[Podcast] Not just a metaphor: Dragons of imperial China show us how people lived

Illustration for The China Project by Alex Santafé

The emperor, as “son of heaven,” was meant to mediate between the natural and the supernatural. When dragons were becoming visible to regular folk, as they were in the Yuan and Ming, the supernatural was bypassing its usual channels — a dangerous deviation.

Click here to read the article by James Carter.

Narrated by Kaiser Kuo.

China Stories is published twice weekly, on Tuesday and Friday. Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

James Carter is Professor of History and part of the Nealis Program in Asian Studies at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. He is the author of three books on China’s modern history, most recently Champions Day: The End of Old Shanghai. Read more

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[Podcast] Not just a metaphor: Dragons of imperial China show us how people lived

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