
The Looting of the Eastern Tombs
From The China History Podcast by Laszlo Montgomery
December 18, 2025 · 39 min
About this episode
This episode discusses the looting of the Qing Eastern Tombs in July 1928, highlighting the actions of warlord Sun Dianying.
This one is more entertaining than anything. Mr. Andrew Shaw mentioned this looting of the eastern Qing Tombs event when I interviewed him earlier in the year. If you recall, he wrote that book called "Spoil." This time, I'm focusing on the events that went down in July 1928 at the Qing Eastern Tombs 清东陵 northeast of Beijing. This all took place in the final moments of the Warlord Era, right after the Central Plains War. This act perpetrated by warlord Sun Dianying 孙殿英 epitomized the venality of these parasites. To get early access to all the new episodes coming in February 2027, consider Patreon or CHP Premium. Details at the Website: https://teacup.media/support
People in this episode
Host: Laszlo Montgomery
Guest: Andrew Shaw
Topics covered
- looting
- Qing Tombs
- Warlord Era
- historical events
- cultural heritage
Keywords
- looting
- Qing Tombs
- Sun Dianying
- Andrew Shaw
- Warlord Era
- historical events
- cultural heritage
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: Spoil
Places: Qing Eastern Tombs, Beijing
More episodes of The China History Podcast
- A Concise History of China-Pangu to Puyi - Part 3 · September 9, 2026 · 2h 5m
- A Concise History of China-Pangu to Puyi - Part 2 · September 2, 2026 · 2h 1m
- A Concise History of China-Pangu to Puyi - Part 1 · August 26, 2026 · 2h 10m
- One more word from Laszlo · August 20, 2026 · 5 min
- A word from Laszlo · May 7, 2026 · 3 min
- This Was Funnier in China | Laszlo and Jesse Appell · February 4, 2026 · 1h 11m
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The China History Podcast podcast page.