Ancient History
What really happened to the Jianwen Emperor—the second leader of China’s Ming dynasty, who ruled from 1398 to 1402—remains one of the most puzzling questions in all of imperial Chinese history....
Ancient History
Zhu Yuanzhang, who started life with nothing and later became the founder of China’s Ming Dynasty (ruling from 1368 to 1398)....
Ancient History
The set of changes launched by Wang Anshi during the Northern Song Dynasty (1069–1085) was one of the most daring efforts in premodern China to reshape society and the economy through direct action by the government....
Ancient History
Su Shi (1037–1101) is widely seen as one of the greatest writers in Chinese history, and even though he was forced to leave the capital many times for political reasons during the Northern Song Dynasty....
Ancient History
Wu Zetian (624–705 CE) is the only woman in all of Chinese history who ever ruled as emperor under her own name. Starting out as a palace concubine, she eventually became the leader of her own short-lived Zhou Dynasty....
