You're listening to an Airwave Media Podcast.

This week's episode is brought to you in part by audible.com.

With now more than 200,000 books, magazines, comedy sketches, and just about anything else you can think of available.

Audible is the leading provider of audio entertainment on the web.

And you can now get a special trial offer of one free month service and a complementary audiobook download by using the web address

Audible Trial.com slash THOC for your free audiobook download and great deals on all of

Audible's amazing catalog. Once again that's Audible Trial dot com slash THOC

for your free download.

Hello and welcome to the history of China.

Episode 62, State of Emergency.

Episode 62 State of Emergency

Before launching straight into the goings-on in China, I'd like to take a moment this week to pull back and see exactly where we are in the grand sweep of history. We're going to begin today in the year 453, which is a particularly notable year, not in China, but in that other great ancient empire on the other end of the Silk Road, Rome.

The Roman Empire had been hanging on by a thread, and for the past decade had been under

the continuous assault of the Hunnic Empire by the scourge of God himself, Attila.

Since 441, he had been an existential threat to the Mediterranean Empire and a nightmare so terrible that 1500

years later his name can still inspire dread.

In 451 he had invaded Gaul, modern France, and then turned south to invade northern Italy in 452.

From the Roman perspective, these barbarian Hunnic horse archers, had come seemingly out of nowhere, and against

them there was no effective counter, even when they'd return a thousand years later. But of course we students of Chinese history know pretty much

exactly where they come from, don't we? Attila's advance would only be halted by his untimely death in 453, and with it at least for the time being the Roman Empire would be spared destruction.

The Western Roman Empire's time will come soon in spare destruction.

The Western Roman Empire's time will come soon enough.

...