Xi'an (Chang'an) Part 2 - Capital of Chinese Empires

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Күн бұрын

Chang'an (Xi'an) was the capital of many significant Chinese dynasties, including the Qin, Han, Sui, and Tang Dynasties. This video is the sequel to an earlier video focused on the historical geography of Xi’an, and covers the highs and lows that the city experienced throughout imperial Chinese history.
Chapters
00:00 Qin Shi Huang's Empire
08:05 Fall of Qin and Rise of Han
13:29 Chang'an Under the Early Han Dynasty
19:27 Chang'an Under Emperor Wu
26:57 Overview of Western Han Chang'an
30:45 Decline and Fall of the Western Han Dynasty
34:30 Eastern Han Dynasty and the Centuries of Disunity
40:20 Sui Dynasty Resurgence of Chang'an
43:38 Tang Dynasty Chang'an
47:11 Decline and Fall of the Tang Dynasty
54:11 Chang'an after the Tang Dynasty
References: to be added later
Comments/Corrections:
4240: the label for Wu Commandery (modern-day Suzhou) was accidentally dragged to a completely different part of the map during production.
Attributions:
Maps were created using maps-for-free.com/ by ©OpenStreetMap www.openstreetmap.org/copyright
Image Credits: Wikimedia Commons
#chinesehistory #china #geography #ancienthistory #history #chengyu

Пікірлер: 169

@gatesofkilikien 8 ай бұрын

Thank you all for your support of this channel, and for your patience in waiting for part 2/2 of the video on Xi’an (Chang’an) & Guanzhong. I got a lot of very helpful feedback regarding the first video and so ended up significantly rewriting the draft for this video. Because this video covers so much information despite my already editing down a number of topics, I wrote it with three subsections in mind: Part 1) Qin/early Han Dynasties Part 2) Han Dynasty Chang’an and its subsequent decline Part 3) Resurgence under the Sui/Tang Dynasties to today Ultimately, Xi’an has such a rich history that there is just a lot of information to cover. I also try not to split up a topic into multiple videos because doing so would make it harder to explore broader themes and changes that took place over long periods of time, so here we are with the length.

@cosmicplatano3185 8 ай бұрын

Thank you so much for your historical videos and overall analysis of Chinese history, I grew up in the United States and they do not go into any of depth of Chinese history and it is so fascinating. 1/4 of the world’s people for the majority of the time were there and in the west it isn’t emphasized as much. I truly enjoy learning about ancient Chinese history and you are one of the few KZfaqrs who makes videos on it so I’m very grateful.

@cosmicplatano3185 8 ай бұрын

I’m truthfully looking for more resources/ documentaries to learn more about Chinese history, as well as south Asian east history in general. This I feel is a niche historical area where KZfaqrs/ historians have a real chance to make up ground where there isn’t really any foundation.

@joerogue231 8 ай бұрын

GatesOfKilikien Hello i really like Chinese history and your channel is the best when it comes to Chinese history. I want to ask some question if that's possible ? 1. How populous was the Han dynasty at the time of the battle of Baideng ? I've heard that the Han had 14 millions people but i don't know if they included only the Han Dynasty or also its numerous Chinese vassal states. The Xiongnu was said to only have 3.5 millions people at that same time. 2. How big was the Han army and Xiongnu army that participated in the Baideng Campaign ? Because i've heard that the Han had 600.000 Chinese soldiers going into the campaign but then at the final battle of Baidaeng the Han only had 320.000 soldiers against 400.000 Xiongnu soldiers ( despite the Xiongnu already suffering heavy casualties prior to the final battle ) so there's 280.000 Chinese soldiers that weren't present at the battle of Baideng maybe they were send into other part of the wall. As for the Xiongnu it is said that at that time they had at least of 500.000 active soldiers in the entirety of the Empire but no number is recorded about how many participated at the start of the Baideng Campaign but it is said that the Xiongnu had 400.000 at the final battle of Baideng but it is also recorded that the Xiongnu suffered heavy lost leading up to the final battle. Every able-bodied men in the Xiongnu Empire was a fighting calvaryman soldiers so with a total of 3.5 people in the Empire it's obvious that there's way more than 500.000 able-bodied men, if we exclude half of that number because of women then there's on average 1.750.000 men in the Xiongnu Empire and with an average of 28% handicapped, too young or too old then that leave us with 1.260.000 able-bodied men who were all fighting men ( soldiers ). I think 600.000 Xiongnu soldiers participating in the Baideng Campaign is very likely with the other 660.000 being scattered throughout the massive Xiongnu Empire.

@andso2152 8 ай бұрын

I'm enraptured thanks to your work. Could I be more glad when you uploaded it after such short time from the last? You coddled us and such shouldn't have more doubts about your work

@ii121 8 ай бұрын

I honestly did not expect this for another 2 weeks at least. Really incredible work.

