Podcast appearances and mentions of John K Fairbank

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the woman who, for almost fifty years, was the most powerful figure in the Chinese court. Cixi (1835-1908) started out at court as one of the Emperor's many concubines, yet was the only one who gave him a son to succeed him and who also possessed great political skill and ambition. When their son became emperor he was still a young child and Cixi ruled first through him and then, following his death, through another child emperor. This was a time of rapid change in China, when western powers and Japan humiliated the forces of the Qing empire time after time, and Cixi had the chance to push forward the modernising reforms the country needed to thrive. However, when she found those reforms conflicted with her own interests or those of the Qing dynasty, she was arguably obstructive or too slow to act and she has been personally blamed for some of those many humiliations even when the fault lay elsewhere. With Yangwen Zheng Professor of Chinese History at the University of ManchesterRana Mitter The S.T. Lee Professor of US-Asia Relations at the Harvard Kennedy SchoolAndRonald Po Associate Professor in the Department of International History at London School of Economics and Visiting Professor at Leiden UniversityProducer: Simon Tillotson In Our Time is a BBC Studios Audio ProductionReading list: Pearl S. Buck, Imperial Woman: The Story of the Last Empress of China (first published 1956; Open Road Media, 2013) Katharine A. Carl, With the Empress Dowager (first published 1906; General Books LLC, 2009)Jung Chang, Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China (Jonathan Cape, 2013)Princess Der Ling, Old Buddha (first published 1929; Kessinger Publishing, 2007) Joseph W. Esherick, The Origins of the Boxer Uprising (University of California Press, 1987)John K. Fairbank and Merle Goldman, China: A New History (Harvard University Press, 2006)Peter Gue Zarrow and Rebecca Karl (eds.), Rethinking the 1898 Reform Period: Political and Cultural Change in Late Qing China (Harvard University Press, 2002)Grant Hayter-Menzies, Imperial Masquerade: The Legend of Princess Der Ling (Hong Kong University Press, 2008)Keith Laidler, The Last Empress: The She-Dragon of China (Wiley, 2003)Keith McMahon, Celestial Women: Imperial Wives and Concubines in China from Song to Qing (Rowman & Littlefield, 2020)Anchee Min, The Last Empress (Bloomsbury, 2011)Ying-Chen Peng, Artful Subversion: Empress Dowager Cixi's Image Making (Yale University Press, 2023).Sarah Pike Conger, Letters from China: with Particular Reference to the Empress Dowager and the Women of China (first published 1910; Forgotten Books, 2024)Stephen Platt, Imperial Twilight: The Opium War and the End of China's Last Golden Age (Atlantic Books, 2019)Liang Qichao (trans. Peter Zarrow), Thoughts From the Ice-Drinker's Studio: Essays on China and the World (Penguin Classics, 2023)Sterling Seagrave, Dragon Lady: The Life and Legend of the Last Empress of China (Vintage, 1993)Jonathan D. Spence, The Search for Modern China (first published 1991; W. W. Norton & Company, 2001)X. L. Woo, Empress Dowager Cixi: China's Last Dynasty and the Long Reign of a Formidable Concubine (Algora Publishing, 2003)Zheng Yangwen, Ten Lessons in Modern Chinese History (Manchester University Press, 2018)

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the woman who, for almost fifty years, was the most powerful figure in the Chinese court. Cixi (1835-1908) started out at court as one of the Emperor's many concubines, yet was the only one who gave him a son to succeed him and who also possessed great political skill and ambition. When their son became emperor he was still a young child and Cixi ruled first through him and then, following his death, through another child emperor. This was a time of rapid change in China, when western powers and Japan humiliated the forces of the Qing empire time after time, and Cixi had the chance to push forward the modernising reforms the country needed to thrive. However, when she found those reforms conflicted with her own interests or those of the Qing dynasty, she was arguably obstructive or too slow to act and she has been personally blamed for some of those many humiliations even when the fault lay elsewhere. With Yangwen Zheng Professor of Chinese History at the University of ManchesterRana Mitter The S.T. Lee Professor of US-Asia Relations at the Harvard Kennedy SchoolAndRonald Po Associate Professor in the Department of International History at London School of Economics and Visiting Professor at Leiden UniversityProducer: Simon Tillotson In Our Time is a BBC Studios Audio ProductionReading list: Pearl S. Buck, Imperial Woman: The Story of the Last Empress of China (first published 1956; Open Road Media, 2013) Katharine A. Carl, With the Empress Dowager (first published 1906; General Books LLC, 2009)Jung Chang, Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China (Jonathan Cape, 2013)Princess Der Ling, Old Buddha (first published 1929; Kessinger Publishing, 2007) Joseph W. Esherick, The Origins of the Boxer Uprising (University of California Press, 1987)John K. Fairbank and Merle Goldman, China: A New History (Harvard University Press, 2006)Peter Gue Zarrow and Rebecca Karl (eds.), Rethinking the 1898 Reform Period: Political and Cultural Change in Late Qing China (Harvard University Press, 2002)Grant Hayter-Menzies, Imperial Masquerade: The Legend of Princess Der Ling (Hong Kong University Press, 2008)Keith Laidler, The Last Empress: The She-Dragon of China (Wiley, 2003)Keith McMahon, Celestial Women: Imperial Wives and Concubines in China from Song to Qing (Rowman & Littlefield, 2020)Anchee Min, The Last Empress (Bloomsbury, 2011)Ying-Chen Peng, Artful Subversion: Empress Dowager Cixi's Image Making (Yale University Press, 2023).Sarah Pike Conger, Letters from China: with Particular Reference to the Empress Dowager and the Women of China (first published 1910; Forgotten Books, 2024)Stephen Platt, Imperial Twilight: The Opium War and the End of China's Last Golden Age (Atlantic Books, 2019)Liang Qichao (trans. Peter Zarrow), Thoughts From the Ice-Drinker's Studio: Essays on China and the World (Penguin Classics, 2023)Sterling Seagrave, Dragon Lady: The Life and Legend of the Last Empress of China (Vintage, 1993)Jonathan D. Spence, The Search for Modern China (first published 1991; W. W. Norton & Company, 2001)X. L. Woo, Empress Dowager Cixi: China's Last Dynasty and the Long Reign of a Formidable Concubine (Algora Publishing, 2003)Zheng Yangwen, Ten Lessons in Modern Chinese History (Manchester University Press, 2018)

