#304 - Qing 39: Twilight of the Dragon

Old man Qianlong is dead at last, leaving the Jiaqing Emperor finally free to... rule his own empire. His first order of business: destroy the man who's been pilfering it all for years. There's just one catch – once the second most powerful man in China is gone, how much of his r ...  Show more

The Qing has just finished burying one crisis (Heshen), only to start realizing that the true threat was never in the palace. It was out on the water. For two centuries the state's own hand had built this monster of the depths: sea bans, forced coastal evacuations, betrayed pardo ...  Show more

The Qing Dynasty fell in 1911, ending imperialism in China. But the instability created a power struggle over the country’s future. Between the Warlords, the Nationalists, the Communists, and even the Japanese, one man seized control of China and turned it into the second largest ...  Show more

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the woman who, for almost fifty years, was the most powerful figure in the Chinese court. Cixi (1835-1908) started out at court as one of the Emperor's many concubines, yet was the only one who gave him a son to succeed him and who also possessed g ...  Show more

1279 - 1644 - We track the downfall of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty of China before reviewing the rise of the Ming Dynasty and how they changed China in a world where long distance trade links were becoming more vital.

1046 - 256 BCE - The longest of all dynasties in Chinese history but certainly not the strongest.  This episode covers the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period with special reference to Confucianism, Taoism and Legalism.