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In this week's episode we focus on the years from 1937 to 1945. During this time the world will be at war and Hong Kong will be invaded and occupied by the Japanese military. The Hong Kong people prove their mettle during this time and despite the great suffering, the colony emerges from the experience positioned to take advantage of the post-war boom.

In this latest installment of the CHP History of Hong Kong overview we look at the years from Governors Nathan to Peel. The modern age comes to Kong Kong along with plenty of fallout and spillover from the upheavels going on in China in the 1920's and 30's. This was a period when the great pillars of HKL Chinese society rose to fame and fortune: Shouson Chow, Robert Hotung, Kai Ho, Robert Kotewall and others.

In this fifth installent of our Hong Kong history overview we look at the final couple decades of the 19th century. Hong Kong's second generation is coming to the fore. They are a better educated and more sophisticated lot than those Chinese who came before them. This time period saw the governorships of MacDonnell, Kennedy, Hennessy, Bowen, Des Voeux and Robinson (a different Robinson from before). We close this epsidoe during the time of Governor Sir Henry Arthur Blake. Although the colony would experience a disaster here and a disaster there, progress was being made.

We continue this overview series on the history of Hong Kong. This time we pick up right after the Treaty of Nanjing and look at early efforts to get this colony up and running. The first couple decades of Crown Colony of Hong Kong weren't easy and many considered throwing in the towel early.

Laszlo is back from his long China trip and we're back with more History of Hong Kong. In this third episode we take things from the failure of the Convention of Chuen-pi all the way to the Treaty of Nanjing and the initial steps taken to set up the Crown Colony of Hong Kong. Laszlo goes a little overboard with all the street names.

In part two of Laszlo's overview of the history of Hong Kong, we look at the Canton System and the leadup to hostilities that culminated in the Treaty of Nanjing that ceded Hong Kong in perpituity to the British crown. In this episode we'll get as far as the Convention of Chuenpi of January 20, 1841. Here, Hong Kong was ceded to Britain but neither side was satisfied with this temporary settlement. In Part 3 we'll see this Convention repudiated and hostilities will quickly resume which ultimately leads to the first of the despised (on the Chinese side anyways) unequal treaties.

Laszlo is back after another long delay. In this shorter than usual episode, The China History Podcast presents Part 1 of a multi-part series that will explore the history of Hong Kong. In this introductory episode, Laszlo starts at the very beginning and traces Hong Kong from the Devonian Period all the way up the end of the Ming Dynasty in the 17th century.

In this episode we introduce American Sidney Rittenberg, 李敦白，known by the title of his 1993 book as "The Man Who Stayed Behind." He arrived in China in his 20's at the end of WWII and witnessed the Chinese Revolution from a front row seat. When the US pulled out of China after the war, Sidney Rittenberg stayed behind with his dreams of contributing to the building of a new China. He remained in his adoptive country for 35 years. This episode tells his story.

