With how much history we are glossing over, additional contexts are going to be a necessity. If you have any questions, leave a comment, and we'll try to answer to the best of our ability. Clarification on Xia Dynasty: There definitely was a dynasty, if not multiple concurrent dynasties before Shang. However, we have yet to found archeological evidence of a dynasty that refers to itself as "Xia". It's neither proven nor disproven, kinda like the city of Troy before 1871.
I would say that 'neither proven nor disproven' is not helpful epistemologically though. Something is only accepted as true if it is demonstrated and until such time as it is, professionals withhold judgement and sometimes, will not even comment to avoid confusion. Something is shown to be false in a sense, when something else is shown to be the case that negates the original proposition - one doesn't really prove a negative. A faulty hypothesis merely withers. Just saying :)
Also, there's the mythical Yu Dyansty (虞) that is said to have come before the Xia. There are some archeological findings that would match up to the supposed time of the Xia, but you're right that no one called themselves that. We just don't have records from that time.
I'm certainly no expert on Chinese history, but it frustrates the hell out of me when people refer to movies clearly taking place in the era of Manchu rule as being in "ancient China". It's like seeing a movie about the American revolution and saying it takes place in "ancient America". It's not even medieval, let alone ancient. I've even heard people describe Wong Fei Hung movies as being set in ancient China, and I'm like "My great grandfather was alive at the same time as the guy!"
I would like to add that in China, Qing is somewhat considered as "ancient", as we usually don't say medieval or renaissance, for us it's usually 'ancient', 'near modern'(between late Qing and 1919 or 1949) and 'modern'
@@PenneySoundssorry to be nitpicking, but 1500 years ago was early medieval(Viking age). Ancient is before classical, which is pre-Roman, (so yeah basically late Bronze Age). So it was at least 2500 years ago.
I wanted to make a comparison to Islamic history Some dates are not parallel especially at the start because the focus is more on themes: Xia/Shang - The times of the Prophets. Zhou - Dark chaotic age between the previous prophets and the rise of Islam. Qin/Han - The rise of Islam and the start of the Caliphate with Rashiduns & Umayyads. Tang - Abbasid Caliphate. Song - Ayyubids against Crusades. Yuan - Mamluks against Crusades & Mongols. Ming - Ottoman Caliphate. Qing - Decline of the Ottomans and colonization. Chinese republic - Modern time
Another large barrier to westerners learning about Chinese history is simply the difficulty of learning and differentiating the names of people and places. You can get used to it, but it is a barrier to entry for some people. Plus, Chinese media under the CCP regime hasn't been as willing to promote its culture abroad as well as Japan, for example. And as AC has said before, Chinese media has had an unfortunate trend of cheap, creatively-bankrupt immitation that we are only now starting to see improvement in. And all that is a shame, because there's some fascinating stories and mythology there.
It is also worth mentioning that pop-culture has many enormous blind spots not just regarding foreign histories. E.G. Arthurian legend was once a cornerstone of western culture but it has fallen into relative obscurity with modern audiences.
In terms of historical dramas, I wouldn't say there was "an unfortunate trend of cheap, creatively-bankrupt immitation that we are only now starting to see improvement in" (I mean what would they be imitating?). What are considered some of the greatest historical dramas were produced decades ago. For example ROTK, Ming Dynasty 1566, Towards the Republic, and Yongzheng Dynasty were broadcast in 1994, 2007, 2003, and 1999 respectively.
Black was also an expensive color for cloth. It's hard to make cloth with the right amount of black without degrading. I actually kind of wish China kept black as an imperial color, because the gold that came later seemed pretty tacky sometimes. On the other hand, reserving black for the Emperor would have precluded others from wearing it, so it's probably best that they kept the tackier color for themselves later on.