Speaker: Eugenia Lean, Professor of History and East Asian Languages and Cultures; Director, Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University By examining two early legal cases featuring the alleged counterfeiting of Xiangmao Honey Soap, this talk shows how the Chinese language and linguistic practices in Chinese commercial culture often stymied Western manufacturers and import companies' attempts to pursue and prosecute suspected Chinese copycats. Xiangmao soap was featured in the first ever trademark litigation trial in China held in 1889. In that trial, it became evident that the emerging global trademark regime was premised on an Orientalist understanding of the Chinese character as ideograph. A second case in 1919 that also featured the alleged counterfeiting of the Xiangmao brand then reveals how the homophonic nature of Chinese and the issue of dialect were often the basis of wordplay and punning in Chinese trademarks, and that international trademark law was unable to accommodate these practices. The key legal premise that an offending trademark rested on its function to deceive the public prevented the system from recognizing (and thus, successfully prosecuting) marks that while likely to have been emulative, turned precisely on a knowing audience, willing to purchase the “counterfeit” because of the witty pun or wordplay at work. Both bring to the fore how the emerging trademark regime was premised on romance languages and failed to appreciate the complexity of both the Chinese language and the nature of the Chinese consumer market. Hardly marks that purposefully deceived in acts of “passing off,” so-called “spurious” marks aided (and arguably abetted) knowledgeable and appreciative consumers in their wily acts of consumption and were part of a larger market of rogue knock-offs in China that eluded the emerging trademark regime in the early twentieth-century and that continue to elude the global IP today. Eugenia Lean received her BA from Stanford University (1990), and her MA (1996) and PhD (2001) from UCLA. She is interested in a broad range of topics in late imperial and modern Chinese history with a particular focus on the history of science and industry, mass media, consumer culture, affect studies and gender, as well as law and urban society. She is also interested in issues of historiography and critical theory in the study of East Asia. She is the author of Public Passions: the Trial of Shi Jianqiao and the Rise of Popular Sympathy in Republican China (UC Press, 2007) which was awarded the 2007 John K. Fairbank prize for the best book in modern East Asian history, given by the American Historical Association. Professor Lean's second book, Vernacular Industrialism in China: Local Innovation and Translated Technologies in theMaking of a Cosmetics Empire, 1900-1940 (Columbia University Press, 2020), examines the manufacturing, commercial and cultural activities of maverick industrialist Chen Diexian (1879-1940). It illustrates how lettered men of early twentieth century China engaged in “vernacular industrialism,” the pursuit of industry and science outside of conventional venues that drew on the process of experimentation with both local and global practices of manufacturing and was marked by heterogeneous, often ad hoc forms of knowledge and material work. This event is part of the Modern China lecture series at the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, Harvard University, hosted by Professor Arunabh Ghosh.

Edmond Burke stated it (1729-1787) like this: “Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it.” George Santayana wrote it like this, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”– (The Life of Reason, 1905.) I was shocked by how much hatred there is among some Christians and non-Christians for all things Jewish. Jews are to some voices on social media the monsters of greed, pedophilia, bad government, wars, famines, world domination, the antichrist, the devil, and more. They have been accused of every dark and evil thing imaginable. This tendency is not new. Historically, the Jews have been hated throughout history and accused, often falsely, that they were the scum of the earth.[1]  Though this article addresses much more than antisemitism, I am starting with that subject. I am not a Jew so I have no axe to grind, though I am consistently against all forms of antisemitism. When I was studying at the University that I eventually graduated from in the late 80's, I did much study on antisemitism throughout history. There are particularly interesting books about antisemitism. [2] There is NO question about the hatred of the Jew in the religion of Islam from when it was established. I've read the Qur'an. Islam is not a religion of peace and love, and Muslim hatred of the Jew is not a modern phenomenon, as the apologists want us to believe. The roots of Islamic antisemitism run as deep as when Muhammed first began to spread his religion.[3] Few are knowledgeable of the hatred of the Roman Empire against the Jews. Many countries have had their Jew haters. Yet, many erroneously believe that Jew-hatred was an isolated incident in Germany during the NAZI era. Sorry to burst your bubble but do a light perusal of modern social media and you will find many Holocaust deniers, and many that accuse the Jews of every evil under the sun.  Christianity had a big part to play in the promulgation of antisemitism. If I had space I would tell you about the virulent antisemitism of the protestant reformer Martin Luther. He was among the worst of the Jew-haters, and yet many follow his doctrine of "only believe"  as though it were the Gospel truth. It's not, but that is for another article. I am also not a Catholic so I am not espousing their opposition to Luther. For further details read the excellent book, Martin Luther's Anti-Semitism: Against His Better Judgment, Eric W. Gritsch. The author traces Luther's antisemitism and how it influenced Europe and the Final Solution under Hitler. I also suggest reading the tract Luther wrote displaying his hatred against the Jews, The Jews and Their Lies. Honestly, it reads like NAZI propaganda. Here are some excerpts: https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/martin-luther-quot-the-jews-and-their-lies-quot.  I studied the Holocaust profusely, so I am unpleasantly surprised by the amount of ignorance and denial on the subject. I read one woman's comments on social media stating that the Red Cross records showed there were only 221,000 Jews murdered by the Nazi's in the concentration camps. The Nazi's kept meticulous records. The allied forces found many document caches, record books, and physical evidence. The Red Cross didn't have all the numbers as were recorded in Nazi records. Additionally, there were multiplied thousands of Jews that were dragged off the streets, out of their homes, taken from their lands, and forcibly removed from their businesses that were often shot by firing squads. Mass graves of Jews were found in many cities and towns. The same goes for wherever the NAZI war machine went. They murdered men, women, and children without remorse. One ghastly way the NAZI soldiers got rid of babies was by ripping them from Jewish mother's arms and smashing them against a wall. There were other ways they rid themselves of the “vermin” Jews as they conquered Europe. Many were herded onto trains and sent to their deaths in the concentration camps.   The Holocaust of the Jews was a historical fact that should never be denied, rewritten, modified, or forgotten. Unfortunately, many have forgotten the horrific toll on human life caused by the Nazis. It looks like many are moving progressively into repeating history with the medical lockdowns, masking, forced medical procedures, quarantines, vaccine concentration camps, and the need for vaccine passports. These bear a striking similarity to Nazi issued “papers” or written authorization to work, buy, sell, travel, and some are following the model of concentration camps of the Nazis. No, they are not throwing people in ovens or herding them into the “showers” to be murdered by poisonous gas. That is true, but when the non-pandemic began around March of 2020, nobody believed that forced vaccinations, vaccine passports, QR codes, and quarantine camps would ever happen. Some believed it to be conspiracy theories, but the actions of evil governments have proven differently. Look how far evil has gone, and how far the tyrants have taken it in a short amount of time, and never forget who they are! They will take it all the way to Revelation 13:16-18 and the mark of the beast if left unchecked. I believe we are winning in the U.S., though state by