The Rise of the Eastern Han Dynasty (25 - 106)

[@wheezysqueezebox7651]

That project to reroute the Yellow River showed great foresight, and turned out to be extremely impactful! A major undertaking, that really paid off!

[@GageCroteau]

Your videos are some of the best on ancient chinese history in my opinion. Other history youtubers don't usually go into this much detail on how geography influences historical events. It really puts certain events into perspective.

[@gatesofkilikien]

Thanks, appreciate the support! Hopefully with each new video I can continue to keep it up while experimenting with new ways to present things.

[@adrianseguras.9659]

Your videos are amazin man. I am FINALLY understandin the complexities of Chinese history. First time ever. And Ive tried, oh boy, did I ever!

[@tfsweet]

Great info! Awesome audio quality too!!! Keep it up!!!!!

[@gatesofkilikien]

Thanks again, appreciate all the feedback!

[@fisherzahari2689]

Liu Bang - A peasant who founded Han Dynasty from nothing Liu Xiu - Redo back what Liu Bang did and Han Dynasty continued for another 200 years# Liu Bei - Redo back what both Liu Bang and Liu Xiu did.. ahh F*** it I'm tired lol

[@d.dante_vergil]

Don't forget Liu Yu tho

[@AGS363]

It is not really about the time period, but it would be great to have a side by side view of Changan and Luoyang, to show the benefits of bouth locations.

[@gatesofkilikien]

Thanks for the suggestion, and this is actually one of my main upcoming projects. I'm currently working on a pair of videos about Chang'an, and after that I'll have to do Luoyang and then a comparison of the advantages/disadvantages of each.

[@VirgileGoyet]

Amazing man, thank you for all this work - learning so much and for once having the impression to understand ancient china. Keep it up!

[@gatesofkilikien]

Thanks, will do!

[@Phowok]

Just found this Channel, great stuff! I love the Chinese dynasties history videos. Many thanks! 🙇🏻‍♂️

[@gatesofkilikien]

Glad you like them!

[@alaricthescholar2517]

Since suggestions are welcome, maybe a later video on the best and worst Emperors of China?

[@Nick-hi9gx]

As a Roman (well, Classical) military historian, the Four (and sometimes unofficially five) Commanderies really stick out to me not in comparison to the Goths, Vandals, Franks etc of Late Antiquity, but more like the tribes of Steppe people that were settled later in the Early Medieval period. The intermarrying, the small kingdoms turning in to empire, which then prompts response reunifying the old power of the region. The Steppe tribes bring a new form of Christianity into power in what by then is called Byzantine history, causing massive strife just like the Northern Wei and Buddhism. The Magyars, Bulgars especially. And later, at the end of the Early Medieval Period, the Turks bringing in a form of Islam that was a bit more umm..."convert or sword" to Anatolia. The massive difference is, unlike the Germanic tribes who were settled for hundreds of years prior to problems, the Steppe people both in China and in Europe were unused to settled life. And so a portion of their societies continued war as a lifestyle, that takes several generations to sort of...calm in a society. With the Goths, it was complete mishandling, and mistreatment, and poor reaction that caused the Gothic invasions that shattered half of the empire and left it open for Huns Vandals, Saxons, Franks and more. But with both the Steppe hordes-turned-kingdoms in China and Eastern Europe, you can't forcibly settle people that still have connections, cultural, familial, linguistic, out on the Steppe...and not expect those other Steppe relations to want a piece of the pie. And they will come and take it by force if they can. Invited by their settled cousins who would also like more of the pie. No matter if you're Persians against Hepthalites, Romans against Huns, Greeks against Saka, Chinese against Xianbei and Wuhuan, Arabs against Turks, or Romans against Magyars, Bulgars and later Turks, Cumans and Kipchaks.

[@byc3480]

Thank you for the great video! Do you mind dropping the sources you used? Thanks! 😄

[@gatesofkilikien]

Thanks - it's been a while since I've posted this video so I don't remember the exact sources anymore, but since I didn't go into too much detail for this video I don't think I checked beyond more overview type books about this period, albeit in Chinese. For my more recent videos I've been posting the sources, and eventually I'll want to remake the Han Dynasty videos in much more detail. When I do I'll have the sources for them.

[@hongdong3718]

Great video

[@gatesofkilikien]

Thanks!

