10. The Han Dynasty - The First Empire in Flames

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A city in ruins. A dynasty in tatters. An empire in ashes...

This episode, we look at the remarkable story of the first empire of ancient China, the Han dynasty. With ancient Chinese poetry, songs and folk music, we look back at the first empire's rise, its remarkable technological advances, and its first, tentative attempts to make contact with the empires of the west. Finally, we look at all the reasons behind the first age of Imperial China's final, dramatic fall.

Credits:

Sound engineering by Thomas Ntinas

Voice Actors:

Claire Hynes
Jake Barrett-Mills
Shem Jacobs
Alex Peattie

[moxxy]

Who else has to keep rewatching these because they're super interesting but his voice is so relaxing that it puts you to sleep?

[lucyfiniarel]

The poem at the end … “I want to go home but there’s no road back”, that line is devastating.

[lakshaygupta]

Last year in tenth grade and for much of the school before that, I despised history to the point that I almost failed once. And now for some weird reason, I'm taking time out of the busy academic schedule to watch these, even when I don't have history as a subject anymore. Says something about the quality of these documentaries. Hats off.

[SadisticSenpai]

"The dead are gone and with them we cannot converse. The living are here and ought to have our love." I think that particular verse is something we should all reflect on more often - especially in this particular day and age when we don't know how long our loved ones will be here.

[adrianferroni]

I've probably typed this a half dozen times but I'll gladly say it again, this channel is the most mesmerizing, beautiful, and intricately written collection of intelligent entertainment on YouTube. Just awesome work! Thank you for making me and countless others just a little bit wiser and cultured. Amazing job!

[AMortalDefiant]

That poem at the end was so moving. It's one thing to read stuff like that without a sense of the loss that people were feeling. With the benefit of time, we can be callous to the fact that these people's lives were upturned. They would have thought the world had come to an end, where we just look back and see the next civilization starting to take it's place.

"I want to go back. There is no road back." That moved me way more than it would have without the context gleaned from the episode.

[vietanhdo]

I like how the narrator includes deep geological history in this video. It is like about finding The First Cause and how everything is interconnected, especially geology and geography, which have been shaping the fates of many empires and societies.

[joythompson]

In my 80's and this is the most enjoyable history lesson ever. Cheers

[thenaiam]

I have to admit that I almost passed up on watching any of your videos because your channel name, Fall of Civilizations, brought to mind the kind of overly dramatic documentaries that only focus on spectacle that now populate the cable history/documentary channels. I'm so glad I decided to try, because despite the name, you start from the formation of the geography, millennia before there were even any humans, and go into exquisite detail on each of your topics. Every time, I am amazed at how much research you have done, and how much information is actually known about each civilization. Thank you for what you do, and you have had me hooked ever since.

[bryandraughn]

You are setting the example of historical representation with your details, sources, and complete honesty.
I'm sure you're aware of the many channels that are nothing but speculative garbage.
They draw so much attention, it's a really disappointing trend.
You are much appreciated by those of us who aren't interested in fake history.
Great work!

[DrPlatypus]

I can't even imagine how long this series took to create. Astounding work, mate. I've watched every episode, many of them more than once. Thank you for these videos, they are fantastic.

[charleswillcock]

The BBC spends hundreds of thousands, if not millions of pounds per hour to produce TV programmes, I am guessing your budget is a percentage or two of theirs, yet I find your work far more engaging. Thank you for your content.

[Imagio-jwjs]

" ..but there's no road back!" Moved to some tears. Thank you so much Paul! You are a true artist of historical documentary. I share your videos everywhere.

[icarus]

I reached the end of this doc and had tears in my eyes. No one does it like you, Cooper. I'm stunned and I feel like a changed man after seeing this.

[thesmokinmuskokan]

I am so glad youtube randomly suggested this series! I'm completely hooked! There are so many scary parallels with current world events in these videos... I have a feeling we might be living through a future episode

[mattyregelmaessig]

Again exhaustively researched, elegantly written, and beautifully presented. I have now watched about half a dozen of these documentaries, and I have been immensely impressed by each one of them. Who said "history doesn't repeat itself, but it rhymes"? One can't help but feel that there are lessons to learnt for us as our own civilization lurches from one crisis to another.

[CAwildflowers]

Every segment of this series is as thorough, well-researched, incredibly beautiful and heart-wrenching as the next. The Fall of Civilizations is the best ancient civilizations series ever made.

[TruthNTime]

All of these episodes are masterpieces. national geographic can't hold a candle to These productions. The cinematography, audio & Presentation are all very well done. Very thorough research as well. All of these factors combined with very clear And pleasing to the ear Narration equals
Documentary excellence.

[martakaminska]

I discovered this channel 2 days ago and have already listened to 10 episodes. You've made my night shifts more bearable. Thank you

[jakeloepp]

The story is very engaging and informative
The photography is fabulous
The voice of narrator is clear and very engaging
Nothing like is comparable