@cyberiansailor9741 8 ай бұрын

I think I almost shed a tear after this video. Imagine the splendor of Tang Chang'an. All lost to time like tears in the rain.

@karenburrows9184 8 ай бұрын

@cyberiansailor9741: Ah, but for long moments in time, it shone brighter than the sun, and its stories are still known to the people of the world.

@CarlosGomez-tt4jh 8 ай бұрын

God, I love this channel

@DarkwarriorJ 8 ай бұрын

Honestly, it's one of the best things I have ever seen. The sheer depth and detail to which I can now understand Chinese history and warfare thanks to this single channel has expanded at least a hundred times over. Where before I only saw the blurry outlines, this channel gives me the tools to describe the trees and the roots.

@Jc-yu2ot 8 ай бұрын

@@DarkwarriorJwell said

@RuthlessTragedy 8 ай бұрын

i literally said "yes!" once i saw the upload!

@cosmicplatano3185 8 ай бұрын

@@DarkwarriorJtruly a GOATED Channel, my appreciation for Chinese history is only increasing

@Notimportant253 8 ай бұрын

Been looking for a channel like this for a long time; Chinese history is a neglected subject here in the west, and it’s a shame tbh.

@aryantiwari845 6 ай бұрын

Hey man as someone who loves Chinese history these videos are an absolute godsend. There are almost no English speaking channels that discuss Chinese history in as much detail as you do. No joke these videos are the highlight of my month. Keep up the great work!

@gatesofkilikien 5 ай бұрын

Thanks so much for your support, and making these videos have been incredibly fun and rewarding for me too. I’ve been slower than usual these past few months over the holiday season, although I’m starting to get back into the groove of things with writing, and the semi-pause also gave me some time to better plan out the videos for this year. Looking forward to upcoming the finished products as well!

@aryantiwari845 5 ай бұрын

@@gatesofkilikienhey man take as much time as you need. I’ll always be here whenever you get back.

@AGS363 8 ай бұрын

Side fact: Tang Dynasty Chang'an was the blueprint for the Japanese capital of Heian, modern day Kyoto.

@Thecognoscenti_1 8 ай бұрын

Not exactly, Nara (Heijo-kyo) was entirely based on Chang'an, but Kyoto (Heian-kyo) was based on a combination of Luoyang, which served as the blueprint for the Eastern half of the city, and Chang'an, which served as the blueprint for the Western half. The Western half of the city later proved to be unsuitable for urbanisation and "Chang'an" was abandoned, which left only "Luoyang" surviving. Even today, an abbreviation for Kyoto is “洛”, short for “洛陽”, or Luoyang.

@luelee6168 8 ай бұрын

Love ancient Chang'an particularly during the Great Tang: my favorite dynastical period of China. Xi'an today is still quite beautiful if you can ignore the modern structures. You can really see where the Koreans and Japanese took inspiration from to build both Gyeongju and Kyoto respectively.

@silverchairsg 8 ай бұрын

Fascinating, as a Chinese Singaporean with lousy Mandarin I'm glad to learn more about Chinese culture. All I know comes from Dynasty Warriors and basic overviews of the various dynasties in history textbooks so it's interesting to learn more in-depth, especially with regards to visualizing the actual geography on maps and also the cultural references such as Du Fu's poems. And also seeing the actual Chinese characters is great, because when I read the histories in English or watch videos made by Westerners they don't pronounce the names with accurate tones and it feels wrong to say them without their proper tones.

@user-ry9jz5zx9m 8 ай бұрын

no ,u are not Chinese, u even not can speak mardarlin,u are viet

@tomspencer1364 8 ай бұрын

I like how you add in the history of the relevant Chinese idioms as you go along. Superior productions for History compared to most efforts on KZfaq.

@RuthlessTragedy 8 ай бұрын

I love this channel. The content is Top tier and full of valuable knowledge! A playlist of chronological order would be very useful to follow the history as time passes. Thank you Gatesofkilikien for another upload!

@Salocin113 8 ай бұрын

yeah, that would maybe make it more easier to find. I also very much enjoy your channel and like your topics. But maybe for getting yourself a bigger audiance, you should split this kind of videos into more smaller videos. Not everyone got in this tiktok age gets the patiance for a nearly hourlong history video. But awsome work and keep it up

@gatesofkilikien 8 ай бұрын

Thanks for the suggestion guys. I've been meaning to organize the videos better, just haven't gotten around to doing it yet. And definitely agree on the video length too - my preference is for much shorter videos as well, it's just that I hate to split a topic up into shorter videos because then especially in this age of fragmented knowledge and short attention span it'll be harder for the viewer to get the overall big picture. Also as I grow the channel over time I want to minimize the total number of videos to make them better searchable.

