Start here
The Rise of the Qing Dynasty: A Story of Imperial Power and Politics
How the Manchu-led Qing took Beijing in 1644, expanded across Mongolia, Tibet and Xinjiang, governed a vast empire, and fell in 1912 after a century of crises.
Persia and Asia
Imperial China
The Han, Tang, Song, Ming and Qing dynasties.
The Rise of the Han Dynasty: A Story of Imperial Power and Politics
How Liu Bang defeated rivals after the Qin collapse, how the Han split into Western and Eastern halves, and how court politics shaped the empire from 206 BCE to 220 CE.
The Rise of the Ming Dynasty: A Story of Imperial Revival
How Zhu Yuanzhang founded the Ming in 1368 after Mongol rule, how Yongle built the Forbidden City and sent Zheng He to sea, and why the dynasty declined by 1644.
The Rise of the Song Dynasty: A Story of Imperial Power and Politics
The Song after 960: a civil-service state with paper money, large cities and new technology, yet militarily weaker than the northern neighbours that pressed it.
The Rise of the Tang Dynasty: A Story of Imperial Power and Politics
How the Tang took power in 618, built the cosmopolitan capital Changan, nurtured great poetry and foreign contacts, and was weakened by the An Lushan rebellion.
Related topics
More in persia and asia
Persian and Arabian Crossroads Susa, Ctesiphon and the Sabaean incense kingdom. Central Asian Kingdoms The Kushan Empire and the Tarim Basin mummies. Petra and the Nabataeans The rock-cut capital of the Nabataeans in Jordan, its builders and its rediscovery. Phoenician People and Seafaring The city-states of the Levant coast, their ships, trade, colonies and alphabet. Chinese Thought and Arts Daoist ideas, balance, the five phases and the brush arts of early China. Chinese Dynasties and Inventions Early Chinese dynasties, the Qin unification, its monuments and the inventions that followed. The Silk Road The overland trade routes linking China, Central Asia and the west, and the people who travelled them. Angkor and the Khmer The temples and royal city of Angkor in Cambodia and the Khmer builders behind them. Mohenjo-Daro and Indus Cities The planned cities of the Indus Valley, led by Mohenjo-Daro. Harappans and Vedic India The Harappan culture of the Indus plains and the Vedic traditions that came after. Persepolis and Achaemenid Persia The Achaemenid Persian rulers and their ceremonial capital at Persepolis. Qin and the Terracotta Army The First Emperor, his buried army and the walls of the north. Mongols and Steppe Peoples Mongols, Yuan, Timurids, Huns and Xiongnu on the steppe. Caliphates and Ottomans The Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates and the rise of the Ottomans. Shambhala and Lost Cities The Shambhala legend and cities said to be lost to history. Scythians of the Steppe Nomadic horse peoples north of the Black Sea and across the steppe. Gobekli Tepe and Early Monuments Carved pillars and enclosures built before farming villages. Trade, Money and Markets How coins, merchants, weights and sea routes tied the ancient world together. Early Korea, Japan and Southeast Asia Early states and cultures on the eastern and southern edges of Asia.