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Chinese Characters

Series of essays exploring Chinese history through the life stories of key personalities.

Radio 4,24 episodes

Episodes

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Wu Zetian: The Female Emperor
Rana Mitter tells the story of China's first and only female emperor.
09 Apr 2018,13 mins
Chiang Kai-Shek and Soong Meiling: Asian Power Couple
The power couple who reunited China and nearly lost it to Japan.
10 Apr 2018,13 mins
Kumarajiva: Translator Monk
The translator and Buddhist monk whose words are chanted daily by millions of Chinese.
11 Apr 2018,14 mins
Matteo Ricci: Jesuit and Geometrist
The Jesuit who brought together Renaissance Europe and Ming China through geometry.
12 Apr 2018,14 mins
Ding Ling: Sophie, Sensation and Sex
Rana Mitter on the life of one of China's most important feminist authors.
13 Apr 2018,13 mins
Sima Qian: Grand Historian
The historian who spoke the truth to the emperor and suffered for it.
16 Apr 2018,14 mins
Kublai Khan: Cosmopolitan Conqueror
The Mongol head of a dynasty that both occupied China and connected it to a wider world.
17 Apr 2018,14 mins
Confucius: Becoming the Sage
The smiling philosopher who is perhaps the most famous Chinese person in history.
18 Apr 2018,14 mins
Li Qingzhao: Patriotic Poet
The woman remembered today as one of the great poets of Chinese history.
19 Apr 2018,14 mins
River Elegy: River and Ocean
River Elegy was a pioneering TV documentary series, one of the most watched in history.
20 Apr 2018,14 mins
Zheng He: The Admiral Goes to Africa
The Muslim sailor whose epic maritime voyages created new routes for trade and influence.
23 Apr 2018,14 mins
Robert Hart: Chinese Customs
The influential Ulsterman who became a servant of the Chinese emperors.
24 Apr 2018,14 mins
Lu Xun: Compassionate Cynic
A writer still read by every Chinese pupil and considered China's greatest modern author.
25 Apr 2018,14 mins
Wang Jingwei: Revolutionary Renegade
The man who saw himself as a patriot, but is remembered as one of China's worst traitors.
26 Apr 2018,15 mins
Hong Xiuquan v Zeng Guofan: The Duellists
The rebel leader of the Taiping and his nemesis.
27 Apr 2018,15 mins
Cixi: Ambivalent Empress
The empress dowager who tried - and failed - to reform.
30 Apr 2018,15 mins
Factory Girls: Modern Girls, Modern Dreams
The hard-working, hard-living factory girls behind China's industrial revolution.
01 May 2018,1 min
Mao Zedong: The Man Who Made Modern China
The Communist leader who changed his country forever.
02 May 2018,1 min
Bruce Lee: Screen Warrior
The fastest pair of fists in East Asia and the first global Chinese film star.
03 May 2018,15 mins
Deng Xiaoping: Black Cat, Yellow Cat
The paramount leader who enabled China's economic miracle.
04 May 2018,1 min
Omnibus 1
Portraits of remarkable individuals who have made China what it is today.
04 May 2018,60 mins
Omnibus 2
Portraits of remarkable individuals who have made China what it is today.
11 May 2018,60 mins
Omnibus 3
Portraits of remarkable individuals who have made China what it is today.
18 May 2018,60 mins
Omnibus 4
Portraits of remarkable individuals who have made China what it is today.
25 May 2018,60 mins