The Ming
Michael Wood explores the history of the world's newest superpower. The tale of the Ming dynasty begins with the amazing story of Hongwu, a peasant rebel.
The tale of one of China's most famous dynasties begins with the amazing story of Hongwu, a peasant rebel who founded one of greatest eras in Chinese history.
The film takes us to his great capital Nanjing, with its 21 miles of walls, each brick stamped with the name of the village that made it. Following the trail, we go to the Bao family village and see the villagers act a Ming murder story. Like many authoritarian states, the Ming were obsessive about architecture. We see the giant fortifications of the Great Wall, the ritual enclaves of the Forbidden City in Beijing and travel with bargeman Mr Hu down the Grand Canal, China's great artery of commerce right up to the present day. We then hear about Admiral Zheng He's voyages to Africa and the Gulf decades before Columbus, watch the construction of an ocean-going wooden boat 250ft long, and hitch a ride on a replica Ming junk in the South China Sea.
As state prosperity grew, so did a rising middle class. Wood looks at Ming culture in Suzhou, the 'Venice of China'. Staying in a merchant's house, he discovers the silk, ceramic and lacquer-making industries, and visits one of the most beautiful gardens in the city. Then on to Macao and the arrival of Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci, who hoped to convert China to Christianity. In the cathedral in Beijing, we learn more about these fateful exchanges with the west. Finally in Shaoxing, we visit the house of the 'Ming Proust' and at grassroots the Zhao family in Fujian where the film ends in an elegiac mood with the fall of the Ming in 1644.
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Clips
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For the Ming, China was the world
Duration: 02:10
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Life on the Grand Canal
Duration: 01:21
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The good life
Duration: 01:22
Broadcasts
- Thu 11 Feb 2016 21:00
- Tue 16 Feb 2016 23:15成人快手 Two England & HD only
- Tue 16 Feb 2016 23:45成人快手 Two Scotland
- Wed 17 Feb 2016 00:15成人快手 Two Wales
- Thu 25 Feb 2016 23:55成人快手 Two England & HD only
- Fri 26 Feb 2016 00:25成人快手 Two Scotland
- Sat 27 Feb 2016 00:10成人快手 Two Northern Ireland
- Mon 21 Oct 2019 23:20