/ 2025 / … The Entire History of China. From its mythical origins along the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers, ancient China witnessed the dawn of dynastic rule with the Xia, followed by the Shang’s development of written history. The Zhou Dynasty, China’s longest, fostered advancements in infrastructure and philosophy, yet eventually fractured into the Warring States period, culminating in the Qin’s unification under Qin Shi Huang. Despite his centralizing reforms, the Qin’s harsh rule gave way to the Han Dynasty, a golden age marked by Confucian revival, the Silk Road, and significant expansion, though internal strife and external threats led to its eventual fragmentation and the rise of the Sui.
The Sui’s brief reunification paved the way for the Tang Dynasty, an era of prosperity and cultural flourishing, tragically interrupted by the An Lushan Rebellion. The subsequent Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms was a period of chaos until the Song Dynasty brought relative stability, experiencing economic and technological progress, but ultimately succumbing to the Mongol Yuan Dynasty. Non-native rule under Kublai Khan saw increased global interaction but also ethnic discrimination, eventually overthrown by the Ming Dynasty, which restored Han rule and strengthened the Great Wall.
The second non-native dynasty, the Qing, initially prospered under rulers like Kangxi, but faced increasing Western influence in the 19th century, marked by the Opium Wars and unequal treaties, leading to internal turmoil like the Taiping Rebellion. Defeats against Japan further weakened the Qing, culminating in the Xinhai Revolution and the establishment of the Republic of China in 1912, ending millennia of dynastic rule.
The fragile republic soon dissolved into the Warlord Era, setting the stage for the rise of the KMT and CCP, their eventual civil war, and the establishment of the People’s Republic of China under Mao Zedong, whose radical policies led to immense suffering. Deng Xiaoping’s reforms brought economic growth, but political tensions persisted. The rise of Xi Jinping marks a new era of consolidated power and increasing global influence for China.
China Rises: Getting Rich
/ 2025 / … It is one of the most extraordinary transformations of our time – China. A country long in the grip of communism is now devoted to private enterprise. That is what they had to do for the ordinary people of China to become richer. This new economic superpower is taking on the West. But China’s surging economy has a dark side. Can China keep moving forward or will the forces of change tear it apart?
The city of Chongqing is a sprawling metropolis of seven million people. It’s the scene of one of the latest chapters in China’s remarkable economic rise. Back in the 1980’s China’s communist party decided to permit the return of private enterprise. In cities along the coast thousands of new factories sprung up fueling an economic boom. Now, China’s trying to extent that boom to the interior of the country to places like Chongqing. The government is pouring in money to improve and modernize the city.
Chongqing today is a city on the move; a place where if you’re smart enough and tough enough, you can get rich. Like the man who lives there, secluded high above the city. His name is Zuo Zongshen. Zuo is one of the richest men in China. He’s a charter member of China’s new business elite. A self-made man with a powerful will to succeed.
His family and he were ordinary people. In the eyes of Westerners they would have been considered very poor. When he had the opportunity he cherished it and worked hard. When China’s leaders allowed the return of private enterprise Zuo was ready to make his move. His home is a monument to his success. Zuo’s palatial estate is tended by a private staff of more than sixty. The interior of his sprawling mansion recalls the splendor of old Europe. On his manicured grounds he keeps black swans and an assortment of animals. English thoroughbreds and Zuo’s special passion, a collection of pedigree dogs housed in kennels kept immaculately clean.
For most of the year Zuo lives there alone. His wife works for him in the United States where she lives with their young son. That way he has more time to work because he’s by himself and he has nothing to worry about. At night he has a lot of time for work. He works on Sundays too. Work has become a habit for him.
It is one of the most extraordinary transformations of our time – China. A country long in the grip of communism is now devoted to private enterprise. That is what they had to do for the ordinary people of China to become richer. This new economic superpower is taking on the West. But China’s surging economy has a dark side. Can China keep moving forward or will the forces of change tear it apart?
The city of Chongqing is a sprawling metropolis of seven million people. It’s the scene of one of the latest chapters in China’s remarkable economic rise. Back in the 1980’s China’s communist party decided to permit the return of private enterprise. In cities along the coast thousands of new factories sprung up fueling an economic boom. Now, China’s trying to extent that boom to the interior of the country to places like Chongqing. The government is pouring in money to improve and modernize the city.
Chongqing today is a city on the move; a place where if you’re smart enough and tough enough, you can get rich. Like the man who lives there, secluded high above the city. His name is Zuo Zongshen. Zuo is one of the richest men in China. He’s a charter member of China’s new business elite. A self-made man with a powerful will to succeed.
His family and he were ordinary people. In the eyes of Westerners they would have been considered very poor. When he had the opportunity he cherished it and worked hard. When China’s leaders allowed the return of private enterprise Zuo was ready to make his move. His home is a monument to his success. Zuo’s palatial estate is tended by a private staff of more than sixty. The interior of his sprawling mansion recalls the splendor of old Europe. On his manicured grounds he keeps black swans and an assortment of animals. English thoroughbreds and Zuo’s special passion, a collection of pedigree dogs housed in kennels kept immaculately clean.
For most of the year Zuo lives there alone. His wife works for him in the United States where she lives with their young son. That way he has more time to work because he’s by himself and he has nothing to worry about. At night he has a lot of time for work. He works on Sundays too. Work has become a habit for him.