- What ancient civilisation would you like me to cover next? Sign up for an annual CuriosityStream subscription and you'll also get free access to Nebula (a new streaming platform I'm helping to build along with other creators). Use my promo code when signing up to get a 31-day free trial: curiositystream.com/cogito
How about china's historical neighbors i.e Indians? or Yindu as they called it. Please consider the proper modern day historical findings like in Rakhigarhi & khezadi, Indus climate change instead of the stupid imperialistic max muller theory. Also theres so much more to explore pre-vedic era of 16 mahajanapadas.
I teach 6th graders and your videos are perfect for them. You don't use any inappropriate language, you're funny and clever, and you really do a great job of summarizing HUGE AMOUNTS of information. Don't change a thing.
I could not agree more! My students LOVE your videos. I am constantly in awe with how much information you seamlessly include within each episode. You are my #1 go to for videos whenever I am searching for something to show in class. So thank you. You are VERY much appreciated.
@@maneatingcheeze Well, I think John Green was thinking about "ambitious on creating public works or infrastructure" leaders instead of "a rather ambitious* politician who just happened to have non-political or law-based education certificate". * Even authoritarianism and consolidating power counts as "Ambition".
Our Dutch King in the Netherlands, has studied water management as well. Bc, you know, without water management, the Netherlands weren't even an country. Then again, an engineer who neglects his wife and newborn child, is not a good founder of a nation and it still shows in China now, where collectiveness swallows all individualism.
@@estherbosbach377 The Dutch are the only people on the planet who have both fought the ocean and won. And they have my eternal respect for that. Mad men
Taoism: to understand what wu wei really, means, it helps to realize that 'inaction' doesn't mean being 'inactive.' It means letting your thoughts and feelings (and actions) flow naturally, without attaching to anything in particular. Notice how Confucius proposed that the best government inspires our innate goodness, while the 'opposing' Legalists said people have innate 'badness' and must be managed. Taoism would point out that 'good' and 'bad' are just labels with no particular meaning, just like 'order' and 'chaos.' Wisdom is endlessly subtle, beyond such 'opposites.'
Some things i find interesting about Taoism is how Laozi says the Dao cannot be contained, understood or followed by human efforts. The first verse of the Tao te Ching is that a dao that can be daoed is not the dao and the other thing i find interesting is the Sage Laozi speaks of “ The Sage stays low so the world never tires of exalting him he Remains a servant so the world never tires of making him king” and “ So the Sage embraces The One and becomes a model for the world without showing himself he shines forth without promoting himself he is distinguished without claiming reward he gains endless merit without seeking glory his glory endures” “ That guides without force that serves without seeking that brings forth and sustains life”
2:09 speaking of hydraulic engineering in ancient China one amazing thing is that an irrigation system built some 2000 years ago in Sichuan (都江堰) is still in use today! I know that in recent years "made in China" has become interchangeable with bad quality and designs, but I don't think this means that the Chinese people or the Chinese industry is intrinsically inferior than others, but has more to do with corporation cultures after the opening-up in 1978. More and more people are aware of this issue and would go extra lengths to ensure the products they design or make are of top tier quality now. I really hope in the future when people talk about "Chinese made" they would understand it as something positive instead of something bad.
The corporate culture will be left behind (transformed) in both West and East as following the middle way leads to a 'higher synthesis' between the yang and the ying.
Actually, industrialization profits from planned obsolence. When something breaks sooner, people buy it again quickly. Its not China's fault that Chinese manufactured goods break too quickly. Nope. The bigger companies that deal with outsourcing their labor to China compell them to make non-durable goods. Its called "the light bulb scam", look it up. Chinese companies figured that out and went one step ahead to profit from this planned obscolence. The less a product is durable, the quicker we buy it again. And since Chinese products are affordable thanks to the cheap labor, its become easy for us to blame Chinese products for being "cheap", while actually its the manufacturers who are having the last laugh. Why do you think a company like Apple is selling people phone without chargers? Why do they keep launching a new model every year? Why do their phone servicing is so costly? Its all a dark secret, to squeeze their customers. But they hide behind their brand and blame it on China for making their parts.
we can't awaken to endless fun without experiencing suffering (including boredom). your teacher was teaching you something really important, although without being consciously aware of what they were teaching.
Your discussion is true. But do you know the reason why they're so boring? They've been teaching the same thing over and over again through semesters and years until they die. Or change something exciting in their classes.
@@BabaJeez Not the origin Buddhism or Taoism. Taoism, Buddhism and Confusious are three major oriental schools of philosophy/theology (Buddhism came from India, the other two from China). All three have different core value. Taoism is to follow the nature way, Confusions to follow the middle way, while Buddhism to follow the inner peace. But in the passing down through history, all three are often tangled together.
@@BabaJeez Not the origin Buddhism or Taoism. Taoism, Buddhism and Confusious are three major oriental schools of philosophy/theology (Buddhism came from India, the other two from China). All three have different core value. Taoism is to follow the nature way, Confusions to follow the middle way, while Buddhism to follow the inner peace. But in the passing down through history, all three are often tangled together.
I learned to speak, read and understand Chinese way back in 1965. I have continued to study it for the subsequent 55 years. I appreciate your help in studying the origins of the culture and history.