To put it in a Western perspective: Xia/Shang - Trojan Age Zhou - Ancient Greece Qin/Han - Rome Tang - Medieval Song/Yuan - Pre-Renaissance Ming - Renaissance Qing - Industrial
That's a more temporal comparison. A more societal comparison would be Xia/Shang - Mythical Greece/Norse Western Zhou - Medieval Spring & Autumn/Warring States - Classical Greece Qin-Han - Absolutism Round 1 Three Kingdom-North and South dynasties - 3rd century Rome Sui-Tang - Absolutism Round 2 Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms - Medieval Dark Age Song - Renassaince & proto-industrialization Yuan - The Mongols, the Mongols Destroy Everything! Wait the K'han is my emperor, then I must serve him with all my loyalty. Ming-Qing - Absolutism Round 3 ROC - Industrial without Enlightenment
This is indeed a quite good comparison but according to many historians some of these periods should be more detailed. Forgive me if I go into little bit of a nerdy explanation. For example the Qin and Han dynasties do not cover just Rome( both the Republic and the Empire afterwards) but also the later part of the Hellenistic kingdoms after Alexander the Great in which some of them still had a huge presence and influence in the Mediterranean. So basically Qin and Han still cover, what the general population calls Ancient Greece too. Another example is the Tang up until the Ming dynasty. For the Western mostly European categorisation of history the Middle Ages, span approximately 1000 years so from 500- 1500 AD. basically from the Sui up until the middle of the Ming dynasty, belong to the Middle Ages and this is by no means an insult since contrary to popular belief the Middle Ages even in Europe were still a huge period of scientific, philosophical, cultural and technological advancement, just like the Middle East, China or Japan.
When I heard you say "the Qin Dynasty would last an epic..." I knew what's coming and immediately burst into laughter. Chinese history is so epic and complex and yet so hilarious. It just proves that reality is stranger than fiction.
And all because some dude was going to get executed for having some of his prisoners escape so he thought that if he's going to do the time, he might as well do the crime.
His trusted minister conspired with a eunuch to forge a decree commanding the crown prince to commit suicide, only for said minister to have his immediate family slain along with himself. Many reasons why could be had of why Zhao Gao single handedly ruined the Qin.
My history professor, Fred Wakeman, said that he was sure that the Hsia/Xia dynasty was real and not mythical and that contemporaneous written materials would one day confirm this. After all, the Shang was already highly developed, from its bronze metalwork to its architecture to its systems of governance. And Shang never claimed it was the first dynasty, referencing others that came before it. While movies with their special effects and glamour have portrayed the Shang, Xia, Zhou and others in mythical ways, to historians, these periods - their art, culture, history, technology - were anything but mythical. In a sense, movies and videos do a disservice to our memory of these periods by making them seem fantastical, when in fact Chinese art and history is already amazing, beautiful, and marvelous.
I get the feeling Wakeman is right. Erlitou Culture is usually fingered as the Xia. It is very annoying that Qin burned so many books. The Zhou, who had every motive to destroy the records of the Shang, showed mercy to their family (the Yin) and allowed them to keep their books in the Song duchy, and even their status as nobles (if demoted). But Qin just destroyed everything. A nasty legacy to leave to the Chinese!
It's China's bronze age, sure the age is real with all the bronze artifacts left behind. But as for the Dynasty, it's like homer's iliac more myth than history.
The unsolved question is not "whether there was a dynasty before Shang", but "whether the civilization before Shang was a dynasty called Xia by themselves and Shang people, or something else".
@@zimrielQin didn't destroy much. Most of the records that were believed to have been destroyed were in fact preserved and rediscovered centries later. For example, this video mentioned Sun Bin's Art of War.
