Podcasts about james legge

This is a LibriVox recording and is under the Public Domain. The Tao Te Ching: Recitation of Chapters 1-81 This episode, read by Eric S. Piotrowski and recorded on January 13, 2006, from Madison, Wisconsin, presents a reading of the Tao Te Ching, an ancient Chinese text attributed to Laozi, translated by James Legge. The chapters, from 1 through 81, cover various profound philosophical ideas surrounding the nature of the Tao (the Way), contrast, wisdom, leadership, and the nuances of harmonious living. The text explores the essence of Taoism, emphasizing simplicity, humility, and contentment, and offers poetry-like verses that provide ethical guidance and insights into human behavior and cosmic balance. (00:00) Introduction and Opening Credits (00:30) The Nature of the Dao (01:31) Contrasts and Paradoxes (03:11) Governance and Simplicity (04:15) The Emptiness of the Dao 05:07 The Sage's Way 06:56 The Power of Water 08:06 The Value of Humility 10:06 The Mysterious Dao 15:40 The Unchanging Rule 17:07 The Role of the Ruler 17:52 The Decline of the Dao 18:39 Renouncing Wisdom 21:03 The Grandness of the Dao 23:21 The Power of Non-Action 25:24 The Greatness of the Dao 27:30 The Skillful Sage 28:52 The Nature of the Dao 31:14 The Futility of Force 32:36 The Eternal Dao 35:23 The Value of Simplicity 39:38 The Attributes of the Dao 41:54 The One Dao 43:54 The Movement of the Dao 44:26 Scholars and the Dao 44:51 The Essence of the Dao 45:46 The Paradox of Virtue 46:02 The Cycle of Creation 47:12 The Power of Softness 47:47 The Value of Contentment 48:38 The Nature of Achievement 49:05 The Wisdom of Non-Action 01:00:31 The Way of Moderation 01:02:41 The Sage's Mind 01:03:37 The Art of War and Peace 01:04:56 The Mysterious Operation of the Dao 01:06:16 The Mother of All Things 01:07:10 The Secret of Clear Sightedness 01:07:43 The Great Dao and Its Simplicity 01:10:17 The Power of Gentleness 01:11:54 The Paradox of Water 01:12:53 The Way of Heaven 01:14:23 The Wisdom of the Sage 01:15:33 The Nature of Life and Death 01:16:45 The Balance of Heaven and Earth 01:18:46 The Soft Overcomes the Hard 01:20:13 The Sage's Reconciliation 01:21:54 The Ideal State 01:31:30 The Final Words of Wisdom Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bright on Buddhism - Asian Religions Series - Confucianism Part 1 Hello and welcome to a new type of episode of Bright on Buddhism, called the Asian religions series. In this series, we will be discussing religious traditions in Asia other than Buddhism. Buddhism never existed in a vacuum, and as it has spread all across East Asia, it has developed, localized, and syncretized with local traditions in fascinating and significant ways. As such, we cannot provide a complete picture of East Asian without discussing those local traditions such as they were and are. Disclaimer: this series is very basic and introductory, and does not and cannot paint a complete picture of these religious traditions as they are in the present or throughout history. Today, we will be discussing Confucianism, a very historically and culturally significant religious tradition originating in China. We hope you enjoy. Resources: Adler, Joseph A. (2014), Confucianism as a Religious Tradition: Linguistic and Methodological Problems; Chen, Yong (2012). Confucianism as Religion: Controversies and Consequences. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-24373-6.; Fan Lizhu; Chen Na (2015). "The Religiousness of "Confucianism" and the Revival of Confucian Religion in China Today". Cultural Diversity in China. 1 (1): 27–43. doi:10.1515/cdc-2015-0005. ISSN 2353-7795.; Hsu, Promise (16 November 2014). "The Civil Theology of Confucius' "Tian" Symbol". Voegelin View. Archived from the original on 24 December 2019. Retrieved 25 February 2018.; Ivanhoe, Philip J. (2000). Confucian Moral Self Cultivation (2nd rev. ed.). Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing. ISBN 978-0-87220-508-6.; Nivison, David S. (1996). The Ways of Confucianism: Investigations in Chinese Philosophy. Chicago: Open Court Press. ISBN 978-0-8126-9340-9.; Rosenlee, Lisa Li-Hsiang (2012). Confucianism and Women: A Philosophical Interpretation. SUNY Press. pp. 164–. ISBN 978-0-7914-8179-0.; Yang, C.K. (1961). Religion in Chinese Society; a Study of Contemporary Social Functions of Religion and Some of Their Historical Factors. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-01371-1.; Yao, Xinzhong (2000). An Introduction to Confucianism. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-64312-2.; Lai, CHEN. “Historical and Cultural Features of Confucianism in East Asia.” In Confucianisms for a Changing World Cultural Order, edited by ROGER T. AMES and PETER D. HERSHOCK, 102–11. University of Hawai'i Press, 2018. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv3zp05k.10.; Confucian Analects (1893) Translated by James Legge.; The Analects of Confucius (1915; rpr. NY: Paragon, 1968). Translated by William Edward Soothill.; The Analects of Confucius: A Philosophical Translation (New York: Ballantine, 1998). Translated by Roger T. Ames, Henry Rosemont.; Confucius: The Analects (Lun yü) (London: Penguin, 1979; rpr. Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 1992). Translated by D.C. Lau.; The Analects of Confucius (Lun Yu) (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997). Translated by Chichung Huang.; The Analects of Confucius (New York: W.W. Norton, 1997). Translated by Simon Leys.; Analects: With Selections from Traditional Commentaries (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 2003). Translated by Edward Slingerland. Do you have a question about Buddhism that you'd like us to discuss? Let us know by tweeting to us @BrightBuddhism, emailing us at Bright.On.Buddhism@gmail.com, or joining us on our discord server, Hidden Sangha https://discord.gg/tEwcVpu! Credits: Nick Bright: Script, Cover Art, Music, Voice of Hearer, Co-Host Proven Paradox: Editing, mixing and mastering, social media, Voice of Hermit, Co-Host --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/brightonbuddhism/message