@@samporter5934 "Fluency" must be judged in so many locations/environments/situations/schools of thought that I prefer to say I am 'conversationally adept [but can get my linguistic butt kicked without notice.] 🤠
being a chinese history buff, your video is arguably the most accurate of all the chinese history videos on youtube...(apart from pronunciation, but that's mitigated by you writing everything out anyway). happy to help you with future videos.
@@a.r.tavares1322 The preists of Shang asked many different questions on the oracle bones, like whether a war against the barbarians will win; whether the king should change its capital; whether there will be a good harvest. Sometimes they also plead to the heaven for the health of royal members through these oracle bones
@@haosenhe1923I've a few questions to my Chinese friends, are you guys happy with the dictatorship system in your country, do you have right to speech, I mean can you oppose your govt if they did something wrong and most importantly did your govt shot 🔫 down the people who revolt against govt....
@@thebrook1540 Speaking against policies is allowed. Corruption and wrong doing gets exposed on social media and gov often would correct it and improve. People get to vote to assign local representatives, who then vote for higher positions. Voting goes up level by level, like a pyramid. No system is perfect. Most Chinese think our system is on the good side but can still improve. And it's been proven to be a proper system for the past 40 years. One functioning gov which actually improves the country is better than a few fake parties doing basically the same things slowly walking backwards.
Came here after being obsessed with Chinese Historical Dramas 😂 ive watched tons of it for 4 years and because of quarantine i am now interested in studying their history. 😂😂
@Maria Mendel I watch too much kdrama so I've watched all of the ones you've mentioned. Wanted to try some Cdramas now... Thank you for the suggestions !!! 😁❤️
@Maria Mendel I'm thinking of starting ' scholar who talks the night '... also, some of my favourite shows are reply 1988, prison playbook, hospital playlist. currently watching reply 1994 and the new crime/thriller dramas that have released this year... Mouse is a good one. Taxi driver!!!!! Love that one.
These three philosophies (Legalism, Confucianism, Taoism), have a lot of commonalities with western philosophies. Legalism is essentially Thomas Hobbes’s Eastern counterpart, Confucius is John Locke’s Eastern counterpart, and Lao Zi was Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s eastern counterpart.
I can't even imagine how much time and effort you put into this video - aside from the research but every single detail you put into an image and animation that was shown for only 1 second!!... Just astonishing! :O May I know how long you needed for all the creation and editing processes?? :)
@@jujujoestar9882 not at all, just because a flood happened recently and Chinese people looked to the government to mitigate the damage, doesn't mean flooding hasn't been happening throughout Chinese history and the people hasn't looked to the government to mitigate the damage throughout Chinese history lol. Nothing's changed in the Chinese character 治, nor how essential flood control/mitigation is to the Chinese people when it comes to judging the competence of their government.
And arguably it motivates the emergence of a centralized government or collectivism ideology in China, since one would need a centralized government to complete such large scale projects in ancient times.
@@cyndis3942lol somewhat. ngl my school does teach chinese, but they will not teach us radicals individually, i mean like theres hundreds, but its still crucial to understanding why characters are just that way.
The similarities of origin story of the Chinese and ancient Egyptian founding dynasties is striking, the Egyptian first king Narmer was also awarded kingship when he controlled the nile floods by building its first dam ever.
Civilisation are built on having a stable environment, and you can't have that when a large river floods large swathes of land annually in a dangerous manner. So i mean do they have much choice?
Dude that part where you put that GAME OF THRONES character among the eunuch was killer idea.................Really great video appreciate it ...Helped me a lot with my assignment
I am actually quite happy you covered the Erlitou Culture, most western sources simply peg China's beginning only around the time of the Shang dynasty but liberally positions the beginning of the European cultures way back to Neolithic Cultures, or the Jomons for the Japanese. Which is very inconsistent. Thing is, even by the time of the Erlitou culture (1900 to 1500 BC) - almost exactly corresponding to the time the Xia was said to have existed, they have already invented advanced city layout, distinct elements of squared shaped Chinese architecture with walled enclosures, also rough metal vessels and vessel scripts. Not to mention stratified social heirarchies among the chiefs and chiefdoms. Yeah, there were loads of millinium old civilizations across the Yellow River and the northern Plains, the Longshan Culture being a primary example of a distinct and proto- Sinicized culture that may be the progenitor of many later Yellow River cultures.
Yeah that bias always annoyed me too. By the time China comes into the historical record it's obvious that they've been doing civilisation for quite a while.
European Neolithic cultures are also barely referenced and many think the Bronze Age Celts were the first settlers/ culture in Britain/ Ireland/ France. I think it’s common regardless of the country to focus on more well known Bronze Age cultures. Even when they built structures like Stone Henge. There is just less information.
you missed half of china, that's the kungfu forest(or 武林江湖）， where people lived as martial artists independent the hassles of the scholarly society rule by the monarch. it was the baggars party of the kungfu forest who led by mao zedong that kicked out all the western colonists from the china mainland, and taught the american superman a lesson or two in korea and vietnam. china has the unfinish business as the big brother of asia to kick out the remnant of americans in asia, namely those who r militarily occupying japan and korea and treating taiwan as their remote output. in a way it's good to remain the kungfu forest to be invisible to the westerners. so, in the future westerners misbehave, they would not know what hit them.
A video based just on confuscionism would be great ! I'm requisition you this because your videos are the only ones I find informative, concise and easy to go along with !
