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Hello and welcome to the history of China.

Hello and welcome to the history of China.

Episode 35, things fall apart.

Episode 35, things fall apart.

Last time, we left off in the middle of Emperor Juan's fraught reign, who had only just

saved himself from the autocratic violence of his uncle, with the help of five of his loyal court

Unix. In turn, the victorious and re-empowered Juan had rewarded his Unix with vast powers.

Today we launch into the far-reaching ramifications of this outcome and will watch

as a religious fervor launches one of the most serious challenges yet faced by the already

crumbling Eastern Han Dynasty.

This so-called Yellow Turban Rebellion is an important milestone in chronicling the disintegration

of the Han Empire, not because it will end up being successful in its own right, but because of its place in literature.

Though, as we've already begun to see and will elaborate further, Han's eventual death will be one of a thousand cuts, far more than a singular massive blow.

The Taoist Yellow Turbine rebellion and the subsequent unrest that spanned the period of 184

to 205 a.d. has traditionally been marked as the real beginning of the end

because it acted to massively accelerate Hans' slow withering.

Nowhere is this more obvious than the most famous dramatic novel

concerning the era. San Guo I and Yi, or in English, the romance of the three

kingdoms, which uses the Yellow Turbine Rebellion as its opening event.

The 14th century fictionalized telling is also quite famous, or as some might say, infamous,

for its incredible character density. If you think all the characters in

...