Matteo Ricci Oct 6, 1552 – May 11, 1610 Johann Adam Schall von Bell May 1, 1592 – August 15, 1666 Ferdinand Verbiest October 9,1623 – January 28, 1688 In this longer than usual episode, we feature the three giants of the Jesuit China Mission of the 16th and 17th centuries.  In addition to their work in introducing Catholicism to China, these three men, Matteo Ricci, Johann Adam Schall von Bell and Ferdinand Verbiest made a collective contribution to the scholarship of China that has not been matched to this day.  They were the first to write books and dictionaries unlocking the intracacies of Mandarin.  Their ways of building bridges with the Chinese served as a model for later generations of Western scholars and diplomats who went to China. TERMS FROM THIS EPISODE Michele Ruggieri  罗明监 Luó Míngjiān Matteo Ricci   利玛窦 Lì Mǎdòu Johann Adam Schall von Bell  汤若望   Tāng Ruòwàng Ferdinand Verbiest   南怀仁  Nán Huáirén Guangzhou 广州 The city more familiarly known as Canton Zhaoqing  肇庆 City in Guangdong province Wanli  万历帝  The Wanli Emperor Chongzhen  崇祯帝 The Chongzhen Emperor (last of the Ming) Nurhaci 努尔哈赤 Founder of the Qing Dynasty Shunzhi 顺治帝 Emperor, son of Nurhaci, father of Kangxi Kangxi  康熙 One of China’s greatest emperors Qianlong  乾隆 Also another great emperor of China with an ego to match wanguotu 万国图 The “Ten Thousand Country” World Map Shaoguan 韶关  City in Guangdong formerly known as Shaozhou  韶州 Daxue  大学 One of the Four Confucian Classics The Great Learning Zhongyong 中庸  The Doctrine of the Mean Lunyu  论语 The Analects Mengzi  孟子 The Mencius Nanchang  南昌  Capital city of Jiangxi province  江西省 Zhang Qian  张骞 The great explorer featured in CHP-047 Han Wudi  汉武帝 Great Han Dynasty emperor Tianzhu Shilu  天主实录 The Trude Doctrine of God Li Yingshi  李应试  Early convert of the Jesuits who gave the cause a major boost locally Zhalan Cemetrey 栅栏墓地 Cemetery in Beijing, the oldest of them all. Qin Tian Jian 钦天监  The head of the Observatory Yang Guangxian 杨光先  Anti-Jesuit court official who got his in the end Tianzhu 天主 The Lord God (the acceptable Chinese word to the Church) Tian 天 Heaven, also a name for God, more acceptable to the Chinese Shangdi  上帝 The Lord of Above, Supreme emperor, also a name for God, more acceptable to the Chinese

Many of you have requested this topic and today the CHP delivers. In this episode we offer a brief overview of something almost everyone has heard about but very few actually know what it is.

This episode we look at Wang Xizhi, a man of letters who achieved greatness during the Eastern Jin dynasty and is called China's greatest calligrapher. His life and achievements will be explored along with the significance of calligraphy in Chinese culture. We'll also recall those crazy times in the fourth century AD.

We close out our three part series on the amazing life of Admiral Zheng He and his seven voyages. This time the CHP looks at retired submarine commander Gavin Menzies and his take on what Zheng He achieved. He makes some wild claims that have been savagely attacked by educated people around the world. If not for the fact that early Ming China was advanced enough to carry out these voyages, as Menzies said they happened, they'd be very hard to believe. The debate is far from closed on this subject.

We continue on with the voyages of Zheng He. This time we we look at some of the highlights from all seven voyages. Then after the Yong Le and Xuan De emperors pass from the scene, no further emperors are interested to put their seal of approval on any more of these pricey expeditions. With historic consequences, China's focus turns to protection from the west and northwest of the country rather than engaging in diplomacy and further exploration of the seas and distant lands.

Laszlo is back after more than two weeks on the lam. This time we look at part 1 of a series featuring the great adventurer/explorer/diplomat Zheng He. Zheng He's seven voyages to India, Persia and the east coast of Africa created a big sensation in the early 15th century. Today Chinese look back with pride at his achievements. China, at this time was the richest, most technologically advanced and most powerful nation on the planet. Zheng He's sponsor, the emperor Yong Le, was determined, through these voyages, to let the world see for itself all the splendor and richness of China.

We're back in ancient days again, this time the short period in between the Qin and Han Dynasties when two great leaders, Xiang Yu and Liu Bang, contended for the throne left vacant by the deceased first emperor of China, Qin Shihuang. Xiang Yu has gone down in the annals of Chinese history as one of the most ferocious and greatest of generals and strategists. Between 206 and 202 BC Xiang Yu of Chu and Liu Bang, the King of Han, fought all over Jiangsu, Anhui, Hebei and Shaanxi. To the victor of this Chu-Han Contention would go the future destiny of China.