Sunday, April 26, 2009

Speaking of Great Empires

Check our this great series on empire builders:

Engineering an Empire

I've always been interested in how empires rise and fall. Technology and social organization lie at the core of this question. I'm especially fascinated by the rise of China, and within that broad panoply of dynasties, the most interesting is the era of Cheng Ho, or Zheng He, as his name is written in this series. Although a mere commoner, not an emperor, his expansion of Chinese influence through his famous voyages of exploration and conquest during the Ming Dynasty amount to a spectacular reminder that European "imperialism", or as lefties are fond of pretending, American imperialism, is hardly the only example of the quest for global hegemony in history on this planet.

Check out that particular video here.

Here's more.

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