Series of essays exploring Chinese history through the life stories of key personalities.
Radio 4,·24 episodes
Rana Mitter tells the story of China's first and only female emperor.
09 Apr 2018,·13 mins
The power couple who reunited China and nearly lost it to Japan.
10 Apr 2018,·13 mins
The translator and Buddhist monk whose words are chanted daily by millions of Chinese.
11 Apr 2018,·14 mins
The Jesuit who brought together Renaissance Europe and Ming China through geometry.
12 Apr 2018,·14 mins
Rana Mitter on the life of one of China's most important feminist authors.
13 Apr 2018,·13 mins
The historian who spoke the truth to the emperor and suffered for it.
16 Apr 2018,·14 mins
The Mongol head of a dynasty that both occupied China and connected it to a wider world.
17 Apr 2018,·14 mins
The smiling philosopher who is perhaps the most famous Chinese person in history.
18 Apr 2018,·14 mins
The woman remembered today as one of the great poets of Chinese history.
19 Apr 2018,·14 mins
River Elegy was a pioneering TV documentary series, one of the most watched in history.
20 Apr 2018,·14 mins
The Muslim sailor whose epic maritime voyages created new routes for trade and influence.
23 Apr 2018,·14 mins
The influential Ulsterman who became a servant of the Chinese emperors.
24 Apr 2018,·14 mins
A writer still read by every Chinese pupil and considered China's greatest modern author.
25 Apr 2018,·14 mins
The man who saw himself as a patriot, but is remembered as one of China's worst traitors.
26 Apr 2018,·15 mins
The rebel leader of the Taiping and his nemesis.
27 Apr 2018,·15 mins
The empress dowager who tried - and failed - to reform.
30 Apr 2018,·15 mins
The hard-working, hard-living factory girls behind China's industrial revolution.
01 May 2018,·1 min
The Communist leader who changed his country forever.
02 May 2018,·1 min
The fastest pair of fists in East Asia and the first global Chinese film star.
03 May 2018,·15 mins
The paramount leader who enabled China's economic miracle.
04 May 2018,·1 min
Portraits of remarkable individuals who have made China what it is today.
04 May 2018,·60 mins
11 May 2018,·60 mins
18 May 2018,·60 mins
25 May 2018,·60 mins
