#107 - Tang 20: This Is Only a Test

The History of China

Chris Stewart

History

4.6 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 21 August 2016

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Today we explore the insanely difficult, stressful, byzantine... and sometimes fatal... world of the would-be imperial official as they attempt to climb their way through the labyrinth of tests explicitly designed to fail them out. One unlikely success of this system is Yuan Zai, who will going from impoverished nobody to Chancellor of the Empire... all before getting his head lopped off. We then finish out Emperor Daizong's time on the throne before the reign of his son Emperor Dezong. Time Period Covered: 762-781 CE Major Historical Figures: Emperor Daizong of Tang (Li Yu) [r. 762-779] Emperor Dezong of Tang (Li Kuo) [r. 779- 805] Chancellor Yuan Zai [d. 777] General Guo Ziyi [d. 781] Major Works Cited: Dalby, Michael T. "Court Politics in Late Tang Times" in The Cambridge History of China, vol. 3. Miyazaki, Ichisada. China's Examination Hell. Sima, Guang. Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 225. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to an Airwave Media Podcast.
0:05.0	Do you ever feel like listening to non-history podcasts?
0:09.0	No, of course you don't. We're all you could ever need after all.
0:13.4	But if on the off chance you do occasionally sneak over the fence, may I at least suggest you
0:18.5	give Allison Gerlach's Business and Finance show The Unapologetic Capitalist, a try.
0:25.0	Not only is she a fellow Agora Network member, which of course means she's awesome, but she'll also
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0:34.6	a quirky DIY Chinese history show, into a success.
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0:41.6	W.agora Podcast Network.
0:45.0	or through her own home page, Unapologetic Capitalist.
0:49.0	dot com, or otherwise find her wherever the finest podcasts are on tap.
0:55.0	And now, enjoy the show.
0:57.0	Hello, and welcome to the history of China.
1:07.0	Episode 107, this is only a test.
1:15.0	How high could one hope to fly in a society like the Tong Empire?
1:20.0	Not physically, of course, but in terms of social standing, social mobility.
1:25.9	You might start to think of a rigid caste system where everyone was just firmly set in their
1:30.4	place and station, like the feudal serves of medieval Europe or the Jati system in
1:34.9	pre-modern India.
1:36.9	But if you're thinking of that, you might come away from this surprised.
1:41.5	To be sure, upward social mobility has always meant, and continues to mean even today, a great deal of skill and effort, as well as a good dose of luck.
	...

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