@joerogue231 8 ай бұрын

@@gatesofkilikien Hello i really like Chinese history and your channel is the best when it comes to Chinese history. I want to ask some question if that's possible ? 1. How populous was the Han dynasty at the time of the battle of Baideng ? I've heard that the Han had 14 millions people but i don't know if they included only the Han Dynasty or also its numerous Chinese vassal states. The Xiongnu was said to only have 3.5 millions people at that same time. 2. How big was the Han army and Xiongnu army that participated in the Baideng Campaign ? Because i've heard that the Han had 600.000 Chinese soldiers going into the campaign but then at the final battle of Baidaeng the Han only had 320.000 soldiers against 400.000 Xiongnu soldiers ( despite the Xiongnu already suffering heavy casualties prior to the final battle ) so there's 280.000 Chinese soldiers that weren't present at the battle of Baideng maybe they were send into other part of the wall. As for the Xiongnu it is said that at that time they had at least of 500.000 active soldiers in the entirety of the Empire but no number is recorded about how many participated at the start of the Baideng Campaign but it is said that the Xiongnu had 400.000 at the final battle of Baideng but it is also recorded that the Xiongnu suffered heavy lost leading up to the final battle. Every able-bodied men in the Xiongnu Empire was a fighting calvaryman soldiers so with a total of 3.5 people in the Empire it's obvious that there's way more than 500.000 able-bodied men, if we exclude half of that number because of women then there's on average 1.750.000 men in the Xiongnu Empire and with an average of 28% handicapped, too young or too old then that leave us with 1.260.000 able-bodied men who were all fighting men ( soldiers ). I think 600.000 Xiongnu soldiers participating in the Baideng Campaign is very likely with the other 660.000 being scattered throughout the massive Xiongnu Empire.

@onthihocky5666 8 ай бұрын

Where did you obtain such high quality terrain map of China? And by the way, another master piece on China history and geography!

@gatesofkilikien 8 ай бұрын

Thanks! The terrain map is from a website called "maps-for-free.com", although I then draw in the rivers myself by hand and make adjustments for different coastlines, lakes, and river courses during different time periods by referencing historical atlases.

@AntimatePcCustom 8 ай бұрын

Lived shortly in Xi'an. Walked up xiao mountain at huashan mountain. Saw terracotta and the old Tang dynasty temple ruin aswell as the small replica. Never really grasping the bigger picture.

@talon5985 8 ай бұрын

GatesOfKilikien dropped an hour-long video at midnight? Sleep can wait; my hands are tied. This channel's videos are so good I watch them nearly compulsively.

@Discotekh_Dynasty 8 ай бұрын

This channel rules. I really want to go and see Xi’an now, I bet there’s some great museums

@zainmudassir2964 8 ай бұрын

Xi'an is such a legendary city. Hope I visit there

@themagickalmagickman 8 ай бұрын

Happy to see a new video appear on my feed! That last line does indeed sum up the video

@bensantos3882 6 ай бұрын

This channel picked up where Cool History Bros. left off. I'm so blessed and appreciate this man's dedication to teach us East Asian History here.

@deiansalazar140 4 ай бұрын

What happened to that guy?

@bensantos3882 4 ай бұрын

@deiansalazar140 I'm not even sure, he was an amazing historian and overall good person. He just vanished off a cliff. I am so thankful and happy this channel picked up the crown from the gutter as the next great Asian Historian! 👍

@casper1581 8 ай бұрын

Yes! I've been waiting for part 2! I think the Chang'an videos and the videos about the historical geography of China are your best ones. As someone who is mostly familiar with western history, your videos are really informative and okay to follow. Sometimes it can be hard to follow if there are too many names of people, since Chinese is nothing like my native language (Dutch), but the maps make everything much easier.

@gatesofkilikien 8 ай бұрын

Thanks, great to hear you've found them helpful. I agree the names can be quite tough, and I generally try to reduce the number of names I introduce, although for the last few videos I've been pushing the boundaries a bit to see if I can fit in more complicated information in an understandable manner. As an experiment I also started adding in the corresponding Chinese names, not just for Chinese-speaking audiences, but also for non-Chinese speakers in the sense that since Chinese is pictorial anyway, my theory is that even just being about to see the same pictograms over and overall again, like for example with the name "Chang'an" written in Chinese characters, could help viewers with info retention.

@casper1581 8 ай бұрын

Keep it up!

@blyndblitz 8 ай бұрын

This gonna be good

@cpewts 8 ай бұрын

Visiting Xi’An this week for the first time so WOW this video could not have come at a better time. Thank you for your hard work

@pedrotaq 8 ай бұрын

YEEEES I've been waiting for this!! Thanks to the previous video I started watching a great TV series. All thanks to you!!