state. England cancelled all vaccine related mandates January of 2022, and soon other countries will follow. Other countries like Australia, New Zealand, Canada, France, Italy, and others are full blown totalitarian vaccine lockdown states. It is so sad to see what has happened in these countries. The good news is that in Canada, France, Italy, and in other countries the populace is fighting back! Today, we are seeing a repeat of history with the nonsensical and unscientific worldwide Covid-19 response to a virus that is 99.9% survivable. “Oh, but what about all the variants that are more virulent?” ask the gullible. Here is the truth. All the variants are weaker mutated versions that are easier to resist than the original Covid-19. For those that get it, it will be a mild cold and you will get over it. There may be exceptions that some get a bad case because their immune system is compromised and/or they have other severe illnesses. For most people, it will be a mild. What is happening in our world with all this globalist agenda? What is behind the Covid nonsense we have seen from 2020 to 2022? It is not complicated really. We are seeing the attempted rise of the antichrist spirit to subjugate the human race under a global and totalitarian leadership,. The world is being prepared for the  beast system of government control. Anyone ever hear of the Book of Revelation I mentioned above? Why do pastors not teach that truth? There are a few exceptions, but 99% of churches refuse to see the correlations. A vast majority of churches around the globe complied and continue to comply with tyrannical governments. Most closed their doors without so much as a whimper. A great falling away (apostasy) from God and His Word has begun.  At that time, many will ·lose their faith [turn/fall away], and they will ·turn against [betray] each other and hate each other. Many false prophets will ·come [appear; arise] and ·cause many people to believe lies [deceive many]. There will be more and more ·evil [sin; lawlessness] in the world, so ·most people will stop showing their love for each other [the love of many/most will grow cold]. But those people who ·keep their faith [endure; stand firm; persevere] until the end will be saved. The Good News [This Gospel] about God's kingdom will be preached in all the world as a testimony to every nation. Then the end will come. (Matthew 24:10-14 Expanded Bible) But even so, the Spirit very clearly tells us that in the last times some will abandon the true faith because of their devotion to spirits sent to deceive and sabotage, and mistakenly they will end up following the doctrine of demons. They will be carried away through the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences have been branded with a red-hot iron. (1 Timothy 4:1-2 The Voice) Also he compels all [alike], both small and great, both the rich and the poor, both free and slave, to be marked with an inscription [stamped] on their right hands or on their foreheads, so that no one will have power to buy or sell unless he bears the stamp (mark, inscription), [that is] the name of the beast or the number of his name. Here is [room for] discernment [a call for the wisdom of interpretation]. Let anyone who has intelligence (penetration and insight enough) calculate the number of the beast, for it is a human number [the number of a certain man]; his number is 666. (Revelation 13:16-18 AMP) Open your eyes and see that what is happening worldwide with the Covid response, mandates, passports (also QR codes), lockdowns, and quarantine camps! They are clearly preparing the way for the final mark of the beast! If you can't buy or sell, that includes a huge percentage of everything we do in life. If you can't buy, that means no food, electricity, water, gas, fuel, cars, boats, airplanes, houses, travel, schooling, property, and ad infinitum! If you can't sell, that means you are out of any and every kind of business transaction. That would curtail you operating or owning any kind of business. No work and no business. That is coming upon the world, and what we are seeing is the beginning of the antichrist government to come. Getting back to the genocide against the Jews by NAZI Germany, I read the extraordinarily bloody book, The Holocaust, by Sir Martin John Gilbert. Don't read it at night or the nightmares will be worse than any Freddy Kruger movie! Ask me how I know. Contrary to the Freddy Kruger movies that were all based on a scary fantastical story, genocide against the Jews of Europe truly happened. It was no myth. Gilbert's book made me suffer through the entire range of human emotion. That had never happened to me before. The record of man's inhumanity towards other human beings is graphically retold with its many gory details. Sir Martin Gilbert was the official historian for Winston Churchill. He was a thorough researcher and listed his many sources. He wrote about the history of the Holocaust using Nazi records and whatever other sources were available during the period. The sources indicate that millions of Jews were murdered. (See https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/estimated-number-of-jews-killed-in-the-final-solution). Hitler's death machine destroyed most of the Jewish population in Europe! It was no mere 221,000![4] In addition to reading about the genocide of the Jews in all its bloody details, visit the Holocaust History Museum in Jerusalem (Yad Vashem). I have not visited the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC. There is no question that the exhibits will be a shock that will stay with you for weeks if not months. I visited the entire museum in Jerusalem twice on two consecutive trips. After that, when in Israel with students, I would wait outside while the students toured the museum. Two times at the HHM was more than enough for me. Emotionally, it was tough to bear. The students would come out of the museum all messed up. The women often came out with make-up smeared on their faces, and men trying to hide their tears. It is not until you see the physical evidence, photos, movies, and hear the testimonies, that you realize the profound horrors of the holocaust.    Around 35 million people were murdered by the Nazi war machine. Did you know that? Poland's population was decimated by the Third Reich. Many Poles (and other Slavs) were sent to support the war effort through forced labor in factories. The Polish farmers were forcibly sent to farm German lands, and others were sent to the concentration camps.     Other people that were not considered of the pure Aryan race also died in the concentration camps. Gypsies (Roma), handicapped, homosexuals (even those suspected of it) were sent to the concentration camps to be exterminated. Jehovah's Witnesses rejected the Third Reich's demand of loyalty to their cause. The JW's were rounded up wherever the Nazis showed up in Europe. Thousands were murdered. Whatever you may think of Jehovah's Witnesses and their doctrines, they displayed a moral rectitude and backbone that was not found among most professing Christians in Europe. Most Christians in Germany caved to the demands of the Third Reich and became active supporters. You need to get that straight in your thinking. Christians folded in Germany like a deck of cards. There were a few exceptions, but Germany considered itself a “Christian” country during the rise of the Nazis. When I see what churches and ministers have done and are still doing with their compliance to all the totalitarian regime demands for the response to Covid, I know that in the 30's and 40's they would have easily been convinced to support Hitler's tyranny against the Jews, Slavs, Gypsies, and so on. It is obvious that the church in Germany was weak and ignorant of the Word. It is also evident that many churches today have become weak and tolerant of evil. Not only that, but many in the church have fallen from grace and faith because of their support and tolerance for lockdowns, forced church and business closures, vaccine passports, and quarantine concentration camps where people lose all freedoms.  