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I used to think that Zhang Juzheng was a just politician who was passing his reforms such as tax exempting policies and limit government spending. Thinking about it, Zhang Juzhang had possibly failed to be a role model to teachers and officials. Comparing to Huo Guang, Zhang was trying to keep under control making sure that no one stands in his way to pass laws and policies which he thought were just ensuring government stability. He was mild than Huo Guang as he safeguarded the throne until the emperor was ready to rule on his teachings. He did not commit treason and did not make relations with the imperial family through the imperial consort selection. As the accusation of him embezzling and corrupting the court and the bureaucracy was true, Zhang ironically did not adhere his own concepts making himself to commit the actions that he was not supposed to do. Like a few previous emperors he lived under, Zhang almost exhausted the national treasury and abused power to benefit himself. He was arrogant and thought himself like a royal. If he had thoughts of usurping the throne from the young Wanli emperor, then the Ming dynasty could've ended 70 years earlier than the actual date of annexation from Qing and history took a different view on that path. The Wanli emperor did learn a lot from Zhang Juzheng, but under the pressure of the court officials, he decided to purge against him and erasing his legacy. The emperor did not learn anything Zhang taught about politics and social ethics. He did not assert his authority too much and not restore the glory to the Ming. What he did learn from Zhang was doing (almost) nothing and overindulging himself. And also, Wanli got the credit to help Joseon winning the Imjin War against the Japanese.

cool

I always think song gaozong just didnt want the northern expedition to succeed i mean if it did the two captured emperors will come back and threaten the stability of zhao gou throne plus as the southern scholars started to ocupy the bureaucracy and the northern ones gradually getting out the southern gentry didnt want to succeed the northern expedition only to share power with the conquered northern scholars so the emperor and the southern scholars i see pressed for the stability of the south instead of the northern expedition and this main supporter of the northern expediton yue fei had to die

Would you consider detailed explanations on the 300 year dynastic cycles of china and how much differences and similarities withthe causes of rise and falls

The way i looked at it it seems the grand chancellor powers have been successively reduced from the pre qin era where they held powers equal to monarchs to the sui dynasty separation of its powers into three positions and six ministries then coming to zhu yuanzhang finally abolishing the position what i conclude is the emperors through out carried reduction of power until hongwu finally kicked it into the garbage dump

Do a video what did qing china did after math of the downfall of ming china

At the time, the princes of Europe had the same problem with their nobles. Turns out the solution was to introduce tariffs and VATs.

The historical Cao Cao is different from the Cao Cao portrayed in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. There are some similarities between the historical and fictionalized Cao Cao as both are ruthless. However ruthlessness is a necessity during the waning years of the Han Dynasty. Regional warlords appeared as the power and authority of the Han Dynasty Emperors are waning. The constant warfare between the warlords had resulted large numbers of refugees fleeing their homes seeking refuge elsewhere. Cao Cao resettles them on large tracts of farmlands that had been abandoned due to warfare and bring them back to cultivation. Also he cut back on extravagant to conserve necessary resources to be used on projects to revitalize the state and economy as well as the livelihood of the people. The Anyang tomb is not found by a farmer as you narrated but by workers digging for mud for making bricks. The tomb has sighs of being disturbed by tomb robbers but still have enough artifacts to determine the owner. The Anyang tomb is agreed by many historians as the tomb of the legendary Cao Cao but some are skeptical. They believe that it could be one of the 72 decoy tombs as mentioned in a legend which originated during the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) which Cao Cao is already dead for 700 years. Of course this is largely dismissed as a mere legend. The skeletal remains had confirmed the historical records that Cao Cao is a much shorter person in contrast with Cao Cao portrayed in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms as a man with great height and stature to make him more intimidating. The site is now officially recognized as the tomb of legendary Cao Cao.

Where did you get the Chinese poetry ?

Kenny, your analysis is at best dodgy tbh. Stop giving us BS, just say you don’t know.

I always thought that he was implementing a three line defense against the northern enemies I mean the defense line of great wall with a couple of kings like king of Yan zhu di who had part of military power the second along the yellow river and third along the Yangtze river hence the court with Nanjing as capital is more safe compared to song dynasty in terms of defense against northern enemies ....I mean the second emperor destroyed this defense line hence even zhu di got the chance to defeat the imperial court of jianwen

I m 50 50 on this

My Y-DNA test says that I am related to Cao Cao. But my historical research led me to the Zheng ancestry as I can trace my immediate ancestor to Taksin the Great of Thonburi. His Chinese name is Zheng Cao if I am not mistaken. His father is from the Chaosan part of Guandong, in Qinghai to be specific. They were from the southern Zheng clan. Zheng being related to the ruling Ji clan of the Zhou dynasty. Its just a change in surname by a younger brother. Thus, it can be said that their genetics remain the same. So, my suggestion is to explore the possibility of Cao Cao being a descendant of a Han General named Wei Qing. This person adopted the surname of his mother and discarded his father's Zheng surname. He married an imperial Han princess. My point is this: Cao Cao is given the title Duke of Wei and later, King of Wei by the figurehead Emperor. Is it because his real surname is Wei and that he is descended from Wei Qing, a fact which enabled him to walk the corridors of power during the late imperial period of the Han dynasty? Empress Wu Zetian's rule is given the period name of Latter Zhou due to the fact that despite her Wu surname, she is by blood a descendant of the ruling Ji clan of the previous Zhou dynasty. Historians did not give her reign the Tang name. Wu despite the obvious difference with the Ji surname, are one and the same, DNA-wise.