He's speaking English, after all. I'm sure there's examples of a few English words borrowed into Chinease that your typical English speaker wouldn't recognize when said by a typical mandarin speaker.
Not relevant to say, Well, people in China surely mispronounce foreign words. This is a publication for the world. It would take hardly any effort to acquire roughly correct pronunciation. It is important to give one's student the pronunciation of important foreign words.
Yeah, it makes it sound like a completely different character. It's like saying "know" and "now" are pronounced the same. Zhou is pronounced with a long "o" like the word "go". I can let go of other pronunciation flaws because those sounds dont exist in english, but o and ow sounds exist and can be easily distinguished by an english speaker
would this count as a racist remark? The Chinese don't exist the same way Indians don't exist. It's political collection of many kinds of tribes and races. Leave the "Chinese" alone, they also humans, let's not deify them. They are our brothers and sisters. Please.
@@blugaledoh2669 Because its written differently in Chinese. It wasn't the Chinese who first decided how to write their characters in English. That "Honor" goes to some Englishman in the 19th century (can't remember the name). From what i observe, any Chinese name that starts with 'ZH' is pronounced 'J' with a bit of an accent depending on the vowel after the letter. The same way any name that starts with 'X' is pronounced 'SH'. Notice how in the video he pronounced 'Xia' as "She-ya"? that's the correct pronunciation. While 'QIN' is pronounced 'TCHIN' that is also correct. Of course this only works for Mandarin (I think, it could be pinyin) as China has dozens if not hundreds of dialects that would sound completely ineligible to each other. I like to compare China in that aspect to the Arab World since i'm also Arab and we have similar problems with words mispronounced in English. If you have an Arab from Morocco try to talk to an Arab from Syria they will hardly understand each other due to the different dialects. However, They can always revert to Standardized Arabic (Or as we call it, Fus-ha Arabic) and they would understand each other perfectly as it's the same form of speaking that has been used for thousands of years.
I love how China is so urbanized now that even when using google maps to talk about ancient China, it's full of these spots, that are cities on the map.
Ancient China was relatively advanced. They have good shelters and castles with vast armies that protected trade routes. Yes they don’t have rocket science like space technology but their innovations were practical and comfortable for good lives.
Great video, however you said "when the time comes, the next video will be up ad free on Nebula". Are you planning on releasing it there sometime, or is it somewhere else?
Very interesting. I never knew about Emperor Qin's grandfather. This is highly relevant from a historical understanding perspective. It's the same story again and again: wealth is the fuel for war.
Ancient China is truly fascinating! The blend of dynasties, philosophical developments, and cultural advancements is captivating to explore. A well-done History Documentary on this topic brings to life the stories of emperors, the construction of the Great Wall, and the profound wisdom of Confucius, shedding light on how this ancient civilization laid the foundation for so much of modern society.
Reading or watching info on ancient civilizations/history of different cultures is a favourite past time of mine. I had so many laughs in this. Loved the simple way you put it with the animation.
Love listening to these videos on history! Both informing while entertaining...win/win! Kuddos Mr. Commentator! Thanks for all your efforts in your videos!
Brilliant video!! I always look so forward to all the videos you put out and I hate myself for already watching everything you've made because now I have to wait for more great material! You have such a wide range of videos topics you cover and I can't wait to see what anthropological and culturally educational videos you will provide to us!
This history documentary on China’s Legacy is absolutely captivating! It beautifully covers the rise and fall of dynasties, ancient inventions, and cultural traditions that still influence the world today. A must-watch for all history buffs
The reason that dynasty after Zhou did not last long is that "dynasty" has changed to a completely different thing since Qin dynasty because of centralization of authority. Before Qin dynasty, all these countries were kinda like those countries in Europe. They used different currencies, different weights and measures and even different languages until Qin defeated all other countries and unified them all. That is why Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor ever in Chinese history, was a great emperor overall. In fact, he invented the word "emperor" to compliment his great achievement which I personally think he totally deserved. He did many things like standardizing so many things that everyone must accept, the process may be painful, but the result makes China does not break into many pieces like Europe, it always got a chance to be reunified. He did what EU want to now but still hasn't been able to.
@@kdnguyen1444 CHINA has various ethnic tribes with their own languages/dialects, culture and customs. There are at least 55 ethnic tribes in CHINA such as Manchus, Min, Yue, Uyghurs, Tibetans, Mongols, etc. The thing is they were assimilated and integrated into one civilization state.
Such an insightful history documentary on Ancient China! The way it captures the cultural, technological, and political advancements of this remarkable civilization is truly captivating. A must-watch for anyone interested in the rich history of China!
Great video! (side-note- "Zhou" is pronounced like the English name "Joe"- but all Iknow is pronunciation, and you taught me all this history I didnt know)
The oracle bones, if memory serves were usually turtle shells. and specifically the underside of the shell which has modern historians call the practice of using them "plastromancy" because it involves using the plastron.
Ancient China, with its long and fascinating history, is filled with developments that could captivate any history documentary enthusiast. One intriguing fact is about the Terracotta Army. This massive collection of life-sized clay soldiers was buried with China’s first emperor, Qin Shi Huang, over 2,200 years ago to protect him in the afterlife. The discovery in 1974 unveiled over 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots, and 670 horses, each uniquely detailed to represent a real soldier. The army showcases the emperor's power, the craftsmanship of the Qin Dynasty, and reflects the strong belief in the afterlife in ancient Chinese culture.
