From the fall of the Ming to the abdication of Puyi, the Qing Dynasty ruled China for nearly three centuries, leaving a legacy of territorial expansion, cultural flourishing, and violent upheaval. Hosts Lucas and Luna explore this final imperial epoch, beginning with the Manchu conquest and the establishment of the Forbidden City as the seat of power. They delve into the reigns of the Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong emperors—three rulers who presided over a golden age of prosperity and military campaigns that extended China’s borders into Tibet, Xinjiang, and Mongolia. Yet beneath the surface, corruption, population pressure, and ethnic tensions simmered. The series examines the Opium Wars, the Taiping Rebellion, and the Self-Strengthening Movement, revealing how the Qing grappled with internal decay and Western imperialism. Key figures like Empress Dowager Cixi, the reformer Kang Youwei, and the revolutionary Sun Yat-sen come to life. The collapse of the dynasty in 1911 did not end its influence: modern China’s borders, ethnic policies, and even its identity as a unified state owe much to the Qing. This show unpacks the contradictions of an empire that was both cosmopolitan and repressive, innovative and stagnant. Why does the Qing still haunt China’s political imagination? Join Lucas and Luna as they trace the rise and fall of the dragon throne.