宋太祖其实很强，文治武功以及军事战略都很牛的，很多人低估了宋太祖

Yuan loved taking Korean royals hostage and marrying them to Mongol royals - wasnt really consenting

The narrator sound like the guy who does the movie review

as i recall yuan had there own system and the mongols had there own system

It was rare for imperial woman of a foreign background to become the mother of an emperor. Li Linglong's origin was fascinating. I doubt there was an African person coming to and settled in ancient China in a millennium before Zheng He's voyages and the expansion of the New World. It's sad to see this woman faced such tragedies. Sima Yu lived in fear and shame with having sons with tainted blood. He distanced the woman knowing they were targets of conspiracy and intrigue. Their children and grandchildren perished along the Eastern Jin. Since you bring up this topic, it comes to my mind why is Bao Qingtian depicted in popular culture as very dark skinned and had a crescent moon on his forehead. We know he's Han Chinese, do some people think Bao Zheng looks black/African seen on television or opera? What's the legend behind Bao Zheng and his sense of justice and righteousness from his depiction in modern references?

thanks bro please do a video on traditions of china

Next episode.... A white man became king of the Zulu`s and they called him Shaka.... all true ofc 👀👀👀👀😑😑🙄🙄

Bruh pls keep China and Asia in general out of your black girl boss power fantasies. Stick to what Africa has had. We aren't European or American and we won't tolerate this narcissistic behavior.

Fake facts , Narrative ,Worthless ! It was not possible and No road to Africa in the past and Language barrier and ancient time no civilization. You should take some medicine before writing down what you didn't know anything. Craps !!!

The annals did describe her of having features uncommon among Han Chinese at that time like darker skin tone, curly hair and a much taller stature. The term Kunlun is used to describe individuals with darker skin tone though in modern times used to describe people of African descent. Li Lingrong is most likely primarily of Han Chinese descent with some non-Han Chinese ancestry. Darker skin tone and curly hair are common among the population of Southeast Asia. The Han Dynasty did conduct oversea trade with South East Asia and South Asia where Han merchant ships did sail as far as India where they purchased spices. Furthermore, various states from South Asia and Southeast Asia did send tributes to Han Emperors which includes servants being presented as tributes. Furthermore, Chinese merchants could have purchase slaves from Southeast Asia and South Asia and brought them back to China where they later assimilated into Han Chinese population. Li Lingrong could be having a case of genetic atavism. Her darker skin tone and curly hair most likely indicated that she either have Southeast Asian or South Asian ancestry. Furthermore her taller stature may indicate she is taller than an average Han Chinese person. Napoleon Bonaparte is often described as a short person but comparing from the records of the day, he is much taller than an average French person. Furthermore, none of her children are recorded to have features identical with black African person. The best way to solve it is to exhume her tomb and study her skeletal remains.

How another "African American" lesbian princess ruined history. (Spoiler Alert)

you mean empress Wutian is black descendent?!

So desperate to make up false claim. Shameful.

This black/brown Chinese empress was probably of Champa ancestry. Champa people have brown skin, curly hair and appearance that looks like Indian since they’re Malayo-Polynesian. In the past, plenty of Southeast Asian ladies were offered to Chinese emperors as a tribute

Prove to you africans were kings and queens in asia and all dem emperors are africans so black people were kings of the roman empire and chinese

Why are you doing this? I am Chinese, I can assure that there were no black empress in our history. Stop black washing our history!

This is so interesting! Thank you for this video!

some times I want to take king makers like lu buwei, richard neville etc from different times of history and see how low they would all go for a scrap of power. idk king makers of history are the most interesting of history.

I mean they should have learned from the party conflicts in the two song dynasties...well chongzhen broke the last back of the camel by removing the eunuch royalists thus the donglin faction accelerated the demise of ming

I always primarily believed he was paving was for the jianwen emperor who didn't have familial ties with the military faction and when zhu biao was prestigious and could keep at bay the military but the death of zhu biao broke the balance for succession and all threats to the emperors grandson were removed starting with lan yu

Great video as always! I love your channel because you dig deep into Chinese history and cover subjects that no one else on TH-cam does. I learn a lot every time.

Thank you, Kenny for the interesting and informative video. I would like to ask your opinion on the influence, contribution and controversy of WU ZIXU during the Spring and Autum period towards the Chinese culture.