The thing about tsechuan is, that whole region is basically a living central fortress. Throughout history, from Qin to the Three Kingdoms all the way to the Chinese Civil War, tsechuan acted as a easy to keep, hard to conquer type of land, and has been the most vital part of conquering China to date. It was every failing dynasty’s or every failing campaign’s respite as it was a place to buy time before fighting again. It’s capital, Chengdu 成都 has its namesake ever since the beginning of the Bronze Age in China. Chengdu literally means city capital in Chinese, so in ancient times, this place holds a major significance in Chinese history. Fortress within a fortress, one of the biggest and hardest areas to crack geographically, and essential to cracking the rest of China lol.
The pronunciation of the Chinese terms and names could use a little improvement. Yü (the hydraulic engineer), for example, is not pronounced as 'you' (as in 'you and me'); the 'ü' should be pronounced as 'ui' (as in 'ruin'). Excellent video otherwise.
- What ancient civilisation would you like me to cover next?
Sign up for an annual CuriosityStream subscription and you'll also get free access to Nebula (a new streaming platform I'm helping to build along with other creators). Use my promo code when signing up to get a 31-day free trial: curiositystream.com/cogito
@Red Eagle the goths? :D
Islamic civilization
How about china's historical neighbors i.e Indians? or Yindu as they called it. Please consider the proper modern day historical findings like in Rakhigarhi & khezadi, Indus climate change instead of the stupid imperialistic max muller theory. Also theres so much more to explore pre-vedic era of 16 mahajanapadas.
ancient india
The Assyrian civilization.
I teach 6th graders and your videos are perfect for them. You don't use any inappropriate language, you're funny and clever, and you really do a great job of summarizing HUGE AMOUNTS of information. Don't change a thing.
Wow, thank you!
I could not agree more! My students LOVE your videos. I am constantly in awe with how much information you seamlessly include within each episode. You are my #1 go to for videos whenever I am searching for something to show in class. So thank you. You are VERY much appreciated.
@@heathereastridge8690 u can ask him to remove the words “orgies and pornography” to “too many naughty parties”
清华大学海南大学推荐to be on the transfer list.....be on the transfer list..
@@heathereastridge8690 It's not really that bad but I guess you can always edit it somehow
"There are so many 'The Great's and 'The Terrible's among royalty, and so few 'The Engineer's." -John Green
President Xi has a degree in chemical engineering, though I don't think that has changed how he has ruled...
@@maneatingcheeze Well, I think John Green was thinking about "ambitious on creating public works or infrastructure" leaders instead of "a rather ambitious* politician who just happened to have non-political or law-based education certificate".
* Even authoritarianism and consolidating power counts as "Ambition".
Our Dutch King in the Netherlands, has studied water management as well. Bc, you know, without water management, the Netherlands weren't even an country.
Then again, an engineer who neglects his wife and newborn child, is not a good founder of a nation and it still shows in China now, where collectiveness swallows all individualism.
@@estherbosbach377 The Dutch are the only people on the planet who have both fought the ocean and won. And they have my eternal respect for that. Mad men
And then there are the "Royal Engineers"...
Im sorry
Taoism: to understand what wu wei really, means, it helps to realize that 'inaction' doesn't mean being 'inactive.' It means letting your thoughts and feelings (and actions) flow naturally, without attaching to anything in particular. Notice how Confucius proposed that the best government inspires our innate goodness, while the 'opposing' Legalists said people have innate 'badness' and must be managed. Taoism would point out that 'good' and 'bad' are just labels with no particular meaning, just like 'order' and 'chaos.' Wisdom is endlessly subtle, beyond such 'opposites.'
So basically Post Modernism?
@@kartikmann_ Taoism is what inspired Buddhism
Some things i find interesting about Taoism is how Laozi says the Dao cannot be contained, understood or followed by human efforts. The first verse of the Tao te Ching is that a dao that can be daoed is not the dao and the other thing i find interesting is the Sage Laozi speaks of “ The Sage stays low so the world never tires of exalting him he Remains a servant so the world never tires of making him king” and “ So the Sage embraces The One and becomes a model for the world without showing himself he shines forth without promoting himself he is distinguished without claiming reward he gains endless merit without seeking glory his glory endures” “ That guides without force that serves without seeking that brings forth and sustains life”
Thank you for this wisdom :)
@@jhaialx2399 No, Taoism was born before Buddhism.
2:09 speaking of hydraulic engineering in ancient China one amazing thing is that an irrigation system built some 2000 years ago in Sichuan (都江堰) is still in use today! I know that in recent years "made in China" has become interchangeable with bad quality and designs, but I don't think this means that the Chinese people or the Chinese industry is intrinsically inferior than others, but has more to do with corporation cultures after the opening-up in 1978. More and more people are aware of this issue and would go extra lengths to ensure the products they design or make are of top tier quality now. I really hope in the future when people talk about "Chinese made" they would understand it as something positive instead of something bad.
The corporate culture will be left behind (transformed) in both West and East as following the middle way leads to a 'higher synthesis' between the yang and the ying.