The Nazis arrested politicians, lawyers, doctors, pastors, priests, and put them in ghettos to starve and die! Under the Nazi regime interracial marriages were considered an aberration to be eradicated, and the children of such unions were to be destroyed so the Aryan race would not be diluted. The Nazis considered the “mulatto” (mixed race) children born of such unions to be an infection needed to be destroyed.  Some blind and racist ignoramus mentioned repeatedly on a social media network that Hitler was not a racist. Any reading of Hitler's Mein Kampf begs to differ with the insanity that would think Hitler was not a racist! There is no way to read that devilish book and come away with love for other races except for the “white” Nordic-Aryan race! Hitler believed that only the Aryan-Nordic style race was pure and that all others were mixed. Jews, Gypsies, Slavs, blacks, and many others were considered mongrel races.[5]  In addition, there was a systematic Nazi boycott of all Jewish businesses, and Jews were forbidden to enter stores or restaurants, and own property. Hmmm. Does that sound familiar? In 2020 and 2021, we have seen countries forbidding the unvaccinated from entering stores, eating at restaurants, entering grocery stores, going into entertainment or exercise venues, and the list goes on. They could have just put a mark (or a yellow star) on the unvaccinated and called it by what it is, discrimination and racism. Oh wait, in many countries they did just that with their vaccine passports and QR codes! Canada (under martial law as of  February 2022), Australia, Italy, New Zealand, Austria, Germany, and others have become fascist police states with its enforcement of vaccine mandates. Many of these countries have brutalized protesters. In Canada, peaceful protesters were arrested, beat, kicked, trampled, and some have been murdered by their own Gestapo police! We better wake up in America because the Biden regime would love to do the same here in America. Sadly, many forgot about World War 2 and the NAZI takeover of Europe and beyond. They forgot that Hitler started by imposing disarmament of citizens. Hitler health orders were specifically made to target the Jews because they supposedly were "super spreaders" of typhoid. Jews and others were to be removed from society. Many racist laws and mandates were implemented, and brown shirt regiments and Gestapo became the personal police force of the Nazis to see to it that Hitler's orders were obeyed without opposition. Have you ever heard of the Red Terror imposed by Lenin on Russian citizens to remove all opposition to his communist revolution? Again, history has many lessons to teach us about repressing the multitudes by intimidation, violent suppression, murder, disarming the people of firearms and anything that could be used as a weapon, forced labor camps, concentration camps, and the resultant starvation. Millions died through the actions undertaken by Lenin to subdue the people into complete obedience! Many thousands of “undesirables”, like the deplorables and conservatives of today, were murdered! Many were publicly executed.[6] The same can be said about China. Mao Zedong and his communist revolution were responsible for the deaths of  around 65 million Chinese[7]  Yet, you hear useless idiots venerate the mass murderer. They forgot or whitewashed Mao's bloody history with a romantic view of the CCP and its founder.[8]     Don't you see what this Covid-response has opened the door to? In the US, the FBI, DOJ, DC police, tech demi-gods, and other agencies are weaponized and may now be used to target conservatives and any opposing voice that disagrees with the Democrat's socialist and globalist agenda. Wake up! One BIG difference between the nations of Europe and others is that Americans are armed to the hilt, and they will never surrender all their weapons to any tyrannical orders! Some may lose privileges through unjust local government laws in some states, but they will not ever disarm the people of the USA. The people would fight back (hopefully) if it ever came to that. That is why the Second Amendment protects the right to bear arms. It is a protection of the right of the people to revolt against a tyrannical government. It is embarrassingly stupid when idiot leftist or socialist politicians and other Demonrats accuse conservatives of being like Hitler. In actuality, the Democrat leftist socialists are every bit like Hitler, Lenin, Stalin, and Mao. They want to control the narrative by prohibiting free speech that opposes their agenda. They will repress by intimidation or violence all who dare oppose them. They want to disarm all conservatives, corral them, and remove them from society. Did you notice that the most draconian lockdowns and repressive Covid measures have all been in Demonrat controlled states and cities? Doesn't it ring a bell in you? It sounds like they are imposing policies of Hitler, the USSR or the CCP. They are repeating history. In getting back to more about Hitler's racism, I read Mein Kampf, and the severely anti-Semitic and libelous, Protocols of the Elders of Zion. I read them to compare them to the actual practice of Judaism. No religious or orthodox Jew would engage in the evil that those books accused the Jews of doing. Religious Jews believe in keeping the moral commandments of God. Drinking the blood of the innocent or sacrificing children are violations of God's Word. No real Jew that follows the Torah would ever engage in such evil practices!  Those are only some of the accusations levied against all Jews. I am not saying Jews were perfect at keeping God's moral guidelines, and that there were not many violations of them throughout history. I am saying that religious Jews endeavored to obey God's rules in Scripture, often to a higher degree than Christians did. Throughout history, there have been many people that have identified themselves as Jews or of Jewish descent that were not Jews at all in practice. There were some anti- Biblical Jews for sure! Just because someone carries a Jewish sounding last name does not mean that they are true Jews! Read Romans chapters 2 and 11. Notice that is precisely what Paul argues. Not all Jews are really Jews! Specifically, he was referring to the Jews that do not keep the moral commandments of God in the Scripture. Those are the Jews in name only! You know, like the Republicans-in-name-only or RINO's, history has had JINO's, Jews-in-name-only. They may have had Jewish ancestors and received their surname from them, but that does not mean that they were practicing TORAH-keeping Jews. It is exactly that way in Christendom. Not all those that claim to be Christians are real Christians. There are many people that claim to be Christians that live hideous lives doing anti-Christian stuff. Let me give you a case in point. Did you know that Italian mobsters (Mafia) have often been church going, baptized, communion-taking, members of the Catholic church? Often, these mobsters also contributed significant amounts to the Catholic churches and charities. Of course, much of the leadership of the Catholic church has strongly repudiated and condemned the criminal activities of the Mafia (only since the 1990's), but the truth exists that many, if not most, Italian mobsters are very religious.