3.57 Fall and Rise of China: Big Sword Society & the Armor of the Golden Bell

<p id="docs-internal-guid-c1522ba4-7fff-c711-5340-205580dc6620" dir="ltr" style= "line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"> <span style= "font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202122; background-color: #00ffff; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Last time we spoke about Shandong province. Yes this one province of China just always seems to be the breeding grounds for trouble, its actual a common saying haha. Historically Shandong was  unique in many ways; geographically its densely populated, almost exclusively with farmers, the majority of whom are quiet impoverished in its western portion. Just about all invading armies have to go through it if coming from the north, leading the province to be very unstable. Bandits roamed its region throughout time, leading local communities to seek protection via what we in the west called Boxers. These martial artists became a big part of western shandong, the strongmen to fight off enemies.  Shandong also birthed numerous sects and when they mingled with the Boxer types, rebels spread continuously. The Qing had a hell of a time with Shandong beginning in the late 18th century, and things would only escalate further by the late 19th.</span></p> <p> </p> <p dir="ltr" style= "line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"> <span style= "font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202122; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> #57 This episode is the Big Sword Society & the Armor of the Golden Bell</span></p> <p> </p> <p dir="ltr" style= "line-height: 1.38; text-align: justify; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"> <span style= "font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: #ff00ff; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: n