Many people really don't realise that the real problem is not whether Xia exists but rather that is it really called Xia or is it another name. Most professionals do acknowledge that there's something going on between ErLiTou and Shang, but yet there hasn't been any records of that dynasty being dug out yet. What's lacking is the confirmation of a name, which could very much differ because most records are gone. But then anti history guys will just continue to deny that because they just can't believe China's history last longer than theirs😂 @@deepseer
Reminds me of Edward Said's discussion on how Orientalism ideologically frames the history of the East as being timeless, unchanging, and without any significant history. Maybe he was on to something. ;)
@@MyLife-og2kr FYI the comment is referring to the scholar Edward Said and his book titled _Orientalism_ which deconstructs and critiques these ideas the West had/has about the “Orient”
I really hope this channel blows up and gets the recognition it deserves. Been watching for well over a year or two. There are not enough places for people to learn of Chinese culture that's not imbued in politics. People seem to struggle to see the beauty of one of the longest-recorded histories ever, over the shadow of the government with in which they disagree with. I'm not questioning the validity of their opinions of the government, just wish we could see more of the stuff that makes Chinese history and culture so great more often than I feel like we do in the west.
Ah yes, the classic "if you like pancakes it means you hate waffles" scenario. I can find Chinese history interesting without having to suck up to a one-party state. I think that's the problem with nationalists everywhere: their country/ideolgy is the ideal, so all negatives about it either aren't real, are someone else's fault, or being worked on by the moral men in power.
@@wheresmyeyebrow1608lol, do you even know anything about China that doesn't come from propaganda? There are 9 parties that hold seats in the senate. Their political system can be thought of as roughly analogous to the UK system, but with a "communist-led" senate instead of a House of Lords.
@@pannychanman Except that China doesn't have a senate, it only has one branch of Government because they don't have separation of powers. Also, the other parties have VERY LITTLE decision-making power, much less so than in other multi-party states, because the CCP is the ulimate arbitrator of what goes and doesn't go. This isn't propoganda, it's a marxist-leninist system. Vietnam and North Korea are the same. How is this propoganda?
This is great. Westerners immediately know roughly what era a Western movie is in based on clothing and aesthetics. If you see someone in a toga, you know you're in Roman times. Although western movies sometimes do silly things with eras. Frozen has everyone wearing Napoleonic clothing but using medieval weapons.
The Napoleonic clothes but using medieval weapons is the one that really irritates me the most. Like why not just use Napoleonic era warafare, or just use medieval clothing.
I wouldn't really say that. People basically slap 3,000 years into 4 categories: Antiquity, Medieval, Renaissance, and Industrial And even then you'll see them mix up medieval and post-renaissance stuff all the time. Hollywood doesn't really care for accuracy because they think "this is entertainment, not a documentary, so just use whatever looks cool!" Even when it comes at the cost of making a historical film completely inaccurate.
@@Palatine-Knight I think that's possibly a bit of an exaggeration. Even somebody who is relatively ignorant of British history can _probably_ tell the difference in aesthetics and themes between a film set in the Tudor period and a film set in the Georgian/Regency period (even if they aren't consciously aware of it) Tudor = Women with neck-ruffs and structured corsets. Men with jaunty hats and ballon-y short-things, with generally quite a lot of volume 'up-top' and slim stocking-clad thighs below. Thematically, a big focus of Tudor/Stuart-period stories tends to be Christian religious schisms (e.g. Henry VIII breaking with Catholic Church, domestic and international catholic vs. protestant tensions). Into the Stuart period, this tend shifts to be a lot more dour and focused on religious extremism (e.g. Puritans banning dancing. witch-burning...etc). Georgian = Women wear float-y white dresses which sinch in under the bust, and their hair in very tight curls. Men wear waistcoats and fitted trousers. Thematically, everything is a lot more chill, although there's a vague sense of colonialism in the background. And pirates. Within Britain, Less of a focus on royalty, more on the nobility. Pride and Prejudice vibes - lots of focus on social scandals and noble courtship shenanigans. Lots of big white buildings with columns.