Actually, industrialization profits from planned obsolence. When something breaks sooner, people buy it again quickly. Its not China's fault that Chinese manufactured goods break too quickly. Nope. The bigger companies that deal with outsourcing their labor to China compell them to make non-durable goods. Its called "the light bulb scam", look it up. Chinese companies figured that out and went one step ahead to profit from this planned obscolence. The less a product is durable, the quicker we buy it again. And since Chinese products are affordable thanks to the cheap labor, its become easy for us to blame Chinese products for being "cheap", while actually its the manufacturers who are having the last laugh. Why do you think a company like Apple is selling people phone without chargers? Why do they keep launching a new model every year? Why do their phone servicing is so costly?
Its all a dark secret, to squeeze their customers. But they hide behind their brand and blame it on China for making their parts.
6
U need to kick CCP out and its corruption first.
'Made in China' was the best strategy for growing up the China's economy. 😂😂👍.
I'm more fascinated how my teacher made this really intriguing piece of history so damn boring
we can't awaken to endless fun without experiencing suffering (including boredom). your teacher was teaching you something really important, although without being consciously aware of what they were teaching.
Your discussion is true. But do you know the reason why they're so boring? They've been teaching the same thing over and over again through semesters and years until they die. Or change something exciting in their classes.
Some teach for a living. Few are teaching to feel alive. Just my opinion though.
what you guys teach Chinese history in the States? That's so cool to know!
Chi Zhang well I don’t know about those two but I’m Chinese myself
I love that you actually put Chinese characters on banners instead of random marks.
Haha
“允执厥中” (yun3 zhi1 que4 zhong1) means to follow the "middle way", which is one of the core concept in Confucian philosophy.
@@minghaoliang4311 also buddhist and taoist.
@@BabaJeez Not the origin Buddhism or Taoism. Taoism, Buddhism and Confusious are three major oriental schools of philosophy/theology (Buddhism came from India, the other two from China). All three have different core value. Taoism is to follow the nature way, Confusions to follow the middle way, while Buddhism to follow the inner peace.
But in the passing down through history, all three are often tangled together.
@@BabaJeez Not the origin Buddhism or Taoism. Taoism, Buddhism and Confusious are three major oriental schools of philosophy/theology (Buddhism came from India, the other two from China). All three have different core value. Taoism is to follow the nature way, Confusions to follow the middle way, while Buddhism to follow the inner peace.
But in the passing down through history, all three are often tangled together.
I learned to speak, read and understand Chinese way back in 1965. I have continued to study it for the subsequent 55 years. I appreciate your help in studying the origins of the culture and history.
That’s cool, how long did it take you to become fluent?
@@samporter5934 "Fluency" must be judged in so many locations/environments/situations/schools of thought that I prefer to say I am 'conversationally adept [but can get my linguistic butt kicked without notice.] 🤠
@@pmchamlee still impressive
Which Chinese?
@@davidbriand2084 Mandarin [with side study in accents of Mandarin in ShangHai, FuJian, and others]
being a chinese history buff, your video is arguably the most accurate of all the chinese history videos on youtube...(apart from pronunciation, but that's mitigated by you writing everything out anyway).
happy to help you with future videos.
As a Chinese, I've seen tons of video about Chinese history on youtube, this video is by far the most accurate one!
Do you know what kind of questions were asked on the oracle bones?
@@a.r.tavares1322 The preists of Shang asked many different questions on the oracle bones, like whether a war against the barbarians will win; whether the king should change its capital; whether there will be a good harvest. Sometimes they also plead to the heaven for the health of royal members through these oracle bones
@@a.r.tavares1322 and a large portion of the divination book "I Ching" originated from Shang preists' analysis of the cracks on those oracle bones.
@@haosenhe1923I've a few questions to my Chinese friends, are you guys happy with the dictatorship system in your country, do you have right to speech, I mean can you oppose your govt if they did something wrong and most importantly did your govt shot 🔫 down the people who revolt against govt....
@@thebrook1540 Speaking against policies is allowed. Corruption and wrong doing gets exposed on social media and gov often would correct it and improve. People get to vote to assign local representatives, who then vote for higher positions. Voting goes up level by level, like a pyramid.
No system is perfect. Most Chinese think our system is on the good side but can still improve. And it's been proven to be a proper system for the past 40 years. One functioning gov which actually improves the country is better than a few fake parties doing basically the same things slowly walking backwards.
Came here after being obsessed with Chinese Historical Dramas 😂 ive watched tons of it for 4 years and because of quarantine i am now interested in studying their history. 😂😂
Can you suggest me a good Chinese drama?
@Maria Mendel thank you :)
@Maria Mendel I watch too much kdrama so I've watched all of the ones you've mentioned. Wanted to try some Cdramas now... Thank you for the suggestions !!! 😁❤️
@Maria Mendel I'm thinking of starting ' scholar who talks the night '... also, some of my favourite shows are reply 1988, prison playbook, hospital playlist. currently watching reply 1994 and the new crime/thriller dramas that have released this year... Mouse is a good one. Taxi driver!!!!! Love that one.
Same!! Was interested in writing a story based around the time period but never knew how MUCH it was until I actually started looking it up 🥲
This is insanely educational... I was looking for something like this for a long time. I'm in love with this channel. Lots of love from Brazil!
These three philosophies (Legalism, Confucianism, Taoism), have a lot of commonalities with western philosophies. Legalism is essentially Thomas Hobbes’s Eastern counterpart, Confucius is John Locke’s Eastern counterpart, and Lao Zi was Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s eastern counterpart.
yes，the human is similar
i love your animation style. entertaining without being distracting.
