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In this week's episode Laszlo finishes off the Song Dynasty after the Jin Empire captures the royal family and sacks the capital in Kaifeng. The Song dynasty continues on with the new capital in the south of China, below the Yangzi River. Despite perilous times with hostile neighbors to the north, the dynasty enjoys continued prosperity and a burst of creativity in philosophy, the arts and sciences. The Southern Song has a good 152 year run until they are overrun by the Kublai Khan's great armies in 1279.

This week's episode runs a little longer than usual. In it we examine the Northern Song Dynasty from 960 to 1127. This was a precarious time for China. Despite three potentially menacing non-Han empires surrounding them to the north and west, China once again had another magnificent great leap forward of brilliance and innovation. Together with the Tang, the Song Dynasty is considered one of the greatest periods in all of China's long history. Today we look at the first half of the Song when the capital was located up in Kaifeng.

In today's final installment covering the history of the great Tang Dynasty, we look at its agonizing decline until 907 when it is pushed aside and another period of disunity sets in. Five Dynasties reign in the north, all short lived and not spectacular by any means. In the south, after the Tang falls you have a total of ten kingdoms that exist independently. While not the most interesting period in Chinese history, the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period acted as a kind of buffer between the two greatest dynasties in China's long history: the Tang and Song.

Laszlo is back after a holiday illness to continue where we left off in 705 with the passing of Wu Zetian. After an initial golden age during the Taizong emperor, the Tang will reach new heights of glory under Tang Minghuang a.k.a. the Xuanzong emperor. The magnificent city of Chang'an is once again the center of the world where the arts flourished like never before and traders, travelers and explorers from around the world came to gather and marvel at the splendor of Tang Dynasty China.

As the Sui peters out, Li Yuan, the Duke of Tang, seizes power and establishes the Tang Dynasty in 618. Along with the Song, the Tang Dynasty is considered the pinnacle of China's long history. In culture, art, poetry, painting, ceramics, science, navigation, diplomacy this was a golden age. Buddhism made even greater inroads into Chinese society. And Chang'an was the center of the world where the great and mighty Taizong emperor ruled and people came from as far away as Persia to marvel at China’s greatness and might. In this week’s episode we look at the founding of the Tang up to the demise of the third emperor Gaozong. With her husband's death in 683, the Empress Wu Zetian came to the fore and began ruling in her own name.

The demise of the Southern & Northern Dynasties brought us a China unified under the Sui emperors Wen and Yang. This ephemeral dynasty laid the groundwork for the splendor of the Tang dynasty. Lasting only 37 years, the Sui Dynasty doesn't get the limelight enjoyed by the great dynasties of Han, Tang, Song, Ming and Qing but it played a critical role in the development of a unified China.

The Southern & Northern Dynasties were a collection of dynasties that lasted 170 years and preceded the time of unification under the Sui Dynasty. North of the Yangzi River you had the Northern Wei, the Northern Qi and the Northern Zhou. South of the great river reigned the Liu Song, Southern Qi, the Liang and finally the Chen. Although there was disunity in China and plenty of warring going on to make things miserable for most, it was still a very critical and formative time in China with mass migrations of Han Chinese from the north to the south. It was also a time when Buddhism triumphed in China.

This week we are back with more Chinese history. We will look at a very confusing but exciting time when there was mostly a period of disunity and China was broken up into contending kingdoms. However this period of chaos brought us some of the richest tales of ancient China filled with amazing battles, events and larger than life characters. We'll look at the Three Kingdoms period that followed the demise of the Eastern Han. Then we will look at the Western Jin dynasty that briefly united China, followed by the Eastern Jin and then the period of the 16 Northern Kingdoms.

Like they do in the circus in between acts to buy some time, we're sending out the poodles and juggling clowns to entertain and enlighten you as the next China History Podcast episode is busily being written, recorded and edited. This is the second of our Q&A sessions. Everyone is encouraged to send a comment or question. I'd love to hear from you. Thanks for your ongoing support and listenership.

In this final installment of the Han Dynasty overview we look at the reign of Wang Mang during the short lived Xin Dynasty and the Eastern (or Later) Han Dynasty that followed. The Eastern Han was a period of endless skullduggery at the imperial court where the palace eunuchs rose to power and meddled endlessly behind the scenes. The final years of the Eastern Han were times of great chaos where the empire ultimately broke up into three kingdoms. This was the time of Cao Cao, Liu Bei and Sun Quan. When the Eastern Han ended in 220AD, the three kingdoms of Wei, Shu and Wu battled for supremacy in China for sixty years.

Today we present the second part of the Western Han Dynasty overview where we will look at the great Han emperors Wendi, Jingdi and perhaps the greatest of them all, Han Wudi. It was a golden age in Chinese history and saw the first indirect contact between the Roman Empire in the west and Han China in the east. The Silk Road of course was the conduit between these two great empires. Next week we will continue on with the short-lived Xin Dynasty of Wang Mang and the Eastern Han Dynasty.

In this week’s episode we look at only the first few decades of the Western Han Dynasty. The Western Han lasted from 202BC to 8AD. We'll focus in on the fall of the Qin and the rise of Liu Bang who went on to found the Han Dynasty. Liu Bang would reign as Emperor Gaozu. Today we will look at his rise to power, his reign, his death and its gruesome aftermath. Next week we will pick up with the reigns of Emperors Wen, Jing and Wu. The periods of Wang Mang and the Eastern Han will wait until the 3rd installment of our Han Dynasty overview. On another day we will return and focus in on many of the amazing stories of this golden period.

In this episode we look at the second phase of the Zhou Dynasty. This period was known as the Eastern Zhou. The Eastern Zhou was broken down between the Spring & Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. It lasted from 770 to 221BC. From this chaotic period sprang the great works that defined Chinese philosophy through the ages.

Today we take a 走马看花 look at the 790 year Zhou Dynasty, the longest dynasty in Chinese history. In this episode we will particularly focus on the Western Zhou Period which lasted for 275 years. Next week we will finish the Zhou Dynasty by examining the Eastern Zhou Period.

This week in part two of our dynasty overview, we examine the Shang Dynasty 1600 BC to 1046 BC. Chinese characters make their appearance for the first time. Artisans cast the most beautiful bronzes. Because of the discovery of archaeological evidence, many consider this China's first real dynasty.