One important visual theme of pre-imperial China that is shown in the video but not mentioned verbally: back then the Chinese wrote on bamboo strips strung together side-by-side to form "scrolls". Later, paper got invented in the Han Dynasty (the one after the Qin) :)
Love the video idea! As someone who likes researching on Chinese fashion history, I can definitely recognize dynasties just by visuals alone, even easier if the fashion is historically accurate.
I plan on going into a bit of fashion history starting with the Han dynasty as well. The Hanfu revival movement has a huge continuing impact on how movies are made.
Thank you for showing this. I remember a promotional commercial for Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, which said it was set during the Tang Dynasty. With what little I recall from Chinese History, I knew that ain't the Tang Dynasty. The hairstyles were a dead give away.
One of the easy ways to tell is weapons and equipment, even when all kinds of anachronisms are present. If there are chariots, it is Zhou, unless the chariots are only used as mobile command platforms. Then it is either the Warring States rise of Qin, the Chu-Han Contention, or Three Kingdoms and it is one of the famous strategists on the mobile platform. Probably with a fan. If you see ji, Warring States through Three Kingdoms. If you start to see lots of cavalry, and it isn't about the heroes of the time on horseback, it is almost definitely Sui, Tang or Song, unless it is out in borderlands or a garrison duty, fighting the Steppe tribes, something like that. If you see weird guns and rocket launchers, hand cannon looking things, it is Song, or Yuan. If you see cannon, it is Ming or Qing.
0:00 Man, imagine if someone did a comic that was supposedly set in the British Isles under Roman rule but everyone was wearing a 18th century style powdered wig. I can understand the "WTH" factor
@zainmudassir2964 I disagree. Based on how the ladies in the palace and officials dress, it seems very similar to Tang or Song, but I am not sure. I might be out of my depth here.
but in the end, the anime/manga/LN's Country of Li is a fictional country that heavily inspired by imperial China, so inspiration and influence can come from many dynasties, so it is not set in stone.
@@levelupcastgaming It's the Ming for sure, they are sitting on chairs which was only widely adopted during the Song dynasty, added with references to western medicine it must be the Ming
As an avid watcher of cdramas, I feel like there are more and more 架空剧 nowadays, that is films and dramas set in a fictional, vague era that mix styles and inspirations from different dynasties. I don't know if it's because of laziness or to avoid censorship connected to real historical events, but it's a pity
Because most of them are screen adaption of online fictions. Most of the online fictions set the story in fictional era so the author can have the creative freedom.
also practically it's probably cheaper to get costumes, sets and props not match up to the same dynasty and when the show isn't particularly invested in a specific dynasty, might as well go mix pot
@@bunnicula3221 And my point (that you didn't get) was exactly that nowadays there are a lot more 架空剧 than 历史剧 and I think it's a pity? I'm not searching for accuracy in jiakongs. On the other hand, I love when productions take the time to set their fictional stories in actual history and recrate how that period looked like. No need to get so riled up over this tbh
the similarities between the way you described Xia dinasty and the current understanding of Mycenaean Greece is extremely uncanny, you had me thinking of the Iliad and Odyssey
The worst I think is probably Hong Kong TVB shows from the 80's and 90's where the time period is hard to tell due to military armors would be inaccurate, like in a Jin Yong live story that is set in Song would be wearing a mash of Tang and Ming dynasty armor... not to mention look like it was made of paper. Also I think Three Kingdoms sadly has the most inaccurate portrayal of armors and weapons, since the setting is set in late Han Dynasty but use alot of weapons that was made 1000 years later like Song or Ming Dynasty, maybe due to the novel Romance of the Three Kingdom was written in Ming Dynasty.
@@AccentedCinemaI think the best accurate historical drama was in late 90's with Water Margin 1999 with Yuen Woo Ping fight choreography by CCTV 1. That TV series basically was quite accurate to portray Song Dynasty time period with clothing, attitude, society and local government. (where some of the official end up as Outlaw due to circumstances). Hope you cover that one, as that show really deserve to be know, Also the 2012 version was dogshit.