@zhillan_arf 8 ай бұрын

Another brilliant video, love the series so much

@zhubajie6940 8 ай бұрын

One of my favorite cities and was lucky to spend two weeks there exploring its prehistoric and historical sites and cultural shows.

@Another_opinion_ 8 ай бұрын

Great video (subscribed). I've especially appreciated the focus on geography.

@walkthroughsepic 8 ай бұрын

Excellent video as always!

@franciscomm7675 6 ай бұрын

I love your videos. Will you talk about the beginning of the Northern and Southern dynasties period (emperor wen of liu song and emperor taiwu of northern wei) in your next video?

@gatesofkilikien 6 ай бұрын

Glad you've enjoyed them! Yes I plan to cover the Liu Song Dynasty (along with the corresponding events in the Northern Wei Dynasty) in the next video on Medieval Chinese history, and both Emperor Wen of Song and Emperor Taiwu of Wei should feature heavily. It might be some time before I make this video though since I have a few others that are much closer to finishing so want to wrap them up first, and also because I'll likely do most of the writing for the Northern and Southern Dynasties in one go rather than video by video, - it'll take longer but hopefully means that the subsequent videos will be sooner.

@vinb4079 6 ай бұрын

@@gatesofkilikiencant wait for the liu song

@paulwallis7586 8 ай бұрын

Excellent. Good to see you're a new-ish channel, lots more to come. Keep up the good work.

@bat4130 8 ай бұрын

Visited the mausoleum when I visited China. Xian is fantastically beautiful with the city center integrated around ancient walls. Lovely place. Was told by the mausoleum employees that there are no plans to excavate the site as you said.

@SeanDunkley 8 ай бұрын

Thank you for the wonderful narration and quotes!

@n00bcreeper45 8 ай бұрын

Great video! it is so great to have someone who speaks Chinese talk about Chinese history, it's not talked about much but it's so fascinating.

@spezi_korn2019 8 ай бұрын

love your channel!

@karenburrows9184 8 ай бұрын

Thank you for giving us such wonderful history in such an enthralling manner.

@bentilbury2002 8 ай бұрын

Excellent as always 👍

@rs9807 5 ай бұрын

Lovely narration, good overview of the Chinese political evolution from 300BC to about 1600AD! Enjoyed both the videos.

@raymondhuynh25 8 ай бұрын

Keep up the great work!

@cmaven4762 8 ай бұрын

Another excellent video. Chang'an features in so many modern Chinese tv drama works, and now I understand why.

@GageCroteau 8 ай бұрын

Blessed with a new video

@ttofu6201 8 ай бұрын

great video!

@mrmat3818 8 ай бұрын

Hi! I must say, you have created a great video covering one of my most favourite topics, historical Chinese capitals. I'm planning to write an academic essey about evolution of spatial planing of Chinese capitals. I'm going to focus on exceptions from traditional Chinese capital city planning. I'm interested where have you found informations about Han dynasty's mauseleum setlements and if you are willing to recommend me some English literature about this topic which I don't know about? Thanks and keep on a great work!

@gatesofkilikien 8 ай бұрын

Thanks, I'm glad to hear you've found it helpful. I'll post my references soon, just haven't had the time to organize the list yet since I'm traveling and had to hustle hard just to upload the video before my trip. In regards to the mausoleum settlements though all my sources were in Chinese, and even then it was hard to find sources that discuss them in a systematic manner. If I come across such references in English in the future I can come back and reply to this comment again. In the meantime though I think your best bet would be to read up on archaeological type papers regarding the individual mausoleums, since these can be quite technical subjects that if anything Chinese academics have learned a lot from the west. Emperor Wu's Maoling is particularly famous, and Emperor Jing's Yangling, based on a quick google search, is the only one that's been excavated so far. Another direction might be to just read more about the city-planning for Chang'an itself, since these mausoleum settlements were pretty closely integrated with Chang'an. With this said, I did a quick search on Google Scholars for you and found this article that should be a good place to start, "State-Induced Migration and the Creation of State Spaces in Early Chinese Empires: Perspectives from History and Archaeology", by Korolkov & Hein in 2020. I could only read the abstract and the references, although based on the references it seems like it could at least give you some good background information to start your research in this area.

@gatesofkilikien 8 ай бұрын

And another article I found as part of the same search is "Western Han landscape and remote sensing applications at Xi’an (China)" by Forte. I didn't read it in detail, although the full pdf is available online so maybe it'll touch on what you're looking for or at least the references may be useful.

@mrmat3818 8 ай бұрын

@@gatesofkilikien Thanks! I'll definitely look into references you've sent me. You've done more than I expected so I hope I'll make use of them.

