All this finally led to the United States Government's acknowledgement and apology.  Including a recognition of Chinese American contributions. The discussion about naturalization and immigration inevitably leads to the questions of (1) who should be an American; and (2) what is an American?Support the show

Paper Son: Chinese American Citizen.Chinese immigration to America was unique for various reasons.  All of this is the subject of my new series. I begin with the historical account of early American naturalization and immigration events, politics, and jurisprudence.  From the early years I work through and discuss first the Gold Rush and then the construction of the intercontinental railroad to the onslaught of Chinese immigration into the United States. Eventually leading to violence, exclusion, and deportation of Chinese persons.  All this finally led to the United States Government's acknowledgement and apology.  Including a recognition of Chinese American contributions. The discussion about naturalization and immigration inevitably leads to the questions of (1) who should be an American; and (2) what is an American?Support the show

After the war, earnest efforts were made to form a coalition government with the Guomindang and the communists.  When that failed the civil war between the two rekindled. The roughly three-year extension of the civil war saw the collapse of the Nanjing government and the Nationalists' control of China. Eventually leading to in 1949, the inauguration of the Peoples Republic of China, by the communists, and the Nationalists' flight to Taiwan.    

The war with Japan devastated the Nanjing Government, her military, and China.  The Nationalists had survived the war and still remained in power.  Their failures, however, particularly late in the war, and at the nation's greatest time of need, were fateful.  The open, unhealed wound of the issues with the Communist was one of the fateful consequences of the Nationalists' failures.  Efforts failed to find a peaceful solution between the two, including a coalition-led government.  The war had settled one problem but created a myriad of others.  China was unsettled.  

The Sino-Japanese War ends.  Japan's surrender, a momentous event, also ended World War II.  A victory certainly for China and the Allied Powers.  It left, however, many geo-political questions and issues.  The war with Japan also exposed to the world the deteriorated condition of the Nationalist military forces, the Nanjing Government, and China. The victory also did not resolve the open, unhealed sore between the Chinese Nationalist and the Chinese Communist.  By 1945, the Americans began a series of efforts to mediate the two sides toward a coalition government.  Despite some early optimism, the formation of a coalition government evaporated.  Meanwhile the Soviet Union quickly turned to Manchuria and rushed in after the Japanese forces left.  

China's war against Japan eventually merged into the greater world war.  Particularly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japan became a central concern to the Allies, especially the United States. Soon after the Japanese began their war against China, it had planned to pacify and consolidate the territory she had gained in China.  However, largely unsuccessful, by 1942, she had bigger issues with the Allies' efforts against her in the Pacific. That did not deter her from successfully launching and completing her largest military campaign in China.  In the spring of 1944, Japan began Operation Ichigo.  A massive and impressive military offensive to link northern Asia and southern Asia and to rid China of the American airfields. 

Did the second united front between the Nationalists and the Communists solidly meld the two sides together, or was that merely an illusion?  We find out in this episode.   By 1939, the United States was loaning money to the Nationalist government.  There was no appetite by the western nations to pursue appeasement with Japan as they had toward Germany. In 1940, Japan became part of the Axis Powers.  China joined in with the western Allied Powers.  The Sino-Japanese War merged with the greater conflict of World War II. 

The second Sino-Japanese War began in July 1937.  Which side started it can be debated.  We do know it was an eight-year horror show.  It would overlap and influence the coming second world war.  The opening actions of the Japanese war saw terrible human casualties.  These portended what was coming. In this episode I focus on the opening phases of the war.  I end the episode with a question or thought.  What group benefited the most from the disastrous events of the Sino-Japanese War?

The relatively short time span from 1927, after the Nationalists' creation of the Nanjing Government, to 1937, at the start of the Sino-Japanese war, makes it difficult to evaluate that government.  Today, there are mixed views. During a portion of that same time span, Japan tried to solidify their physical and international control of Manchuria.  Protective and restive about their position, Japan sought to expand its empire further into China. That inevitably forced a confrontation with the Nationalist led Nanjing Government. 