Last time we spoke Hong Rengan, the cousin of the heavenly king made a long pilgrimage to get to Nanjing. When Hong Rengan finally made it to Nanjing, the heavenly king rejoiced and began showering him with titles. Hong Rengan soon became the Shield King, but this drew jealousy and resentment from the Loyal king Li Xiucheng. Hong Rengan quickly went to work restructuring the movement, making dramatic improvements and began a campaign to win over foreign support. A grand strategy was formed to break the encirclement of Nanjing and it succeeded in a grand fashion, bringing the Taiping closer to Shanghai where a large foreign community awaited. However rumors spread that the Taiping wished to attack Shanghai creating fear amongst the foreigners they sought to ally with. Could Hong Rengang turn the tides in favor for the Taiping? #30 This episode is The Taiping Rebellion part 7: Ward's Mercenaries & the Battle for Shanghai   Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. Shanghai was not a typical Chinese city, it had a complicated division of jurisdictions such as the international city with each nation having its own military force and each foreign citizen was liable only to their nations authorities. Trading vessels came and left, exchanging not only cargoe but crews from all around the world. People from all walks of life came to Shanghai and much like Mos Eisley, “you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy”. Now in 1860, just 12 miles due west of Shanghai a group of irregular military men began to run drills in a muddy little village. There were around 200 Europeans and Americans in a unit, wearing a hodgepodge of uniforms. Some wore red coats and dark pants, typical British marine getup, other blue jackets with white bell bottoms, that of french sailors, others tattered fabrics of merchant crews. For weapons, many had colt revolvers others sharp repeating rifles and the reason they drilled was to capture the Taiping held town of Songjiang, 10 miles further away from Shanghai. Alongside Qingpu, Songjiang was a strategic walled town and a necessary stepping stone for one to invade Shanghai from Hangzhou or Suzhou. The motley crew of mercenaries were being paid for by a banker named Yang Fang at the incredibly high rate of 100 dollars per month per man. On top of their handsome salaries these men were promised rewards of a hundred thousand dollars if their unit was able to defeat the Taiping garrison at Songjiang alongside anything they could loot. The commander of this unit was an American named Frederick Townsend Ward. He was 29 years old, from Salem Massachusetts and had deep black eyes and a thatch of unruly raven like hair worn long over his ears.    Wards army was modeled on the so called filibusters, those American soldiers who frolicked in latin america in the 19th century. Ward was not drawn just by money but also the dream of establishing a new state to govern. Ward had been frustrated during his military career, he had failed to gain admission to West Point in 1846 and spent a year at Norwich university, a private military college in Vermont, without even graduating. His real military training came informally, in central america in 1852 when he enlisted with the infamous William Walker who led a small army of Americans to fight a civil war in Nicaragua to overthrow its government with the intent to form a new Yankee state. Ward fought hard for Walker, but left his camp to form his own, while Walker conquered Nicaragua and installed himself president in 1856. It was a short lived state to be sure, 4 years later the British captured Walker and arrested him for breaking neutrality laws. Meanwhile Ward traveled to Shanghai to launch his own venture against the Taiping, while his former mentor was executed by firing squads in Honduras.    The Taiping-Qing civil war was a fantastic opportunity for a would be filibuster and initially ward came to china to join the rebels and overthrow the Manchu. However upon making it to Shanghai, making contact with the Taiping proved difficult. Ward first found work aboard a french steamer named Confucius, hired by some wealthy Chinese merchants to protect them against Yangtze pirates. Eventually Ward and the captain of the Confucius found themselves employed by local military authorities, thus Ward ended up selling his sword to the Qing. They saw in him some leadership qualities and had him begin recruiting Europeans, Americans and Filipinos to create a mercenary force to defend the region outside Shanghai. His army was strictly illegal, a complete violation of the neutrality laws. His force of mostly deserters could not even be treated for wounds in Shanghai lest they be arrested.    Despite the small size of his force, the practically mythical belief in western arms being vastly superior led many of their enemies to simply surrender upon seeing a causasian opponent. Wards army was meant to be a spearhead for a 10,000 strong Qing force that followed behind it as they invaded garrisoned cities. Wards unit attacked Songjiang in april of 1860 and it did not go very well. With zero artillery to blast open the gates, Wards planned to sneak over the city walls under the cover of darkness using scaling ladders. Ward's men got so shit face drunk before their daring attack, that all their singing and swearing alarmed Songjiangs defenders when they approached. As they tried to climb, the Taiping cut them to pieces. After the failure ward sent men to purchase artillery pieces in Shanghai, managing to grab 2 pairs of half ton Napoleon field guns and Ward also procured a ton more men. Now he attacked Songjian again in July, this time with 500 troops, a great many being Filipino's. Under the cover of a fog, and less drunk the artillerymen bombarded the gate of Songjiang with 12 pound shells as the unit stormed the city. This assault proved to be a worse disaster than the last one. When they got through the outer gate, the found out the inner gate was undamaged. Thus Ward and his men were stuck in the wall, they couldn't get past the inner gate and could not bring their Napoleon cannons across the moat to hit it. The Taiping defenders were above them tossing stinkpots filled with burning sulfur all night long. Ward's men managed to budge the inner gate a couple of feet using bags of gunpowder, but they were being fired upon all the while. If it was not for their repeating rifles being so effective at close range, they probably would have not survived the night. Luckily they survived the night and soon their Qing backup showed up at dawn forcing the Taiping garrison to flee. Most of Wards 500 men were dead and all by 27 survivors were severely wounded.   It was a terrible victory, but the city was theirs and Ward set up his new HQ in a Confucian temple. With Songjiang as a base, he regrouped, recruited and set up a new offensive for August the 1st to hit Qingpu 10 miles northwest. It did not go well, turns out the Taiping in Qingpu had managed to assemble their own type of Ward army led by an English coastal pirate named Savage who rangled up several of his comrades along the Taiping to man some big guns. Wards Qing backup army also did not show up and during the fighting Ward took a bullet right through both of his cheeks. Wards extremely drunk lieutenant tossed the new recruits, made up of mostly greeks and italians to throw themselves at the walls of Qingpu again 2 weeks after the first failed attack, this time with the Qing backup showing up, but all they managed to do was stir up a Taiping garrison now reinforced to a whopping 50,000 men led by Li Xiucheng himself. Li led a surprise flanking attack that routed the Ward army, not only winning the battle for Qingpu but also threatening Songjiang as Li Xiucheng chased them all the way there. The Taiping harassed Songjians gates for over 2 weeks and the only saving grace for Ward was the fact Savage was alongside the Taiping and he got shot dead.    As we have seen, not all the foreigners were so hostile to the Taiping, Ward initially and Savage were willing to sell their swords to them. And in early july of 1860 as Ward had been preparing his attack on Songjiang, a small boat left Shanghai for the interior carrying 5 British and American missionaries who sought to contact the Taiping in Suzhou. One of them was Joseph Edkins and friend to James Legge, who was trying to find out if Hong Rengan had made it to Nanjing. The group ran into some Taiping units who told them Hong Rengan was the prime minister of Nanjing. The group were mortified when they got to Suzhou seeing the savagery committed there and as Griffith John described of seeing the ruined temples ““It is common to see the nose, chin, and hands cut off. The floors of these buildings are bestrewn with relics of helpless gods. Buddhist and Daoist, male and female. Some are cast into the canals, and are found floating down the stream mingled with the debris of rifled houses and the remains of the dead.” Li Xiucheng was in Suzhou at the time and he invited the missionaries for an audience. It was not a long meeting, but the missionaries found the man to be gentle, intelligent and he kept his soldiers well disciplined. They found themselves in agreement when it came to religious doctrine, but the missionaries knew the merchants of Shanghai cared for only one thing. Thus hey asked Li Xiucheng if he would allow the silk trade to continue under Taiping rule and Li Xiucheng replied that was exactly what the Taiping sought. Thus the group returned to Shanghai and countless newspapers in SHanghai began to publicize pro Taiping accounts. Edkins declared “They are revolutionists in the strictest sense of the term; both the work of slaughter and of plunder are carried on so far as is necessary to secure the end. These are evils which necessarily accompany such a movement, and are justifiable or otherwise in so far as the movement itself is so.” The idea the Taiping would be a state friendly to the west gained momentum. At the end of July, Edkins and Griffith returned to Suzhou for a second visit upon letters of invitation from Li Xiucheng and Hong Rengan.   This time they found an even warmer welcome, with Hong Rengan present draped in silk robes wearing an embroidered gold crown. Hong Rengan insisted they do not kowtow nor kneel as this was not the western fashion, but instead give him a hearty handshake, and he dismissed servants so they could talk informally. They talked of old times like old friends about missionary work, they prayed and sang hymns and talked of China's future. Hong Rengan said for his part all he wanted was to lead the Taiping towards a correct understanding of Christianity. The missionaries were delighted by all of this, a man they knew and worked with was in the seat of power and he wanted to bring real christianity to China. By November nearly all of the major missionary organizations in England joined together to sent a letter to the foreign minister calling for Britain to continue its strict policy of neutrality. In many ways the veil of the Taiping had finally been lifted and there gleamed a chance perhaps at some western support.    Now let us not forget, while the Taiping forces were launching this massive campaign to break the siege of their capital, the Qing were dealing with another campaign, the second opium war. Lord Elgin was writing back to Britain all the while and he had some interesting points to make. In one letter to Lord Russel in July of 1860 he wrote “We might annex the Empire if we were in the humour to take a second India into hand, or we might change the Dynasty if we knew where to find a better.” According to Putyatin, Elgin had privately said in his presence “Britain should recognize as Chinese Emperor one of the leaders of the rebel movement assuming he would agree to the favorable conditions of the Tianjin treaty.” He argued that it could give Britain the desired trade concessions, end conflict and perhaps prevent future wars. He took it a step further saying “if the capital of China were moved nearer to our military presence like Nanking … England could control the Chinese Empire with four gunboats.Let the north disappear or form a separate government, we don't have any trade interests there.”   Meanwhile his brother Bruce was anxious that the Taiping would still march on Shanghai. The two events were simultaneous, the war in the north with Elgins coalition marching upon Beijing and the loomed threat in Shanghai. Luckily for Bruce, Elgin showed up to Shanghai on June 29th of 1860 with a fleet of French and British gunboats. Bruce sighed with relief, surely his brother would look out for their interests in Shanghai. Yet the coalitionary forces had no intention of helping Bruce defend Shanghai, they were going to depart shortly to head north and hit Beijing. They departed and left a scant defensive force of a couple gunboats and some stray divisions of Sikh soldiers. The foreign community of Shanghai lamented they had been abandoned in their hour of need. Despite the work of the missionaries to present Hong Rengan as a friend and not foe, Bruce did not buy it. He assumed the missionaries were being duped, like he had been at the hands of the Qing. Despite his opinions of the Manchu, Bruce told those around him they were still the legitimate authority in China. Many tried to change Bruce's mind on the matter of the Taiping, but none succeeded.   In july of 1860 Bruce was brought a sealed letter addressed to the representatives of the US, France and Britain from Li Xiucheng. Bruce apparently refused to even open it. Then he received another letter, this time from Hong Rengan, but Bruce again refused to open it. These letters were fatally important, in the first Li Xiucheng notified the foreign authorities that the Taiping were on they way to Shanghai and intended to take possession of the Chinese held section of the city. He stated the Taiping had no quarrel whatsoever with their “foreign brethren” and pledged no harm to them nor their property. Any Taiping who harmed a foreigner would be put to death and he hoped the foreign representatives would call upon their people to stay indoors and hoist yellow flags above their doors to signify they were foreigners in said homes.    In the later afternoon of August 17th, the sky to the west of Shanghai suddenly grew dark with smoke. The next morning saw fleeing Qing soldiers rushing to the Shanghai gates pursued by Taiping cavalry. The British let in a few Qing in before they destroyed the bridge going across the moat. The Taiping advance guard surged forward as suddenly the British and French opened fire with their artillery. Alongside this, the Taiping were fired upon by a hodgepodge of differing muskets, rifles and such. The Taiping force was small, just a few thousand men, lightly armed with a few notable foreign mercenaries with them. The British and French gunners atop the walls, watched the Taiping hide behind buildings and other structures, with clear baffled faces. None of them shot back, then one Taiping detachment tried to advance forward waving Qing flags they had stolen, but they were shot at. Next another detachment rushed forward waving an enormous black flag that the Taiping used to drive reluctant troops with. One very lucky shell lobbed from half a mile smashed right in the middle of the unit flattening the flag bearer into the ground.   In a bewildered disarray the Taiping ran into houses for cover, but the wall artillerymen kept firing at them. As the night came upon them, word spread that Qing forces within Shanghai were executing Taiping POW's, prompting the British to demand they be surrendered over to them unmolested. Then the French frustrated it seems by the Taiping using all the houses for cover decided to simply start blowing them down with artillery. The next morning, French troops marched through the city firing their muskets at will. One eye witness reported to the North-China Herald “French soldiers were rushing frantically among the peaceful inhabitants of the place, murdering men, women and children, without the least discrimination. One man, was stabbed right through as he was enjoying his opium-pipe. A woman who had just given birth to a child, was bayoneted without the faintest provocation. Women were ravished and houses plundered by these ruthless marauders without restraint”. Another eye witness estimated the French left tens of thousands of Chinese homeless in the course of defending against 3000 lightly armed Taiping. The Taiping force retreated, but the suburbs of Shanghai burned for days as the Europeans claimed victory. The Taiping attack on Shanghai honestly did more to build sympathy for their cause, the news paper ran rampant stories about how the europeans fired upon a group who called themselves brethren and did not fight back.    Now we have not talked about a key player in all of this for awhile. On October 16th of 1860, General Zeng Guofan was in his HQ in Qimen of Anhui province sick out of his mind. He was vomiting heavily, suffering some bad heart palpitations, had a bad case of insomnia, just not doing all that great. At lunch he received a message that the emperor had fled to his hunting grounds in Manchuria and that the British and French armies were literally a few miles from Beijing. There was nothing he could do, he apparently broke down in tears feeling helpless. Zeng Guofan was stuck fighting a protracted rear action campaign against the farthest Taiping stronghold up the Yangtze river. Zhang Guoliang and He Chun were both dead, the siege camps around Nanjing were shattered. He knew he could do nothing to stop the european march on Beijing so he pulled himself together and focused on a task he actually could do something about.   Up until 1860, Zeng Guofan's Xiang army on the Yangtze played only a supporting role in the overall Qing campaign. Zhang Guoliang and He Chun's blockade of Nanjing was much more of a focus compared to that of Zeng Guofans offensives. Yet when victory seemed within grasp, Hong Rengan's daring plan was unleashed. The Taiping broke out of the encirclement and ran rampant marching east. In the leadership vacuum that ensued, Zeng Guofan's time had finally come. In June of 1860 Emperor Xianfeng appointed him as the governor general of Anhui, Jiangsu and Jiangxi the provinces most ravaged by the civil war. By late august the emperor named him imperial commissioner in charge of the military affairs in those 3 provinces and the new commander in chief of the Qing dynasty's forces in the Yangtze river valley. Boy oh boy the Chinese love bestowing so many titles on one person, that tradition just keeps living on. The frustrations of having to constantly provide for his Xiang army was beginning to ease as the desperate emperor had no one else to turn to. After years of scrambling to make his army's ends meet, while the Green Standard army enjoyed full funding and support, now Zeng Guofan was in charge of both military and civil administrations for the primary theater of war.    His years of service had shown him how ineffective the bureaucrats of the Qing government could be, how inexperienced and self-gratifying they could be, and he would not tolerate them to affect his campaign. He had refused orders in 1859 to chase down Shi Dakai into sichuan, and now in 1860 he was given new orders to abandon his campaign in Anhui and to rush over to instead protect Suzhou and Shanghai. He offered instead the excuse he did not have the forces necessary to help at the moment and would stay put where he was finishing his campaign. The strategy he was performing was one of encirclement. Now back in 1859 Zeng Guofan tried to explain to the Qing court that the dynasty was not facing one kind of rebel force, but rather 2. The roving bandits constantly moving, and the pretender bandits, those who actually sought to attack Beijing and take the dragon throne. Shi Dakai, the Nian rebels and numerous vagabond armies on horseback were roving bandits. The only way to fight roving bandits was to hold a position and try to blunt their momentum. But for the pretender bandits the most important being the Taiping with their capital in Nanjing, you could only defeat them by “severing their branches and leaves”. What he meant by this was you had to cut off their foraging armies, ie: their logistics, before crushing them. He pointed out that the Green stand army had failed to encircle Nanjing completely, there had always been a single pathway open. He argued Nanjing must be completely encircled and once that was met the Qing forces could gradually conquer the fortified cities along the Yangtze one by one. He sought to begin with the Brave Kings base of operations, Anqing in Anhui province. Anqing had been under Taiping control since 1853, and was the farthest stronghold up the Yangtze. It protected both the river and land approaches to Nanjing and thus was a major choke point. As long as it stood, the Taiping in Nanjing could not be properly sieged, Anqing had to be crushed.    Now this was not going to be any simple task, in 1860 Zeng Guofan had a force of 60,000 men while the Rebels had vastly more. Zeng Guofan could not contend with them in the open field. His intelligence reports indicated the Taiping were using irregular formations known as “crab formations”. This was a cluster of troops in the middle (the crabs body) and 5 lines reaching out on either side that could rapidly reconfigure itself as 2 columns, 4 columns or a crosslike configuration of 5 phalanxes, depending on the enemy. There was also the “hundred birds formation”, in which a large division would disintegrate into small clusters of 25 soldiers, each roaming freely, making it impossible for their enemies to figure out how large their force was. Then there was “crouching tiger”, usually applied to hill terrains where 10,000 troops would hide close to the ground in total silence and then ambush their enemy as they passed through a valley, suddenly leaping up like a tiger.   To defeat these innovative rebels, would require manipulation of the battlefield. In every engagement Zeng described the situation as being either a host or guest. The host always enjoyed the advantage, such as being defenders of a wall city. The same situation could be said of a fortified camp. If two armies were to meet in the open field, it was the first army to reach the site of battle that would be the host. Now having the weaker army, Zeng tried to ensure the Taiping would always be the guest, by trying to lure them into attacking his defensive works or if failing that to try and provoke them to make the first move. To that end he got his men to build up fortified camps always in close proximity to the Taiping in the hopes of drawing them in to make the first move. In June of 1860, when the Taiping were focused on their eastern campaign, Zeng Guofan had moved into Anhui from the west with his brother Zeng Guoquan who began a siege of Anqing. Guoquan had 10,000 Hunanese forces who pitched a camp near Anqing's walls, building high earth walls with 20 foot wide moats. The idea was simple, they protected their fronts to the city and their backs from Taiping relief forces. For further protection against relief forces, a 20,000 strong Manchu cavalry unit led by Duolonga was set up in Tongcheng, 40 miles north of Anqing while Zeng Guofan led naval forces to blockade the Yangtze river just a few miles below the city. In late July, Zeng took the rest of his forces, 30,000 men into the mountains south of Anhui where he formed his HQ in Qimen, which is in a valley around 60 miles southeast of Anqing.   However the summer of 1860 changed everything as the new war with the Europeans in the north erupted. Beijing sent orders on October 10th instructing him to send his best field commander, Bao Chao along with 3000 troops to help Prince Seng's banner forces fight the Europeans in the north, but Zeng Guofan believed without these men who would not be able to hold the encirclement of Anqing. It would take Bao Chao until January to reach the area of Beijing, far too late to be of help, thus Zeng reasoned it was useless. Alongside that, if the Taiping were allowed to break out of Anqing they could march upon Wuchang and threaten Hunan again. So Zeng cleverly sent word back to the Emperor asking him to choose another commander to come help in the north, and that message would take 2 weeks to get over to Beijing over 800 miles away thus earning him at least another 4 weeks time.   October was quite depressing and cold for Zeng Guofan. The Taiping in Anqing apparently had plentiful stores and could wait quite long for reinforcements. One of his most beloved commanders holding a garrison in the nearby town of Huizhou was overrun by Taiping raiders and reports indicated there were many Taiping forces encircling his base of Qimen. Then on November 6th, he received a letter from a colleague in the north, stating the Europeans had successfully invaded Beijing and burnt down the summer palace . Zeng wrote in his diary “I have no words to describe the depths of this pain,”. The eight banner army lost to the Europeans and now he was all alone commanding a breaking army, all he had left was this damn Anqing campaign. We will come back to the plight of Zeng Guofan soon, but now we will be venturing back to the Shanghai situation.   On August 21st, 2 days after his men were sent back from the walls of Shanghai by European grapeshot and shells, the Loyal King Li Xiucheng wrote a very angry letter to the British and American consuls there. “I came to Shanghai to make a treaty in order to see us connected together by trade and commerce. I did not come for the purpose of fighting with you.” Li Xiucheng accused the French of setting up a trap, stating a few of them had come to Suzhou earlier that year inviting the Taiping over to Shanghai to establish relations. He could not believe the French would be deluded by the Qing demons and betray them. He said he heard reports of the Qing sending large amounts of money to the French to defend Shanghai and it seemed they were sharing that money with the Americans and British since they opened fire on his men! He went on to say the event could be forgiven, in the case of his fellow protestants, but not the French, oh no there would be a day of reckoning for them when the Taiping took control of China. Yet he finished his angry letter swallowing his pride and said the Taiping still sought friendly relations with their christian brethren.    Though it was a letter from Li Xiucheng, in reality it was sentiment sent by Hong Rengan, whose entire strategy depended on gaining support from the British and Americans in Shanghai. They needed to buy steamships to control the Yangtze river. Yet Li Xiucheng hated Hong Rengan and began to talk within his inner circle about how foolish Hong Rengan was thinking the foreigners would ever help them. The unexpected conflict with them at Shanghai proved his point and thus a rift was widening more so between the 2 leaders. Hong Rengan for his part, blamed Li Xiucheng and not the foreigners, stating they must have heard of Li's belligerent attitude towards them before he showed up and thus they assumed he was going to attack. Despite the 2 men's bickering, they both knew Shanghai needed to be secured for its rich financial stores and to be a point of which the Taiping could purchase weapons from the west. It was now up to Hong Rengan to smooth things over with the foreigners.    A letter was sent to the foreigners of Shanghai stating they wanted to open up trade and that they had vast amounts of teas, silks and other desired goods. It asked why not make a treaty, perhaps with the United States? John Griffith went over to Nanjing and returned to Shanghai in December with an edict from the Heavenly King written in imperial vermillion ink on yellow satin, welcoming foreign missionaries to take up residence in Nanjing. An interesting gesture, given the British were so obsessed with having the same in Beijing only to be continuously thwarted by the Qing court. However the missionaries were reluctant to go, because no formal communications had been established between Nanjing and Shanghai, thus to go meant they would be at the mercy of the rebels. On December the 2nd, Lord Elgin returned to Shanghai in triumph after marching upon Beijing and getting Prince Gong to sign the treaty. He quickly learnt from his brother how the Taiping threatened the city. But the treaty had been signed with the Qing and the letters from Hong Rengan and the HEavenly king suggested the Taiping wanted no hostilities with the foreigners at Shanghai. Thus everyone expected no further conflict to occur and the European coalitionary forces that had marched on Beijing were disbanded and sent home. By the end of December, half the British forces were already returning to India and Britain with the others being stationed in Hong Kong, Tianjin and the Taku forts, just incase Beijing decided not to meet their end of the treaty terms yet again.    As for Shanghai, by the end of 1860, just 1200 British soldiers were left for the city and Elgin argued they were far too many. Elgin spent a good month in Shanghai before leaving China. Though his work with Beijing was over, he did have one last task before leaving, he wanted to gauge the possibility for Britain to form relations with the Taiping. The Taiping at this time controlled the riverway and thanks to the new treaty with the Qing, trade was finally open for business. Elgin was not too pleased to hear about the supposed defense that his brother erected against the Taiping. He was even more disgusted to find out about the damage caused by the French to the outer suburbs and population of Shanghai. Elgin tried to counsel his younger brother that the Taiping were not necessarily all bad, he said “as bad as the imperials and Taiping both are, the rebels might provide a brighter future. From what I have seen of the regions under their control, they exhibit honesty and power”. He also rebuked his brothers refusal to read the Taiping letters warning not to accede to any Qing requests for Britain to avoid contact with the rebels. “it will never do to come under any obligation not to communicate with them on the Yangtze. It would be wrong in principle … and impossible in practice.”    When winter came Elgin had to leave China, he had no time to make another voyage up the Yangtze, so he left orders for Rear admiral Hope to pay a visit to Nanjing to investigate if there might be a basis for relations between the rebels and Britain. Elgin knew it was a delicate situation, they had after all just signed a treaty with the Taipings enemy, thus he added a private note to Hope “at any rate it is clear that we must not become partisans in this civil war”. For his part General Hope after defeating the Manchu, was quite open to forming relations with the Taiping. Meanwhile the Taiping were consolidating their control over China's wealthy eastern province of Jiangsu. By September they controlled every county around Shanghai except for this under the protection of the foreigners. They were capitalizing on the people losing faith in the Manchu. They would make such proclamations as “The emperor of the Qing is the emperor of a lost country, and his ministers are all the ministers of a lost country. They extended their control over Jiangnan which encompassed the confluence of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui. Within Jiangsu province they held the capital, Suzhou along with the major cities of Wuxi and Danyang. They held Anqing, the capital of Anhui, and in Zhejiang they had the major trading city of Ningbo. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. Hong Rengans efforts to gain foreign support were falling to pieces. Zeng Guofan was building up his army hoping to capture Anqing, a major stepping stone to take Nanjing. Who was going to win the battle for the east?  