@mirai1229 8 ай бұрын

banger video as always

@ZaKRo-bx7lp 8 ай бұрын

Incredible video, I have yet to see something else of this level

@nihilus5709 8 ай бұрын

Great video

@GSThai 8 ай бұрын

Such good work!

@Vigilante-3-1 8 ай бұрын

Beautifully done

@Vigilante-3-1 8 ай бұрын

I hope you explore the border areas in all cardinal directions in the future so we can learn more about its geography and history.

@ElBandito 8 ай бұрын

Very nice!

@relaetsecyr 8 ай бұрын

Amazing Video

@JNovoa-cu4pv 8 ай бұрын

I love Chinese history! Subscribed!

@SA2004YG 8 ай бұрын

Thank you for content

@XIXCentury 8 ай бұрын

Great channel

@Wakobear. 8 ай бұрын

Fascinating as always

@DensetsuVII 8 ай бұрын

Score one for the algorithm - as a western Chinese-history fan, loved this video! I don't know if requests are appropriate here, but I'd absolutely love a video about Kaifeng, as I feel like it's a fascinating place that doesn't get any press compared to Beijing, Nanjing, Luoyang and Xian. Subscribed!

@gatesofkilikien 8 ай бұрын

Thanks, and yes of course I'm always open for topic suggestions. I plan to do ones on the other major historical Chinese capitals. I haven't started on any of them yet, most likely Luoyang and Nanjing would be sooner followed by Kaifeng, then Beijing for much later.

@DensetsuVII 8 ай бұрын

@@gatesofkilikien While I'm personally interested in Kaifeng just because of its role in early foodie culture (I've been trying to find an English translation of 東京夢華錄 to no avail so far) and its lesser-known status in Chinese history, it makes a lot of sense to go in rough-chronological order. Either way, I'll be eagerly awaiting more!

@gatesofkilikien 8 ай бұрын

@@DensetsuVII Oh yes definitely, Kaifeng is such a fascinating city especially with the fairly brief but ridiculously prosperous heights its reached. I have a soft spot for it since it seemed like such a cool city when I first read Water Margin. Part of the challenge of doing videos on after the Tang Dynasty right now is that I still don't have the maps made for those time periods because of the Yellow River's shifting course, and also because I'm currently doing research on early medieval Chinese history so it's easier to focus more on relevant cities during that period like Luoyang, Xiangyang, Nanjing, and Taiyuan.

@andrejonathan7607 8 ай бұрын

I really love your videos! They're so in depth and is full of so many cultural context, instead of just straight up history. If I may ask you, where did you get such a detailed and gorgeous terrain map of China with all of it's major rivers?

@gatesofkilikien 8 ай бұрын

Thanks, I responded to a different commenter too, basically I used a website called "maps-for-free.com" for the terrain, then I draw in the rivers myself since for many of them their courses were different depending on the time period.

@RandomGuy-ghs 3 ай бұрын

Never thought you'd make me emotional with the 兴，百姓苦；亡，百姓苦

@alezar2035 8 ай бұрын

I love your videos, however, I think you could add something that would help us a lot Since modern china has changed their provincial borders quite a while, just looking at the elevation map doesn't make me recognise the places unless I open google earth Could you maybe add, sporadically, modern borders for a few moments overlayed on top of your normal map for reference? It would be of great help

@gatesofkilikien 8 ай бұрын

Thanks, and yes definitely I can do that for future videos. Appreciate the suggestion, and it shouldn't be very hard to add.

@aidanschleis6483 8 ай бұрын

Can we get a video on the Tibetan Empire? I know little on the subject. The idea of a large powerful state in the mountains fascinates me. I know that there were conflicts between buddhists and bon and that the empire streched from afganistan to yunan. It sounds incredible, but I can’t find any good english sources on it’s history.

@gatesofkilikien 8 ай бұрын

Thanks for the suggestion, and yes I plan to cover the Tibetan Empire when I get to the Tang Dynasty for the medieval Chinese history series. The history for the Tang Dynasty and the Tibetan Empire are quite intertwined.

@hugosu6398 8 ай бұрын

Great Vid as always, now i wanna visit Xi'an.

