Stories from China's History for Kids

This episode tells the story of Zheng He and his travels. He's one of China's most famous explorers.

The first few emperors are mentioned, including the very first emperor who used to be a Buddhist Monk but turned into the army man who took over the country, and an Emperor who escaped a burning palace by dressing up as a Buddhist Monk.

We talk about Marco Polo's life growing up at his uncle's home, his big trip to China and back, and the book he wrote about his travels afterward. It's even said that Christopher Columbus was inspired to make his explorations because of Marco Polo's writings about his trips.

We talk about a few of the main places in the Yuan Dynasty: Xanadu, Beijing, and the Canal. Mongolia was huge at this time and spread out from Europe all across Central Asia and Asia.

Two of the most famous people in history are Genghis Khan and his grandson, Kublai Khan. Genghis Khan is the one who really started the Mongolian nation and brought different tribes together while his grandson, Kublai Khan expanded the Mongolian empire.

Yue Fei is one of the most famous army leaders in history. He fought hard for his country and was very brave.

The Song Dynasty brought the country back together, but it took many years. In this episode we also talk about Sima Guang, one of the major Chinese historians, and Empress Zhangxian Mingsu, one of the few women that ran the country during Chinese history. The end of the Song Dynasty was long and many, many people died fighting for the country. However, Genghis Khan's grandson, Kublai Khan, finally took over the Song Empire and started the Yuan Dynasty.

This time period is another time when China was very divided. There were many different smaller kings and kingdoms and it can be a bit confusing with so many names. In this episode, I highlight a few of the rulers and talk about the printing press, which was invented during this time.

The Tang Dynasty had a number of famous poets including Du Fu and Li Bai. Quite a few of the more simple poetry from this time period are still taught to children in schools today in China, even in the primary schools.

Du Fu is one of China's famous poets and one of the great poets of the Tang Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty is famous for it's poetry and children even today learn some of the poems from this time period in China. In this podcast I read some of Du Fu's poems that have been translated into English.

In this episode we finish talking about the Empress Wu Zetian and the Emperor Xuanzong. We also mention the famous army leader, Li Keyong, towards the end of the Tang Dynasty.

In this episode I read aloud a short story of a boy who's looking forward to the parade to welcome back Xuanzng, the Buddhist monk who traveled from China to India and back. It also introduces who Xuanzong was.

This is the second half of the story about Emperor Xuanzong. This short biography about his life is available in the collection of short stories called “Stories of Kids in China's History” (available as a PDF on the podcast's website).

In this episode I read aloud the first part (actually the first few parts) of a short biography I wrote about Emperor Xuanzong. This story is included in the PDF “Stories of Kids in Chinese History,” available on the website.

Here about the Little and Big Goose Pagodas, Xing Qing Park, and about where you can see traces of the Tang Dynasty in Xi'an today

Although Empress Wu ZeTian is famous she was also a very ruthless ruler who had anyone who got in her way put in prison or killed, including her own children! She's well known in Chinese history. Her husband, Emperor Gao Zong, is also well known for the Tang Dynasty time period.

The Tang Dynasty is one of the most famous time periods in Chinese History and there are many famous rulers. There was also a special style of clothes and Buddhism was very popular.

Although there were a few emperors from this time period, perhaps the most notable one was Emperor YangDi who made the big canal and a huge palace for himself. However, he wasn't he best emperor and spent so much money on himself. It was the end of the dynasty, which finished a year or so after he died.

We talk about the end of the Jin Dynasty and mention some of the more interesting kings during the time after the Jin Dynasty, when the country was broken up into smaller countries. We talk about one king that had many books, one army general that had a creative idea to show that they had food, and about some of the buildings that were made at this time.

This podcast talks about Emperor Wu and his 3 sons that (Emperor Hui, Emperor Huai, and Emperor Min) that ruled the country during the Western Jin Dynasty. We also talk about Empress Jia Nanfeng, who caused a lot of trouble, and Yang Hu and Zhou Chu, two great army leaders from this time.

The Three Kingdoms Period is famous because of the historical novel: The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. It's a huge book written much later about this time period. In this episode we also talk about Zhuge Liang, one of the most famous people from this time period.

In 184 a group of people called the Yellow Turbans tried to take over the country. This was the start of the end of the Han Dynasty, which officially ended in 220 AD. The country was divided into three small parts after this, called the Three Kingdom's period.

This episode talks about some of the main inventions during this time, including paper, seismograph (to detect earthquakes) and wheelbarrows. They also had a type of calendar and started to use sundials to tell time.

We talk about some of the main emperors of this time and how the country expanded out West. They were even able to send messengers to Rome and encourage more trade along the Silk Road.

Emperor Xuan has a unique story. Most of his family was killed but he, instead, was put in prison as a baby. When he was five he was taken out of prison and cared for by a family. He grew up as a commoner but became the emperor at the age of 17 since he was the closest (but distant) relative of the royal family. Years later Wang Mang came in with the ambition of becoming an official in order to become the emperor. He did and started the Xin Dynasty, the shortest dynasty in China's history at only 14 years. A group of people who painted their eyebrows red and were called the Red Eyebrows tried to fight to bring order to the country during this time. Two Han Princes came back at this time to take the country back to start the Western or Later Han Dynasty after this.

