Fall of Civilizations
10. China's Han Dynasty - The First Empire in Flames
February 24, 20202h 53m · 21,297 words
Show notes
A city in ruins. A dynasty in tatters. An empire in ashes.This episode, we look at the remarkable story of the first empire of ancient China, the Han dynasty. With ancient Chinese poetry, songs and folk music, we look back at the first empire's rise, its remarkable technological advances, and its first, tentative attempts to make contact with the empires of the west.
Highlighted moments
I climbed the ridge of Beimang Mountain and looked down on the city of Luoyang. In Luoyang, how still it is? Palaces and houses all burnt to ashes, walls and fences all broken and gaping, thorns and brambles shooting up to the sky.
“the strings of coins had been stacked up by the hundreds of millions until the cords that bound them had rotted away, and they could no longer be counted. In the central granary, the grain overflowed and piled up outside, where it spoiled, and became unfit to eat.”
“the eunuchs were frightened he would see their mansions. They sent harem official Shang Dang to say, the son of heaven must never climb high, for if he does so, his people will be impoverished and scattered. From this time on, the emperor never climbed the tower again.”
“It had once taken 2,000 carts just to transport the empire's store of books from Chang'an to the new capital. But after the destruction of Dong Zhuo, the books that survived could barely fill 70.”
Transcript
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