Podcast appearances and mentions of Jonathan D Spence

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)

The Qing Empire (1636-1912) ruled over one of the largest land empires in the world. Its territories encompassed not only what is considered today to be China proper and Manchuria, but also Tibet, Xinjiang, and Mongolia. Its subjects were composed of people belonging to different identities, of which Manchu, Han, Mongol, Tibetan, and later Uighur became the most important groups. As an empire that was composed of a small conquering elite, how did the Qing manage these different identities as its empire expanded and stabilized? What changes occurred over time? What legacy did the Qing leave on the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China in terms of how they dealt with ethnic minorities? To help answer these question, we invite Professor Pamela Crossley to talk to us about how history and identity were constructed and weaved into Qing imperial ideology. Contributors Pamela Crossley Professor Pamela Crossley is the Charles and Elfriede Collis Professor of History at Dartmouth University. She specializes in the history of the Qing Empire and modern China, although her research interests also span Inner Asian history, global history, history of horsemanship in Eurasia, and imperial sources of modern identities. She is the author of eight books and numerous book chapters and peer-reviewed articles, and her book A Translucent Mirror is the winner of the Joseph Levenson Prize of the Association of Asian Studies. Additionally, she has also written commentaries for major newspapers and magazines. Yiming Ha Yiming Ha is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of History at the University of California, Los Angeles. His current research is on military mobilization and state-building in China between the thirteenth and seventeenth centuries, focusing on how military institutions changed over time, how the state responded to these changes, the disconnect between the center and localities, and the broader implications that the military had on the state. His project highlights in particular the role of the Mongol Yuan in introducing an alternative form of military mobilization that radically transformed the Chinese state. He is also interested in military history, nomadic history, comparative Eurasian state-building, and the history of maritime interactions in early modern East Asia. He received his BA from UCLA and his MPhil from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Credits Episode no. 17 Release date: March 3, 2023 Recording location: Hanover, NH/Los Angeles, CA Transcript (by Yiming Ha and Greg Sattler) Bibliography courtesy of Prof. Crossley Images Cover Image: A page of the Pentaglot Dictionary (Yuzhi wuti qing wenjian 御製五體清文鑑), a dictionary of the major languages of the Qing compiled towards the later reign of Emperor Qianlong in the 18th century. The five languages are Manchu, Chinese, Mongolian, Tibetan, and Chagatai (now known as Uighur). (Image Source) The Stele Commemorating the Victory over the Dzungars, erected by the Qianlong emperor either in the 1750s or 1760s to commemorate the Qing victory over the Dzungars in the Xinjiang region. The stele featured four languages. On the front side are inscriptions written in Classical Chinese (by the Qianlong emperor himself) and Manchu, while the reverse side features inscriptions in Mongolian and Tibetan. (Image Source) The Capture of Tucheng, a painting commemorating a Qing victory during the Panthay Rebellion in Yunnan (1856-1873). Note the five colored banner that were flown by the Qing troops. The alternate version of this flag (with the colors rearranged) later became one of the early flags of the Republic of China, with each color representing an ethnic group. Red for the Han, yellow for the Manchus, blue for the Mongols, white for the Hui (Muslims), and black for the Tibetans. (Image Source) References Bovington, Goardner, "The History of the History of Xinjiang" in Twentieth-Century China, 26:.2 (April, 2001): 95-139. Bulag, Uradyn The Mongols at China's Edge: History and the Politics of National Unity (2002, Rowman & Littlefield) Crossley, "The Cycle of Inevitability in Imperial and Republican Identities in China" in Aviel Roshwald, ed, The Cambridge History of Nationhood and Nationalism: Volume One: Patterns and Trajectories over the Longue Durée (2022, Cambridge), 301-328. Crossley, Helen F. Siu, Donald S., Sutton, ed., Empire at the Margins: Culture, Ehtnicity and Frontier in the Early Modern China (California, 2006) Crossley, A Translucent Mirror: History and Identity in Qing Imeprial Ideology (1999, California). Elliott, Mark, The Manchu Way: The Eight Banners and Ethnic Identity in Late Imperial China (2002, Californai) Perdue, Peter. C, ."Empire and Nation in Comparative Perspective: Frontier Administration in Eighteenth-Century China" in Journal of Early Modern History, 5:4  (2001,  282-304.  Jonathan D. Spence, Treason by the Book (2002, Viking). Wu, Hung, "Emperor's Masquerade: 'Costume portraits' of Yongzheng and Qianlong" in Smithsonian Libraries, 1995, p. 25-41.

