Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchTheo in China
Episode 38
My friend and special guest calls in from New York, and we reminisce on traveling in China as well as his experiences teaching English in a relativel…
4 years, 5 months ago
A History of the World in an Orange
Episode 37
The orange was originally indigenous to China, and the great poet Qu Yuan wrote an ode to the orange tree back in 314 B.C. Since its earliest cultiva…
4 years, 5 months ago
A White Horse Is Not a Horse; It Might Be a Stag
Episode 36
Current events remind me of two stories from ancient China.
First, a philosophical argument from an ancient Chinese equivalent of a Sophist from the W…
4 years, 5 months ago
Fairy Tales, East and West
Episode 35
As another example of our common human culture, here's a compendium of Chinese and Tibetan folk stories that just may share sources with their Wester…
4 years, 5 months ago
A New Beginning: Koxinga
Episode 34
Culminating our series on Chinese national heroes, we tell the history-changing story of Zheng Chenggong, known in Western sources as "Koxinga," lite…
4 years, 5 months ago
How Can a Man Die Better? Wen Tianxiang
Episode 33
In our continuing series on Chinese historical figures regarded as national heroes, we look at the life of the 13th century statesman Wen Tianxiang.
B…
4 years, 6 months ago
Loyalty onto Death: Yue Fei
Episode 32
Over the centuries, Chinese civilization has produced a number of figures who have entered the pantheon of national heroes. Perhaps none is more famo…
4 years, 6 months ago
The Red and the Yellow: China's Foundation Myth
Episode 31
"The Children of the Red and the Yellow" is a phrase one stumbles upon from time to time when listening to the Chinese talk about themselves, particu…
4 years, 6 months ago
The Wuxia Fiction of Jin Yong
Episode 30
Jin Yong, sometimes known by his English name Louis Cha, was the most popular and influential "wuxia" or martial arts fantasy author who ever lived. …
4 years, 6 months ago
"Lying Flat" in the 3rd Century
Episode 29
"Tang ping" or "lying flat" is a new social phenomenon from China that has now spread to America. Young people feel that striving in the socio-econom…
4 years, 7 months ago