The History of China

Li Yi was never trained to be emperor. Not only was he the thirteenth son of Xianzong, but he'd been ruthlessly mocked and belittled his whole life by his entire family for being an idiot, an invalid, and a mute. But when his hated nephew dies in 846, he's going to shock the world by revealing he was faking it the whole time, and go on to become the last good emperor of the Tang before its final bow.Time Period Covered:846-859 CE Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The new Emperor Wuzong will have a lot on his plate right from the get-go. Foreign threats and domestic squabbles will frame his early reign, but it's his own fanatical devotion to Daoism and antipathy to Buddhism that will define his reign.Period Covered:840-846 CE Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Behind the throne of Tang is where the true power lies in the mid-9th century, among squabbling bureaucrats, shadowy factions, and conniving eunuchs. But this game of shadows is difficult to follow. Nevertheless, when events reach a head in 835 we’ll need to know how all the pieces on the imperial chessboard got where they are, and so we take a look at the real movers and shakers of the late Tang court.Time Period Covered:808-836 CEMajor Historical Figures:Tang Emperors:Emperor Xianzong of Tang (Li Chun) [r. 805-820]Emperor Muzong of Tang (Li Heng/You) [r. 820-824]Emperor Jingzong of Tang (Li Zhan) [r. 824-827]Emperor Wenzong of Tang (Li Han/Ang) [r. 827-840]Crowned Prince Li Yong [d. 838]Emperor Wuzong (Li Chan) [r. 840-846]Niu Faction Officials:Niu Sengru, Duke of QizhangLi ZhongminLi Xun [d. 835]Li Faction Officials:Li Jifu, Duke of Wei [d. 814]Li Deyu, Duke of WeiNonaligned Officials:Zheng Zhu [d. 835]Eunuch Officials:Wang Shucheng [d. 835]Qiu Shiliang, Duke of Chu Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the wake of Emperor Xianzong’s unexpected death in 820, his work remains unfinished… and now left in the hands of his incapable, incompetent successors. The eunuchs are hard at work securing ultimate authority for themselves, and have no time for a strong central leader, and the Governor-generals of the northeast are eager to get out from under the imperial thumb once again. Into all this madness, a dock-worker, a fortuneteller, and an army of vagabonds will make a quixotic bid for the throne.Time Period Covered:February, 820- January, 827 CEMajor Historical Figures:Emperor Muzong of Tang (Li Heng) [r. 820-824]Emperor Jingzong of Tang (Li Zhan) [r. 824-827]Emperor Wenzong of Tang (Li Ang) [r. 827-840]Prince Li Han of Jiang [d. 827]Eunuch-Official Liang ShoujianEunuch Official Liu Keming [d. 827]Chief Minister Xiao MianSu Xuanming, Fortuneteller Extraordinaire [d. 824]Zhang Shao, Unlikely Sitter of Thrones [d. 824]Sources:Dalby, Michael T. (1979). “Court politics in late T’ang times: Mid-Ninth Century Court (820-59)” in The Cambridge History of China, vol. 3. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Young Emperor Xianzong has a plan to restore China's supremacy in the 9th century world... and - surprisingly enough - it involves precisely zero walls being built.Time Period Covered:805-820 CE Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, we veer off our main narrative and into several seasonal tales which celebrate the spooky season in Chinese fashion. We feature a ghostly gathering, a bewitched battle, injurious jests, and lethal looks.Author: Pu Songling [1640-1715 CE]Strange Tales from a Chinese StudioFeaturing: The Golden Goblets (begins: 2:15)The Necromancer (begins: 13:30)The Killing Joke (begins: 21:15)The Painted Skin (begins: Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We take a look at the final years of Emperor Dezong's reign, his political successes and failures, and the strange, mysterious,short-lived Wang Party that would seize control over government for about 5 minutes before being kicked out by Dezong's grandson Xianzong. Also, we have a paralyzed, mute emperor, so there's that, too!Time Period Covered:ca. 790-806 CEMajor Historical Figures:Tang Dynasty:Li Kuo, Emperor Dezong of Tang [r. 780-805]Li Song, Emperor Shunzong of Tang [r. 805]Li Chun, Emperor Xianzong of Tang [r. 805-820]Dou Wenchang, Eunuch Protector of the ArmyHuo Xianming, Eunuch Protector of the ArmyWang Shuwen, Wang Party FounderWang Pi, Wang Party MemberTibetan Empire:Prime Minister Shang Jiecan (Shan-rgyal-btsan)Uyghur Khannate:Tun-Baga-Tar KhanMajor Sources Cited:Dalby, Richard. "Court Politics in Late Tang Times" in The Cambridge History of China vol. 3Zizhi TongjianJiu TangshuWang, Yunsheng (1963). "Second Treatise on the Historic Significance of that Bastard Sima's Political Innovations" in Lishi Yanjiu. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dezong has had it up to here with his mumbling, bumbling, stumbling courtiers and their inability to solve the empire’s problems. So he’s going to give them 3 last shots to prove the worth of the bureaucracy, and when they strike out, he’ll turn toward his private inner count to make the Tang Empire great again.Time Period:786-795 CEMajor Historical Figures:Emperor Dezong of Tang [r. 779-805]Chancellor Cui Zao (term of office: 785-787, exiled and d. 787)Chancellor Li Mi [term: 787-789, d. 789]Chancellor Dou Can [term: 789-792, d. 793 by forced suicide]Chancellor Lu Zhi [term: 792-794, exiled]Director of Finances Pei Yanling [792-796, d. 796]Major Works Cited:Dalby, Michael T. "Court Politics in Late Tang Times" in The Cambridge History of China, vol. 3.Sima, Guang. Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 234, 235 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The echoes of the An Lushan Rebellion still reverberate destructively through Tang China even three decades after its conclusion. As the new emperor, Dezong, attempts to revitalize the glory days of old, he’ll kick off an new round of wars with the governor-warlords of Hebei who don’t want to have to listen to him anymore.Time Period Covered:781-785 CEMajor Historical Figures:Emperor Dezong of Tang (Li Kuo) [r. 779-805]Li Zhengji, Governor-General of Pinglu [d. 781]Zhu Tao, King of JiZhu Ci, Governor-General of Huaixi, Emperor of Qin/Han [d. 785]Duan Xiushi, Tang double-agent [d. 783]General Li HuaiguangGeneral Li Sheng Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we explore the insanely difficult, stressful, byzantine... and sometimes fatal... world of the would-be imperial official as they attempt to climb their way through the labyrinth of tests explicitly designed to fail them out. One unlikely success of this system is Yuan Zai, who will going from impoverished nobody to Chancellor of the Empire... all before getting his head lopped off. We then finish out Emperor Daizong's time on the throne before the reign of his son Emperor Dezong.Time Period Covered:762-781 CEMajor Historical Figures:Emperor Daizong of Tang (Li Yu) [r. 762-779]Emperor Dezong of Tang (Li Kuo) [r. 779- 805]Chancellor Yuan Zai [d. 777]General Guo Ziyi [d. 781]Major Works Cited:Dalby, Michael T. "Court Politics in Late Tang Times" in The Cambridge History of China, vol. 3.Miyazaki, Ichisada. China's Examination Hell.Sima, Guang. Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 225. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices