The Chronicler - Chinese History

18/12/2023

A photo statue of the trecherous court minister Qin Hui and his wife Lady Wang, it can still be found in Hangzhou to this day. The story goes that Qin Hui had interests which were against the campaign of the famous Yue Fei against the Jurchen in the North. Qin Hui managed to convince the emperor of the Song Dynasty that Yue Fei was going to use the army to overthrow the royal family and establish is own dynasty, resulting in the death of the general. The statues here, are there to remind people that corrupt officials can sometimes ruin the country. People who see these statues are encouraged to spit on them and all sorts! So next time you are in Hangzhou, be sure to look at the incredible achievements of the Song dynasty, and look at these statues which are supposed to be desecrated 🤣

12/12/2023

Yue Fei, arguably the most famous general from the Song Dynasty. He was a victim however, of his own success and as the story goes - he was stabbed in the back by a malicious court minister by the name of Qín Huī 秦桧. Qín Huī convinced the Song emperor that Yue Fei was wanting to sieze the throne for himself and had him brought back to the Song court when he was on the verge of a great victory. He was either ambushed on his way back to face charges, died in prison or was tried and executed.

Througout the years Yue Fei has had mixed reputation and has risen and fell in terms of popularity.

12/12/2023

Unfortunatlely I was trudging through the snow to work rather than being able to take these brilliant pictures of the Forbidden City in the snow

12/12/2023

08/12/2023

Here is a painting of the first Song emperor of China - Emperor Taizu (personal name: Zhao Kuangyin). Zhao Kuangyin started off as a general under the leader of the emperor for the later Zhou Dynasty. However, he and his trusted generals usurped the throne and he became known as Emperor Taizu in the year 960, ruling as emperor until 976. Upon taking the throne, his first goal was the reunification of China after half a century of political division. He was successful! He established a dynasty which made many social reforms and introduced the concept of paper money to the world, but more on that later!

06/12/2023

This here, is a map of the of the 5 kingdoms period (五代). This period was between 907 and the founding of the Song dynasty in 960, so a relatively short time of division by Chinese history standards. The fall of the Tang splintered into 5 kingdoms initially. The Later Liang Dynasty (后梁), Later Tang Dynasty (后唐), Later Jin Dynasty (后晋), Later Han Dynasty (后汉) and Later Zhou Dynasty (后周). The struggle would result in none of these ruling families taking over, but a new clan will, who subsequently named themselves the Song.

05/12/2023

Here was the Tang Dynasty's last emperor - Li Zuo, called Emperor Ai and sometimes called Emperor Zhaoxuan.

At this stage, the Tang emperors were mere puppets, controlled by local warlards. The strongest warlord at the time was Zhu Quanzhong who opted for Li Zuo to succeed his father upon the previous emperors' death.

The emperor did not last long however (897-907), and was quickly overthrown by Zhu and his follwers, who created the Liang Dynasty. The consequence of Zhu's actions was the 5 Kingdoms period, which would eventually allow the Song to gobble up the other states and create the next imperial dynasty in China which would last hundreds of years.

04/12/2023

3.300-year-old chariot bridge that is still in use today. The Arkadiko Bridge in Greece was built between 1300 and 1190 BCE, making it one of the oldest still-used arch bridges still in existence. Built on a road that linked Tiryns to Epidaurus, it was part of a larger military road system.

More details/photos: https://bit.ly/41mK7rX

04/12/2023

Here is a map of the Tang Dynasty at the height of its power. It's crazy to see that long arch going westward which simply highlights the importance of the Silk Road at the time. The Tang is always associated a Golden Age in Chinese history, however, like all dynasties, the Tang would fall after internal and external conflicts.

09/04/2023

Here is a painting of the 'Curse of the White Horse'

The second last emperor of the Tang dynasty gave a white horse to what he thought was one of his most trusted nobles, a man named Zhu Wen (朱温) . Zhu wen used his influence and the white horse to remove the Tang Emperor - then later made his son a puppet emperor, Emperor Ai - who was then later dethroned by Zhu Wen, making him the last emperor of the Tang dynasty. Afterwards, the 5 kingdom's period in China begun in the year 908.


#中国历史