Beginning in 1927, Mao Zedong and Zhu De grew the Communist Red Army from a small force of maybe 5,000 troops to over 250,000 troops by 1933. Despite the progressive antagonism and military attacks by the Nationalist forces, the communist learned to recruit for their party primarily from the peasants and the farmers.  They even formed a State within a State called the Chinese Soviet Republic.  It existed mostly in the southeast regions of China.  There the Chinese communist party and the Red Army grew. The Chinese Civil War started with the Autumn Harvest Uprising in 1927 and pitted the communist against the Nationalist.  The war would last intermittently until almost 1950.   After numerous attempts to destroy the communists by Chiang Kai-shek and his Nationalist forces, the Red Army and the communists escaped the southeast region of China.  The Long March, as it is called, ended in 1935. It relocated the army and the communists several thousand miles to Shaanxi Province located in northwest China. After the Xian Incident in late 1936, the Guomindang (Nationalists) and the communist agreed to a temporary truce to form the second united front.  Its purpose was to the fight the ever increasingly aggressive Japanese encroachment into China. 

If the 1920 decade was not enough drama, stay tuned for the even more dramatic 1930s.  The decade tested the new Nationalist government in Nanjing, its leader, Chiang Kai-shek, and China. Internationalism was tossed.  Ever so visible with Japan's aggression toward China.  Beginning in 1931 with the Mukden Incident Japan began its campaign to seize complete control of Manchuria.  Eventually renaming the region Manchukuo and intending to push farther into China. 

The new National government in Nanjing begins.  For most of its existence it was led by Chiang Kai-Shek and his Guomindang cadre.  Many parts of China were united for the first time since 1916.  It was an uneasy unity facing many challenges both immediately and in the future. Chiang Kai-Shek would eventually emerge as an autocratic, powerful, and dynamic leader.  He would face great challenges.  Some of those were economic and political as well as from Japan, warlords, and the Chinese Communist Party.

There were many reasons for the Peking (Beiyang) government's failure.  Its fecklessness led to the organization and planning of the massive nationalist campaign in China in the 1920s. Its goal was to unify China and expel or neutralize foreign intrusion and interference.  Russia ironically played a large role. Through the merger of the Guomindang Nationalists and the Communists, the government in Peking was cast out.  Chiang Kai-Shek emerges during this period as a key leader.  He led the Nationalists in the Northern Expedition to establish a new government in Nanjing in 1928. Later he expelled the Communists from the new government and the Guomindang. 

The May 4, 1919, demonstrations (or revolution, as it is referred to sometimes) opened a public discourse in China over the nation's past and future direction.  It was partially precipitated by the betrayal China received from the Paris Peace Conference.  The Chinese nationalist and communist movements, so prevalent in the next decade, can probably trace their roots to the iconic May 4th event. The multi-national Washington (D.C.) Naval Conference in late 1921 and early 1922, tried to address the Chinese frustrations as well as the Pacific-Asia hegemony issues and balance.  Several key treaties and understandings came out of the conference.  Among those were the return of Shandong Province to China.  Also, the geo-political concept of internationalism became a central focus.  Naval armament quotas and limits in the region were another focus.  

After Yuan Shikai's death in 1916, the next twelve years pitted regional warlords against each other for control of the national government.  This period of time is known as the Beiyang Warlord Era.  China only had limited involvement in World War I.  Japan used the war's distraction to strengthen and gain her foothold in China.  The Treaty of Versailles in 1919, ended the fighting in Europe.  During the negotiations China had discovered it had been betrayed by the western nations, Japan, and her own leaders.

Spring of 1912, and Yuan Shikai is the first president of the Republic of China.  He was given considerable powers, and quickly moved to consolidate it. The newly elected legislative assemblies, both national and provincial, were new political concepts to China.  Whether or not any of this new concept would work depended on many factors and time.   The Nationalists, or Guomindang, were the dominant political party.  They soon, however, found themselves in dispute against the president, Yuan Shikai.  By 1914, he had dissolved the national and local legislatures.  In 1916, he sought to appoint himself an emperor.  That was quickly abandoned after strong and determined opposition. By 1915, world war was consuming the world's attention. China declared her neutrality.  She had her own issues dealing with Japanese aggression in China.

The roughly forty-year period, between the fall of the imperial Qing Dynasty to the inauguration of the People's Republic of China, is a complex, confusing, and ambiguous era in the history of China.  The era is defined by powerful and violent foreign influence in China and intense and violent Chinese nationalism. I begin this episode near the end of the Qing Dynasty and the ushering in of its replacement the Republic of China in 1912.   The early key protagonists in this story are Yuan Shikai and Dr. Sun Yat Sen.  It was a portentous and unclear beginning for the new Republic.

