From emperors to poets to generals, the BBC’s former Beijing correspondent Carrie Gracie explores the lives of key figures from China’s rich past to examine how Chinese society has evolved over the past 3,000 years.
Episodes available:
Indefinitely 
Fri, 19 Oct 12
Duration:
14 mins
At best they have been taken for granted and sometimes they have endured far worse at the hands of China's governments and invaders alike. What voice for the Chinese public now?
Thu, 18 Oct 12
Duration:
15 mins
A 19th-century Christian king on the Yangtze. The Europeans joined forces against him, and nearly a 100 years later, it was another rebel who claimed to put China's people in power.
Wed, 17 Oct 12
Duration:
14 mins
Running China has always required a civil service machine. One man's tale of triumph and disaster among the yes men and flatterers of the 11th century.
Tue, 16 Oct 12
Duration:
15 mins
The swashbuckling adventurer from ancient China, when cunning and courage ruled, whose exploits still grip China today.
Mon, 15 Oct 12
Duration:
14 mins
The Emperor who built a unified China, but enslaved nations and buried scholars in the process. Hero or villain? History's verdict on the man who left the terracotta warriors and a mighty empire.
Fri, 12 Oct 12
Duration:
15 mins
Three sisters end up on different sides of China's bloody political divide after marrying some of the most important men of the 20th Century.
Thu, 11 Oct 12
Duration:
15 mins
The two men whose poetry remains as vivid in the Chinese imagination as that of William Shakespeare in the West.
Wed, 10 Oct 12
Duration:
15 mins
Many Chinese look to Confucius for guidance. But Confucius looked to the Duke of Zhou. He handed over power to his nephew 3,000 years ago - but his ideas still motivate leaders today.
Tue, 9 Oct 12
Duration:
15 mins
The Chinese emperor who inspired Coleridge and Columbus was not Chinese. Carrie Gracie finds a pattern in the way China digests foreigners and their ideas.
Tue, 9 Oct 12
Duration:
15 mins
Free speech has long had a high price in China. Here Sima Qian ponders his privates - and posterity - in a tale that still resonates after more than 2000 years.
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A series that revisits the childhood homes and neighbourhoods of influential Britons.
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Thu, 25 Aug 11
29 minutes
In celebration of the 250th anniversary of Robert Burns - over 300 poems have been recorded by actors from all generations. Visit bbc.co.uk/robertburns for more from Robert Burns.
Sat, 11 Dec 10
1 minute
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