I can't even imagine how much time and effort you put into this video - aside from the research but every single detail you put into an image and animation that was shown for only 1 second!!... Just astonishing! :O May I know how long you needed for all the creation and editing processes?? :)
12 hours
@@mrxyz8061 impressive- and GREATLY appreciated
I like how he's talking about the Qin dynasty but kept showing us images of the Qing dynasty, which is like 2000 years later than the Qin lol
Where?
@@pas-giaw6055 The images in which the men look bald and have long pigtails.
Timestamp
Yü the engineer making Chinese nerds feel inadequate since 2700 BCE.
don't down play me!
i am from china
2:05 chinese character 治(to govern) is synth of 水(water)+台(tower, to watch). flood control is essential concept of chinese people.
To drive it even further home, the symbol even looks like a tower being rained on so cool
This comment aged badly
@@jujujoestar9882 not at all, just because a flood happened recently and Chinese people looked to the government to mitigate the damage, doesn't mean flooding hasn't been happening throughout Chinese history and the people hasn't looked to the government to mitigate the damage throughout Chinese history lol. Nothing's changed in the Chinese character 治, nor how essential flood control/mitigation is to the Chinese people when it comes to judging the competence of their government.
And arguably it motivates the emergence of a centralized government or collectivism ideology in China, since one would need a centralized government to complete such large scale projects in ancient times.
@@cyndis3942lol somewhat. ngl my school does teach chinese, but they will not teach us radicals individually, i mean like theres hundreds, but its still crucial to understanding why characters are just that way.
You are legit one of my favourite TH-camrs
Thank you, I'm really happy to hear that.
@@CogitoEdu Definitely one of the most under rated for sure
"It kind of tells you alot about Chinese culture that one of their greatest heroes is a hydraulics engineer."
Yeah it tells me that it's AWESOME
And that was Yu the great who forbade blood-heritage from becoming ruler until the 5th ruler made an outlaw and chose his son to the next ruler.
That "Forced Diversity" part killed me 😂
You ain't the only one.
Anti-SJW comedy is so dead
@@kalanaherath3076 Most comedy is dead.
@@kalanaherath3076 fr
The similarities of origin story of the Chinese and ancient Egyptian founding dynasties is striking, the Egyptian first king Narmer was also awarded kingship when he controlled the nile floods by building its first dam ever.
Civilisation are built on having a stable environment, and you can't have that when a large river floods large swathes of land annually in a dangerous manner. So i mean do they have much choice?
Basically China is the Rome of Asia and India is the Greece of Asia
"Whose yin and yangs had been removed" Good one
Anyway, can't wait for the video on the Han dynasty.
Rip their Yin and Yangs
Yeah!!!
Dude that part where you put that GAME OF THRONES character among the eunuch was killer idea.................Really great video appreciate it ...Helped me a lot with my assignment
I am actually quite happy you covered the Erlitou Culture, most western sources simply peg China's beginning only around the time of the Shang dynasty but liberally positions the beginning of the European cultures way back to Neolithic Cultures, or the Jomons for the Japanese. Which is very inconsistent. Thing is, even by the time of the Erlitou culture (1900 to 1500 BC) - almost exactly corresponding to the time the Xia was said to have existed, they have already invented advanced city layout, distinct elements of squared shaped Chinese architecture with walled enclosures, also rough metal vessels and vessel scripts. Not to mention stratified social heirarchies among the chiefs and chiefdoms.
Yeah, there were loads of millinium old civilizations across the Yellow River and the northern Plains, the Longshan Culture being a primary example of a distinct and proto- Sinicized culture that may be the progenitor of many later Yellow River cultures.
Yeah that bias always annoyed me too. By the time China comes into the historical record it's obvious that they've been doing civilisation for quite a while.
@@CogitoEdu agreed
European Neolithic cultures are also barely referenced and many think the Bronze Age Celts were the first settlers/ culture in Britain/ Ireland/ France. I think it’s common regardless of the country to focus on more well known Bronze Age cultures. Even when they built structures like Stone Henge. There is just less information.
Don't forget the sanxingdui culture. "Three star heap" culture.
you missed half of china, that's the kungfu forest(or 武林江湖）， where people lived as
martial artists independent the hassles of the scholarly society rule by the monarch.
it was the baggars party of the kungfu forest who led by mao zedong that kicked out
all the western colonists from the china mainland, and taught the american superman
a lesson or two in korea and vietnam.
china has the unfinish business as the big brother of asia to kick out the remnant of americans in asia, namely those who r militarily occupying japan and korea and treating
taiwan as their remote output.
in a way it's good to remain the kungfu forest to be invisible to the westerners. so, in the future westerners misbehave, they would not know what hit them.
A video based just on confuscionism would be great ! I'm requisition you this because your videos are the only ones I find informative, concise and easy to go along with !
When he says Zhou like ZAO! Ahhh! 😬
atleast hes trying 😂 some asians born abroad dont even bother
He's speaking English, after all. I'm sure there's examples of a few English words borrowed into Chinease that your typical English speaker wouldn't recognize when said by a typical mandarin speaker.
Not relevant to say, Well, people in China surely mispronounce foreign words. This is a publication for the world. It would take hardly any effort to acquire roughly correct pronunciation. It is important to give one's student the pronunciation of important foreign words.