This series will cover the roughly 40-to-50-year period of Chinese history.  It will cover the waning years of the imperial Qing Dynasty to the inauguration of Communist China and the Chinese Nationalist resettlement on Taiwan.  A fascinating and complex period of time.

A final word about (and lessons from) each of the revolutions.

By 1797, the second Directory already had a bad reputation and was mistrusted. It was viewed as corrupt and needed the military to support its continued existence.  The public had turned against the Directory.  In desperation, a coup d'état was planned. Its main author a fellow by the name of Abbe Sieyes.  In collaboration with Napoleon Bonaparte, the military, and others, the Coup of Brumaire in 1799, ousted the existing French government and installed a provisional government run by a Napoleon Bonaparte led consulate.  Thus ended the French Revolution that had begun ten years earlier. By 1975, Zhou Enlai was politically ruined and finished.  He was also dying from a terminal disease.  In Zhou Enlai's absence, Madam Mao and her Gang of Four tried to take advantage of the situation and gain power.  They were thwarted, however, by Chairman Mao and Deng Xiaoping.  Mao eventually installed Hua Guofeng to replace Zhou Enlai.  Both Zhou Enlai and Mao Zedong died in 1976.  Thus ended the Chinese Culture Revolution that had begun ten years earlier.  The Gang of Four were blamed for much of the revolution's disasters.  They all would be convicted and sent to prison. 

The Jacobins unsuccessfully stage a coup d'état in a final attempt to restore their political power in France.  By the late 1790's, France was ready to move away from their radical message.   A new government was elected.  A new Directory took its seat.  The European wars ground on.  Napoleon Bonaparte, now an accomplished and famous figure, proposed to invade Egypt to economically damage their English adversaries in retaliation for England's blockade of France. China's educational system was a wreck after nearly ten years of the culture revolution.  Black markets throughout China thrived in such things as western books, transistor radios, and foreign radio broadcasts.  Wang Hongwen was chosen as the new vice chair or premier replacing the deceased Lin Biao.  Mao Zedong traduced his longtime ally, Zhou Enlai, fearing his perceived lack of commitment to the communist cause.

By the fall of 1794, the Reign of Terror was ending.  France had turned anti-Jacobin.  The terror and tyranny offered by them was no longer seen as productive.  In 1795, the new French Constitution was adopted and the new government seated.  The new legislature was bi-cameral.  The executive functions of the nation to be run by a Directory.  The land war in Europe had once again turned in favor of France.  The English naval blockade, however, was working effectively.  Shortages began to appear. By 1973, the economic conditions in China had turned bad.  Poverty and famine were beginning to assert themselves.  The State planned economy, as well as the communist idea in China, was failing.   By 1974, shortages and deficiencies in medical care were obvious.  Disease spread.  Facilities that had existed to combat some of these diseases had long ago disappeared.  To help alleviate the medical care shortages, China encouraged the training and use of “barefoot doctors”.  Their lack of education, training, and experience, and in many cases incompetence, made conditions worse.

By 1793, The War of (or in) the Vendee region (in France) exploded into a major counter revolution/insurrection against the French Revolution.  With the European war also going bad, the Committee of Public Safety took drastic measures to stop the insurrections.  In the fall of 1793, the former Queen Marie Antoinette  met the same fate as her husband had nine months earlier.  Public opinion of the Jacobins began to turn against them and by the summer of 1794, one of its chief architects and voices, Maximilien Robespierre, was executed by the guillotine.  These same few years are also noted for the infamous Reign of Terror. President Richard Nixon visited China in February 1972.  The first American President to visit the Peoples Republic of China.  His meetings with Mao Zedong led to the Shanghai Communique.  That document, among many things, created the One China Policy concept.  Nixon also tried unsuccessfully to gain concessions or agreements with Chairman Mao on the Vietnam War. By 1973, the culture revolution had permeated every level of the nation.  Apathy and indifference set in causing, at least partially, shortages and rationing of critical items.  

