The hardest part to me about learning asian history is how there's no separation between medieval and ancient. Like for example you look at a map of Europe, you think "what is the story of france" and then you have the modern country of france, with some specific medieval history, before that there was a germanic tribe that conquered the land, and before that was the roman empire, and before rome some barbarians nobody needs to learn about. Same goes for bulgaria, england, hungary, italy, serbia, and in other cases you learn that they came to exist after Charlemagne, wich your mind immediately links as after the roman empire.But asian history doesn't work like that. Think of korea. Theres the modern split korea, before that the japanese, and before that a kingdom that started after the mongols, and before that there was goryeo, before them some other three countries that became sort of korea but not yet, and so on further back untill its just tribes.There's no clean "roman empire" to asia, no Christianity or islam that just break the chain with antiquity, you can't learn about asian countries with the same assumptions of "the romans were here" and "the modern country came after", wich of course, its a broad assumption to make, but learning about each european country is like learning how specifically they weren't exactly like france.
>>18478461>There's no clean "roman empire" to asiaThere is to East Asia. China.Everything that happened before Chinese contact is 99% terra incognita.In Korean history, no one really talks or cares too much about the period when would-be Japanese lived over there any more than anyone in England cares about who came before the Celts. Portions of China that had their own culture don't exist outside very niche archaeological digs until they become a part of China.Korea doesn't exist until they start acting Chinese.Japan doesn't exist until they start acting Chinese.Ryukyuans don't exist until they start acting Chinese.Vietnamese are the exception because they got the French dick and had to invent their own "Gauls" but in reality they also don't exist until they break off from China.And even the people around them are defined by the events of interaction with China or Chinese-derived states just like Balts are just not a thing at all until the Germans start prodding them and writing about it.
Where is the jumping on point for Chinese history? If you google any random Chinese emperor you'll get a 10,000 word article about his predecessor, his relationship with his concubines, his relationship with the eunuchs, but they won't actually tell you jack shit about the real socio-economic or geopolitical realities of their reign. I don't care that Lady Qu colluded with Eunuch Qi to oust Concubine Xu. I want to know what the fuck the Chinese economy was doing at the time, what the fuck he was doing about the Steppe nomads on the border, whether or not there were any inventions or developments in China during his reign.This is also the case SOMEWHAT for medieval European history, but at least they also cover the important stuff, and their bullshit personal relationships usually relate in some way to the actual governing of the state and policies. For example, Henry II marrying Eleanor of Aquitaine is actually relevant because it meant England inherited the duchy and that was a big change in the French/English relationship.
>>18478609>Where is the jumping on point for Chinese history?https://thehistoryofchina.wordpress.com/2013/11/If you're fine with simply getting the basics, you'll need to go through through these. Only about 50-ish episodes at 30-60minutes long, basically one old anime's worth to build the foundation of the ancient times and the basics of how the place functioned.But if you want to read the nitty-gritty of policies, economy and all the neat details, you'll need to learn Chinese or Japanese... and ideally both.
>>18478661That site's UI is atrocious. There are close to 300 episodes, not 50, and his voice is annoying as fuck.Legitimately thank you for this though, excellent resource and exactly the sort of thing I was looking for.
>>18478700Agreed on the UI and shit, but it's good enough for the job.>There are 300 episodes not 50Yeah, but around 50 episodes will give you a solid footing to start navigating Chinese and broader East Asian history by yourself. Though obviously if you enjoy his format and want to know more there's no harm in going further.
>>18478714I'm mainly interested in the Song, Tang, Ming, and Qing dynasties. I don't much care about the fragmented warring statelets before then as in my mind they don't truly represent China, they were essentially in a state of prolonged civil war during that time in my eyes.
Heian is ancient while Kamakura and everything up to Meiji is medieval
>>18478721Chinese History Podcast by Lazlo Montgomery is what you are looking for. I like Chris Stewart’s one that was posted but it’s more a chronological narrative. Lazlos one does deep dives into all sorts of niche stuff and has hundreds of episodes.Also “Chinas living legends” on YouTube. Yes I’m aware it’s AI slop but it’s ran by some Chinese auntie who has a super autistic knowledge of Chinese history and feeds the slopbot impossible to find in English information for hours worth of content per episode. I really like it.
>>18479212Is there any way to listen to any of these podcasts without either making a spotify account or going through pages of shit interfaces?Why can't they just upload their shit to youtube like the Byzantine podcast?
>>18480205>Why can't they just upload their shit to youtube like the Byzantine podcast?https://www.youtube.com/@TheHistoryofByzantiumPodcast/playlistsIs it this one? NTA.