[@kaykhosrow3263]

You mentioned "China learnt of another great empire in west, Rome" which is true, but was not Parthia and especially later Sassanids (who were as strong as Romans for most of their history) also considered another great civilisation by Chinese? Maybe you could make a video about Chinese - Persian relations in the future. [the only interaction I know of Sassanids and China is sassanid princes in Tang and Northern Wei-Sassanid interactions but vaguely on the latter] As a great fan of antiquity, I would love to see Romans, Persians and Chinese, 3 main empires of the world at the time interact with eachother in cooperative ways.

[@adge5182]

I just discovered you, and you have already gain a new subscriber. Great work and great information, I'm sure you'll grow much more 👍

[@gatesofkilikien]

Welcome aboard, and thanks for the support!

[@LOLMAN9538]

It was during the reign of Emperor He that the Eastern Han began its slow decline, as strife between the consort clan and the eunuchs forced him to remove the Empress Dowager Dou's brothers from power. This, in turn, would create the precedent that eunuchs were to be involved in important affairs of state. This, combined with repeated bandit uprisings and other traitorous elements, as well as natural disasters and poor harvests only serving to fuel the anger the people had with the Han government, would kickstart a chain of events that ultimately led to the Han Dynasty ending in 220, when Emperor Wen of Wei (Cao Pi, styled Zihuan) forced Emperor Xian of Han (Liu Xie, styled Bohe) to abdicate the throne to him.

[@SacredDaturaa]

It sounds to me like Eastern Han is only part of the same dynasty as Western Han on a technicality - feels like we should be discussing these two dynasties as completely separate regimes (more than we already do, I mean).

[@gatesofkilikien]

Yes in some ways they're the same dynasty on a technicality, since the ruling family technically was the same and the rulers claimed descent/legitimacy from the Western Han Dynasty.

[@temptemp563]

Thanks

[@gatesofkilikien]

👍

[@brixflores5121]

excellent video, concise

[@gatesofkilikien]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@koboldgeorge2140]

Emperor Guangwu reminds me of Darius the great of Persia. While neither of them conquered a great territory or established a kingdom, they both preserved the empire and reformed at a critical and very vulnerable period

[@brixflores5121]

Please consider make video about the Spring and Autumn period and Warring states period

[@gatesofkilikien]

Yes definitely. I'm trying to focus on the period of disunity (100s - 500s) right now to have a finished product for this overall time period, but after I'm done my plan is to start a second series on ancient Chinese history from beginnings to the fall of the Han Dynasty, while taking the Medieval Chinese series to the beginning of the Ming Dynasty. It'll take some time though, especially since I want to ensure adequate quality control and fact checking, and without making the videos too long or tedious to go through.

[@brixflores5121]

@@gatesofkilikien thankk youu so much❤️, I am an enthusiast of learning World History, especially Chinese history. It will be very helpful videos like these for free.

[@alaricthescholar2517]

I never knew that Chinese historians considered Emperor Guang Wu of Han as the greatest Emperor. I always thought that distinction belonged to Emperor Tang Taizong (Li Shi Min).

[@Sean12248]

Love it

[@gatesofkilikien]

Thanks and glad you like it! Looking forward to continuing the series.

[@zainmudassir2964]

Hope make vid on Jin song wars

[@gatesofkilikien]

Yes eventually, when I get to the Southern Song Dynasty

[@Nick-hi9gx]

We know that the Huns are at least directly connected to the Xiong'nu, there is just nothing to say by how much, and whether this is ethnic heritage, or just trade and exchange of ideas. The Huns that first show up in Roman record, before the 4th century big names (and bigger names like Attila later) come on the scene, had bronze ware exactly like the Xiong'nu had. Whether the Xiong'nu that left the Chinese sphere made up 1% of Huns or 80% of Huns, we have absolutely no idea. At the very least, we can say that ancestors of the Huns either were, or interacted directly with, Xiong'nu. Given the way Steppe confederations work, it is likely the Huns were mostly some ethnic group other than ethnic Xiong'nu, who had probably lost dominance at some point in the ensuing two centuries, but maybe not. Either way, the Hun's confederacy was far more than Huns, settled writers just mostly didn't make distinction. The Huns are at least descendants of the Xiong'nu, if not genetically then culturally to at least some degree. But again, we don't know how much. Yet.