By early 1793, parts of France were beginning to heat up with counter-revolutions opposing the conditions many faced.  In rural France the opposition continued to grow and would later escalate into the War of the Vendee.  Partially in response, the National Assembly, now firmly under the control of the radical Jacobin Party, created the Committee of Public Safety.  The Committee would soon be ushering in the Reign of Terror. Meanwhile, France continued to prosecute the war in Europe.  The thrust and parry of France's military progress typical for this war.  England, Spain, and Russia got involved in the war.  Within six months following the King's execution in early 1793, the whole of Europe was aligned against France. In early 1970, the latest effort, the one strike and three antis' campaign, was launched to root out and remove the perceived counter revolutionaries within China.  To counter and isolate the Soviet Union and to change the world's perception of China, Chairman Mao, using the Chinese table tennis team, invited the United States to China for diplomatic relations.  In 1971, President Nixon's administration sent Henry Kissinger to China to begin the preparatory work for diplomatic relations and an eventual visit from the American President.  By then Mao Zedong had grown weary and distrustful of his Vice Chair, Lin Biao.  Lin Biao, fearing for his life, attempted to flee China by airplane in the dark of night.  The plane crashed in Mongolia in September 1971, allegedly taking the life of Lin Biao and some of his family members.    

The warnings given to the French in 1791 and 1792 by the other European powers were seen as a declaration of war.  The radical National Assembly declared war on Austria.  Prussia soon joined with Austria.  In 1792, the allied forces invaded France.  Despite the French military force's early setbacks in the invasion, they did manage a large victory in the fall of 1792, and stopped the invaders at the Battle of Varmy, France.   By then the Jacobins had joined with other radical factions, such as the sans-culottes, and controlled the nation.  In December of 1792, King Louis XVI was indicted by the radical government for treason and other related crimes.   He was convicted of all the charges in January 1793, and sentenced to death.  He was executed in Paris on January 21, 1793, by the guillotine.In the Spring of 1969, the Chinese and Soviet Union military forces clashed over a disputed island (Zhenbao Island) located in the Ussuri River that separated China and the Soviet Union.  The incident caused both nations to prepare for war.  In retaliation in August 1969, the Soviets attacked into Xinjiang Province, China and seized some of the area.  Both nations narrowly averted a larger war and settled their differences.   Martial law was declared in China and more political purges occurred.   After his arrest, former Vice Chair, Liu Shaoqi, died in solitary confinement in November 1969.  His successor, Lin Biao, had been appointed only a few months before.

The French King and his family attempt to flee France but are quickly discovered and returned to Paris.  Concern for their safety led to the Declaration of Pillnitz in 1791.  It urged European powers to intervene in France on behalf of the beleaguered King and Royal Family.  The French took it as a declaration of war.  The summer of 1791, saw the Massacre of Champ de Mars in Paris.  In the fall of 1791, the National Assembly finally adopted and push out the first French Constitution. During this period of time political factions appear in the National Assembly.  Most notably, the Jacobins, a radical left group, begin their rise to power. By the end of 1968, China was at war with itself and the foreigners that inhabited China, and anyone associated with foreigners. Revolutionary Committees had replaced the Red Guards and the Culture Revolution Group.  More fear, mayhem, and death. Chairman Mao changes tact and orders that students and Red Guards be sent to the countryside for indoctrination and to gain control over the chaos.  The countryside movement did not get off to an auspicious start.  Before the countryside movement was over, tens of millions of students and their families would be permanently affected.

France confiscates church property in an effort to help pay for the nation's expenses and debt.  The National Assembly forces the clergy to sign loyalty oaths, and imposes additional church reforms.  These cause a schism in the church and with the the nation.   The National Assembly continues to assiduously work toward a National Constitution.  Meanwhile, the nation's fiscal affairs continue to deteriorate.  The period of 1790 thru 1791, sees the rise of political clubs and factions within the National Assembly on the future direction of the revolution and the nation. The presence of armed red guards throughout China creates a tidal wave of fear, death, and destruction.    The revolution takes a xenophobic turn, and there is open hostility to all foreigners.   The revolution spins out of control forcing Chairman Mao, with the help of the military, to disarm the rebels.  By 1969, China resembles a military dictatorship.  Despite these events the Cult of Mao rises. 