Last time we spoke Shi Dakai went into exile while performing a western expedition, riding out into an eventual oblivion. Hong Xiuquan fell into depression, paranoia and seclusion as he began to only trust his close family members and appointed them to grand positions despite the fact their skills might not be up to par. The Taiping kings were gone, now the new military leadership lay in the hands of Li Xiucheng and Chen Yucheng. The Nian rebels began to work closely with the Taiping to campaign against the Qing, but it was ultimately not working out. The taiping sought foreign support, but things simply were not going well on that front and they were gradually finding themselves being more and more isolated from allies to defeat the Qing.   #29 This episode is The Taiping Rebellion part 6: Rise of the Shield King Hong Rengan   Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. Our old friend, the cousin to the Heavenly King, Hong Rengan had heard so much news over the years about his famous cousin and the Taiping. He decided to try and visit the Taiping capital of Tianjin. He left Hong Kong in may of 1858, traveling first to Canton which was at that time under British and French occupation, thus safe to him who was friends with missionaries. From there he set off northeast through Guangdong province along the riverways. For the most part, he ran into travelers trying to sell wares and Qing soldiers patrolling for bandits. He got to a junction at Nanxiong country and turned north upon an ancient stone road that led to the Meiling pass, the gateway dividing the southern part of the empire from the Yangtze valley. Beyond was Jiangxi province and beyond that Nanjing, or as I keep fumbling back and forth, Tianjin. He dressed as a peddler so he would be unremarkable to anyone, especially Qing troops and thus pass without incident. Once he entered Jiangxi he continued northeast along the Gan River where he came to the edge of the active war zone just outside the Taiping realm of control. Many Qing encampments were found along the way, many massive in size. Hong Rengan was able to attach himself quite easily to an outlying unit, joining them on their march eastward towards the porcelain producing city of Jingdezhen. There the Taiping attacked, forcing the Qing into a rout. Within the chaos Hong Rengan was lucky to escape the slaughter, escaping with only his clothes on his back.    After escaping the heated battle, he worked his way west for a time, away from the active fighting, then further north towards the Yangtze river towards Hubei province. This territory had been fought over for more than 5 years at this point, being conquered and reconquered by the Qing and Taiping. Countless cities he came across were empty, houses stripped of wood to make cooking fires for passing armies. Even in the more prosperous parts of the province, underpopulated farms were unable to muster enough hands to bring in the harvests. Hong Rengan eventually came across a Qing soldier. THe man told him he sought to purchase goods in the Qing held river town of Longping and then to sell the goods downriver in Nanjing to the rebels. The soldier seemed to have many contacts, thus Hong Rengan gave him a piece of gold leaf he had kept sewn safely into the fabric of his jacket and they partnered up.   While the soldier went to Longping to buy the goods, Hong Rengang waited for him in the city of Huangmei around 15 miles northeast with one of the soldiers contacts, a magistrate named Tan. Tan found Hong Rengan's intelligence and education so impressive he offered him a job on the spot as a secretary. It was quite a coveted job for an unemployed scholar,but Hong Rengan was still fixated on getting to Nanjing and gave Tan an ambiguous reply. The soldier did not seem to show up, leaving Hong Rengan with no way to get to Nanjing so he stayed with the magistrate for many months. Hong Rengan began to hear rumors about the Qing encircling the Taiping capital, strangling them into submission. Hong Rengan began to become anxious so he left Huangmei with a letter of introduction and a bit of money given to him by Tan.    Hong Rengan took back the mantle of a peddler, but in October a Qing patrol captured him, though they had no idea how valuable a bounty he truly was. He was kept a prisoner for several days, but in the end they simply let him go, sending him on his way to Longping where he found a secret house serving as a way station for Taiping refugees. In December of 1858, he crossed paths with Lord Elgin. From the secret house he heard that foreign ships had been spotted on the Yangtze on their way back to Shanghai. He ventured down the waterfront just in time to see Elgins small fleet at anchor and he soon become acquainted with Thomas Wade, Elgin's interpreter. Turns out he knew the man from Hong Kong and he tried to get board on one of the vessels to receive passage as far as Nanjing. He was unable to get the ride, but he did manage to get a letter delivered to Hong Kong addressed to some missionary friends letting them know he was alive and trying to get to Nanjing.    Some months later he found himself in Anhui province in the spring of 1859 where he finally found a Taiping patrol. When he told them his story, they took him for a Qing spy and sent him with armed guard to a garrison in Chentanghe. While under interrogation from the garrison commander, he opened a seam in his jacket providing a scrap of paper describing his family history. It was enough to convince the commander that he was indeed from the same village as the heavenly king. Thus the commander escorted him personally down the river on a Taiping vessel arriving in Nanjing on april 22nd of 1859, nearly a year after Hong Rengan began his journey.    Tianjin, was of course Nanjing, one of the greatest Chinese cities in its heyday, the secondary capital and former Ming capital. It was rich in temples, government offices, trading houses and such, a wide metropolis. It was now built for war, with countless fortifications and cannon placements everywhere. When the Taiping took it they burnt the Daoist and Buddhist monasteries, creating something of their own version of Jerusalem. In the Ming days, the city had a population in the millions, but now it seemed rather empty. The civilian residents were allowed to come and go and many had drifted off into the countryside. The Heavenly King's palace was incredible, there were drummers that flanked its main gate, a reception hall with lacquered wood carvings of dragons, walls inlaid with gold and nearly everything that touched the heavenly kings fingers, chopsticks, bowls, brushes and such were fashioned from gold. It is said his chamber pot was made out of silver, Trump would love that one. Behind the main hall lay the vast inner sanctum where Hong Xiuquan and his harem lived.   By the time Hong Rengan had come to Nanjing, Hong XIuquan had retreated from public life, spending his days behind the palace walls. Almost no one was allowed to meet with him, save for the women in his service. Hong Rengans reunion with his cousin, as he accounts it was bittersweet. It had been over 8 years since they last saw another and well…a lot had happened to say the least. Hong Rengan had heard the rumors that despite the weakness of the Manchu forces against the Europeans, Nanjing was almost encircled and being bled. The mass of Taiping armies had left the city marching in 3 separate armies on long range foraging expeditions, while the Qing forces concentrated all of their might to strangle Nanjing from its provisions. Hong XIuquan's seclusion from his active leadership role had hindered the Taiping. What Hong Xiuquan needed was an adviser, someone he could trust and that man was to be Hong Rengan.    Hong Xiuquan showered his cousin with titles and promoted him swiftly through the Taiping ranks. Little more than 2 weeks since his arrival, Hong Rengan earned the rank of king amongst the Taiping, even though this broke a promise Hong Xiuquan had made to not appoint anymore. Hong Rengangs title was “founder of the dynasty and loyal military adviser, the upholder of heaven and keeper of order in the court” he was henceforth known as the “shield king”. Hong Rengan joined the echelon of Taiping military officials and was in charge of the entire civil government of Nanjing. Basically he became Yang Xiuqing 2.0 and was only second to the heavenly king. His unexpected arrival seemed a sign from god for Hong Xiuquan, but as you would imagine a lot of jealousy and resentment emerged from the Taiping leaders. One particularly resentful man was Li Xiucheng who commanded the defenses of Nanjing. Li Xiucheng proved himself quite capable and a very trustworthy general, but he was not a king. To watch this other man come from out of nowhere and suddenly be promoted above him after so many years of loyal service, well anyone would be jealous. Li would actually gain the rank of King months later as the “loyal king”, but it seems it came too late and the jealousy over Hong Rengan only grew.    Hong Xiuquan was well aware of the dissatisfaction over Hong Rengan amongst his officers, so he called a full congregation of Taiping officials to honor the appointment of the Shield King. There he announced all matters in need of decision making were to be referred to the sole authority of the SHield King and as the crowd began to show audible disapproval Hong Rengan tried to turn down the appointment, but Hong Xiuquan whispered to him “all will be well, the wave that crashes with great force, soon spends itself and leaves peace”. Thus Hong Rengan accepted the official seal and began to preach to the crowd. He also began criticizing the policies made by the late Yang Xiuqing, offering improvements. In his own words about their reaction “They saw that I could stand in front of a multitude and hold forth flawlessly on doctrinal issues, and so they accepted me as their model of wisdom.”   It was clear to Hong Rengan that commanding the loyalty of the Taiping followers meant more than just giving them spiritual salvation; they also needed earthly rewards, such as the promises of a better state, and that of a better life. Hong Rengan sought a long lasting structure for the future Taiping government and society, for this he needed to weave together threads of Chinese tradition with his knowledge of the industrial societies of the west. He tried to infuse a prototype of ethnic nationalism that had not been seen in China since the Manchu conquered it. His first major proclamation served to fan the flames of ethnic resentment towards the Manchu calling the people to  “rejuvenate China and resist the northern barbarians, in order to wipe out the humiliations of two hundred years. We mouth their language … we live together with their members, and our people suffer from the vileness of the Manchu dogs.” The cause to get rid of the Manchu did not only resonate amongst the Taiping, but also many of those on the sidelines. And this was not limited to the Chinese, foreigners also took noticed to this fight against the tyranny of the Manchu. As one American in SHanghai put it  “Americans are too firmly attached to the principles on which their government was founded and has flourished, to refuse sympathy for a heroic people battling against foreign thraldom.”   Hong Rengan hashed out his vision of the new Taiping state in a document titled “a new work for the aid of government”. Now the traditional dynastic viewpoint had always been that CHina was the center of world civilizations and that barbarians were welcome come and trade, but they must acknowledge China's cultural superiority. Hong Rengan knew full well this annoyed foreigners and that foreign nations like Britain were both militarily powerful and very proud people. So he began to encourage not using the term barbarian and instead express ideas of “equality, friendship, harmony and affect”. Alongside this he thought the tributary model of diplomacy needed to be abandoned as a relic of the past with no use in the contemporary world. He argued that human beings were not willing to be considered inferior and that the foreigners in the past only performed the tributary customs out of force. The new China needed to establish friendly relations and long lasting respect from other nations.   Hong Rengans experience with foreigners in Hong Kong showed him China was merely one state among many with much to gain from studying other great powers in the 19th century. He also believed the christian religion was the key to the strength of western nations. He pointed out the Protestant nations of Britain, the US, Germany, the scandinavian nations were all the strongest and most prosperous followed by the slightly weaker French catholics and Orthodox Russians who held onto miracles and mysticism. By his reckoning, Islam or even worse Buddhism were unfiromly weak and nations who abided them found themselves colonized. He argued the Manchus were like Persia, where people accepted their slavelike status without complaint. The most powerful nation to Hong Rengang was Britain whose ruling he thought lasted more than a thousand years making it longer than any dynasty of China. He explained to the masses that Britains strength derived from the intelligence of its populace, a system of laws which China could and should emulate. But Hong Rengans greatest admiration was saved for the United States which was known as the “flowery flag country” to many of the CHinese, because of its flag. He called it “the most righteous and wealthy country of all, she does not encroach upon her neighboring countries. ” Well that last part certainly changed haha. He talked about American democracy, the notion that all people of virtue should have a say in choosing their leaders and setting policy. Hong Rengan began to list his western friends such as British missionary James Legge, the swedish missionary Theodore Hamsberg and countless americans he knew in Shanghai. He proposed to use his connections to help establish cooperation with the west. He proposed CHina tap into the global industrial economy, it was necessary to become strong. He pointed out that Siam had learnt from the west how to build steamships and thereby made itself a “nation of wealth and civilization”. Likewise Japan unlike the Qing rulers of China had opened themselves willings to foreign trade “and will certainly become skillful in the future”. Boy oh boy is that one ominous. This he argued was the path of a Taiping ruled China. Hong Rengans ideas in many ways were a vision of China as a modern industrial power. A lot of what he argues will be adopted by future Chinese leaders, some of whom were currently fighting the Taiping, such as Li Hongzhang. Now before anything could be down, the state needed to be founded and for that the war needed to be won.    To establish some central administration, financial and military authority, Hong Rengan needed the backing from military commanders. He could not expect support from Li Xuicheng so he began securing support from the other big heads such as Chen Yucheng. Chen Yucheng seemed quite willing to accept the new system Hong Rengan was advocating for. Shortly after taking the title of Shield King, Chen Yucheng and Li Xiucheng were also made kings; Chen became the Ying Wang and Li Zhong Wang; ie: the brave king and loyal king. These appointments were obviously done to placate any jealousy the generals might feel towards Hong Rengan. These men had been on their own for quite awhile and by no means eager to accept subordination under a newcomer. But for better or worse these 3 men were the top officials who would control Taiping politics and military strategy.    Now Li Xiucheng was very ambitious and was the one who sought the most self glory out of the Taiping leaders. His area of command was by his own design, that to protect Nanjing and he made every effort to place himself close to the heavenly king as his protector. Thus far he had managed to become the new Yang Xiuqing, but he did not like Hong Rengan nor was he open much to his ideas. Chen Yucheng on the other hand was more willing to accept a new political leadership role of Hong Rengan and would become his main supporter. Aside from his role as a commander in the field he also helped Hong Rengans governmental reorganization. Chen Yucheng became a member of Hong Rengans board for a newly organized state examinations. Hong Rengan wanted a government based on law and stressed therefore the need of education for the Taiping people.   One of Hong Rengans first proclamations was to revamp the examination. Interestingly to do this he advocated to blend confucian classics, the four books and 5 classics with the taiping christian texts. Though none of these texts survived, scholars assumed the general principles of the confucian work were revised heavily before being adopted. Hong Rengan wanted to carry on some of the imperial tradition; to formulate an elite that would be characterized not only by ranks and titles but also exempt from labor service. While the examinations and privileges of those who passed them looked similar to the imperial systems of before, the substance of the system was quite different. The imperial gentry was a statum that took its uniform based on the study of confucian classics, but Hong Rengan wanted a CHristian gentry. Thus the new examinations looked more so at qualifications for official service. At the same time Hong Rengan took the time to clarify “yes thats a good word”, the visions of Hong Xiuquan in a way that would make more sense in traditional christian literature. This was not just for the CHinese, but also for foreigners who were greatly weirded out by the fantasifull aspects of the Taiping doctrine. Hong Rengan was trying to have the Taiping version of christianity mesh more so with the protestant one so foreigners would accept it more.    Hong Rengan suggested that foreign missionaries and technical advisers be permitted to come to Nanjing. He was trying to establish some westernization and friendly relations with western powers and many missionaries would come to Nanjing such as T.P Crawford, J.L Holmes, J. Roberts and Hartwell of the American Baptists and Josiah Cox of the British Wesleyans. However the year 1860 brought with it an end to the Second Opium War and the signing of the treaty of Tianjin, thus the western powers had effectively tossed their lot in with the Qing. Hong Rengans hopes of gaining the western aid to defeat the Qing was snatched.    In the meantime, while Chen Yucheng proved a valuable ally to his cause, in the absence of having Li Xiucheng on his side, Hong Rengan was unable to overcome the resistance to his authority. Regardless he attempted to take a leading role in planning military campaigns; and his strategies were initially successful.    When Hong Xiuquan and his cousin spoke in their younger years they envisioned building a kingdom that did not include the north. Instead it set its foundation in Nanjing and reached down over the 7 southern provinces. It would abandon the larger expanse of the Qing dynasty for something more akin to the Ming. However when the Taiping took Nanjing, they tried to take the south and north failing in the process. Now the Taiping capital was in a dire situation, the had lost most of their southern territory that they acquired in the initial campaign. They still held the strategic city of Anqing upstream, but the Qing had retaken Zhenjiang. Qing forces had established encampments with 10s of thousands of soldiers guarding strategic points north and south of Nanjing keeping them firmly under siege. These encampments represented the leading forces of the Qing empire, the counterparts to Prince Seng's army in the north. The southern camp had dug in just 10 days after the fall of Nanjing to the Taiping and stood its ground almost continually ever since. Zhang Guoliang commanded the southern encampment and He Chun the north.   Zhang Guoliang's siege forces were too large to be easily scattered by the Taiping sorties from Nanjing. But at the same time Nanjing was too strong for the besiegers to mount an attack upon it. Thus a stalemate occured for a long time, peppered with Taiping victories in 1856 that did shatter the Qing siege, but then the Taiping internal collapse undid this. 3 years after the Qing rebuilt their ranks and commenced digging trenches below Nanjing that would stretch 45 miles with more than 100 guard camps along the length blocking access to the capital. He Chun and Zhang Guoliang prepared for what they thought would be the final assault to crush the rebel capital. Hong Rengan presented a bold plan to relieve Nanjing. The Taiping would send a small expeditionary force in a wide, sweeping arc beyond the rear guard of the Qing armies within Zhejiang province to attack its weakly defended capital Hangzhou. Hangzhou was 150 miles southeast of Nanjing and was the supply line supporting the southern Qing encampment. Now because He Chun and Zhang Guoliang concentrated all of their forces around Nanjing, there was little real defense left for Hangzhou, so they would be forced to transfer troops from the large encampments around Nanjing to lift a siege of the city.    As per Hong Rengans plan, they would recall two roving armies led by Chen Yucheng and the younger cousin of Li Xiucheng, known as the attending King who would return to Nanjing from their distant foraging campaigns. As soon as the Qing forces around Nanjing thinned out sufficiently, the expeditionary force at Hangzhou would secretly retreat as the combined armies of the Brave, loyal and attending King's would sweep in from 3 sides to crush the weakened Qing camps, thus raising the siege. Even Li Xiucheng agreed such a plan might break the siege, but he did question what lasting effect it might accomplish. He argued it would reconcentrate the Taiping forces in Nanjing where they had limited supplies, thus Hong Rengan laid out the full scope of his revised strategy for winning the war. The rice growing southern provinces, sichuan in the west and the Great Wall to the north were over 1000 miles from Nanjing, but to the east were grand and wealthy cities like Suzhou and Hangzhou who had access to the sea. It was to the east they should strike. Once they performed the siege lifting offensive they should turn east and conquer the cities between Nanjing and Suzhou in a swift and precise campaign. With access to the sea they could ensure supplies, arms, wealth and new recruits. If all went well they could get help from foreign allies and using the wealth taken from Suzhou and Hangzhou they could purchase perhaps 20 steam powered ships from the foreigners in shanghai. With such naval forces they could patrol the Yangtze unopposed and begin taking the southern coast along Fujian, Guangdong all the way to Hong Kong. From there they could march on Jiangxi, Hunan, Hubei and seize Hankow, solidifying the Taiping control over the entire Yangtze river valley and cutting the Qing empire effectively in 2. By consolidating the south, they could take Sichuan, Shaanxi and the original dream of Hong XIuquan and Hong Rengan would be complete. The former Ming empires borders would be theres and Beijing and the northern provinces would eventually be starved and wither away. The success of his grand plan depended heavily on the support of foreigners in Shanghai, but would they be open to it?   On February 10th of 1860, the Loyal King left Nanjing with 6000 handpicked men disguised in Qing uniforms stolen from slain enemies. The coordination between the Green Standard, Yung-Ying armies and local militias was so weak, the Loyal King's force managed to seize several garrison towns along their way before looping around to hit Hangzhou. They surprised the city on March 11th when hundreds of Taiping banners began to be erected around the great city indicating its was under siege. The main Taiping force battered the front gate of Hangzhou using sappers and tunnels and a hole was blasted by march 19th. Hell unleashed upon the city as its untrained militia routed fleeing to their homes in neighboring towns. The leaders of Hangzhou likewise abandoned their offices taking their bodyguards with them, with many also ransacking the city as they fled. Li Xiuchengs men fought against the local residents who stood their ground and the local women did as moral instructions proscribed, they began to kill themselves en masse. The women hanged themselves, poisoned themselves, stabbed themselves and threw themselves into wells to drown. The Manchu commander of Hangzhou fled with his troops back into the inner garrison holding out against the fierce Taiping invaders. Li's men were unable to break into the Manchu garrison after 6 days, so he abandoned the attack and began the retreat back to Nanjing. He had accomplished his objective and the plan would work out perfectly. Zhang Guoliang received reports of the attack on Hangzhou, without any clear indication of the size of the Taiping force. He shifted nearly a quarter of his total siege forces to relieve Hangzhou as a result while the Loyal King and his men took to their Qing disguises yet again easily slipping past Zhang Guoliangs men. Zhang's force arrived to Hangzhou to find no Taiping, nor any civil government, so they looted the city hahahaah.    By April the main Taiping armies of the Brave and Attending kings went to the outskirts of Nanjing and join up with the Loyal Kings forces to throw their combined weight on the weakest point of the southern QIng encampment. The southern camp fell apart in a rout as 100,000 Taiping overran them from 3 different directions. Li's cavalry smashed into the Qing rear lines crushing the men under their own defensive works. Thousands were cut down with their bodies left in the trenches they had dug. The waterways overflowed their banks raising corpses everywhere. The routed Qing dropped their weapons as they fled, but the Taiping pursued them for weeks cutting more and more down. Soon the Taiping overran the city of Danyang, 45 miles to the east of Nanjing. General He Chun committed suicide by eating raw opium and Zhang Guoliang drowned while trying to escape from Danyang. Thus in the central theater of the war, no more capable Qing commanders were left.   In the spring of 1860, suddenly the Taiping came out like a scourge from their capital marching to the east. Local militias fled before them, Jiangsu province was swarmed, countless cities fell without a fight. By mid may the Taiping captured Changzhou a few days later Wuxi. Then the Taiping plucked one of the greatest cities, Suzhou which held a population of 2 million, providing them with a vast source of new recruits and plunder. The Taiping's momentum was unbreakable, Suzhou simply opened the gates to them. For those who were in the path of the Taiping choices were always the same, be brave and fight to protect your homes, or cut your manchu queues and join them. Many peasants tried to appease both sides by growing their hair long on top when the Taiping took over, but kept their Manchu braid wound up underneath their long hair in case the Qing came back. Soon the Taiping spread past Jiangsu to Zhejiang forcing countless to flee to the protection of the international city of Shanghai. Yet rumors spread to those in Shanghai that an army of 100,000 Taiping was going to march upon Shanghai with a flotilla of 10,000 boats so large it would take 3 days to fully pass the river.   The treaty port of Shanghai held half a million Chinese inhabitants, a figure growing daily with refugees. Shanghai was divided into 4 sections; the east going to Jiangsu province; the south was the old Chinese city with a circular defensive wall 25 feet high governed by the Qing holding most of Shanghais population; to the north was the French and British concessions and to the east was the Suzhou creek where past that was the American concession. The foreign population numbered around 2000 settled people and shipping crews numbering another 2000 or so. The British dominated the community, seconded by the French, leaving the Americans a minority. It was not a beautiful city. Countless newcomers had grand visions of “an El dorado of wealth, hope and fortune, only to find a dirty, overcrowded settlement with “ill built houses reeking with impurities and fevers and vile stenches”. One missionary said of the city  “one of the filthiest in this world. I have seen nothing to be compared to it in dirt and filth, it surpasses everything.”   Shanghai had access to the sea and the Yangtze river making it an ideal point of trade for tea and silk from China's interior. Shanghai quite frankly was built specifically for the purpose of dominating the China trade. As the Taiping edged down the river, British authorities in Shanghai issued an injunction from trading with the rebels and fear set into the foreign community that their immensely profitable commerce was about to be destroyed. The top ranking British official in Shanghai was our old friend Frederick Bruce, the younger brother to Lord Elgin. After failing at his job to get the Qing to abide by their treaty, he left his brother to finish that work up as he took up the mantle to manage Shanghai. Because of his experiences he sought to walk a very fine line when it came to his new role and he was determined to remain neutral towards the civil war. He issued the trade injunction believing to even trade with the Taiping was breaking neutrality. He also simultaneously tried to avoid aiding the Qing, but Britain had interests with the Qing and the Qing knew how to twist an arm. The Qing had an official named Wu Xu who hounded Bruce for British support in defending Shanghai from a possible Taiping attack. Wu Xu warned if the Taiping took Shanghai, it would shut down all trade and the British would be cast out. Bruce began to hear rumors about horrible dealings in Hangzhou by the hands of Li Xiuchengs men and began to worry what might unfold in Shanghai.   It was not just the Taiping that were a threat, there were legions of renegade Qing forces who had taken up residence in Shanghai who had fled from Suzhou and Hangzhou. Bruce wrote  “the defeated imperialists have revenged themselves for their defeat by pillaging the defenceless villages on their line of retreat. The beaten troops, the victorious insurgents, and the vagabonds of the city itself, all join in plundering the wealthy and respectable inhabitants.” There were continuous false alarms being made that the Taiping were attacking Shanghai causing the city to become a powder keg. Weighing the options, Bruce decided it was Britain's moral duty to protect Shanghai, but not just the foreign settlements, also the Chinese city under the Qing civil governments control. He made it clear any British defense of Shanghai would strictly be limited to the city itself. Wu Xu tried to press Bruce that a preemptive British led force at Suzhou to halt the Taiping would be a good idea, but Bruce rejected this immediately. The French however heard reports that another French catholic missionary had been murdered by the Taiping, and they decided to rally a force of 3000 men to march on Suzhou, but Bruce was able to scuttle the mission. The British merchants began to hound Bruce to mount a sturdy defense of the city, but Bruce had to wait, probably months for Britain to give him permission to deploy defenses. Thus in the meantime Bruce began calling up volunteers, and only a handful of cannons were dragged together with a few hundred inexperienced men to man the walls to face if rumors were true, legend of Taiping.    I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me.  Hong Rengan went on a great pilgrimage to Nanjing and became the Shield King. His reforms were grand, but he drew ire from his fellow the Loyal King. Could Hong Rengan turn the movement around?  