TVB is very famous for their all dynasties bowl with a rooster painting.😂 Everyone will eat from it regardless what dynasty it is.😊 By the way, the Song dynasty people like to wear flowers on their head, guys included. Imagine the whole gang of Water Margin with flowers in their head. Oh my...
@@kennywong4239Funny enough... due to the "Chicken bowl", I asked my mom to get one when I was a kid (I loved chicken as pet when I was a kid, even bought live chicken whenever I was in HK during the 80's). Another funny thing with TVB set in Qing period is those footsoldiers would wear a pajama with a big circle letter that say "卒" on their belly. Even Stephen Chow early role as a stand in character in Deer and the Cauldron (or was it Book and the Sword"?) Stephen was a lowly soldier that appeared in a few minutes
夏商周秦漢，魏晉南北朝，隋唐，五代十國，宋元明清 Ha! I haven't forgotten things I learned from high school. Is this a multi-part series? There were so many dynasties and so many things to talk about. I hope you can go more in-depth on this topic in future videos. edit: I forgot 隋 existed and 五代十國
The Qin 秦 Dynasty in this video is the first dynasty of China, but the drama Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace was set in the last dynasty of China 清 Qing Dynasty. That's why a lot of technologies shown in that drama were rather advanced. It's also why Ruyi was dreaming about a faithful marriage between one husband and one wife. China was beginning to transition into the modern time.
mine would be: yume maboroshi no gotoku. also known as that time Oda Nobunaga conquer the world except america where he said " Don't conquer america, i live here now"
For many years i thought that the aesthetic of the qin dynasty wearing full black clothes from the hero movie is just a creative decision from the director. I never knew that black color is historically the official color of the qin dynasty
i feel so seen by accented cinema, not only was i curious on how to differentiate between dynasties in chinese media, i also hate typing X into my web browser search bar. it's like this video was made specifically for me.
Great video as always! Question: with you commenting that League of Gods is "sucks ass", I wonder if you have any recommendations for great Chinese films that represents each perspective dynasty.
One thing I don't understand is why three kingdoms period is soo hyped up in chinese dramas when there are equally if not more interesting periods like Spring-Autumn or 5 dynasties 10 kingdom period.
Probably firstly, three kingdoms was documented better than the other 2. Secondly, some guy in the Ming Dynasty cooked with it so much that it became one of the defining literatures of China, soooo it's not that Chinese dramas hyped it up, it was already hyped centuries ago
Three Kingdoms is overrated due to the romance. No story about the Warring States/Spring and Autumn or 5 Dynasties and 10 Kingdoms ever became as popular.
Of all the classics, ROTK is the easiest to retell because you can just take a small part of it and make a good standalone story. Same couldn't be said for other like water margin or red chamber. Which require complete retelling for it to make sense plot-wise.
The Qin Empire series (1-3 are on Netflix and the final one is on Prime) describes the rise of Qin during the Warring States period. Would highly recommend if you have a Warring States craving to scratch.
It’s only hyped up due to other pop culture products like video games and anime, so it’s more known to the western audience. Like AC alluded to in the intro, if you’re an avid watcher of C-dramas, they cover a variety of historical periods. Many of them focus on philosophies, political and military strategies, and even romance, which are harder to “sell” than RotTK.
as a Chinese I feel that there is an additional side of the Zhou Dynasty not quite present in cinema, represented by the classic of its time, Shijing (or Classic of Poetry), which represents the free spirited and naturalistic daily lives of the people who inhabit that ancient era, their daily lives, romance, sorrows, which really humanized the era beyond the chaos of division and wars. I hope we get to see more of this on screen
Yep, and maybe also worth noting that regardless of dynasty, and unlike the West, Chinese 'culture' has always had a very different POV of the role of government, the 'collective' in society, and the Emperor, aka, 'the Mandate of Heaven'. Which is also reflected in Chinese fiction and storytelling in general, where the characters are usually forced to adapt to their 'fate' and external circumstances... while the characters in Western movies and fiction are more 'independent' and 'self-directed'.