Yeah, it makes it sound like a completely different character. It's like saying "know" and "now" are pronounced the same. Zhou is pronounced with a long "o" like the word "go". I can let go of other pronunciation flaws because those sounds dont exist in english, but o and ow sounds exist and can be easily distinguished by an english speaker
I dont know why you dont already have over a million subscribers. This channel is amazing
The Chinese people really are always ahead of the world in innovation. Naturally blessed with creativity
清华大学海南大学推荐BEE ON THE TRANSFEER LIST..
would this count as a racist remark?
The Chinese don't exist the same way Indians don't exist. It's political collection of many kinds of tribes and races. Leave the "Chinese" alone, they also humans, let's not deify them. They are our brothers and sisters. Please.
@@beanondaddy3397 🤔
The dynastic emperors were so niggardly.
@@beanondaddy3397 It's of a canonisation instead of a deification. There were always chinks in China's armour.
Zhou is pronounced "JOU" not "ZAO" otherwise a fantastic video. You really went all out in this video. Kudos to you my friend
I was actually about to comment just that, but you beat me to it!
using IPA it is actually /ʈʂoʊˉ/ lol... it is pointless to use any non-universal alphabetical system to spell any language...
Then why did it spell "Zhou".
@@blugaledoh2669 it's the correct pinyin spelling, which is the official romanization used in China.
@@blugaledoh2669 Because its written differently in Chinese. It wasn't the Chinese who first decided how to write their characters in English. That "Honor" goes to some Englishman in the 19th century (can't remember the name).
From what i observe, any Chinese name that starts with 'ZH' is pronounced 'J' with a bit of an accent depending on the vowel after the letter. The same way any name that starts with 'X' is pronounced 'SH'. Notice how in the video he pronounced 'Xia' as "She-ya"? that's the correct pronunciation. While 'QIN' is pronounced 'TCHIN' that is also correct.
Of course this only works for Mandarin (I think, it could be pinyin) as China has dozens if not hundreds of dialects that would sound completely ineligible to each other.
I like to compare China in that aspect to the Arab World since i'm also Arab and we have similar problems with words mispronounced in English. If you have an Arab from Morocco try to talk to an Arab from Syria they will hardly understand each other due to the different dialects. However, They can always revert to Standardized Arabic (Or as we call it, Fus-ha Arabic) and they would understand each other perfectly as it's the same form of speaking that has been used for thousands of years.
I love how China is so urbanized now that even when using google maps to talk about ancient China, it's full of these spots, that are cities on the map.
Ancient China was relatively advanced. They have good shelters and castles with vast armies that protected trade routes. Yes they don’t have rocket science like space technology but their innovations were practical and comfortable for good lives.
Great video, however you said "when the time comes, the next video will be up ad free on Nebula". Are you planning on releasing it there sometime, or is it somewhere else?
I´m studying sinology and preparing for my history exam atm and this helps so much! Thank you for putting in the work dude!
Your videos are great . Keep up the good work !
Yu the Engineer. Damn, what a legend.
Excellent job 👍
Hi. Welcome back 😁
everyone was waiting for a moment like this 3:26
XD lol ikr 😂😂😂🤣
“The more things change, the more they stay the same.”
Chinese history summed up in one quote
I love Chinese people
@@wisediva9807 Nice
This documentary is so captivating, I almost forgot it’s been a few thousand years!
Very interesting. I never knew about Emperor Qin's grandfather. This is highly relevant from a historical understanding perspective.
It's the same story again and again: wealth is the fuel for war.
TOU KNOW WHAT ELSE IS INTERTING UR MOM
Nice Video
Love to see Your dedication and researches.
Not s singke flaw . Hats off to you..
Thank you :D
Ancient China is truly fascinating! The blend of dynasties, philosophical developments, and cultural advancements is captivating to explore. A well-done History Documentary on this topic brings to life the stories of emperors, the construction of the Great Wall, and the profound wisdom of Confucius, shedding light on how this ancient civilization laid the foundation for so much of modern society.
Reading or watching info on ancient civilizations/history of different cultures is a favourite past time of mine. I had so many laughs in this. Loved the simple way you put it with the animation.
Love listening to these videos on history! Both informing while entertaining...win/win! Kuddos Mr. Commentator! Thanks for all your efforts in your videos!
You're the Best! I love your humor, (and the accent, too)! I'm looking forward to watching more of your videos.
I just discovered your channel yesterday and next day you do an entire video on my favorite civilization!!! Que rico!
It's interesting to note that whenever new dynasty rose the heaven just happened to lose their mandate for older dynasty
amazing visual at 7:13
you really outdid your self
Finally after a long time
I had to write a whole entire reputation About ancient China so this helped me a lot I wrote down every single thing you said so I can get it all done
Nice Pokemon color gen 1 reference at 13:25
Nice exploration 😀
Brilliant video!! I always look so forward to all the videos you put out and I hate myself for already watching everything you've made because now I have to wait for more great material! You have such a wide range of videos topics you cover and I can't wait to see what anthropological and culturally educational videos you will provide to us!
This history documentary on China’s Legacy is absolutely captivating! It beautifully covers the rise and fall of dynasties, ancient inventions, and cultural traditions that still influence the world today. A must-watch for all history buffs
Had a cry and burned it down with himself inside mood 😂
why so funny about it?