S01E25 Taiping Rebellion: Hong Rengan Today we're looking at the re-emergence of Hong Rengan, younger cousin of Taiping leader Hong Xiuquan. Hong Rengan was one of the earliest converts, but he was cut off from the main Taiping group early and he had to run away to British Hong Kong to survive the Qing purges of Taiping supporters and sympathizers. Meeting Theodore Hamberg A convert of missionary Theodore Hamberg found Hong Rengan and brought Hong to meet Hamberg in Hong Kong in 1852. Hong Rengan knew a surprising amount about the Bible and Christian teachings, and he left Hamberg with the startling story of the beginning of the Taiping Rebellion. Hong came back a year later (1853) and received formal Protestant baptism and started to receive instruction in orthodox Protestant doctrines. Hamberg was thinking to send Hong Rengan to the Taiping to straighten out their doctrines, to make them actually Christian. He gave money for Hong Rengan to go up to Shanghai, to hopefully link up with the Taiping in Nanjing. Hong Kong sojourn, life with James Legge Hong Rengan didn't get past Shanghai, so after some time there, he went back to Hong Kong. Theodore Hamberg had died, but his connection with that missionary helped him connect with other missionaries. He spent years with missionary James Legge, even assisting a number of translations of core pieces of Chinese literature into English, assisting with scholarly interpretation. Being in Hong Kong helped Hong Rengan learn a ton about life outside China. Later he would become a key link between the Taiping and foreign powers, evaluating whether to support the Taiping or the ruling Qing Dynasty. When James Legge was away on home leave, other missionaries funded a second attempt for Hong Rengan to go back to Nanjing. This time, it would work. Hong Rengan—A Missed Opportunity? The Taiping weren't quite Christian enough to gain foreign support, and they weren't quite Chinese enough to neatly replace the ruling dynasty. They weren't going so far as to replace the dynastic system, and they didn't get beyond the visions and the teachings of their founder. Hong Rengan may have been someone who could have pushed the Taiping movement to being a more effective revolutionary force, but as we'll see in future episodes, that didn't quite happen. If You'd Like to Support the Podcast Subscribe, share, leave a rating. Give once, give monthly at www.buymeacoffee.com/crpodcast Subscribe to the substack newsletter at https://chineserevolutions.substack.com/ Also... Please reach out at chineserevolutions@gmail.com and let me know what you think!