Xia does exit by logic and archeological evidence of them living, but none of them proved the dynasty is named as Xia, but certainly Shang could not come out of no where to be a sophisticated society so it just must be there. Also there are earlier evidence of civilization even prior to the Xia dynasty.
When i saw a chinese movie i usually made a game for myself by guessing the era based on the male hairstyles. Its roughly divided in three: Long, uncut hair: pre-Qing movies Bald with braids: Qing-era movies. Short hair: post revolutionary era.
Absolutely awesome presentation! You're a very adept and informative guide through Chinese cinema/history. I'm still learning loads of nuanced details about these movies, even after having seen them years ago. Thanks for explaining the black emperor aesthetic as well. Can't wait for pt2
what a great video! i have lately gotten into fantasy/costume cdramas, and have always been curious as to what eras they were trying to portray. thanks bunches! can't wait to see the rest of this series.
If there is a chinese movie that take place in ming dynasty , they always depict the ming dynasty during its downfall , with all the corruption and its brutal secret police
I've grown up watching Chinese film and apart from the Qin, Ming and Qing dynasties) I never really bothered to figure out what dynasty was being portrayed. Thanks so much for this!! I'll be paying much greater attention next time I watch these (and other) Chinese historicla films!!
This is such a great idea! As an American with a Chinese partner, I watch a ton of Chinese TV shows but still can't easily identify the time period without my partner's help. So having a few things to focus on and look for will be super helpful. Thank you so much!
I am completely in awe of the amount of effort, thought, and research that was put into this 11-minute video. I am so looking forward to watching the rest of this series. You are an amazing RU-vidr whose example other RU-vidrs should aspire to.
I think when modern Chinese artists are imaging the Shang dynasty, they were heavily influenced by “lost imperium” and “Ancient Greek city” narrative in Western novels. Ancient Chinese history records often describe Shang dynasty as an era of brutal rule, slavery and barbaric sacrifices.
I really hope this is the first episode of a 3 or 4 part series covering the aesthetic of each Chinese period from Ancient times to the People's Republic!
Thank you for this excellent timeline and overview! I‘ve worked out most of it, having discovered Chinese TV series (with subtitles) several years ago. But it‘s really nice to have a concise summary! ❤
中文留言者过来冒个泡（路过啦） 看了您十几部短片之后，提出几部片子供您参考选材： The First Slam Dunk (还有原作漫画在中韩的现象级流通） W的悲剧（1984）（艺术成就和当年的所谓”抄袭“疑云--Based On 「Wistful, Delicately Gay」Irwin Shaw？） 未来的回忆（森田芳光，1992）（它与小说《Replay》（1988）的关系）
0:01It's a bit like someone filming a play about King Arthur, but the characters are dressed in Victorian costumes. It's hard for local audiences to take it seriously.
Accented Cinema coming out swinging this year. I actually was surprised you hadn’t made this video yet. Being a fan of King Hu meant that I have watched Imperial Chinese movies not set in the Qing Dynasty or Republican era. Most of King Hu’s works are set squarely in the Ming Dynasty with the noticeable exception of The Wrath of Lee Khan which takes place in the Yuan Dynasty. So glad we are getting so many video from you now!
the annoying thing about sun tze's art of war is that you will constantly hear westerners try and be edgy by lambasting its supposed simplicity. "this is the most basic, obvious stuff lmao." well, yeah, that's the entire point! art of war is how to military 101 because when it was written the failsons of nobility were given high-ranking positions like captains and generals. the book was meant to teach them the bare fundamentals so they weren't completely inept when war broke out.