GREAT TO SEE YOU AGAIN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LOTS OF LOVE FROM INDIA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1:35 not a cell phone in sight. Just people living in the moment.
lmao-
The reason that dynasty after Zhou did not last long is that "dynasty" has changed to a completely different thing since Qin dynasty because of centralization of authority. Before Qin dynasty, all these countries were kinda like those countries in Europe. They used different currencies, different weights and measures and even different languages until Qin defeated all other countries and unified them all. That is why Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor ever in Chinese history, was a great emperor overall. In fact, he invented the word "emperor" to compliment his great achievement which I personally think he totally deserved. He did many things like standardizing so many things that everyone must accept, the process may be painful, but the result makes China does not break into many pieces like Europe, it always got a chance to be reunified. He did what EU want to now but still hasn't been able to.
beichen Not like Europe, they’re still one ethnic group.
@@kdnguyen1444 Except for the Manchus, Hakka, Min, Yue, Inner Mongols, Uyghurs, Tibetans, Cantonese, and others...
@@kdnguyen1444 CHINA has various ethnic tribes with their own languages/dialects, culture and customs. There are at least 55 ethnic tribes in CHINA such as Manchus, Min, Yue, Uyghurs, Tibetans, Mongols, etc. The thing is they were assimilated and integrated into one civilization state.
Shang Rulers were also known to toss live people into tombs as human sacrifices. That was one of the reasons they lost the "mandate of heaven".
loved that oldschool runescape reference at 3:00
Imagine being an engineer and then become a king
Fantastic video, thank you!
Enter "Yu" lol take my thumbs up.
hey stephan milo glad to see you here 😊👋
Such an insightful history documentary on Ancient China! The way it captures the cultural, technological, and political advancements of this remarkable civilization is truly captivating. A must-watch for anyone interested in the rich history of China!
Great video! (side-note- "Zhou" is pronounced like the English name "Joe"- but all Iknow is pronunciation, and you taught me all this history I didnt know)
love the age of empires sound effects :))
Finally someone else recognised it
Thank you for this wonderful video about China
Damn, if that one Engineer never redirected that river, China's history would be completely different today.
china redirect river rather than sitting on the boat like noah ark.
this video has given me so much wuxia novel context that it's incredible
Here is an Chinese telling you he enjoys your version of the Chinese History!
The oracle bones, if memory serves were usually turtle shells.
and specifically the underside of the shell which has modern historians call the practice of using them "plastromancy" because
it involves using the plastron.
this guy is funny and good for learning 😂
Great professionally done Superb video 📹 👏 👌 👍 🙌 Flawless
I was so excited about showing this to my class, and then you talked about multiple "orgies". Great video, not suited for elementary though.
酒池肉林，that's a great way to teach your class about Chinese.
The most important thing I learned from this video is how much I want an alcohol lake with a meat forest.
SaltiestRaccoon dont forget the countless chick for orgy party
wow this was good
im a student watching this on my personal shared account, and 1:32 LMAOO
A shared account called salty banana
Very good video brother keep growing I will also share this with my friend
The part with the RuneScape ores tho 😂
Ikr!
Ancient China, with its long and fascinating history, is filled with developments that could captivate any history documentary enthusiast. One intriguing fact is about the Terracotta Army. This massive collection of life-sized clay soldiers was buried with China’s first emperor, Qin Shi Huang, over 2,200 years ago to protect him in the afterlife. The discovery in 1974 unveiled over 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots, and 670 horses, each uniquely detailed to represent a real soldier. The army showcases the emperor's power, the craftsmanship of the Qin Dynasty, and reflects the strong belief in the afterlife in ancient Chinese culture.
Nice to see something on China. :)
Such a great platform.Thank you so much 🙏
I'm still waiting for another part.
thankyou for a intereesting video
you can actually see a lot of Chinese influence in its neighbouring countries like Korea and Japan
Loved the runescape ores 🤣
The thing about tsechuan is, that whole region is basically a living central fortress. Throughout history, from Qin to the Three Kingdoms all the way to the Chinese Civil War, tsechuan acted as a easy to keep, hard to conquer type of land, and has been the most vital part of conquering China to date. It was every failing dynasty’s or every failing campaign’s respite as it was a place to buy time before fighting again. It’s capital, Chengdu 成都 has its namesake ever since the beginning of the Bronze Age in China. Chengdu literally means city capital in Chinese, so in ancient times, this place holds a major significance in Chinese history. Fortress within a fortress, one of the biggest and hardest areas to crack geographically, and essential to cracking the rest of China lol.
Szechuan soup
@@cuber_22 yummy :D
you are awesome
The pronunciation of the Chinese terms and names could use a little improvement. Yü (the hydraulic engineer), for example, is not pronounced as 'you' (as in 'you and me'); the 'ü' should be pronounced as 'ui' (as in 'ruin'). Excellent video otherwise.
School failed me. Only briefly mentioned paper money and a dynasty. Chinese history cool af.
man this was an INCREDIBLE video. very funny, very easy to understand, love yu's wife with the shotgun ahahahhahah
Visual effects are fabulous. Great job.
Meropotamia civilisation, Sindhu valley civilisation,
This helps me with all my tests Thanks!
1:36 Who knew fighting flood millennia ago could be this sexy?
😫
💀💀💀
Another excellent presentation, thank you.
Now I know why my dad freaked out when I dyed my hair blonde. My son can whatever he wants but if he joins a gang or take drugs, I'll kick his ass. :)