本集主題：「決戰熱蘭遮：中國首次擊敗西方的關鍵戰役」新書介紹 專訪企劃：林進韋 本書特色： 這場戰役，改寫了台灣百年的命運 開創中西軍事史的新領域，史景遷高徒歐陽泰，以嚴謹的考據、活潑的論述，揭開近代史上第一場中國戰勝西方的故事。 一六六一年，鄭成功復明事業受挫，從南京撤退回廈門，準備攻打台灣。他寫信給駐台的荷屬東印度公司長官揆一，表明希望收回父親鄭芝龍「租借」給東印度公司的土地。時值東印度公司統治台灣三十餘年，台灣成為荷蘭海外最大殖民地，作為台灣長官的揆一當然不願拱手相讓。雙方衝突一觸及發，展開長達一年的台荷之戰。 當時，荷蘭在與英國的競爭中勝出，並擊敗西班牙與葡萄牙，成為世界上最強大的帝國。 然而受過嚴格軍事訓練、架駛技術優良、船艦配備大砲的荷蘭精兵，卻輸給他們眼中由海盜與海商組成的鄭軍。原因究竟為何？ 聲名鵲起的漢學家歐陽泰，在挑戰全球史領域的重大議題：「為何西方主宰了近代世界的形成？而非中國？」之中，發現了鄭成功與荷蘭東印度公司之戰的重要性。歐陽泰以此戰為主軸，詳細地描述了這場十七世紀中最具世界史意義的戰爭細節，以及台荷雙方在軍事科技及戰略的差異，如何讓鄭成功翻轉本來可能失敗的結局。 透過這場影響東西未來百年布局之戰，我們得以一窺火藥科技發展的堂奧，以及科技對戰爭成王敗寇之影響，並打破過往「十五世紀後西方突飛猛進」之推論，驗證了十七世紀中西實力尚在勢均力敵的年代。 本書融合歐洲軍事卓越主義與歷史修正主義學派的優點，為軍事史研究中的傑作。更難能可貴的是，歐陽泰挖掘大量的文獻，化繁為簡，還原台荷大戰的現場，使讀者彷彿身臨其境，鳥瞰全局。是研究台灣史的學者及一般大眾不可錯過的精彩作品。 作者介紹：歐陽泰 Tonio Andrade 西方漢學界的著名學者，近十年最重要的全球史學者之一。耶魯大學歷史學博士，師承西方漢學巨擘史景遷（Jonathan D. Spence）、十六到十七世紀歐洲史專家帕克（Geoffrey Parker）。曾任埃默里大學（Emory University）東亞系系主任，主要研究領域為殖民主義比較研究及中國史與全球史。著有《福爾摩沙如何變成臺灣府？》（How Taiwan Became Chinese）、《決戰熱蘭遮》（Lost Colony）等。 新書《火藥時代》寫作時間原本在《決戰熱蘭遮》之前，以「西方為何能取得現代世界的主導權？中國為何衰落？」為題，探討東西方在軍事發展上的分野與西方為何能產生軍事優勢。描述鄭成功與荷蘭東印度公司之戰的《決戰熱蘭遮》，提供了十七世紀歐洲經歷軍事革命時，雙方實力尚在均勢的最佳證明。《火藥時代》則給予更寬廣的視野，把此問題延伸到「為何西方的軍事優勢產生於工業革命之後？」透過論述西元九一○年至一九○○年東西兩方的軍事科技演變，解答歐洲能撼動近代世界版圖的原因。