I haven't ever heard a westerner badmouth Sun Tzu/Tze. Not even on 4ch*n. Everyone understands that it is a basic text. Completely the opposite actually, Sun Tzu upon being discovered (by the west) was immediately translated and widely spread around European states, for the exact reason you are saying about its spread in the east: because the west was full of spoilt and inbred princelings who were doing war wrong and getting soldiers needlessly killed.
@@zimriel what are you talking about. I uses 4chan and you can always get hundreds of westoids sperging out just by praising anything remotely Chinese.
You have no idea how much I appreciate this video as a history major who is particularly partial to intellectual history. There are so many videos that can detail historical movies from start to finish and go “inaccurate armor, that’s inaccurate; nuh-uh” and be very literal with art which is supposed to represent history and narrative. it’s refreshing to see someone talk about what these films and cultural representations can mean through their use of historicity and symbols; it’s less so the films that matter, but what we put into them and what they in turn can mean to us culturally.
As someone who studies some Chinese history (I am a Classical Military historian, so I focus on Rome, Greece etc, but China has always fascinated me as well), I can immediately tell, just as quickly as I can with a Roman or Holy Roman Empire or Norman setting that they...didn't bother to ask historians. In like 95% of cases. I've seen large, maple-stock Song era crossbows in movies set in the Warring States, just like I've seen plate armor in 13th century Europe settings. Most people don't care, so they just don't bother, at least until it gets to the Early Modern period. And while a lot of inaccuracy is bound to happen with equipment, when it is equipment that outright shaped warfare in a period, that is also a part of the culture. It is like giving everyone in your peasant army a full plate harness and a horse in a film about the Teutonic Knights.
Two of my favorite (still running) history podcasts are Chris Stewart's History of China and Benjamin Jacobs' Wittenberg to Westphalia. It's kind of wild to compare them. Stewart does a lot of what you talk about: he's focused on events, mostly. Even when he does get into culture, it can sometimes feel like it's at a bit of a remove - and it's often about populations in China's orbit, like the Mongols or the natives of Taiwan, rather than what it meant to be a random villager in, say, north-central China towards the tail end of the 5 dynasties / 10 kingdoms period, and he only occasionally goes into how different Chinese states structured themselves or what their various governmental components actually *did* - I can really only think of some stuff that came up during his coverage of the Ming dynasty, and that was hard to follow because it always felt like it was out of context. Jacobs, though, takes reams of episodes to work through the social and political dynamics of the periods he's covering (his podcast is nominally about the wars of the Reformation and the beginning of the Early Modern period in Europe, but he's closing in on 100 episodes and only just now finished off the Ottonian and Salian dynasties of the HRE), how all the different parts of "Europe" fit in and rubbed against each other and their nearest neighbors, and how we get from historical sources to his narrative interpretation. I'd be really happy if I had an equivalent to get a fully textured look at China and/or India, but I don't know of any.
When Germany was "unified" to fight Napoleon, they agreed to use black uniforms because it didn't matter what kingdom/fiefdom you were from, you could always dye your uniforms black. I wonder if the reason black was pushed by the Qin was for the same reason: a relatively quick unification required people to update their symbols quickly, and any clothing item could be changed to black.
if anything, my alternate-history-brainrot is daydreaming right now on some scenario involving a history swap between China and Europe: the feudal system persisted in China and it stays fragmented as Europe nowadays, while the Carolingian Empire (the one that united the Frankish kingdoms in Western Europe after the collapse of the West Roman Empire) stays united & centralized into modern day (instead of turning into the Holy Roman Empire)
Please bear in mind, the state of Qin (Later Qin Dynasty) had similar aesthetics to the later Han Dynasty. Black were commonly used but often paired with dark purple, bright red and dark blue colours. There's a common misconception that the official buildings such as Imperial Palaces from Han, Sui, Tang and Song Dynasty had similar colour scheme as the modern day traditional Japanese architecture. However based on archeological findings, the architecture from the Han, Sui, Tang and Song Dynasty often had colourful decorations very much like the modern day Forbidden City and Shaolin Temple. Similar misconceptions can be found in Western Culture, we may think that the Ancient Greek and Romans had their statues and buildings unpainted just like in the Medieval Era. However, in reality they are painted with vibrant colours. RU-vidr "Maiorianus" did some excellent videos about this topic as well.