From the earliest moments of the revolution, France radically changed, and there was no going back.  The summer of 1789, brought the Great Fear and marked a particularly violent, dramatic, and notable period.  These events led to the August decrees promulgated by the National Assembly.  In a whirlwind session, the Assembly adopted a series of documents that would define the revolution.  The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, the abolition of feudalism, and ending aristocratic and religious privilege were some of the more famous work products from the decrees. The Women's March on Versailles in October 1789, would permanently relocate the King, the Royal Family, and the National Assembly to Paris.The early Culture Revolution period ripped through China.  The nation would never be the same.  The cult of Mao begins.  His little red book becomes popular.  Student Red Guards, with near absolute immunity, wrecked nearly everything. No part of China was spared.  By 1967, the Chinese army, or the Peoples Liberation Army, also got involved in the mayhem.  Chairman Mao again changed the course. Red Guards were now the enemy and a new rebel guard came into existence.  This time they would be armed.  Bloody civil wars in Wuhan and Shanghai proved the revolution was spinning out of control.

By June 1789, what was initially convened as the Estates General had recast itself as the National Assembly.   The King tried to prevent the Assembly Deputies  from meeting.  They defied the attempt and met in the King's Tennis Court.   There they all took the Tennis Court Oath vowing to continue and never disperse.   In July 1789, a Paris mob stormed and took the Bastille.The Chinse Communist Party published the "16 Articles" in August 1966.  The Articles publicly explained the Culture Revolution's purpose and its implementation.  The first iteration of the Student Red Guards, emboldened and supported by Chairman  Mao,  came into existence.  The Red Guards became violent and destructive.

It is difficult to pin down the moment or event the French Revolution began.  It may had been the King's edict to convene the Estates General in May 1789.  Once the Estates General convened, it may had been the failure of that body to come to a consensus of how it would count votes on measures before it.  Nonetheless, the august Estates General finally convened to consider the crown's tax and fiscal proposal.  The assembly of the Estates General would ultimately turn out unpredictable and go horribly wrong.  The beginning of the Chinese Culture Revolution is not as difficult to identify.  It began with the Chinese Communist Party's publication of the infamous May 16 Notification in 1966.  From there the students would begin the chaos, terror, and murder.   The Party used the chaos to purge itself of unwanted rightists, capitalists, and spies.

Assisting the Americans in the War of Independence proved a costly decision for France.  The nation's failure to adequately address the desperate and worsening financial situation led it to near bankruptcy.  The King reluctantly agreed to convene the Estates General to approve a sweeping tax proposal to raise revenues. Following in the heels of the disastrous Great Leap Forward, the Four Clean Ups Campaign is pushed out in another failed attempt to achieve a communist utopia. Desperately Mao Zedong searches for yet another movement that will propel China toward his goals of communism and ideological purity. 

I begin telling the stories of the two revolutions.  All revolutions need a spark to begin. For France, the spark was the crushing poverty and starvation.  Mismanagement plunged France toward bankruptcy.  For China, the spark was the disaster of the Great Leap Forward.  China's leader was troubled by the nation's political and social direction.

This new series is a parallel study of both the Chinese Culture Revolution and the French Revolution.  Both revolutions are presented side by side without comparison.  The revolutions' chronological timelines are synchronized with the other.  This is something different and unique.  An entertaining way to learn about each of these two enormous historical events. 

What began as a largely sectarian movement in northern China in the 1330s, became the massive, diverse, eventually violent and destructive Red Turban Rebellions.  Zhu Yuanzhang emerged as the central leader and chased the Mongols out of China in 1368, and ending the Yuan Dynasty.  Zhu Yuanzhang became the first emperor (Hongwu) of the Ming Dynasty.  The Yuan Emperor fled China. He died in 1370, in Mongolia.

The history chronology continues.  The thirteen year old Toghon Temur is enthroned (in 1333) as Emperor Huizong of the Chinese Yuan Dynasty.  His reign the last and the longest of any of the Yuan emperors.  The Mongols faced many pressures in China.   His reign is noted for the local fiefdoms asserting themselves throughout China.  While the emperor had capable advisors, the fiscal and political pressures in China were overwhelming.  The Red Turban movements grew and would become a deciding factor in the continuation of the dynasty.

