The Qing Empire did not collapse because it stopped working. It collapsed because it kept working — just barely — under pressures that compounded faster than reform could relieve them...
Time Period Covered:
~1790s-1840s CE
Major Works Cited:
Jones, Susan Mann and Philip A. Kuhn. “Dynastic Decline and the Roots of Rebellion.” The Cambridge History of ... Show More
Dec 2025
#315 - Qing 46: Tripping Toward Taiping - Tribes, Triads, & Theology
Great Qing begins to buckle under early 19th c. internal pressures. Unrest first erupts not at the imperial core but along its social and geographic margins. This time, we look at three of the early warning shocks: the Miao frontier rebellions, the rise of Triad networks across t ... Show More
40m 47s
Jan 2026
#316 - Opium War 1: Chasing the Dragon
In this empire business, you gotta make the opium first. Then when you get the opium, you get the silver. Then when you get the silver, then you get the tea.Time Period Covered:ca. 1760-1839 CEMajor Historical Figures:Qing Empire:The Daoguang Emperor (Minning) [r. 1820–1850]Gover ... Show More
44m 14s
Jan 2026
#317 - Opium War 2: Laboriously Vile Barbarian Eye
In 1834, Britain sent a man to China almost perfectly unsuited to the job... only to forbid him from actually doing it. William John Napier, naval officer, socialite, & dilettante with no experience in diplomacy, trade, or China, arrived at Canton convinced he was destined to bre ... Show More
42m 19s
Feb 2020
10. China's Han Dynasty - The First Empire in Flames
A city in ruins. A dynasty in tatters. An empire in ashes...This episode, we look at the remarkable story of the first empire of ancient China, the Han dynasty. With ancient Chinese poetry, songs and folk music, we look back at the first empire's rise, its remarkable technologica ... Show More
2h 53m