History from a barstool is back! This Sunday, August 7th, at noon at GLB Original #6, local hutong historian, Jeremiah Jenne, will be hosting a discussion on two dudes who met untimely ends as they fought to unite China. Ok, well in one case, the untimely end was retiring to Taiwan and becoming an art collector. The other, well, he was offed by a jealous uncle or something.
Zhang Xueliang: The Little General
Zhang Xueliang lived a 100 year rollercoaster of a life. He began his military career as an underestimated opponent (probably because of a mild opium addiction), and ended as an imprisoned patriotic hero. Without his bold move to capture the leader of the Kuomintang, it is entirely possible that China would have been ripped apart at the seams.
Huo Qubing: The Illegitimate General
Born the bastard son to a lowly maid, Huo Qubing was hit with a stroke of dumb luck when his aunt became a favored concubine of Emperor Liu, who decided to take in young Huo as well. Unlike other stick-in-the-mud rich kids of his time, Huo Qubing found he had a knack for warfare at a young age. Fortunately for him, the warlike Xiongnu Empire had risen in the North, and they were on a crash course for an ass kicking. From age 19 to 24 HuoQubing racked up a body count so high that Call of Duty fanboys would get carpal-tunnel just thinking about it. Then, out of nowhere, Huo died at the age of 24, and no one knows exactly how.
Jeremiah Jenne is coming to Great Leap Brewing #6 to bring life back to these fallen heroes. We’ll share a few beers as he sheds light on the nation-altering military careers of two of China’s ballsiest warriors. Seats at the history discussion at 80 RMB for Collectivists, 100 for friends, and include one Little General IPA and one Illegitimate General IPA. Email jimmy@greatleapbrewing.com to reserve a spot.
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