The Yuan government and society was a unique experience for China.  The Mongols always promoted trade and continued to do so as the rulers of China.  China population estimates during the Yuan Dynasty are not firm.  The available numbers, however, if true, point to serious population declines during the dynasty.  The reasons for those declines raise speculation.   Finally, the Mongol legacy in China is complicated and difficult to quantify.

The War of Restoration concludes.  Before it was over, one emperor disappeared, never heard from again, and another was assassinated.   The Mid Yuan period of the Yuan Dynasty also concludes with the ascension of the last emperor, Toghon Temur.  All told, nine emperors came and went during the thirty-nine year Mid Yuan period.  Six of the nine emperors came to power only after violent or disputed events.  

As the history moves into the middle of the 14th century, the Dynasty enters into a volatile and dramatic period.  Before this episode is finished four Great Khans/Chinese Emperors come to power in a little over eight years.  This era is filled with regicide, coups d'état, betrayals, violent family clashes, and retribution.

Temur Khan died without an heir and did not designate one. A violent succession conflict resulted among the royal princes.  Eventually one of his nephews emerged from the conflict to take the throne of the Mongolian Empire and the Chinese Yuan Dynasty.  He became Emperor Wuzong (or Kulug Khan).    He made a pact with his younger brother, Ayurbarwada Buyantu, to succeed him.  He became Emperor Renzong.  Together the two brothers ruled China for thirteen years.  The two of them could not have been more different in the directions they took China.  One of the brothers was a military commander from the Asian Steppes before ascending to the throne.  The other brother grew up under Chinese tutelage and tried to further Sinicize the Yuan Government.

Kubilai Khan's death without an heir to the Khanate and the Chinese Dynasty once again caused uncertainty  over the regime, and fighting among his grandson's over the succession.  Kubilai Khan's grandson, Temur, eventually ascended to the throne.  The next thirty-nine years brought a rapid succession of nine emperors.Temur was a capable ruler. He made peace with the other warring Mongolian Khanates within the empire.   He also left the administrative state's systems and structures in good condition.  He did little, however, over the ceaseless fiscal problems that haunted the empire and the dynasty.

The Chinese Yuan Dynasty begins.  Kubilai Khan and the Mongols reunite China for the first time in nearly four centuries.  China became the biggest prize for the Mongolian Empire.  Kubilai Khan brilliantly wove together Mongolian traditions and institutions with those of the Chinese.  Despite the severe fiscal problems he caused, and his failures trying to subjugate Japan, he was a decent Emperor.  Unfortunately, he died without leaving an heir or a designated successor.

Kubilai Khan is perhaps the most known Mongol leader after his grandfather, Genghis Khan.  He is known for the direction and building of a magnificent estate in Inner Mongolia intended to be a summer capital or palace.  The estate is also known as Xanadu in western parlance.  Kubilai is also notable for his final conquest over the Southern Sung Dynasty in China. The eleven-year slog through China finally ended in the collapse of the Dynasty in 1279.  The campaign featured the longest known siege in Chinese history.  The five-year siege of Xiangyang, China finally broke in favor of the Mongols with the use of the trebuchet.  These weapons had originated in China many centuries before that time. It had made its way to the west and Europe, and Kubilai Khan brought it back to China, and improved and used it in the conquest of the Sung Dynasty. Kubilai Khan united China once again after the defeat of the Sung Chinese. 

The Tangut and Jin Dynasties permanently fall to the Mongols.  By then, Genghis Khan's son, Ogodei, led the Mongol Empire.  The Mongol warriors and their military commanders struck fear and terror everywhere they went.   Subutai Ba' Dur stands out as one of the most ablest and successful Mongol military commanders.Ogodie Kahn's death caused a major division over his successor among the various Mongolian princes.  The schism would eventually contribute to the demise  of the Mongol Empire.  After Ogodei Khan came Guyuk Khan and then Mongke Khan.  The latter will become more familiar later in this podcast series.    The Mongol Empire reached its zenith under Mongke Khan.

Seemingly out of nowhere the small landlocked nation on the Eastern Asian Steppes, inhabited mostly by animal shepherds and nomads, challenged established Asian kingdoms and empires.  Due primarily to the vision of one person, Genghis Khan. He would unite his people and create an empire over much of Asia.  The Mongols sudden epic rise  is only matched by their sudden epic decline. Beginning with this episode, the story is told of these nomads' rise to power and conquest over China.