本集主題：「火藥時代：為何中國衰弱而西方崛起？決定中西歷史的一千年」新書介紹 專訪企劃：林進韋 本書特色： 中國和歐洲強權勢均力敵的狀態為何被打破， 就此進入武力上的「大分流時代」？ 挑戰傳統軍事史觀 引發學界熱議論戰 漢學大師歐陽泰 改寫中西軍事革新史的關鍵之作 「中國發明了火藥、槍砲與炸彈，但何以西方人會在十九世紀超越、擊敗並且羞辱了中國？」——賈德‧戴蒙，《槍炮、病菌與鋼鐵》、《大崩壞》作者 ——軍事科技史上最令人費解的歷史謎團—— 中國人發明了火藥，卻是由西方人主宰近代世界版圖？ 漢學家歐陽泰以火器發展切入，重新剖析東西方軍事科技史的變革，破解近代西方崛起、東方衰落的真正關鍵。 十世紀時，中國人發明了火藥並應用在軍事用途上，幾百年後，火藥科技才逐漸西傳；但到了十九世紀，中國卻在鴉片戰爭中遭逢英國痛擊。 為何曾是世界第一個火藥帝國的中國失去了領先優勢，而過去無足輕重的西方國家卻成為宰制世界的強權？ 十六世紀以降，西歐各國躍居全球強權的角色，但中國卻開始一路落後。長久以來，史家往往主張火器幫助歐洲人建立了全球霸權；不過，中國人不僅在九世紀時就率先發明了火器，直到十八世紀初期仍然持續進行火藥科技的創新——這段火藥科技發展史遠比原先許多人認定的還要更長。 但中國在近代何以變得如此積弱不振？主因之一即為從一七六○年代乾隆朝開始，中國開啟了將近一世紀的承平盛世，「天朝無戰事」造成了火藥科技發展的停滯落後。 在此之前，中國與歐洲同樣深具軍事創新能力，雙方武力的「均勢狀態」卻在鴉片戰爭正式宣告終結，軍事上的「大分流時代」就此降臨。然而，長久以來史家為何又對勢力此消彼長的原因爭論不休？本書透過比較東西方軍事史的研究，不僅要探詢「何以中國會走上不同於西方的道路？」更要叩問「西方為何能取而代之成為近代世界的霸主？」歐陽泰以火藥戰事貫穿全書，打破傳統軍事史研究的地理邊界，還原東西方火器發展的面貌，翻轉了史學界對於軍事革新的傳統論述。 作者介紹：歐陽泰 Tonio Andrade 西方漢學界的著名學者，近十年最重要的全球史學者之一。耶魯大學歷史學博士，師承西方漢學巨擘史景遷（Jonathan D. Spence）、十六到十七世紀歐洲史專家帕克（Geoffrey Parker）。曾任埃默里大學（Emory University）東亞系系主任，主要研究領域為殖民主義比較研究及中國史與全球史。著有《福爾摩沙如何變成臺灣府？》（How Taiwan Became Chinese）、《決戰熱蘭遮》（Lost Colony）等。 新書《火藥時代》寫作時間原本在《決戰熱蘭遮》之前，以「西方為何能取得現代世界的主導權？中國為何衰落？」為題，探討東西方在軍事發展上的分野與西方為何能產生軍事優勢。描述鄭成功與荷蘭東印度公司之戰的《決戰熱蘭遮》，提供了十七世紀歐洲經歷軍事革命時，雙方實力尚在均勢的最佳證明。《火藥時代》則給予更寬廣的視野，把此問題延伸到「為何西方的軍事優勢產生於工業革命之後？」透過論述西元九一○年至一九○○年東西兩方的軍事科技演變，解答歐洲能撼動近代世界版圖的原因。