@mdu02 8 ай бұрын

Wonderful video. A significant part of my family has ties to Shaanxi, and I've visited three times in my life, although I never really appreciated its role in the history of Chinese civilization. A comparison must be made, in my opinion, to Rome, inextricably linked to Western civilization in a similar way. Both are somewhat regional cities to this day (yes, Rome is the capital, but it's really rather run-down and feels like its coasting on its legacy), but far behind their former imperial glory. Even just the remaining artefacts convey the amount of political and economic power such a city had. But it is precisely because of that power, with surpluses and labour taxed from the empire, that such splendor could be built and maintained. As soon as that hegemony was lost, the inevitable forward flow of entropy (a Second Law of Political Dynamics, if you will) meant that their treasures were doomed to be looted, destroyed, or reused for other projects (the reuse of the wooden beams particularly reminded me of how the marble in the Roman Forum was looted to build many of the churches in the area). There is such a long list of ancient monuments that are lost to time, that I would pay so much to see. All the ancient wonders of the world, the polished stone of the Pyramids. The Parthenon that suffered an unfortunate explosives accident, the looting of Constantinople, the destroyed Second Temple, etc. Some of them fell victim to the forces of nature, but often it was indeed looting that did them in. The one thing that fascinates me, though, is Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum. Let's be real, the walls, pagodas, etc. aren't close to what the most impressive remnants of Imperial Chang'an. Just the terracotta warriors, a garrison for the Mausoleum itself, is one of the most famous tourist attractions in the country. What undiscovered treasures lie within the tomb itself? And Qin Shi Huang is surely the most consequential Chinese emperor ever - the founder and namesake of all of Imperial China to follow. It may not be in my life, or my childrens' children, that they open it, but it is one of the ancient world's great gifts to us we have yet to open.

@CIEMniak911 8 ай бұрын

谢谢老师

@Tinil0 8 ай бұрын

I don't have much to add here, but I just wanted to say how much I LOVE your channel and enjoy watching your videos so much. It's great to finally get some overviews of Chinese history, and like you said, Chang'an's history is basically China's history, at least for quite some time after the Qin. I guess my only question is...does the later Ming dynasty have anything to do with Emperor Ming of Han? You used the same character for him in the video that I see associated with the later dynasty. Were they trying to reference him at all or something? Or is it just a coincidence?

@gatesofkilikien 8 ай бұрын

Thanks for your support, and it's great to hear that you've found the videos helpful. The characters for the Ming Dynasty and Emperor Ming are the same, but otherwise there's no relations between them other than maybe coincidental relationships. I plan to write a video at some point explaining how the names of Chinese emperors like posthumous names, temple names, era names etc. come about, as this is otherwise a very confusing topic. In this case "Ming" is the posthumous name of the emperor, and he wasn't the only one - for example there also was an Emperor Ming during the Eastern Han Dynasty.

@Tinil0 8 ай бұрын

@@gatesofkilikien I can't wait for that video, because like you said, it's not trivial. Luckily I have some experience with Japanese history which has just as much name weirdness if not more, with often times 4+ names across their life from birth to adolescence to adult name changes to posthumous names. Keep up the great work!

@sport504 8 ай бұрын

Good to listen as I sleep 😊

@tralafla45 8 ай бұрын

Keep up the good work! Do you have a Patreon page or any way to accept donations?

@LuisAldamiz 8 ай бұрын

Is this a remake/remaster? I have the feeling of already having watched this...

@RP-mm9ie 8 ай бұрын

Thanks 😮

@jabloko992 3 ай бұрын

I know Xi'an from a video game called 'Europa Universalis 4'. I am well aware of the strategic significance of this city, as in the game, whenever I attempt to form Qing and invade Ming as Manchu, that city is the final prize. If I can capture that city then I've fully defeated the Ming dynasty and my ascension to the celestial throne is assured.

@gatesofkilikien 3 ай бұрын

I've never played EU4 or any of the other EU games. I've been tempted many times to do so, but I imagine once I do I won't have time for anything else 😂, and somehow I've managed to stay away from it all these years. It's interesting that Xi'an is the final objective in the Manchu conquest of China though. Historically, the Qing army captured Xi'an very early on and held on to it, and most of the fighting took place for years much further south against remnants of the Ming Dynasty.

@jabloko992 3 ай бұрын

@@gatesofkilikien It's not like a game-enforced objective, it's just that strategically, the fort of that region falling opens up a large portion of China for raiding and occupation, allowing you to force the AI into signing a peace deal that favors you. Also, while that fort stands, Ming can send forces around the western side of China up north to counter-attack you and try and re-take Beijing while you're in the South fighting. With Xi'an under your control, they have to face the music so to speak. Sure, the AI could keep fighting, but due to the game's logic, with their capital having fallen and with me having occupied and raided the eastern lowlands, their country is getting exhausted by all the war.

@gatesofkilikien 3 ай бұрын

@@jabloko992 I see what you mean, thanks for clarifying. That sounds very close to what happened historically actually, since capturing Xi'an like you said essentially gave the Manchus a firm enough hold across northern China that they had free reign to attack the south, and then the south eventually got too fragmented to put up a coordinated resistance against the Manchus.

@silverchairsg 8 ай бұрын

Also, have you considered starting a Patreon? If you get enough money you can hire editors or whoever and speed up the process of creating new videos.