Terracotta Soldiers won't wearing black actually.. Qin soldiers were not wearing black but in reality.. Very colorful uniforms.. This was recently discovered in archaeology a decade ago
Mongol Yuan and Korean Kim (Jin/Qing) Dynasties are not Chinese. Do not allow chinophilia to steal other peoples’ history and culture. There are at least 56 ethnics who took turn ruling the territory called china. Tibet is not Chinese and neither are other Dynasties that ruled much of Asia history.
Thank you so much for this! I'm not educated in Chinese history so don't know the aesthetic touchstones for each era, or what each era symbolises in the popular imagination. Until your video, the styling in Chinese media was, to me, fairly homogenous. I also commend how clearly you articulated some very complex concepts. Bravo!
Correction: There are dozens of archeological sites potentially to be the Xia dynasty, it's just never been linked to it due to lack of writing From Longshan culture all the way to Erlitou, they are all potentially Xia's
@@zainmudassir2964 A dynasty existed but... we don't know what they called themselves. For centuries the dynasty before Zhou was called "Yin". We know that the state called itself "Shang" because their (last) capital was found at Anyang, and excavated. So now we all call it "Shang". Likewise we only know the word "Xia" because that is what the Zhou historians called it.
7:25 you can read a japanese manga about this era called "kingdom" with almost 800 chapters, it also have an anime series with 5 seasons (season 5 is still airing) and a movie series with 4 movies with the 4th movie coming this year
At this time, before watching the vid, I'd guess probably the easiest and most obvious would be the clothing styles -- as each period is distinct. There's the "ancient" style that ran between Spring&Autumn/Warring States ~ Wei/Jin N/S Dynasties period. Very distinct particularly with men's clothing. Then comes the Sui-Tang period kicking off the Medieval era, most notable differences coming with women's clothing + official court attires and hats. This style gradually evolves upto Yuan/Ming era -- at which point there's a significant mutual influence and fusion between the styles of the Goryeo dynasty in the Korean peninsula, and late-Yuan/early-Ming up to around the 15th century -- this point marks the early/pre-modern era of styles. And then, finally, from the 17th century on the fall of the Ming Dynasty, and the transition into the Qing dynasty, marks the final big change with a lot of Manchurian attire, hairstyle and etc influence takes hold in China... which runs up to the late-19th, early-20th century. .... So, ima watch the vid now and see if AC also went with the "costumes" as a queue to identifying the different eras. HAHA
choice of weapons can also be distinctive, warring state-qin you see chariots, pole arms that looks like 卜, long slender double edge swords. Han-three kingdom- jin dynasty chariots phased out, and solders carrying single edged straight sword with ring pommel, and nobility still carry long slender double edge swords. Tang starts to replace double edged sword with single edged slender straight sword, tang dao, precursor of katana. Song dynasty you see single edged straight sword with wide blade and ring pommel. Yuan-Ming-Qing straight blades are replaced by wider curved blade, ring pommel is mostly gone, and firearms emerges, and nobility starts to carry double edge straight swords again, but they are wider and shorter in length compare to Han-Jin counterpart
1:24 For any of those who haven't watched this series yet, I highly recommend you guys to check it out. One of the best series from Mainland China. It's a long one, but I can guarantee you it's worth it.
For indian viewers Xia and shang :- Vedic era Zhou :- janpadas Qin&han :- mauryan 3 kingdom:- post muryan Jin, sui ,tang:- gupta empire 5 Dynasties & :- Princedome 10 Kingdoms (rajput) Song :- sultant &rajputs Ming :- mughal & maratha Qing :- british raj