[9] Not only that, but the evidence is clear that the Catholic church has been involved heavily with the Mafia in Italy and the U. S.[10]   From the article, The "Theology" of the Mafia and the Silence of Rome: “In the book “Mafia” by the German journalist Petra Reski, who lives in Venice, recently published by Droemer, discussions with mafiosi, their wives and priests describe how they understand the divine order. “You know, the judiciary can't forbid us to leave out a mafioso for the salvation of our soul. We must not deny the sacraments to anyone.” So spoke the young priest of Corleone. The wife of mafia boss Bernardo Provenzano, who was arrested in 2006, told a journalist: “I only acknowledge divine justice. I no longer believe in justice on earth. Only God knows everything and sees everything.” In her interviews, Reski has repeatedly found out those commandments that mafiosi believe in. “You shall not commit adultery” is one of them. “You should not murder”, is not found in them. There are testimonies to justify murders like this: “Since God has not yet taken him in, I sent him to Him.” The Vatican is silent on that theology, to which many of those priests apologetically agree, although they (or because they?) are called to their office by regional bishops. Here and there, there are the anti-Mafia pastors. Even the Wojtyla Pope condemned the mafia, but just as a syndicate of crime and not as a religiously based model of life. There is no official document from Rome on this. The German journalist Magdalena Krol spoke to Padre Nino Fasullo, head of the monthly magazine Segno. The Redemptorist Order says the Church ignored the syndicates completely until the 1990s, when the anti-mafia movement was spurred on by then-mayor (and recently mafia author) of Palermo, Leoluca Orlando. When the Mafia murdered the judges Falcone and Borsellino, the movement failed because of the fear of the Sicilians. Since then, there have been arrests and convictions again and again, but the church is not involved. The mafia issue is absent from the training of the priests. Far too many priests come from mafia families. The traditional obedience within families and the "distrust of the state" are further aspects. Can something change? Only with difficulty because the “white collars”, the exponents of “better society”, would stand idly in the background. Especially politicians who continuously defuse anti-mafia laws.”[11] What an indictment against the tolerance and deception of such devilish activity in churches! Did you get that, “Far too many priests come from mafia families”? It was all a part of the “family” business.    Let me get back to the Jews. The truth is that there are many SECULAR Jews in the rank and file of people that consider themselves to be Jews. These are people with Jewish last names that may or may not believe in God or the Scripture. Did you know that there are Jewish agnostics and atheists? I have met a few. I remember having Jewish in-name-only teachers that were as worldly as anything in heathenism! Did you know that there are people identified as Jews that are followers of Buddhism and other world religions that have nothing to do with the Bible? I saw a video of an entire Jewish family that were devout Buddhists. Did you know that many Jews in the Bible were idolaters that followed Baal and other religions? If you didn't know that then you are ignorant of the Scripture. Did you know that there were and are a few Satanists of Jewish ancestry?  I say that kind of tongue-in-cheek because there have been idolaters, worshippers of demons and false gods from many nations. It is not something exclusive to some Jews. Just like there have been people that practice witchcraft, sorcery, greed, adultery, sexual perversions, murders, homosexuality, pedophilia, theft, and every evil thing under the sun in all nations, the Jews have had their perverts too!  Did you know that there is a big history of gangsters in the U.S.A. that were of Jewish families? I quote from Jewish Gangster in America: “There are few excuses for the behavior of Jewish gangsters in the 1920s and 1930s. The best-known Jewish gangsters – Meyer Lansky, Bugsy Siegel, Longy Zwillman, Moe Dalitz — were involved in the number's rackets, illegal drug dealing, prostitution, gambling, and loan sharking. They were not nice men. During the rise of American Nazism in the 1930s and when Israel was being founded between 1945 and 1948, however, they proved staunch defenders of the Jewish people.[12] Not only were those Jewish gangsters “not nice men”, but they were commandment-covenant breakers. So obviously, my article is not a defense of the wicked among the Jews, but what about the wicked in all other nations? Do you think it was only the Jews? No, they were not the only ethnic or national group that had gangsters and criminal organizations among their ranks. What about the Italians from my father's side of the family? Were any of them mafiosi? There may have a been a few, but the details are sketchy. Not only that, but the sketchy ones are all dead because they all died young. But it will not be well for the evil man, and he will not lengthen his days like a shadow, because he does not fear God. (Ecclesiastes 8:13 NASB 1995) Do not fret because of evildoers, be not envious toward wrongdoers. For they will wither quickly like the grass and fade like the green herb. (Psalms 37:1, 2 NASB 1995) What about La Cosa Nostra, and the rest of the Italian mobsters in America? What about the many mafiosos (in Spanish) that go faithfully to church? Did you know the mafia has its rules of conduct, their so called Ten Commandments? “The following list was found during the arrest of Salvatore Lo Piccolo, the reputed new boss of the Sicilian Mafia. It is thought to have been drawn up as a "guide to being a good mobster." [13] The Mafia's "Ten Commandments" The original Ten Commandments 1. No-one can present himself directly to another of our friends. There must be a third person to do it. 1. You will have no other gods before Me 2. Never look at the wives of friends. 2. You will not make for yourself an idol 3. Never be seen with cops. 3. You will not make wrongful use of the name of your God 4. Don't go to pubs and clubs. 4. Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy 5. Always being available for Cosa Nostra is a duty - even if your wife's about to give birth. 5. Honor your father and mother 6. Appointments must absolutely be respected. 6. You will not murder 7. Wives must be treated with respect. 7. You will not commit adultery 8. When asked for any information in the family, the answer must be the truth. 8. Thou will not steal 9. Money cannot be appropriated if it belongs to others or to other families. 9. You will not bear false witness against your neighbor 10. People who can't be part of Cosa Nostra: anyone who has a close relative in the police, anyone with a two-timing relative in the family, anyone who behaves badly and doesn't hold to moral values. 10. You will not covet   The BBC author put the Ten Commandments side by side with the Mafia list of "commandments". I took out the archaic King James English. The list illustrates how the Mafia has taken the original Ten Commandments and given them their own spin. God's moral commandments must be obeyed and not changed or reinterpreted to mean something else. There is big trouble ahead for those that add or take away from the clear meaning of Scripture as the Mafiosi (in Italian: members of the Mafia) obviously have done. They have twisted the meaning of Scripture to their beliefs and agenda. Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is the keeping of the commandments of God. (1 Cor. 7:19 NASB) This requires the steadfast endurance of the saints—those who obey God's commandments and hold to their faith in Jesus. (Revelation 14:12 NET) I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book. (Revelation 22:18, 19 NASB 1995) Even some from among your very own ranks will rise up, twisting the truth to seduce people into following them instead of Jesus. (Acts 20:30 The Passion Translation - TPT) …Escape from the empty echoes of men and the perversion of twisted reasoning. (1 Timothy 6:20b TPT) Yes, the mafiosi have a twisted reasoning because they have twisted the truth. The pentito (repentant) Antonino Calderone recounted similar Commandments in his 1987 testimony: These rules are not to touch the women of other men of honor; not to steal from other men of honor or, in general, from anyone; not to exploit prostitution; not to kill other men of honor unless strictly necessary; to avoid passing information to the police; not to quarrel with other men of honor; to maintain proper behavior; to keep silent about Cosa Nostra around outsiders; to avoid under all circumstances introducing oneself to other men of honor. [14]   Omerta is another “commandment” among the Mafiosi. Properly, in Italian, omertà means silence. It is basically the code of silence that forbids speaking to police or government authorities (or anybody else outside the organization) about anything related to the mafia. To break the code is to break a Mafiosi's blood oath swearing allegiance to the organization, and it is punishable by death. Even if a Mafiosi was robbed in his own house, he was never to give any info to the cops about the robbery or the robber. He was to be silent and was duty bound to seek vengeance against the thief by himself. It was considered the height of honor and manliness to go to jail rather than break the code.   Though the purpose of the code among the Mafiosi was criminal from the outset, there are some things to be learned about honor and respect here. Do you honor and respect the Lord and His Word at least as much as the Mafiosi did to their criminal organization, where you would rather die than lie or commit murder? You may not have ever had your finger cut and bled all over an idol of a “saint” that was then set on fire as you swore your allegiance to a criminal organization, but have you ever received communion or participated in the Lord's table? Communion over the bread and wine are a declaration of allegiance to the Lord Jesus and to God the Father because of the shedding of the blood and the sacrificing of the body of Jesus. Do you respect God's Word so much that you would rather go to jail than shut down your church because of an evil mandate that forbids meetings to preach and minister to the people? That is what governments ordered during the planned hysteria that was not a pandemic, something that is contrary to Scripture.  Not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near. (Hebrews 10:25 NASB) 18 And when they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; 20 for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:18-20 NASB) The high priest questioned them, saying, “We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this man's blood upon us.” But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.” (Acts 5:27-29 NASB) Look, I have my shortcomings too which are a weakness, and I have yielded to sin at times. Yet, I know in Whom I have believed and to Whom I have sworn my allegiance, and His Name is Jesus Christ my Lord! I would rather die than deny Him. Of course, I'd rather live long upon the earth and fight, fight, and fight some more to stay alive. If death came knocking at the door with a choice of deny Him or die, I would see Jesus sooner through a martyr's death because denial is not an option. The Italian mob is well-known, but what about the Russians, Japanese, Chinese, Irish, and many others with their own crime syndicates? On the island of Puerto Rico (USA) there are numerous gangs and criminal organizations. I know that because I was born there and spent about 25 years on the island. I saw a lot firsthand because I was a pastor in a high crime area of the San Juan metroplex. I pastored there from 1978 until 1993, first as assistant pastor with my father Israel, and then as pastor from 1982.        Criminal gangs have either been imported or formed in the U.S. by nationals from the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Haiti, Greece, Turkey, Israel, Thailand, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Libya, Egypt, India, Brazil, Columbia, Mexico, and the list goes on and on. There are law abiding people among those nationalities, but there are also crime families and criminal organizations from all those nationalities! The same goes for all nations around the globe. How about criminal biker gangs, gangsters, and mobsters that are “good ol' American bred boys? I have met a few in years gone by. As an example, I remember living in Florida in the early 70's. There was a gang led by an all-American son of a very wealthy businessman with a famous last name, and the son sold drugs right out of his very expensive and exclusive luxury car! No, it was not a “Trump”, so quit trying to guess! It is ridiculous to blame the Jews for all evil, even in the Bible. Millenia before the Jews even existed, the world was destroyed by a massive flood because it was filled with violence and wickedness. (Genesis 6) Before there were any Jews there were many wicked nations upon the earth. Every nation on earth today has evil criminal organizations or mobs among its citizens. Everybody that has ever lived has sinned. Some to greater degrees than other, but ALL HAVE SINNED. (Romans 3:23) That is a fact. If you say the Jews are responsible for all the evil on the planet, what about all the rest of the countries on earth with evil people, organizations, governments, wicked leaders, and crime syndicates among its populace? Do you exclude them to blame the Jews for all evil? Are other ethnic groups or nations exempt from wickedness? No, they are as guilty as the criminals and evil people that have existed among the Jews. Criminal activity is found in all ethnic groups, nationalities, and their skin color doesn't matter. Just as it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one.” (Romans 3:10 NET) The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9 NKJV) But I know your dwelling place, your going out and your coming in, and your rage against Me. (2 Kings 19:27 NKJV) Why do the nations rage, And the people plot a vain thing? (Psalms 2:1 NKJV) The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved; He uttered His voice, the earth melted. (Psalms 46:6 NKJV) That is a fact. Sin has affected all people on earth. No one is excluded. The soul who sins shall die. (Ezekiel 18:20 NKJV) For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23 NLT) Thank God for what Jesus did for us when He went to the cross, shed His blood, and went to hell in our place to set us free! Here are some instructions: Then Peter said to them, “Repent (turn firmly away from your past life of sin and turn firmly to God) and let every one of you be baptized (immersed in water) in the name (authority) of Jesus Christ (the anointed One) for the remission (removal, cleansing) of sins; and you shall receive (lay hold of) the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved (set free, delivered) from this perverse (twisted, wicked) generation.” Then those who gladly received his word were baptized (immersed in water); and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine (teaching, instruction) and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. (Acts 2:38-42 NKJV- parenthesis are my translation comments) To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name (authority), whoever believes (trusts and obeys) in Him will receive remission (removal, cleansing) of sins. (Acts 10:43 NKJV- parenthesis are my translation comments) Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord (declare your submission and allegiance to Him as your Lord) and believe (trust and obey) in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved (delivered, made whole). (Romans 10:9 NKJV- parenthesis are my comments and/or translation) NOTES: [1] Jew-hatred is more commonly referred to as antisemitism: https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/antisemitism. [2] Here are a few: The Conflict of the Church and the Synagogue: A Study in the Origins of Antisemitism; James Williams Parkes. Why the Jews?, Prager and Telushkin. The comprehensive 4 volume set by Leon Poliakov: The History of Antisemitism. [3]  See: The Legacy of Islamic Antisemitism: From Sacred Texts to Solemn History, Andrew G. Bostom. The historicity of Muslim hatred towards the Jews is undeniable. This book is very well documented. It will answer many questions. [4] See these articles that break down how many died: https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/documenting-numbers-of-victims-of-the-holocaust-and-nazi-persecution - https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/jewish-losses-during-the-holocaust-by-country?parent=en%2F11652 – Roam around that website to get more info. [5] Look at this video where Hitler promises the destruction of all the Jews of Europe. It's in German, but that is the translation of Hitler's last words in the video clip. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/asset/cae99c77-f639-4b3c-bf22-401025466b90.mp4 - There was a systematic Nazi boycott of all Jewish businesses, and Jews were forbidden to enter stores or restaurants. See this historical video clip: https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/film/nazi-anti-jewish-boycott?parent=en%2F3225 [6] See: https://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/world/russia/red-terror.htm ;   https://alphahistory.com/russianrevolution/red-terror/ ; also look at their list of documents. https://alphahistory.com/russianrevolution/russian-revolution-documents/ [7] See https://www.heritage.org/asia/commentary/the-legacy-mao-zedong-mass-murder. See the book: The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression, by authors:  Jean-Louis Panné, Andrzej Paczkowski, Karel Bartosek, Jean-Louis Margolin, Nicolas Werth, Stéphane Courtois. That title about sums up what many are clamoring for among the Democrats, Hollywood, and among national government leadership. They incessantly praise the CCP, the former USSR, Maduro, and let's not leave out the Castro regime. If liberal socialist's read this book honestly, I think they could have a change of heart, but probably not. Some would try to equate it to some sort of conspiracy theory, but the facts as established from many sources say otherwise. It's amazing many don't see the preamble to all this horror playing out right before our eyes! They forgot history or whitewashed it.    [8] For more info see: Mao's Great Famine: The History of China's Most Devastating Catastrophe, 1958-1962, Frank Dikötter ; Tombstone: The Great Chinese Famine, 1958-1962, Yang Jisheng; China: A New History, John K. Fairbank and Merle Goldman. See article here: https://www.dispropaganda.com/single-post/2019/12/26/Mao-Zedong-the-man-who-starved-China. The article says Mao was responsible for 45 million deaths. Other historians mention 65 million as a better estimate of all that died of starvation or were directly murdered by Mao's communist regime throughout the entire time he was dictator. Either number is HUGE!  [9] Why are so many mafia members religious and devoted to God and church even though it is clear that everything they do directly contradicts the Bible? is a really good article by Hofstra University graduate Ed Scarpo, Cosa Nostra News: https://www.quora.com/Why-are-so-many-mafia-members-religious-and-devoted-to-god-and-church-even-though-it-is-clear-that-everything-they-do-directly-contradicts-the-Bible. [10] See: The Vatican Connection, Richard Hammer. See essay: The Undertold Story: The Vatican, the Mob, Super Ponzi Schemes and MORE- http://churchandstate.org.uk/2016/02/the-understold-story-the-vatican-the-mob-super-ponzi-schemes-and-more/. More on the connections between the Mafia and the Catholic Church: Operation Gladio: The Unholy Alliance Between The Vatican, The CIA, and The Mafia; and also The Vatican Exposed- Money, Murder, and the Mafia, both written by Paul L. Williams. [11] Translated by Google (with errors in it) from the German language, https://www.derstandard.at/consent/tcf/story/1229796911942/gerfried-sperl-die-theologie-der-mafia-und-das-schweigen-roms. [12] Quote from, Jewish Gangsters in America, by Michael Feldberg; Jewish Virtual Library. [13] See article, Mafia's 'Ten Commandments' found, at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7086716.stm [14] From: http://pinoy555.blog.fc2.com/blog-entry-156.html , but the info came from articles in Wikipedia on the Sicilian Mafia and from an article on Antonino Calderone. Look them up. Wikipedia leans left, but in their articles on this subject there is a lot of good information, and we should give them credit. **Look at the following historical articles for further information on the subject matter: https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/nazi-racism https://www.theholocaustexplained.org/the-nazi-rise-to-power/the-early-years-of-the-nazi-party/what-were-hitlers-ideas/ https://www.theholocaustexplained.org/how-and-why/why/ https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jewish-gangsters-in-america https://www.britannica.com/topic/blood-libel https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/jews-expulsion-spain-portugal https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/modern-europe/russian-soviet-and-cis-history/pogroms Often, I do not include these many footnotes, but I thought this article demanded more than usual. Anybody can look up the references and verify what I am saying. It may take time to do that, but that is the only way to get to the truth. Study and verify! (2 Timothy 3:15) A lack of doing that makes a lot of people gullible to errors and misinformation. The proof is in how many churches closed their doors for a virus that is 99% survivable for most of the people on the planet! A lack of verifying things written or spouted by the fake news media early on concerning Covid 19 is what led to the acceptance and submission by many to the tyrannical and draconian response of governments around the globe. The plandemic could have been stopped through the verification process! Instead of believing the lies of crazed governments and the fake and fear-mongering news networks and social media, much economic suffering and premature death could have been avoided by verifying things! Many believed the lies of the efficacy of vaccines instead of studying for themselves the enormous amount of research materials against ever jabbing that garbage into your veins! Do you need more info about the Covid-19 vaccines? Study the huge amount of research, interviews, and articles by medical doctors and scientists at: https://nojabforme.info. What is desperately needed in America is an encounter with the living Lord and Savior Jesus Christ- the Messiah! Jesus is what people need! He is the answer! Hear the message below! Be mightily blessed!  