The Xiongnu people lived to the North of China but their empire soon expanded to both the North and the West of China. This episode talks about who they were and about a few Chinese people that lived among them: Zhang Qian (who helped start the Silk Road) and SuWu (who was captured by the Xiongnu people for 19 years). It also mentions Wang Zhao Jun, one of the Chinese princesses who married XIongnu kings to help bring peace between the two countries.

Emperor Wen was one of the first few emperors of the Han Dynasty and one of the better emperors. He was unlikely choice to become emperor since his mom was not the empress but a palace servant. Emperor Wu was an emperor who was very superstitious. It was during this time that Sima Qian, the great Chinese historian, lived.

Emperor Gaozu is the first and one of the better emperors in the Han Dynasty. He kept the capital of the country in Xi'an and rebuilt huge parts of the city that were destroyed at the end of the Qin Dynasty. He changed the country a lot in his somewhat short reign.

Although the Qin Emperor (Shi Huang Di) wanted to live forever, he didn't. His empire only lasted 15 years in total, but a lot was accomplished during those 15 years: the country was unified and the Great Wall was built. There was a huge tomb built for the emperor with hundreds of clay soldiers, which is one of the main tourist attractions in Xi'an today (where the capital was during this time period).

The Qin Dynasty made a lot of drastic changes to the country and unified the country as a whole. The Great Wall was built during this time, there was a national language as well as a national money system. Although the Qin Emperor was trying to start an empire that would last forever, but it didn't last that long at all.

This podcast talks about the early life of the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty: Shi Huang Di. It talks about how and the Qin State conquered the other states to start their empire and a little about Shi Huang Di's family.

Lin Xiangru was sent to deliver a piece of jade to the Qin State in exchange for 15 cities. However, Lin Xiangru didn't think that the king of the Qin State would really give them 15 cities so he thought of a clever way to make sure they would either get the jade returned back to them or get the 15 cities. In the end, they got the jade back.

Lord Menchang is one of the most notable people from the Warring States time period who was very generous and helped a lot of people. They, in turn, helped him when he needed it.

This episode tells the story of QuYuan and how the Dragon Boat Festival got started. QuYuan was not only one of the best officials of the Warring States Period but also a great poet.

XiMen Bao made a huge impact on a small village. The officials made up a story where they could get a lot of money in taxes every year from the people. They made a tradition that was really bad and XiMen Bao saw through it. He put a stop to it and helped the village. He also diverted the Zhuang River from where it joined the Yellow River to a place later on to help stop the flooding.

As one of China's great inventors, Lu Ban invented an early version of a kite and an umbrella as well as a few tools for working with wood and carpentry.

Fan Li not only was famous for being a businessman but also for giving away a lot of his wealth. He wrote a book describing his business practices.

This time we talk about the life of Sun Tzu, his book (the Art of War) and the impact it has had on China.

In this episode we look at the life of Confucius and listen to a few excerpts from the Analacts (English version). There are more excerpts available on the blog.

In this podcast we talk about how life was like and what inventions were made or brought to China during the Spring and Autumn Period. We also talk about lions and how there are so many statues of lions in China, an animal that's not native to China.

King You of Zhou was the last king of the Western Zhou Dynasty. After this was the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. This is the story of his life and how the Western Dynasty ended.

The new king of the Zhou Dynasty (Western Zhou) had thousands of people (rich people and the leaders of the country) move to FengHao, two small cities where Xi'an is today. These two cities are on both sides of the Wei River. This podcast talks about how it might have been like for the families who had to move.

In this episode we read through and talk about a poem by Li Bai.

In this episode I do a pretend interview with Shao Kang's Mom. Shao Kang is one of the great emperors of the Xia Dynasty, who restored the Xia Dynasty.

Fu Hao is one of the Shang Dynasty's great queens and also one of it's greatest warriors. She led the army in at least 4 different battles, but, tragically, died young (in her early 30ies).

Fu Hao is one of the Shang Dynasty's great queens and also one of it's greatest warriors. She led the army in at least 4 different battles, but, tragically, died young (in her early 30ies).

The Shang Dynasty was during the bronze age, which is when bronze was being developed and used to make things like weapons, pots, bowls, and many other things. Life during this time was different from life now.

The Shang Dynasty was during the bronze age, which is when bronze was being developed and used to make things like weapons, pots, bowls, and many other things. Life during this time was different from life now.

This tells the story of the life of Shao Kang, one of the great kings of the Xia Dynasty. His dad died before he was born and no one knew that his dad (the emperor) had a son. Years later, rumors start spreading about this son's existence. He starts going throughout the country at the age of 16 to form an army and take back the country. He restores the Xia Dynasty and is one of the best emperors of the dynasty.

This tells the story of the life of Shao Kang, one of the great kings of the Xia Dynasty. His dad died before he was born and no one knew that his dad (the emperor) had a son. Years later, rumors start spreading about this son's existence. He starts going throughout the country at the age of 16 to form an army and take back the country. He restores the Xia Dynasty and is one of the best emperors of the dynasty.

After 3 stories we're going to do an interview episode. For this episode we interview Shun the Great, one of the 3 great legends of China. This is the Chinese Version.