In the first of our Deep Dip series, where we take a deep dive into a particular book or subject, we examine Crowley's translation of the Tao Teh King of Lao Tzu, examining it on its own merit, as well as comparing it with the translation of James Legge, which was the version Crowley was working from.

James Legge and Tobias Zuser met with Eastern centre-back Fung Hing-wa for a candid talk about the highs and lows of his career, the secret behind Tai Po's 2018/19 season title, and the sorrow state of the Hong Kong Premier League. What was Wa-zai's most difficult career decision? How did he turn his passion during the pandemic into a side-business? And why does he compare the Premier League with a mahjong game? Listen in to find out more - and how the interview was hijacked by two cats. Share your opinions with us at podcast@offside.hk or send us a voice message at anchor.fm/hk-football-podcast. Please also follow us at www.instagram.com/hong_kong_football_podcast/ DON'T MISS A NEW EPISODE ANY MORE: Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes, Spotify, or any other podcast platform by searching for "Hong Kong Football Podcast" in the directory.

Will new HKFA head coach Jørn Andersen get past his probation? Why do Lee Man refuse to play games? And what is going to happen to our beloved Hong Kong Stadium? James Legge, Tobias Zuser, and Jonathan White discuss once again all the latest in Hong Kong football. Share your opinions with us at podcast@offside.hk or send us a voice message at anchor.fm/hk-football-podcast. Please also follow us at www.instagram.com/hong_kong_football_podcast/ DON'T MISS A NEW EPISODE ANY MORE: Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes, Spotify, or any other podcast platform by searching for "Hong Kong Football Podcast" in the directory.

Should you invest in Hong Kong football NFTs? What happened to the Senior Shield? And how excited should we be about the new Premier League season? James Legge, Tobias Zuser, and Jonathan White return after an extended summer hiatus to discuss the joys and sorrows of local football. They share their expectations for the season, question some of the competition formats, and bid farewell to the era of Mixu Paatelainen. Share your opinions with us at podcast@offside.hk and follow us at www.instagram.com/hong_kong_football_podcast/ DON'T MISS A NEW EPISODE ANY MORE: Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes, Spotify, or any other podcast platform by searching for "Hong Kong Football Podcast" in the directory.

If Rangers are the unofficial relegation play-off winners, are Lee Man unofficial league champions? Who scored the goal of the season - Ngan Lok-fung or Jared Lum? And do we really need to say out loud who is going to get the Best Player award? James Legge, Tobias Zuser, and Jonathan White discuss a surprisingly exciting season finale, the latest transfer news, as well as what to expect from all the international and regional football in the coming weeks. Share your opinions with us at podcast@offside.hk and follow us at www.instagram.com/hong_kong_football_podcast/ DON'T MISS A NEW EPISODE ANY MORE: Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes, Spotify, or any other podcast platform by searching for "Hong Kong Football Podcast" in the directory.

Who will be the 2020/2021 Hong Kong Premier League champions? Why are Lee Man late too the party? And who is missing in Mixu's latest Hong Kong team squad? James Legge, Tobias Zuser, and Jonathan White discuss all the latest in local football - despite the ungodly heat. Everything you need to know before the big season finale between Kitchee and Eastern, and the upcoming World Cup qualifiers in Bahrain. Share your opinions with us at podcast@offside.hk and follow us at www.instagram.com/hong_kong_football_podcast/ DON'T MISS A NEW EPISODE ANY MORE: Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes, Spotify, or any other podcast platform by searching for "Hong Kong Football Podcast" in the directory.

Will the championship & relegation round still be exciting to watch? Have the Bees lost their buzz? How did Resources Capital outplay Happy Valley and Southern? And who will be the best of the rest? James Legge, Tobias Zuser, and Jonathan White are discussing all the latest in local football - including rescheduled AFC Cup games, a new CEO, transfer news, and the potential role of Park'n'Shop vouchers. Share your opinions with us at podcast@offside.hk and follow us at www.instagram.com/hong_kong_football_podcast/ DON'T MISS A NEW EPISODE ANY MORE: Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes, Spotify, or any other podcast platform by searching for "Hong Kong Football Podcast" in the directory.