I'm pretty sure the descendants of the Hongwu Emperor were not a result of inbred due to the production of consorts and concubines from various backgrounds. If Hongwu Emperor had the prognathic chin like the Habsburg dynasty from Spain and Austria, then should archaeologists investigate his body in the Xiao Mausoleum to determine whether or not he had prognathic chin?

Hongwu and the Habsburgs have ONE thing in common haha

For me all 3 questions look quite silly. 1) Do you think Sima Yi did not do a proper and thorough scouting before approaching to the city? Absolutely not. As an outstanding general he did all the best to know what was going on. Do you think he had time to re-investigate his sudden suspicions? If Zhuge Liang had prepared a real ambush just few minutes delay could cost everything for Sima Yi and the Wei kingdom. He had already met Zhuge Liang for a few times and knew how deadly dangerous to be in this situation. 2) Sima Yi's archers were certainly out of range. It's not a bullet. It's an arrow and it can fly only 80-100 meters. Zhuge Liang sent solders to sweep the road in front of the city, so 100 meters from the gate were effectively under his control. And he surely wouldn't calmly sit and play the pipa if he'd seen the approaching archers. 3) To surround the fortress? Seriously? What a stupid idea! 5 minutes ago you thought you knew everything, but now you know nothing. You don't not have a finest idea how many people are ready to destroy you and your army. You don't know where they are. You probably don't have time to investigate. So your decision is... to attack? Oh, man! 😧Luckily Sima Yi was a Wei general, not you.

Ancient martial artists? Like ones that actually existed. Anything martial arts related please!

thanks kenny bro

I don't think China' s tributary fair in any mean. China didn't protect or support stability in region at all. 1) First of all, creating division between barbarian states was official foreign policy of china from the start. China always actively encourged infighting between its neighbors. Example were how Han China encourged infighting between normad tribes like between South Xiongnu and Northern Xiongnu. 2) In all of this system long existence, Imjin War was only and only time China really use military intervention to protect its tributary states (without use this as reason to annex its neighbors). And this war was out of norm because Japan main goal was using Korean as base to attacke China. Therefore, this China intervention can explained as purely self interest. Other China's tributary state - Dai Viet never recieved any China military support in its existence (don't count support for Viet Nam communism in morden area). Even worse, China dynasty used fake reason as restoriation of Tran dynasty to invade Dai Viet in 1406, after defeat Ho regime, Ming dynasty annexed completly Dai Viet. 3) 2 other intervention attempts in colonial period were First Sino-Japanese War and Sino-French in Korean and Viet Nam were not conducted because China want to protect 2 countries but protect buffer zone between China and Japan, China and French

Emperors gave up their power and voice to let eunuchs and factions fighting over the court while seeking pleasure to their comfort zone and not healing their headaches. Some corrupt officials had their just desserts with angry and hungry peasant rebels and mobs plunging into their mansions, killing them and their families, and taking all the riches and luxury items. Some other corrupt officials to Qing and switch allegiances from Ming and then sealed their fates with treason under the Kangxi era.

Nice Video. I wrote a little book on Wang Mang about 30 years back (Robert Tye). It is still on the web a few places. At the time I was trying to set the record straight - as the evolving story coming out of US professional Academics - was grossly negative propaganda. On my reading of the sources he was not as socialist as he was being painted, he seemed to me to aim at a mixed economy where public and private businesses competed. There is a lot more to say on his reforms to money. His confiscation of gold in order to defend his ‘Keynsian’/fiat system was very similar indeed to what happened in the 20th century (Roosevelt 1933 in the US, Harold Wilson 1966 in the UK). You do not mention this - I notice others on TH-cam completely fail to understand it. I suppose one ought to compare him to other great reformers like Akbar, and Julius Caesar. Like Akbar he ultimately failed to get enough reliable officials to carry through his administration. That leads to a situation where peasants are being taxed twice - by the government and by its feudal opposition. Sure to lead to big discontent. Caesar met the same fate as Mang, but it seems his side won through - mostly perhaps because the reforms of Augustus were less far reaching. Glad to see you stressed the slavery matter. Mang took the correct line on that, centuries before the so called “Christian” Emperor Constantine was still very keen on burning slaves alive…... Writing from England, it seemed to me Mang tried to do in three years what was done in England over 300 years. He was told going too fast was a mistake by an old man at the time.

Yes, thanks for the wonderful content, much appreciated sir.

keep it up ming really loves to trade but its policy killed it in the end

Was Zhu Yuanzhang aware he's making the similar policies what Cao Pi implemented on the princes having no power or holding official positions?

Sounds like the modern day America

the policy of the ming china will caused there down fall in the end of there era when the manchus later be qing china will be invading

In ancient China, many men loved other men not women, women were just child bearers

Chen He was a rare period in Chinese history , when China was looking outwards , and it brought so much detail , that the Beijing mandarins got overwhelmed and decided : that the jealousy would get the better of them , to destroy all the records . to come back to nabel-gazing . Pity . And they even destroyed the whole fleet .