“What in the world was a Jesuit priest doing in Beijing’s Forbidden City dressed like a Confucian?”So begins today’s story from Dr. Sky Michael Johnston.For further reading:The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci by Jonathan D. Spence (Viking, 1984)A Jesuit in the Forbidden City: Matteo Ricci 1552-1610 by Ronnie Po-chia Hsia (Oxford University Press 2010)

This week on Sinica, Kaiser speaks with the Honorable Kevin Rudd, the 26th prime minister of Australia and the inaugural president of the Asia Society Policy Institute. He is also a doctoral student at Jesus College, University of Oxford, who, through his studies, hopes to provide an explanation as to how Xi Jinping constructs his worldview. Mr. Rudd elaborates on the extent to which the Chinese government’s worldview has changed, the current direction of that worldview, and how much of that can be owed to Xi Jinping and domestic political maneuvering.   The two take a deep dive into the state of ongoing flux in the U.S.-China relationship; the now-strategic competition between the U.S. and China; what the new rules for engagement are; Chinese foreign policy transitioning to a more active approach; the most significant changes in the bilateral relationship over the past 12 months; and the current state of Australia-China relations. What to listen for this week on the Sinica Podcast:   2:39: Rudd describes the transition of Chinese foreign policy from the reserved “conceal one’s strengths and bide one’s time” (韬光养晦 tāoguāng yǎnghuì) to a more active or energetic approach of “be energetic and show promise” (奋发有为 fènfā yǒuwéi), which reflects Beijing’s growing global ambitions. 13:40: Rudd in response to Kaiser’s request for an explanation of the basic tenets of Xi’s worldview in the modern era: “I think the one thing I probably got right about Xi Jinping was an estimation of his character and personality: that he would not be content with being primus inter pares.” 34:48: Rudd elaborates on several events over the past 12 months that he believes to be significant developments in the U.S.-China relationship, particularly Vice President Mike Pence’s speech at the Hudson Institute earlier this month: “In terms of the harshness of the language, I think, again, it will cause Beijing to sit up and take notice, and it will confirm in the minds of many that the impending unfolding period of U.S. ‘containment’ of China is now entrenched.” 45:20: In response to Kaiser’s question on the future of coexistence with an increasingly authoritarian China, Rudd offers a direct response: “If liberal internationalism, as espoused post-’45, is to have a future, then how do you coexist with China? I think the other member states of the international community, if they want the current rules-based order based on its established pillars to survive, they’re going to have to argue for it and argue strongly for it… Otherwise, it will disappear beneath the waves of an economically dominant China over the long term.” Recommendations: Kevin Rudd: The film Crazy Rich Asians. Kaiser: Emperor of China: Self-Portrait of K’ang-Hsi, by Jonathan D. Spence, a historical account written from the perspective of the Kangxi Emperor himself.

The First Episode of the '20th Century China' series, exploring the evolution of China from empire, to warlord Republic, to Communist state, to modern nation. In this first episode, we look at the events that took place from 1830 to the first decade of the 20th century to understand why and how China's last imperial house, the Qing dynasty, had been weakened enough to eventually fall in 1911. _________________________________________________________________________ Sources -"The Search for Modern China," Jonathan D. Spence -"The Penguin History of Modern China," Jonathan Fenby -"God's Chinese Son," Jonathan D. Spence -"A History of Modern China," Li Dingyi -"Boxers, Christians, and the Culture of Violence in North China," R. G. Tiedemann -"Insurgency and Social Disorder in Guizhou : The Miao Rebellion, 1854-1873," Robert D. Jenks -"Connections between Rebellions: Sect Family Networks in Qing China," Susan Naquin -"Blinkered Visions: Islamic Identity, Hui Ethnicity, and the Panthay Rebellion in Southwest China, 1856-1873," David G. Atwill -"Worshipers and Warriors: White Lotus Influence on the Nian Rebellion," Elizabeth J. Perry