Significant Figures
This former consort was the first and only empress of China.
Who was Wu Zetian?
The grandson of Genghis Khan, Kublai Khan was the founder of this dynasty, which saw a rise in invention and trade along the Silk Road.
What was the Yuan Dynasty?
In this film, Cao Cao and Liu Bei (allied with Sun Quan), were opposing forces over the state of the Three Kingdoms of China.
What is Red Cliff?
Ruling from within the confines of the Forbidden City, he is known as “The Last Emperor”.
Who was Pu Yi?
After the death of this emperor, the Yuan Dynasty folded in on itself and made way for the Ming Dynasty to take over.
Who was Kublai Khan?
This famed emperor oversaw the production of the Great Wall of China and the Terracotta Army.
Who was Qin Shi Huangdi?
There is extensive debate between historians regarding whether his influence upon China during the Three Kingdoms period and beyond should be considered positive or negative, given his manipulation of the ineffectual emperor into war.
Who was Cao Cao?
We only screened one episode of The Empress of China, a TV show depicting the rise of this empress during the Tang Dynasty.
Who was Wu Zetian?
He was known as the “Wise Khan” for his work in establishing a strong empire based on a combination of Chinese and Mongolian administration.
Who was Kublai Khan?
The Han Dynasty began splintering in 220 AD, which led to the formation of Eastern and Western Han, as well as Xin and this period, which featured a war seen in Red Cliff.
What is the Three Kingdoms period?
An imperial warlord whose descendants scatter the world to this day, he expanded his empire to the largest the world has ever seen.
Who was Genghis Khan?
Known largely for translating sections of the Mahayana, a Buddhist holy text, into Chinese, thus bringing Buddhism to China, he was a scholar and explorer during the Tang Dynasty.
Who was Xuanzang?
Referred to only as the King of Qin in this film, Qin Shi Huangdi would go on to unite China under one banner for the first time.
What is Hero?
Sometimes called “The Yellow Emperor”, he was China’s first emperor, ruling during the quasi-mythological Xia Dynasty.
Who was Shi Huangdi?
During his reign, he revolutionized military strategy, utilizing such tactics as cavalry and psychological warfare, which led to the huge expansion of his empire.
An envoy for the court of Kublai Khan who hailed from Venice, he would go on to write a book about his travels through Asia, which would inspire further exploration and trade between Europe and Asia.
Who was Marco Polo?
With the discovery of this archeological wonder, former emperor Shi Huangdi fostered a boom of interest in Chinese culture thousands of years beyond the grave.
What is the Terracotta Army?
The legacy of Mongolian emperors Genghis and Kublai, is featured in this documentary.
What is Mongolia: The Rise and Fall of an Empire?
He is considered the “father of Chinese historiography” for his work documenting the records of the Han Dynasty.
Who was Sima Qian?
Thanks in part to British colonialism and the funneling of opiates into China, this became the last dynasty of Imperial China, under the reign of former Emperor Pu Yi.
What was the Qing Dynasty?
A court historian under Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, his Records of the Grand Historian was the model of record books for the rest of the line of Chinese empires.
Who was Sima Qian?
Following success at the Battle of Red Cliff, he established what is known as the Shu Han Dynasty, in an attempt to reform the Han empire.
Who was Liu Bei?
While Xuanzang was away studying Buddhism in India, the events of this film, set during large-scale rebellion in Tang Dynasty China, were taking place.
What is House of Flying Daggers?
Sometimes known as “the greatest admiral you’ve never heard of”, he was an explorer during the Ming Dynasty, long before Columbus set sail for the New World.
Who was Zheng He?
Fostering a golden age of Chinese development during her rule, Empress Wu Zetian succeeded this emperor, a man to whom she was formerly a consort.
Who was Gaozong?