- Listenly
- Public Library
- Wolfram Eberhard
- A History of China
Chapters
6 totalWOLFRAM EBERHARD - THE MIDDLE AGES - Chapter Six - THE HAN DYNASTY (206 B.C.-A.D. 220)
Chapter Seven - THE EPOCH OF THE FIRST DIVISION OF CHINA (A.D. 220-580)
Part of the old imperial family and its following fled northward from Liu Yü and surrendered to the Toba. There they agitated for a campaign of vengeance against South China, and they were supported at the court of the Toba by many families of the gentry with landed interests in the south. Thus long-continued fighting started between Sung and Toba, concerned mainly with the domains of the deposed imperial family and its following. This fighting brought little success to south China, and about 450 it produced among the Toba an economic and social crisis that brought the wars to a temporary close. In this pause the Sung turned to the extreme south, and tried to gain influence there and in Annam. The merchant class and the gentry families of the capital who were allied with it were those chiefly interested in this expansion.
Chapter Eight - THE EMPIRES OF THE SUI AND THE T'ANG
MODERN TIMES - Chapter Nine - THE EPOCH OF THE SECOND DIVISION OF CHINA
INDEX
Description
In the wake of the Qin’s collapse, a former farmer named Liu Chi—later known as Emperor Kao Tsu—seizes power and ushers in the Han dynasty, marking the dawn of China’s medieval era. His ascent is as much a story of political cunning as it is of a ruler wrestling with the practicalities of governing a vast empire newly freed from the old feudal order.
The narrative then turns to the emergence of the “gentry state,” a novel social class that reshapes administration and landholding. These families, often rooted in ancient nobility or built from prosperous merchants and successful farmers, manage extensive estates and supply the bureaucracy that replaces the earlier militaristic elite. Their influence creates a mixed system of provincial officials and semi‑autonomous feudal princes, setting the stage for centuries of Chinese governance.
Listeners will gain a vivid portrait of how personal ambition, pragmatic policy, and evolving social structures combined to lay the foundations of one of history’s longest‑lasting dynasties.
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Language
en
Duration
~13 hours (768K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Release date
2004-02-01
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
Subjects
About the author
Wolfram Eberhard
1909–1989
A German-born scholar of Chinese society and folklore, he spent decades exploring how everyday stories, customs, and social patterns reveal the shape of a culture. His work helped bring Chinese history and popular traditions to a wider international audience.
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