Does Hong Kong football have a sexism problem? Why did Lee Man withdraw from the Sapling Cup? Can Happy Valley pull of an Easter resurrection? And will the red flags keep flying? James Legge, Tobias Zuser, and Jonathan White discuss the latest in the Hong Kong Premier League, covering all the action and controversies on and off the pitch. Share your opinions with us at podcast@offside.hk and follow us at www.instagram.com/hong_kong_football_podcast/ DON'T MISS A NEW EPISODE ANY MORE: Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes or any other podcast platform by searching for "Hong Kong Football Podcast" in the directory

Hallo, this is Prof. Bin Song at Washington College. This unit of the course “Ru and Confucianism” will help you understand when is the beginning of Confucianism, or should we say, the beginning of the Ru tradition, and what the earliest democratic political institution in ancient Chinese civilization looks like.It is an extraordinary task for Ru scholars to talk about the beginning of the tradition. This is because the beginning, as it is described by Ru classics such as the Classic of Documents and discussed by Confucius in the Analects, expresses the ideal of the Ru way of life, and therefore, is more a concept of morality and politics, rather than one of time and history. As one of my favorite ancient Chinese poets, Du Fu (712-770 C.E), mused: the purpose of his poetry-writing is “to help the emperors to become as magnificent as Yao and Shun, and to turn people's morals and customs back to be that simple and amiable.” (?????, ?????)As also indicated by Du Fu's verse, the beginning of the Ru tradition starts from the stories of rulership by the sage-kings, Yao and Shun. The times when these kings lived were respectively called Tang and Yu, and according to the best archeological evidences we can estimate today, we are talking about almost two thousand years before the life of Confucius (551-479 B.C.E).To consider the time of Yao and Shun as the beginning of the Ru tradition does not mean that there is no notable leader prior to Yao and Shun. Instead, if you read histories such as Si Maqian's “The Record of the Grand Historian,” you will find an even older lineage of legendary kings in ancient China, such as King Yan, King Huang, and the King of Fu Xi. However, please remember, Confucius himself is also a historian. Among the six classics he compiled to teach his students, there are one grand history and another local history. The grand history is titled as the Classic of Documents (??), and it is opened with the chapters about Yao and Shun.So, why did Confucius decide to put Yao and Shun at the beginning of the history which matters greatly to the Ru tradition? From Confucius's discussion on related topics in the Analects, we find two reasons: firstly, the factuality of anything beyond the time of Yao and Shun passed down to Confucius's purview was hardly to confirm (Analects 3.0). Secondly, which is more important, the personalities and rulership of Yao and Shun represented an ideal of the Ru way of life so that later Ruists can take this ideal as a supreme guidance to evaluate, live through, and contribute to varying regimes, societies and times (Analects 8.19, 15.5). In this sense, the stories of Yao and Shun, together with the one of Duke of Zhou whom we will focus on later, are major resources of Confucius's thought, and should be studied carefully by students interested in the Ru tradition today.Understood in this way, the crucial lesson we need to learn about the stories of Yao and Shun is: what kind of ideal of Ruism did they represent? To answer this question, we will focus upon Yao in this episode, and Shun in next one.Do you still remember the text we once read about the Great Learning? It lays out a very concrete program of self-cultivation and social engagement for a Ru learner, starting from cultivating inner excellences, proceeding through loving and renewing the people, and aiming finally at abiding in the highest good, which is elaborated as peace and harmony throughout the world. Now, let's read the opening paragraph of the Classic of Documents, and see how extraordinarily these two texts are related:“Yao was reverential, intelligent, cultured, and thoughtful – naturally and without effort. He was sincerely courteous, and capable of all deference. The bright (influence of these qualities) was felt through the four quarters (of the land), and reached to (heaven) above and (earth) beneath. He made the able and virtuous distinguished, and thence proceeded to the love of (all in) the nine classes of his kindred, who (thus) became harmonious. He (also) regulated and polished the people (of his domain), who all became brightly enlightened. (Finally), he united and harmonized the myriad states; and so the black-haired people were transformed. The result was (universal) concord.” (Adapted from translation of James Legge)In other words, Yao started to cultivate himself with all needed qualities to live a self-content personal life, and to govern a country well. Then, he was dedicated to aligning his extensive family; finally, he influenced the people beyond his family, and succeeded to unite a myriad of states under the heaven! Because he did this so well, he looked “natural and without effort” while achieving all of these! This effortless achievement was described by later Ruists as embodying the virtue of “non-action” (wu-wei), a sign of the highest moral achievement of a Ruist sage.If you continue to read these opening chapters of the Classic of Documents, you will find details of Yao's policies by which he could achieve this effortless good governance. For instances, he appointed able and virtuous talents to varying governmental posts, and set reasonable rules for the promotion of these governmental officials; he cherished the value of education, and established offices to take charge of educating the people, particularly about how to better human relationships within families; he also governed the country primarily through the moral impacts generated by virtuous leadership, elegant music and rites, while secondarily through establishing laws and punishments.However, although these ways of governance by Yao all represent the Ru ideal to a certain degree, none of them can surpass the influence of the institution called “abdication,” (??) which is about how to transition the supreme political power to the next King.According to the Classic of Documents, when Yao turned into old, he summoned an assembly of regional leaders to decide how to transition his power to next king. Firstly, these leaders recommend the son of Yao, but Yao denied it because he thought his son was not good enough to be a candidate. Then, all these leaders recommended Gun, a regional leader in an aristocratic family; although Yao did not quite agree with this either, he finally yielded to the majority opinion of the assembly. However, after nine years of probation, Gun failed to prove that he was an ideal candidate mainly because he did not stop the big flood in those years. Then, Yao had to summon the assembly again, and said it can recommend a bright man even if this entails “ to raise a person who is poor and lives remotely.” (?????). Eventually, the assembly recommended Shun, who was a very poor man in the lowest class but became well-known because of his filial conduct within his family. Then, Yao accepted this candidate and started another long period of probation until Shun's final appointment.As constructed by contemporary scholars, the procedure of this institution of abdication possibly consists of six steps.First, leaders from different regions of a country will form an assembly of representatives;Second, the assembly, together with the incumbent king, will nominate multiple candidates for the future king;Third, the nominated candidates have a chance to answer raised questions for entering the next step;Fourth, after the Q&A test, the assembly and the king will decide collectively through a majority vote who will be appointed to different levels and posts of government for a long “probation” period of three to thirteen years per cases we know;Fifth, at the end of this probation period, the incumbent king will decide whether to accept the candidate as the head of the government;Sixth, if approved by the king, the candidate will be the head of the government, and when the incumbent king passes away, the head of the government will become the new king. During the tenure of the head of government, the king-elect does not have the power to appoint new officials until the incumbent king passes away.Given these six steps of abdication, anyone familiar with the imperial history of ancient China will find how distinguishing it is. The later Chinese history is one of dynasty after dynasty, and each dynasty is ruled by a royal family with its distinctive surname. These royal families either overthrew the previous dynasty or unified a disintegrated country through sword and blood. Within a given dynasty, the transition of supreme political power from one emperor to another is largely following the rule of the inheritance by the eldest son, but not without cruel and violent political struggles for it.In contrast, the institution of abdication prevalent in the time of Yao and Shun succeeded in transitioning power with peace, and the balancing power from the assembly of regional leaders also gives us a glimpse into how the idea of “democracy” is not entirely alien to the minds in the earliest stage of Chinese civilization. More importantly, the willingness of Yao to yield his power to a poor commoner with an entirely different family name from him speaks to one most important Ruist principle of ideal politics: that is “to respect worthies” (??), which means to guarantee that the most able and virtuous people can be appointed to the governmental positions fit for their talents. In the later development of Ruist political philosophy, this “human” element was also thought of as the most important one for good governance within a fixed political institution.Unfortunately, this earliest democratic institution of abdication does not last long. As you may have noticed, the supreme leader, the king, still held a mighty power in the system, so if his power grows out of balance, it will be easy for him to pass on the power to his son, and thus, end this institution once for all. This was exactly what happened to the successor of Shun, namely, Yu, who passed on his throne to his son, who established a new dynasty called Xia. And starting from Xia, Chinese history waved farewell to the ideal politics of Yao and Shun, and became one of dynastic politics dominated by competing royal families. In this later type of imperial politics, the best Ruist scholars can aspire for is, as Du Fu's poetry indicated, to help their emperor to return to be like Yao and Shun, but these scholars would never be able to dream to be the emperor themselves. Because of this, the original Ruist principle of “respecting worthies” central to the earliest democratic ideal is also dramatically undermined.In a contemporary perspective, the most effective political regime we know so far which can achieve peaceful transition of political power is the western type of liberal democracy. However, the reason why liberal democracy can achieve this is based upon multiple institutions supporting its key ideal of government for the people, which include the universal suffrage, the competition among multiple parties, the check-balance among governmental branches, etc. In comparison, the most original form of democracy in ancient Chinese civilization, the abdication, still predominantly relied upon the personal choice of the supreme leader, and although it contained some democratic element, its institution was still very premature regarding its lack of those corresponding supporting systems in contemporary liberal democracy. However, even so, the central idea of “respecting worthies” based upon a system of meritocracy and power balance still sheds a great light upon even those contemporary practices of liberal democracy. Today, what Ruist scholars are particularly concerned is how to incorporate this uniquely Ruist meritocratic and democratic political philosophy into the contemporary practices of liberal democracy so as to perfect it and make it more fit for facing the challenges of human society today. In this regard, I hope the study of the most original democratic idea at the beginning of the Ruist history will bring much inspiration.References:Book of Yu ??, translated by James Legge.???, “?????”, ????????2003??3?, pp.125-150.Further Recommended Reading:Sungmoon Kim, “Confucian Constitutionalism: Mencius and Xunzi on Virtue, Ritual, and Royal Transmission,” The Review of Politics, Vol. 73, No.3 (Summer 2011), pp. 371-399.

All the latest from the local game, including news from the Hong Kong Premier League, and preparations for the AFC Cup and Champions League. James Legge, Tobias Zuser and Jonathan White discuss all the latest goings-on, including a big win for Kitchee, the departure of Michael N'Dri, and a sad situation for Lai Lok-yin. And what happened to Eastern's attacking fork? Share your opinions with us at podcast@offside.hk and follow us at www.instagram.com/hong_kong_football_podcast/ DON'T MISS A NEW EPISODE ANY MORE: Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes or any other podcast platform by searching for "Hong Kong Football Podcast" in the directory

Local football is (finally) back, but is as complicated as ever. AFC bubble; Kitchee bag R&F double; and Chuck Yiu-kwok in trouble. James Legge and Jonathan White discuss all the latest goings-on, including how Happy Valley and Pegasus got in some bother with insurance, and Igor Sartori's new club. Share your opinions with us at podcast@offside.hk and follow us at www.instagram.com/hong_kong_football_podcast/ DON'T MISS A NEW EPISODE ANY MORE: Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes or any other podcast platform by searching for "Hong Kong Football Podcast" in the directory

When can the Hong Kong Premier League resume? What happened to all the R&Fugees? How amazing is the new Hong Kong kit? And what the .... are designated non-resident players? James Legge, Tobias Zuser and Jonathan White conform to Hong Kong's latest gathering rules and only meet for a quick chat on the phone to talk about local football. Share your opinions with us at podcast@offside.hk and follow us at www.instagram.com/hong_kong_football_podcast/ DON'T MISS A NEW EPISODE ANY MORE: Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes or any other podcast platform by searching for "Hong Kong Football Podcast" in the directory

Who are the 2020/21 Premier League title contenders? Should the Sapling Cup always be played before the season? And which club has the best kit this year? James Legge and Tobias Zuser give a preview on what to expect from the new season, and together with Jonathan White they discuss if local football is really going to "light up our era". Share your opinions with us at podcast@offside.hk and follow us at www.instagram.com/hong_kong_football_podcast/ DON'T MISS A NEW EPISODE ANY MORE: Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes or any other podcast platform by searching for "Hong Kong Football Podcast" in the directory.

Did Kitchee deserve to win the title? What to make of R&F's sudden withdrawal from the Premier League? And has the 1st Division become the graveyard of the HKPL? James Legge and Tobias Zuser are once again joined by Jonathan White to talk about the dramatic finish of what was probably the strangest season in local football history. They also look ahead to the 2020/21 championship, which is set to start in just a few days. Share your opinions with us at podcast@offside.hk and follow us at www.instagram.com/hong_kong_football_podcast/ DON'T MISS A NEW EPISODE ANY MORE: Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes or any other podcast platform by searching for "Hong Kong Football Podcast" in the directory.

Who will win the Premier League? Has Hong Kong got a new striker for the national team? And - what is Tenet all about? James Legge and Tobias Zuser share the last round-up for the (too) long awaited season finale, for which R&F, Kitchee, Eastern, and Lee Man are all still in the mix. Also, listen in if you want some podcast merch! Share your opinions with us at podcast@offside.hk and follow us at www.instagram.com/hong_kong_football_podcast/ DON'T MISS A NEW EPISODE ANY MORE: Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes or any other podcast platform by searching for "Hong Kong Football Podcast" in the directory.

Who will be the inaugural quiz champion? And can you score higher than the two podcast hosts? With local football still on hold until late summer, James Legge and Tobias Zuser invited quiz master and guest host Jonathan White for a face off in the 1st Great Hong Kong Football Quiz of the Hong Kong Football Podcast. Share your opinions with us at podcast@offside.hk and follow us at www.instagram.com/hong_kong_football_podcast/ DON'T MISS A NEW EPISODE ANY MORE: Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes or any other podcast platform by searching for "Hong Kong Football Podcast" in the directory.

When will there be football again in Hong Kong? How much will the 2019/2020 title be worth in the end? And is there at all any positive news? James Legge and Tobias Zuser discuss the latest action-free news in local football. Share your opinions with us at podcast@offside.hk and follow us at www.instagram.com/hong_kong_football_podcast/ DON'T MISS A NEW EPISODE ANY MORE: Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes or any other podcast platform by searching for "Hong Kong Football Podcast" in the directory.