Bibliography Chang, Chun-shu. 2007. The Rise of the Chinese Empire: Nation, State, & Imperialism in Early China, Ca. 1600 B.C. - A.D. 8. Vol. 1. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press. Clements, Jonathan. 2006. The First Emperor of China. Stroud, UK: Sutton Publishing Limited. Lewis, Mark Edward. 2010. The Early Chinese Empires: Qin and Han. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. Li, Su. 2018. The Constitution of Ancient China. Edited by Zhang Yongle and Daniel A. Bell. Translated by Edmund Ryden. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Man, John. 2007. The Terracotta Army: China's First Emperor and the Birth of a Nation. London, UK: Bantam Press. Qian, Sima, and Raymond Dawson. 2007. The First Emperor: Selections From the Historical Records. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. Sanft, Charles. 2008. “Progress and Publicity in Early China: Qin Shihuang, Ritual, and Common Knowledge.” Journal of Ritual Studies 22 (1): 21–37. https://www.jstor.org/stable/44368779?seq=1. Sanft, Charles. 2014. Communication and Cooperation in Early Imperial China: Publicizing the Qin Dynasty. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. Shang, Yang. 2017. The Book of Lord Shang: Apologetics of State Power in Early China. Edited by Yuri Pines. New York, NY: Columbia University Press. Shi, Jie. 2014. “Incorporating All For One: The First Emperor's Tomb Mound.” Early China 37. https://doi.org/10.1017/eac.2014.14 . Twitchett, Denis, and John K. Fairbank, eds. 1986. The Cambridge History of China Volume 1: The Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 B.C.-A.D. 220. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Willis, John E. 1994. “The First Emperor of Qin (Qin Shihuang).” In Mountain of Fame: Portraits in Chinese History, 33–50. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Xueqin, Li. 1985. “Qin After Unification.” In Eastern Zhou and Qin Civilizations, translated by K. C. Chang, 240–62. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Bibliography Clements, Jonathan. 2006. The First Emperor of China. Stroud, UK: Sutton Publishing Limited. Li, Su. 2018. The Constitution of Ancient China. Edited by Zhang Yongle and Daniel A. Bell. Translated by Edmund Ryden. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Man, John. 2007. The Terracotta Army: China's First Emperor and the Birth of a Nation. London, UK: Bantam Press. Qian, Sima, and Raymond Dawson. 2007. The First Emperor: Selections From the Historical Records. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. Sanft, Charles. 2014. Communication and Cooperation in Early Imperial China: Publicizing the Qin Dynasty. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. Sanft, Charles. 2008. “Progress and Publicity in Early China: Qin Shihuang, Ritual, and Common Knowledge.” Journal of Ritual Studies 22 (1): 21–37. https://www.jstor.org/stable/44368779?seq=1. Shi, Jie. 2014. “Incorporating All For One: The First Emperor's Tomb Mound.” Early China 37. https://doi.org/10.1017/eac.2014.14 . Twitchett, Denis, and John K. Fairbank, eds. 1986. The Cambridge History of China Volume 1: The Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 B.C.-A.D. 220. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Willis, John E. 1994. “The First Emperor of Qin (Qin Shihuang).” In Mountain of Fame: Portraits in Chinese History, 33–50. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Xueqin, Li. 1985. “Qin After Unification.” In Eastern Zhou and Qin Civilizations, translated by K. C. Chang, 240–62. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Speaker: Paul Cohen, Fairbank Center Associate In his memoir Paul Cohen, one of the West’s preeminent historians of China, traces the development of his work from its inception in the early 1960s to the present, offering fresh perspectives that consistently challenge us to think more deeply about China and the historical craft in general. The book’s title reflects the crucially important disparity between the past as originally experienced and the past as later reconstructed historically, by which point the historian and the world in which he or she lives have both undergone extensive change. This distinction is very much on Cohen’s mind throughout the book. Paul Cohen began his teaching career at the University of Michigan and Amherst College. He then taught for thirty-five years at Wellesley College, where he is Edith Stix Wasserman Professor of Asian Studies and History, Emeritus. He is also a long-time Associate of the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, Harvard University. Cohen’s books include Discovering History in China: American Historical Writing on the Recent Chinese Past (1984); History in Three Keys: The Boxers as Event, Experience, and Myth (1997); Speaking to History: The Story of King Goujian in Twentieth-Century China (2009); and History and Popular Memory: The Power of Story in Moments of Crisis (2014). History in Three Keys was the winner of the 1997 New England Historical Association Book Award and the American Historical Association’s 1997 John K. Fairbank Prize in East Asian History. Cohen’s work has been translated into Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.

In China 1945 Richard Bernstein tells the incredible story of that year’s sea change, analyzing its many components, from ferocious infighting among U.S. diplomats, military leaders, and opinion makers to the complex relations between Mao and his patron, Stalin. Bernstein examines the first time that American power and good intentions came face-to-face with a powerful Asian revolutionary movement, and challenges familiar assumptions about the origins of modern Sino-American relations. Richard Bernstein studied Chinese history with the legendary John K. Fairbank at Harvard University before becoming one of the first American journalists to be stationed in the People’s Republic of China, opening the Time bureau in Beijing in 1980. He then spent twenty-five years as a staff correspondent for the New York Times for which he reported from more than two dozen countries in Asia, Europe, and Africa. His postings included the United Nations, Paris, and Berlin; he was also a national cultural correspondent and daily book critic. The National Committee on U.S.-China Relations is the leading nonprofit nonpartisan organization that encourages understanding of China and the United States among citizens of both countries.

Merle Goldman, professor emerita at Boston University and an associate at the John K. Fairbank Center for East Asian Resarch, last night addressed the Mothers' Club of Cambridge Thursday night open meeting, hosted at the Cambridge Historical Society on Brattle Street.  My mother has belonged to this club for decades, and I can see why she seldom misses its events, even in bone-chillingly cold weather like we had in Cambridge last night.  This episode contains a brief interview I did with Prof. Goldman during the reception after her talk, in which she put China's incredible economic growth in historical perspective and posed questions about whether the nation of 1.3 billion can make political changes fast enough to sustain the ongoing economic phenomenon.Music: "Going to the Sun" on the Glacier Journey CD composed by Montana musicians Christine Dickinson, Janet Haarvig and Matthew Lyon  Link here. Used by permission.