Reinventing China — Season 1, Episode 1: The Fall of a Dynasty (1839–1907)
Documentary, War & Politics • 54 min • 1 season, 3 episodes • ★ 7.5/10
Episode synopsis
At the beginning of the 19th century, China, considering itself the most spiritually advanced country on the planet, barred those it deemed "barbarians"—Indians, Arabs, or Europeans—from entering its empire. From Canton and Macau, its only two international ports, cargoes of tea, porcelain, and silk, prized by Westerners, were exported. The Manchu Qing dynasty, in power for two centuries, ruled unchallenged over 400 million subjects belonging to the Han ethnic group.
About Reinventing China
China's history of the last 200 years seems like a boomerang, returning to the West what it once unleashed. The series reveals how devastating the struggles for identity and power have been for the population since the fall of the "Middle Kingdom," and how closely these tragedies are intertwined with our own. Great hopes were placed in a wide variety of visions for the future—and each time, bitter disappointment ensued. From the decline of the empire to its resurgence as a superpower, China's history is both a dream and a nightmare, in which human life is of little value.