The History of China

Even in the fallout of the Opium War, dreams endure—but what happens to a dream deferred?

In Canton, one young man’s starry-eyed visions of success run headlong into the brutal wall of the Imperial Examination system.

And when that dream finally shatters, it neither dries up, nor festers.... it explodes into prophetic visions so awesome and so terrible that they will shake the very foundations of Heaven itself.

Time Period Covered:

1827 – 1844

Major Historical Figures:

The Daoguang Emperor (Aisin-Gioro Minning) [r. 1820–1850]

Hong Xiuquan (Hong Huoxiu), failed examination candidate, Second Son of God[1814–1864]

Li Jingfang, friend, relative, first convert [fl. 1840s]

Hong Rengan [1822–1864]

Feng Yunshan [1815–1852]

Liang Fa (Liang Afa), author of Good Words to Exhort the Age [1789–1855]

Major Sources Cited:

Hong Xiuquan. Taiping Heavenly Chronicle (Taiping Tianri).

Kuhn, Philip A. "Ch. 6, The Taiping Rebellion” in The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 10.

Liang Fa. Good Words to Exhort the Age (Quanshi Liangyan)

Platt, Stephen R. Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom.

Spence, Jonathan D. God's Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan.
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TheKangxi Emperor’s Obsessive Pursuit ofGaldan Khanto the Endsof the EarthPresented: 02/28/2026audio-only cut (this is from my mic pick-up, so the host's audio is low... apologies... I'll replace it with a better final version once it's released!)~20:00 - presentation

~20:00 - audience Q&A
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The war is over. The treaty is signed, sealed, & delivered. Yet though the smoke has cleared, the haze of uncertainty over what - exactly - just happened... lingers on. And that misunderstanding will echo for the next century. While Qiying writes love letters to Pottinger and the opium clippers resume business at anchorages just outside the new treaty ports, the machine set in motion by the Treaty of Nanjing is only just beginning to roll out.

Time Period Covered:Aug. 1842 - c. 1860

Major Historical Figures:

The Qing Empire:The Daoguang Emperor (Aisin-Gioro Minning) [r. 1820–1850] Qiying, Imperial Commissioner and chief negotiator [1787–1858] Yilibu, Imperial Commissioner and senior negotiator [1772–1843] Zhang Xi, retainer and intermediary [fl. 1840s] Lin Zexu, former Imperial Commissioner [1785–1850] Howqua (Wu Bingjian), senior Hong merchant [1769–1843] Hong Xiuquan, failed examination candidate [1814–1864]

The British Empire: Queen Victoria [r. 1837–1901] Sir Henry Pottinger, Plenipotentiary to China [1789–1856] Sir Hugh Gough, Commander of British Land Forces [1779–1869] Charles Elliot, former Chief Superintendent [1801–1875] Captain William Hutcheon Hall, commanding HMS Nemesis [c. 1797–1878] William Jardine, co-founder, Jardine Matheson [1784–1843] James Matheson, co-founder, Jardine Matheson [1796–1878] John Robert Morrison, principal interpreter [1814–1843]

Other: Captain Jean-Baptiste Cécille, commanding French frigate Erigone [1787–1873] Karl Friedrich August Gützlaff, missionary and civil magistrate [1803–1851] William Lockhart, missionary physician [1811–1896] Napoléon Libois, procurator, Missions Étrangères [1805–1872]

Major Sources Cited: Fay, Peter Ward. The Opium War, 1840–1842Wakeman, Frederic Jr. "The Creation of the Treaty System" in The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 10Fairbank, John K. Trade and Diplomacy on the China Coast
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The new envoy from London arrives at Qing's doorstep in August 1842 with a simple mandate: stop allowing Britain to be "humbugged" & finish the war Elliot started. What follows is the British Empire at its most efficient & brutal... and a treaty that, somehow, doesn't mention opium once...Time Period Covered:Aug. 1841–Aug. 1842

Major Historical Figures:The Qing Empire:The Daoguang Emperor (Aisin-Gioro Minning) [r. 1820–1850]Yijing, Imperial Commander [1793–1853]Qiying, Imperial Commissioner [1787–1858]Yilibu, Imperial Commissioner [1772–1843]Niu Jian, Governor-General of Liangjiang [1785–1858]Zhang Xi, intermediary [1840s]Yuqian, Zhejiang Imperial Commissioner [1841]

The British Empire:Queen Victoria [r. 1837–1901]Sir Henry Pottinger, Plenipotentiary to China [1789–1856]Sir Hugh Gough, Commander of British Land Forces [1779–1869]Admiral Sir William Parker, Commander-in-Chief, East India Station [1781–1866]Captain William Hutcheon "Nemesis" Hall, HMS Nemesis [c. 1797–1878]Captain Henry Keppel, HMS Dido [1809–1904]Karl Friedrich August Gützlaff, Prussian missionary & Civil Magistrate of Ningbo [1803–1851] Colonel George Mountain [1789–1863]Harry Smith Parkes, attaché to Pottinger's staff [1828–1885]

Major Sources Cited:Fay, Peter Ward. The Opium War, 1840–1842. Wakeman, Frederic Jr. "The Canton Trade and the Opium War" in The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 10.Lovell, Julia. The Opium War: Drugs, Dreams and the Making of China. Platt, Stephen R. Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom.
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The Ransom of Canton.The lame-duck Superintendent watches helplessly as a triumvirate of Qing officials arrives to reverse every compromise his predecessor had wrought... & promptly launches the most ambitious Chinese military operation of the entire war. In the midst of that rain-soaked battlefield, a brief skirmish between British soldiers and peasant militiamen plants the seed of a legend that will haunt Chinese politics for the next century.

Time Period Covered:Feb. 1841–Oct. 1841

Major Historical Figures:

The Qing Empire:The Daoguang Emperor (Aisin-Gioro Minning) [r. 1820–1850]Yishan, Imperial Commissioner and Pacifier-General of the Rebellious (靖逆) [1790–1878]Longwen, Manchu nobleman and ministerial attaché [d. 1841]Yang Fang, Governor-General and military commander [c. 1770–1846]She Baoshun, Prefect of Canton [fl. 1840s]Yuqian, Imperial Commissioner for Military Operations in Zhejiang [fl. 1841]

The British Empire:Queen Victoria [r. 1837–1901]Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, Foreign Secretary [1784–1865]Charles Elliot, Chief Superintendent of British Trade in China [1801–1875]Sir Henry Pottinger, incoming Plenipotentiary to China [1789–1856]Sir Hugh Gough, Commander of British Land Forces [1779–1869]Captain William Hutcheon Hall, commanding HMS Nemesis [c. 1797–1878]

Major Sources Cited:Wakeman, Frederic Jr. "Canton Trade and the Opium War." The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 10.Wakeman, Frederic Jr. Strangers at the Gate: Social Disorder in South China, 1839–1861.Fay, Peter Ward. The Opium War, 1840–1842.Lovell, Julia. The Opium War: Drugs, Dreams and the Making of China.
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