How China Lost Everything… and Came Back | The Entire History of China

Two hundred years ago, China made about a third of everything on Earth. Then, in a single century, it lost almost everything: opium wars, foreign armies, civil war, invasion. And today it's back, as the second-biggest economy on the planet. But this wasn't the first time. For three thousand years China has fallen apart again and again, and every single time it put itself back together. So why does China always come back? This is the entire history of China, told simply and with a little humour. It starts with oracle bones on the Yellow River and the Mandate of Heaven. Then comes the First Emperor, who united everything, built the first Great Wall and was buried with an army of 8,000 clay soldiers. After him: the Han and the Silk Road, the golden age of the Tang and Empress Wu, and the Song, who gave the world gunpowder, printing, the compass and paper money. Next the Mongols and Kublai Khan, the Ming, Zheng He's treasure fleets and the Forbidden City, and the Manchu Qing, who built the biggest China ever. Finally the Opium Wars and the Century of Humiliation, the fall of the last emperor, Mao and the People's Republic, and Deng Xiaoping's reforms, which turned a poor farming country into a superpower. Watch to the end for the answer, and for what it means for the next chapter of China's story. Notes: Ancient dates (the Xia, Yu the Great, King You's beacon fires) are partly legend, and we flag them in the video. Death tolls and population figures (the Taiping Rebellion, Nanjing, World War II, the Great Leap Forward famine, Tiananmen 1989) are historians' estimates, which vary widely. The dialogue is dramatised for fun, but the decisions it shows are real. If you enjoyed this, subscribe for more animated history of the world's greatest countries and empires. Tell us in the comments which country we should cover next! #china #chinahistory #history #historyofchina #chinesehistory #animatedhistory #worldhistory #ancientchina #documentary #historyexplained #mandateofheaven #firstemperor #qinshihuang #terracottaarmy #greatwallofchina #handynasty #silkroad #tangdynasty #songdynasty #mingdynasty #qingdynasty #genghiskhan #kublaikhan #mongolstandup #zhenghe #opiumwars #lastemperor #maomao #dengxiaoping #beijing #shanghai #hongkong #superpower #chinavsusa #geopolitics #asianhistory #maps #geography #educational #learnonyoutube #historybuff #historylovers #didyouknow #historyfacts