@justaperson1812 8 ай бұрын

Would love to find out more about international trade via the Silk Road and Chinese relations with Central Asia during the Han dynasty

@spanishSpaniard 8 ай бұрын

A suggestion/question ¿Could you in a future dedicate part of a video or video to explain why the chinese coast so much less prominent in chinese history specialy the early periods? I know that in the mediterranean travel was more dominated by sea travel, but even then I dont think any of the cities you have mentioned in this channel are coastal. And during the grand cannal videos I do not recall you explaning why the ships could not go through the ocean. You mentioned in a video that the lower reaches of the yellow river where very marshy at the start but I thing thats basically all acknowledgement coastal china has recived. That and northerns settleing in fujian.

@gatesofkilikien 8 ай бұрын

Thanks for the feedback, and I'll keep this in mind as I work on future videos (I can't think of a way right now to do a dedicated video on it since it's a very scattered topic, but can at least discuss the ideas when they are relevant). But in a nutshell, because so much of the political/economic center of gravity was in the northern interior during early to medieval Chinese history, the sea routes would have been very indirect, and northern China does not have anything resembling the Yangtze in terms of navigability to the sea. During the Ming/Qing Dynasties sea transportation connecting Beijing to the Yangtze River Delta would have made sense and people considered it at times, but political conservatism and trying to protect entrenched interests killed those proposals. The southeastern coast has a lot more natural harbors than the north, and cities like Quanzhou were key ports along the Maritime Silk Road. It's just a topic I haven't gotten to much yet since I've been focused on ancient and early medieval stuff right now.

@spanishSpaniard 8 ай бұрын

@@gatesofkilikien Thanks for the explanation! I found the topic curious because nowdays the coast is the economic/population center of china. And thank you for the videos, they are very enjoyable!

@h3llo968 8 ай бұрын

Great video, makes me want to visit China

@danielyu8022 8 ай бұрын

I'm sure many of us were familiar with this city being one of the starting points for new players in Silk Road Online.

@augusth3532 3 ай бұрын

This video may be a lot of info to the stomach, but boy, did I enjoy the feast!

@Nick-hi9gx 2 ай бұрын

One of the coolest things going on in the world right now is GPR, ground-penetrating radar, and LiDAR, and now muon technologies, archaeologists are finding more and more ways to know what is underground before digging. A research paper recently showed incredible promise using a new muon technology, muography is the study of these muons that can penetrate most things and so can work sort-of similar to x-rays, anyway a new use of it allowed the research team to see inside several of the pyramids of Giza in a brand new way, and a Chinese team is already trying to do the same. Though...I don't know if the CCP will allow that, they are very protective of Qin, Han, Tang, Song archaeology. Far more so than with the other states of the Warring States, or the periods of disunity, or the Yuan or Liao or Jurchen Jin. Opening the tomb safely is next to impossible. If opened, and the amount of mercury detected is accurate, it would emit a massive toxic plume, endangering many, many thousands of lives. So, muons it is! Hopefully. If not, more ground-penetrating techniques in specific places.

@mahaphoublue7644 8 ай бұрын

It’s good how you explain from the documents but my problem is that I can’t get seriousness while listening, because I just finished watch smg4 of their stuff so 😂it’s hard but ehh now I learn even more

@dorincucos2197 8 ай бұрын

Such a shame the Han and Tang capitals have mostly been lost - it would have been the one place to match (and even surpass) Rome in historical richness.

@bosbanon3452 8 ай бұрын

The Tomb has port? I don't see river in that port, was the river change course?

@massoluk 8 ай бұрын

Thank you for your work. I hope you shift south sometime to China, Dali, Nanzhao, Burma, Vietnam, Thailand 😄

@i_use_too_many_underscores6351 5 ай бұрын

I notice that the map you use is different then the map that is in the link in the description would it be possible to get a link to or get sent the map that you use I’m having trouble finding maps that look as good as yours online it’s just for personal use and would be greatly appreciated

@i_use_too_many_underscores6351 5 ай бұрын

Also just wanted to say these videos are great and helped me understand the history so much more thank you

@gatesofkilikien 5 ай бұрын

Thanks, and glad to hear you've found the videos helpful. I use the website for the topographical maps and then make adjustments as needed, usually for the rivers and the coastlines since they've changed depending on the time period. If you send me an email (gates.of.kilikien at gmail) and let me know which slide(s) you're interested in I can send them to you. I may not always have the exact one(s) but if not I can see if I have anything similar. I'll have to eventually create a website for the channel and when I do I can start posting some maps on there too, it just hasn't been a priority yet since I want to focus on more writing and researching first.

@LorolinAstori 8 ай бұрын

Was hoping to reminisce about my trip to Xi'An but it was all maps. I'm a cartographer but wasn't expecting this

@stephenjohnson1112 2 ай бұрын

Please let me know who does your maps.