为你读英语美文 · 第356期 《论语·学而篇》 主播：永清Hey, 你好吗？我是永清，这里是为你读英语美文。梁冬，是我非常喜欢的一位主持人，从《冬吴相对论》到《冬吴同学会》，我一直跟着他在学习和成长，最近我在听他的《梁注论语》。《为你读英语美文》也是一档想和大家成为更好的自己的节目，用梁冬的话说：最好的方法，就是，寻找一个伟大的思想，在学习它的过程中，受到它的加持。我想为你读双语版《论语》的《学而篇》，虽然高中时也在语文课上学过《论语》，但是当时的理解仅限于字面，随着年龄和人生经历的增长，再读《论语》，又有了新的启发，我也把学习《论语》的笔记分享给你，希望我们可以在学习《论语》的过程中，受到梁冬的加持，受到孔子的加持，让我们一起成为更好的自己。《论语 · 学而篇》作者：孔子，译者：James Legge[英]，解释：梁冬1子曰：“学而时习之，不亦说乎？有朋自远方来，不亦乐乎？人不知而不愠，不亦君子乎？”The Master said, “ Is it not pleasant to learn with a constant perseverance and application? Is it not delightful to have friends coming from distant quarters? Is he not a man of complete virtue, who feels no discomposure though men may take no note of him? 学而时习之，不亦说乎？：把所学的知识转化为行为，习惯，技能时，才是真正意义上获得快乐的入手势，是能力，而不是知识让我们获得快乐。所以，去学习并且实践吧。有朋自远方来，不亦乐乎？：朋友，是和我们思想频率共振的人，把自己真正喜欢的朋友列出来，你要知道，他们是你生命中最重要的质量，管理好你和这几个人的关系，就管理好了大部分的快乐。 人不知而不愠，不亦君子乎？：人世间绝大部分的烦恼，都来自“人家不了解你”。要知道，被误解才是常态。我自己也常用一句英语来告诉自己：Give more. Expect less. 会发现，失望和烦恼会少很多。 2有子曰：“其为人也孝悌，而好犯上者，鲜矣；不好犯上，而好作乱者，未之有也。君子务本，本立而道生。孝悌也者，其为仁之本与！ ”The philosopher Yu said, “ They are few who, being filial and fraternal, are fond of offending against their superiors. There have been none, who, not liking to offend their superiors, have been fond of stirring up confusion. The superior man bends his attention to what is radical. That being established, all practical courses naturally grow up. Filial piety and fraternal submission, are they not the root of all benevolent actions?” 注：有子，孔子弟子，孔门七十二贤之一，被尊为儒学圣贤。孝悌，是我们向次序致敬的艺术。贵人凭什么帮你？还不是因为觉得孺子可教。一切都不会太晚，如果你从今天开始发愿：发自内心地尊重别人，你会发现自己的运程会发生巨大的改变。3子曰：“君子食无求饱，居无求安，敏于事而慎于言，就有道而正焉，可谓好学也已。”The Master said, “He who aims to be a man of complete virtue in his food does not seek to gratify his appetite, nor in his dwelling place does he seek the appliances of ease; he is earnest in what he is doing, and careful in his speech; he frequents the company of men of principle that he may be rectified: such a person may be said indeed to love to learn.”任何事情，一旦让你感到太舒服，远超平均阈值时，它就会形成一种绑架。君子食无求饱：俗话说，胃不和则卧不安，吃得太饱，会有厌离感，吃到刚刚好，是胃与食物的高潮。居无求安：居住我们不追求过度安逸。敏于事而慎于言：做事情勤劳敏捷，说话却谨慎。就有道而正焉：靠近有德之人，以为他们为标准来匡正自己。做到以上，就可以说是好学了。 结语时间有限，我只为你读了三段《论语》的《学而篇》， 俗话说“半部论语治天下”，深入学习《论语》，会发现《论语》的精妙之处，它不仅教我们做人处事的道理，还教我们如何获得幸福，如何成为更好的自己。超越自己，才能刷新自己。初级刷新，是每天让别人看到自己不一样。高级刷新，是知道自己又不一样了。我们所有自我刷新的结果，是为了能够让我们更好地和自己结合，和内在的祖先结合，和亲密的爱人结合，和所在的环境结合，甚至和未来的自己结合。 从今天开始，让我们学而时习之，用传承千年的中华文化加持自己，一起成为更好的自己。关于《论语》《论语》，是孔子弟子及再传弟子记录孔子及其弟子言行而编成的语录集，成书于战国前期。全书共20篇492章，以语录体为主，叙事体为辅，较为集中地体现了孔子的政治主张、伦理思想、道德观念及教育原则等。关于译者理雅各（James Legge，1815年－1897年）是近代英国著名汉学家，曾任香港英华书院校长。他是第一个系统研究、翻译中国古代经典的人，从1861年到1886年的25年间，将《四书》、《五经》等中国主要典籍全部译出，共计28卷。当他离开中国时，已是著作等身。他与法国学者顾赛芬、德国学者卫礼贤并称汉籍欧译三大师，也是儒莲翻译奖的第一个获得者。▎好课推荐 喜马拉雅《梁冬睡睡平安之梁注论语》▎主播介绍永清：为你读英语美文创始人主播，制作：永清▎节目首发，背景音乐，图文资料，更多推送敬请关注微信公众号：为你读英语美文，ID：readenglishforyou

为你读英语美文 · 第356期 《论语·学而篇》 主播：永清Hey, 你好吗？我是永清，这里是为你读英语美文。梁冬，是我非常喜欢的一位主持人，从《冬吴相对论》到《冬吴同学会》，我一直跟着他在学习和成长，最近我在听他的《梁注论语》。《为你读英语美文》也是一档想和大家成为更好的自己的节目，用梁冬的话说：最好的方法，就是，寻找一个伟大的思想，在学习它的过程中，受到它的加持。我想为你读双语版《论语》的《学而篇》，虽然高中时也在语文课上学过《论语》，但是当时的理解仅限于字面，随着年龄和人生经历的增长，再读《论语》，又有了新的启发，我也把学习《论语》的笔记分享给你，希望我们可以在学习《论语》的过程中，受到梁冬的加持，受到孔子的加持，让我们一起成为更好的自己。《论语 · 学而篇》作者：孔子，译者：James Legge[英]，解释：梁冬1子曰：“学而时习之，不亦说乎？有朋自远方来，不亦乐乎？人不知而不愠，不亦君子乎？”The Master said, “ Is it not pleasant to learn with a constant perseverance and application? Is it not delightful to have friends coming from distant quarters? Is he not a man of complete virtue, who feels no discomposure though men may take no note of him? 学而时习之，不亦说乎？：把所学的知识转化为行为，习惯，技能时，才是真正意义上获得快乐的入手势，是能力，而不是知识让我们获得快乐。所以，去学习并且实践吧。有朋自远方来，不亦乐乎？：朋友，是和我们思想频率共振的人，把自己真正喜欢的朋友列出来，你要知道，他们是你生命中最重要的质量，管理好你和这几个人的关系，就管理好了大部分的快乐。 人不知而不愠，不亦君子乎？：人世间绝大部分的烦恼，都来自“人家不了解你”。要知道，被误解才是常态。我自己也常用一句英语来告诉自己：Give more. Expect less. 会发现，失望和烦恼会少很多。 2有子曰：“其为人也孝悌，而好犯上者，鲜矣；不好犯上，而好作乱者，未之有也。君子务本，本立而道生。孝悌也者，其为仁之本与！ ”The philosopher Yu said, “ They are few who, being filial and fraternal, are fond of offending against their superiors. There have been none, who, not liking to offend their superiors, have been fond of stirring up confusion. The superior man bends his attention to what is radical. That being established, all practical courses naturally grow up. Filial piety and fraternal submission, are they not the root of all benevolent actions?” 注：有子，孔子弟子，孔门七十二贤之一，被尊为儒学圣贤。孝悌，是我们向次序致敬的艺术。贵人凭什么帮你？还不是因为觉得孺子可教。一切都不会太晚，如果你从今天开始发愿：发自内心地尊重别人，你会发现自己的运程会发生巨大的改变。3子曰：“君子食无求饱，居无求安，敏于事而慎于言，就有道而正焉，可谓好学也已。”The Master said, “He who aims to be a man of complete virtue in his food does not seek to gratify his appetite, nor in his dwelling place does he seek the appliances of ease; he is earnest in what he is doing, and careful in his speech; he frequents the company of men of principle that he may be rectified: such a person may be said indeed to love to learn.”任何事情，一旦让你感到太舒服，远超平均阈值时，它就会形成一种绑架。君子食无求饱：俗话说，胃不和则卧不安，吃得太饱，会有厌离感，吃到刚刚好，是胃与食物的高潮。居无求安：居住我们不追求过度安逸。敏于事而慎于言：做事情勤劳敏捷，说话却谨慎。就有道而正焉：靠近有德之人，以为他们为标准来匡正自己。做到以上，就可以说是好学了。 结语时间有限，我只为你读了三段《论语》的《学而篇》， 俗话说“半部论语治天下”，深入学习《论语》，会发现《论语》的精妙之处，它不仅教我们做人处事的道理，还教我们如何获得幸福，如何成为更好的自己。超越自己，才能刷新自己。初级刷新，是每天让别人看到自己不一样。高级刷新，是知道自己又不一样了。我们所有自我刷新的结果，是为了能够让我们更好地和自己结合，和内在的祖先结合，和亲密的爱人结合，和所在的环境结合，甚至和未来的自己结合。 从今天开始，让我们学而时习之，用传承千年的中华文化加持自己，一起成为更好的自己。关于《论语》《论语》，是孔子弟子及再传弟子记录孔子及其弟子言行而编成的语录集，成书于战国前期。全书共20篇492章，以语录体为主，叙事体为辅，较为集中地体现了孔子的政治主张、伦理思想、道德观念及教育原则等。关于译者理雅各（James Legge，1815年－1897年）是近代英国著名汉学家，曾任香港英华书院校长。他是第一个系统研究、翻译中国古代经典的人，从1861年到1886年的25年间，将《四书》、《五经》等中国主要典籍全部译出，共计28卷。当他离开中国时，已是著作等身。他与法国学者顾赛芬、德国学者卫礼贤并称汉籍欧译三大师，也是儒莲翻译奖的第一个获得者。▎好课推荐 喜马拉雅《梁冬睡睡平安之梁注论语》▎主播介绍永清：为你读英语美文创始人主播，制作：永清▎节目首发，背景音乐，图文资料，更多推送敬请关注微信公众号：为你读英语美文，ID：readenglishforyou

Will Hong Kong football get back to normal soon amidst the global Covid-19 scare? Why are there so many goals in the Sapling Cup? And who will progress to the FA Cup semi finals? James Legge and Tobias Zuser reunited in joy as local football starts to slowly resume - albeit behind closed doors. They talk about the recent results in the Sapling Cup and look ahead to the upcoming league and FA Cup fixtures. Share your opinions with us at podcast@offside.hk and follow us at www.instagram.com/hong_kong_football_podcast/ DON'T MISS A NEW EPISODE ANY MORE: Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes or any other podcast platform by searching for "Hong Kong Football Podcast" in the directory.

Hong Kong is still under lockdown due to the coronavirus, so what does that mean for local football and the remainder of the season? James Legge and Tobias Zuser discuss the new arrangements for the Sapling Cup games, which are played behind closed doors, and also speculate about possible scenarios for the Premier League and the AFC Cup, all that while wondering what is actually left to do in the city. Share your opinions with us at podcast@offside.hk and follow us at www.instagram.com/hong_kong_football_podcast/ DON'T MISS A NEW EPISODE ANY MORE: Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes or any other podcast platform by searching for "Hong Kong Football Podcast" in the directory.

What to make of the newest 5 Year Plan of the Hong Kong Football Association? Does the league need more marquee players? And will local football win the unnerving match against the coronavirus? James Legge and Tobias Zuser discuss the latest developments in the Premier League and share their insights and opinions about the Strategic Plan that will set the direction of Hong Kong football for the coming years. They also talked to HKFA CEO Paul Woodland and Technical Director Thor Arnason to get their take on some of the ideas that are expected to improve the local game. Share your opinions with us at podcast@offside.hk and follow us at www.instagram.com/hong_kong_football_podcast/ DON'T MISS A NEW EPISODE ANY MORE: Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes or any other podcast platform by searching for "Hong Kong Football Podcast" in the directory.

Should Hong Kong really change the league season to follow the calendar year? How ready are Tai Po for their Asian football campaign? And are R&F slowly reassembling the Kitchee champion squad of 2016? James Legge and Tobias Zuser round up the latest results in the Sapling Cup and look ahead to the return of the Hong Kong Premier League as well as a less exciting Lunar New Year Cup tournament. They also discuss some of the ideas for the next 5 year plan of the Hong Kong Football Association. Share your opinions with us at podcast@offside.hk and follow us at www.instagram.com/hong_kong_football_podcast/ DON'T MISS A NEW EPISODE ANY MORE: Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes or any other podcast platform by searching for "Hong Kong Football Podcast" in the directory.

What to make of Hong Kong's EAFF Championship performance? Who will be in the Senior Shield final? And how many equestrian puns can one podcast handle? James Legge and Jonathan White discuss the latest action in Hong Kong football, and look ahead to the fixtures over the festive period, as the decade comes to a close. Share your opinions with us at podcast@offside.hk and follow us at www.instagram.com/hong_kong_football_podcast/ DON'T MISS A NEW EPISODE ANY MORE: Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes or any other podcast platform by searching for "Hong Kong Football Podcast" in the directory.

What's the situation in the Hong Kong Premier League? Why should you never leave Hong Kong Stadium early? And how strong are the squads of South Korea, Japan, and China in the upcoming EAFF finals? James Legge and Tobias Zuser discuss the latest goal fests and humble draws in the Hong Kong Premier League, and they also look ahead to the highly anticipated final round of the EAFF tournament in Busan. Share your opinions with us at podcast@offside.hk and follow us at www.instagram.com/hong_kong_football_podcast/ DON'T MISS A NEW EPISODE ANY MORE: Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes or any other podcast platform by searching for "Hong Kong Football Podcast" in the directory.

Can Hong Kong be satisfied with the latest win against Cambodia? Has the team come forward under Paatelainen? And will James Ha be Hong Kong's new goal scoring machine? James Legge and Tobias Zuser discuss Hong Kong's most recent home fixtures in the World Cup qualifiers against the backdrop of an increasingly chaotic city. They also look forward to the upcoming rounds of the Hong Kong Premier League. Share your opinions with us at podcast@offside.hk and follow us at www.instagram.com/hong_kong_football_podcast/ DON'T MISS A NEW EPISODE ANY MORE: Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes or any other podcast platform by searching for "Hong Kong Football Podcast" in the directory.

Can Hong Kong get their first win in the World Cup qualifiers in front of an enthusiastic home crowd? Are Eastern the deserving league leaders at the moment? And who is the 17-year-old HK youngster everyone should watch out for? This week James Legge and Tobias Zuser shine some light on the upcoming home matches of the Hong Kong national team against Bahrain and Cambodia. They also discuss the latest results in the Premier League and look ahead to the Senior Shield quarter finals. Share your opinions with us at podcast@offside.hk and follow us at www.instagram.com/hong_kong_football_podcast/ DON'T MISS A NEW EPISODE ANY MORE: Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes or any other podcast platform by searching for "Hong Kong Football Podcast" in the directory.

Why should Yuen Long not be too worried about their latest 0-8 defeat? Who is REALLY bottom of the league? And how has the current situation affected spectator numbers? James Legge and Tobias Zuser discuss the latest action in Hong Kong football after normal programming has resumed. They also look ahead to the next rounds and the possible changes at the top of the table. Share your opinions with us at podcast@offside.hk and follow us at www.instagram.com/hong_kong_football_podcast/ DON'T MISS A NEW EPISODE ANY MORE: Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes or any other podcast platform by searching for "Hong Kong Football Podcast" in the directory.

Has the district derby been urbanized? How did Rangers end up with too many adults on the pitch? And how awkward will be Eastern and Tai Po's first battle of the exes? James Legge and Tobias Zuser discuss how Hong Kong football becomes increasingly affected by the political situation in the city. But they also talk all there is about the actual footy: the latest Premier League results and cup games, as well as the upcoming round of fixtures. Share your opinions with us at podcast@offside.hk and follow us at www.instagram.com/hong_kong_football_podcast/ DON'T MISS A NEW EPISODE ANY MORE: Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes or any other podcast platform by searching for "Hong Kong Football Podcast" in the directory.

How have politics affected the atmosphere at Hong Kong's World Cup qualifying matches? Has the national team improved under Mixu Paatelainen? And can we already close nomination for the goal of the season? James Legge and Tobias Zuser discuss the start of Hong Kong's 2022 World Cup qualifiers and the exciting first week of the Premier League. Share your opinions with us at podcast@offside.hk and follow us at www.instagram.com/hong_kong_football_podcast/ DON'T MISS A NEW EPISODE ANY MORE: Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes or any other podcast platform by searching for "Hong Kong Football Podcast" in the directory.

Which Premier League team has the nicest kit? Will the men from Guangzhou dent the crown of Tai Po? And can the Valley bring a shock at the Mong Kok? James Legge and Tobias Zuser look at the first round of the Hong Kong Premier League, as well as the opening games of the World Cup qualifiers. After a long summer break, that's your best chance to get up to speed with all the latest in local football. Share your opinions with us at podcast@offside.hk and follow us at www.instagram.com/hong_kong_football_podcast/ DON'T MISS A NEW EPISODE ANY MORE: Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes or any other podcast platform by searching for "Hong Kong Football Podcast" in the directory.

With the new Hong Kong Premier League season set to start at the end of August, the Hong Kong Football Podcast returns from the summer hiatus to tell you everything you need to know. Who is going to win the league? What happened to the defending champions? And which teams made the best transfers? James Legge and Tobias Zuser talk about each of the 10 Premier League teams this season, and also give a preview for Hong Kong's difficult task in the upcoming World Cup and Asian Cup qualifiers. Share your opinions with us at podcast@offside.hk and follow us at www.instagram.com/hong_kong_football_podcast/ DON'T MISS A NEW EPISODE ANY MORE: Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes or any other podcast platform by searching for "Hong Kong Football Podcast" in the directory.

How have Tai Po celebrated their title win? What to expect from R&F next season? And where can you get your freshly printed Season Review magazine? James Legge and Tobias Zuser have a last day of the season chit-chat, discussing strange results in the Premier League, as well as the upcoming FA Cup final and the international friendly in June. That all said, the Season Review magazine will be published on Saturday, May 25th, at the FA Cup final. Free copies will be handed out between 3 and 4 pm in front of the Hong Kong Stadium. A PDF version will follow later on. The Hong Kong Football Podcast would like to thank again all our supporters who contributed to the crowdfunding campaign. https://www.fringebacker.com/en/projects/the-hong-kong-football-podcast-season-review-2018-19/ Share your opinions with us at podcast@offside.hk and follow us at www.instagram.com/hong_kong_football_podcast/ DON'T MISS A NEW EPISODE ANY MORE: Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes or any other podcast platform by searching for "Hong Kong Football Podcast" in the directory.

Why is Tai Po's league title so special? Have Dreams turned into a nightmare? And will we see all of the teams again next year? James Legge and Tobias Zuser discuss Tai Po's historic win of the Hong Kong Premier League, Happy Valley's potential return to the top flight, as well as the latest developments in Group I of the AFC Cup. They also look ahead to the remaining fixtures of the season. The Hong Kong Football Podcast also just launched a crowdfunding drive for the upcoming Season Review print magazine and still needs around 30% to reach the target. Please help us supporting local football! You can find more information here: https://www.fringebacker.com/en/projects/the-hong-kong-football-podcast-season-review-2018-19/ Share your opinions with us at podcast@offside.hk and follow us at www.instagram.com/hong_kong_football_podcast/ DON'T MISS A NEW EPISODE ANY MORE: Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes or any other podcast platform by searching for "Hong Kong Football Podcast" in the directory.

Is Iceland really so much different from Hong Kong? What needs to change in the youth development system? And why should pundits stop complaining about artificial pitches? To answer those (and many more) questions, James Legge and Tobias Zuser recently sat down with Thorlakur Arnason. Building on his rich experience in Iceland, he has just joined the HKFA as new Technical Director to help another small place to find big hope. The Hong Kong Football Podcast also just launched a crowdfunding drive for the upcoming Season Review print magazine. Please help us supporting local football! You can find more information here: www.fringebacker.com/en/projects/th…eview-2018-19/ Share your opinions with us at podcast@offside.hk and follow us at www.instagram.com/hong_kong_football_podcast/ DON'T MISS A NEW EPISODE ANY MORE: Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes or any other podcast platform by searching for "Hong Kong Football Podcast" in the directory.

Will the league title be decided by May 4th? What's the problem with expensive AFC Cup tickets? And what to think of Hong Kong's new head coach? James Legge and Tobias Zuser discuss the current madness at the top of the Hong Kong Premier League, and look ahead to the decisive fixtures across all competitions. The Hong Kong Football Podcast also just launched a crowdfunding drive for the upcoming Season Review print magazine. Please help us supporting local football! You can find more information here: https://www.fringebacker.com/en/projects/the-hong-kong-football-podcast-season-review-2018-19/ Share your opinions with us at podcast@offside.hk and follow us at www.instagram.com/hong_kong_football_podcast/ DON'T MISS A NEW EPISODE ANY MORE: Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes or any other podcast platform by searching for "Hong Kong Football Podcast" in the directory.

How does Philip Chan see Tai Po's chances to win the title? What can we expect from the Hong Kong clubs in the AFC Cup? And why did Yuen Long want to play a game during the FIFA break? James Legge and Tobias Zuser discuss the latest action in local football. Given the special occasion, the 100th episode also features an interview with Tai Po midfielder Philip Chan. Finally, James and Tobias look ahead to the upcoming AFC Cup campaigns, the domestic FA Cup quarter finals, as well as an electrifying Round 15 in the Premier League. Share your opinions with us at podcast@offside.hk and follow us at www.instagram.com/hong_kong_football_podcast/ DON'T MISS A NEW EPISODE ANY MORE: Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes or any other podcast platform by searching for "Hong Kong Football Podcast" in the directory.

Can R&F defend their top position against Kitchee? Will Chuck Yiu-kwok get Yuen Long's "party started"? And what happened to that FIFA friendly? James Legge and Tobias Zuser discuss all the latest action in the Premier League and the Sapling Cup. They also talk about Tai Po's chances to qualify for the AFC Cup, and what local football fans can actually do in the upcoming international FIFA break. Share your opinions with us at podcast@offside.hk and follow us at www.instagram.com/hong_kong_football_podcast/ DON'T MISS A NEW EPISODE ANY MORE: Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes or any other podcast platform by searching for "Hong Kong Football Podcast" in the directory.

What are Tai Po's chances in the AFC Cup? Why is the AFC Cup more "hipster" than the ACL? And what's so funny about Southern's recent win over Eastern? James Legge and Tobias Zuser discuss the latest results in the Hong Kong Premier League, and look ahead to the start of continental football as well as the first major test for R&F in their challenge for the league title. Share your opinions with us at podcast@offside.hk and follow us at www.instagram.com/hong_kong_football_podcast/ DON'T MISS A NEW EPISODE ANY MORE: Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes or any other podcast platform by searching for "Hong Kong Football Podcast" in the directory.

Why has Chan Yuen-ting resigned as Eastern head coach? Can Tai Po's new big signing make the difference in the upcoming league clash with Kitchee? And can we give the goal of the season trophy to an own goal this year? James Legge and Tobias Zuser discuss the latest results in the Sapling Cup, and they are also excited about the massive weekend ahead, with fixtures between the 2nd and 3rd, and the 4th and 5th respectively. Share your opinions with us at podcast@offside.hk and follow us at www.instagram.com/hong_kong_football_podcast/ DON'T MISS A NEW EPISODE ANY MORE: Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes or any other podcast platform by searching for "Hong Kong Football Podcast" in the directory.

James Legge speaks to SCMP journalists, video producers and editors about what stories always come around for Lunar New Year and what stories they’ve found for the coming Year of the Pig

Have the Kingsmen of Hoi King become the Kingslayers? How will Kitchee line up for the Asian Champions League qualifiers? And how to start best into the "Year of the Pig"? James Legge and Tobias Zuser talk about the latest upsets in the Premier League, look back at the entertaining Senior Shield final, and also preview all the upcoming action in both Sapling Cup and Lunar New Year Cup. Share your opinions with us at podcast@offside.hk and follow us at www.instagram.com/hong_kong_football_podcast/ DON'T MISS A NEW EPISODE ANY MORE: Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes or any other podcast platform by searching for "Hong Kong Football Podcast" in the directory.

Is Hong Kong ready for a champion from Guangzhou? How to explain Kitchee's struggling form? Who have been the most outstanding players so far this season? And has the HKFA already found their new head coach? James Legge and Tobias Zuser discuss an exciting Premier League weekend, which Kitchee tripping up once more. They also reminisce about the successful Guangdong-Hong Kong Cup and look ahead to the next fortnight of fixtures, which will see a clash between two title contenders in the league and the first silverware of the season at the Senior Shield final. Share your opinions with us at podcast@offside.hk and follow us at www.instagram.com/hong_kong_football_podcast/ DON'T MISS A NEW EPISODE ANY MORE: Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes or any other podcast platform by searching for "Hong Kong Football Podcast" in the directory.

James Legge and Tobias Zuser are back for the new year to discuss the latest action in local football. They also look ahead to the Guangdong-Hong Kong Cup, and share their excitement for a promising title race in 2019. Can Tai Po break the spell and beat Kitchee in a cup final? Have Yuen Long just signed Taiwan's best centre back? And can Hong Kong lift once again the Guandong-HK Cup trophy? Share your opinions with us at podcast@offside.hk and follow us at www.instagram.com/hong_kong_football_podcast/ DON'T MISS A NEW EPISODE ANY MORE: Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes or any other podcast platform by searching for "Hong Kong Football Podcast" in the directory.

James Legge and Tobias Zuser present the last podcast of the year, but still have a lot to talk about, including the latest action in the Sapling Cup and Premier League. They also reflect on Gary White's sudden resignation as Hong Kong head coach, and look ahead to the Christmas tradition of exciting Senior Shield fixtures. If that's not enough, a special Christmas gift is also in the making... What to make of Hong Kong's three months under Gary White? Should Lucas Silva be in Kitchee's next ACL/AFC Cup squad? And would Hoi King be a title contender if football games only lasted for 45 minutes? Share your opinions with us at podcast@offside.hk and follow us at www.instagram.com/hong_kong_football_podcast/ DON'T MISS A NEW EPISODE ANY MORE: Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes or any other podcast platform by searching for "Hong Kong Football Podcast" in the directory.