@fons_ssb3351 8 ай бұрын

Babe wake up, GatesOfKilikien uploaded a new video

@QalOrt 4 ай бұрын

I have to ask, but on the map of Changan in Tang Dynasty, shows both a Zoroastrian and Persian Temple. What is the difference? I thought by the AD 500s all of Persia would have been Zoroastrian? Is there any indication of what was being worshiped at the Persian Temple or was that a private Zoroastrian temple for the Sassanian Ambassadors?

@shinsenshogun900 8 ай бұрын

Xi'an, the Golden Western Capital City of Ancient Empires Warlords like Dong Zhuo, Sima Yong, Fu Jian, Li Yuan, and many more would make great secure statesmen out of these well-guarded but resource intensive land of fortresses.

@Mr_Stew 8 ай бұрын

The story of xi'an is cool and all, but i really need to know what happenen to those bronze statues?

@heathmcrigsby 8 ай бұрын

13 - Chang'an. Never forget in Romance of the Three Kingdoms III lol

@Discotekh_Dynasty 4 ай бұрын

I’d love to visit Xi’an someday

@onthihocky5666 8 ай бұрын

Interestingly, the concept of hukou/户口 (registered permanent resident) dated back to the Han when people with Jingzhao (京兆) hukou could easily get appointed by the government while people without Jingzhao hukou would have to earn the appointment through their merits (usually through battles and governance). Similarly, people in modern day with Beijing hukou enjoy tremendous social benefits compared with people without Beijing hukou.

@AndiBudiHermawan 2 ай бұрын

Is it true that Xianyang previous name was Fengjing or Haojing? Like Luo Yang previous name was Chengzhou

@gatesofkilikien 2 ай бұрын

Well…kind of. Xianyang is north of the Wei River, whereas Fengjing, Haojing, and Chang’an were all to the south. So in that regard they’re different cities. However Xianyang also filled the role as the primary city in the mid-Wei River Valley. So in that regard we can think of them all as one set of cities

@jankopransky2551 8 ай бұрын

How do you "establish a pass"? Do you mean like setting a post there, a fort, tax office, building a road...?

@TTminh-wh8me 8 ай бұрын

I guess it means building and maintaining a fortification and keeping a sizable garrison at it.

@Moepowerplant 8 ай бұрын

Heian courtier tap-dancing: "Start spreading the news... I'm leaving today.... I'm gonna be a part of it. Chang'an! Chang'an!" The Big Peach

@jurtra9090 8 ай бұрын

Will you talk about Xiangyang?

@christophernakhoul3998 8 ай бұрын

He talked about Xiangyang in the 1st part of this series

@jurtra9090 8 ай бұрын

@@christophernakhoul3998he talked about Xianyang, not Xiangyang. I'm referring to the fortress city in Jingzhou that became a battleground for some of the most important battles in Chinese history

@christophernakhoul3998 8 ай бұрын

@@jurtra9090 Ah, thanks for the correction!

@jurtra9090 8 ай бұрын

you're welcome@@christophernakhoul3998

@gatesofkilikien 8 ай бұрын

Hi yes I plan to write about Xiangyang soon, just still brainstorming on how to organize the topic. And @christophernakhoul3998 "Xiangyang" and "Xianyang" look very similar when typed out in Pinyin, even though their pronunciations and their characters look much more distinct. Now that I'm writing in English rather than just reading Chinese history in Chinese I've sometimes found myself tripping over names I never would have in Chinese.

@zainmudassir2964 8 ай бұрын

Lesson: never call your absolute monarch a monkey if he doesn't listen to your advice.

@shuvodipbarua6001 8 ай бұрын

Classic Chu monkeybrain L. Obviously if he had listened to his enlightened advisor, Xiang Yu wouldn't have lost to Liu Bang.

@shuvodipbarua6001 8 ай бұрын

@themingwarrior6391 yes, I caught that. I was simply making a joke about the superiority complex of this (probably) non-Chu advisor.

@maruthinandan4343 8 ай бұрын

Home of both Faxian and Huentsang that chinese buddhist travellers to India

@Rorschachqp 8 ай бұрын

The first Han dynasty was known as the Western Han because the capital was Chang’an and that was in the west. The second Han dynasty was known as the Eastern Han because the capital Luoyang was in the center of the kingdom, which put it east of Chang’an. After the 2nd Han was collapsing and the villain Dong Zhou overthrew the child emperor and install his child half brother, basically usurping power and using the new emperor as his puppet. When the lords of the land led by Yuan Shao confronted Dong Zhuo and the latter was defeated, he looted and burned down Luoyang and took the emperor and the officials to Chang’an and reestablished the capital there with his army. This was to run away from the Yuan Shao coalition…according to Romance Of Three Kingdoms.