‘The emperor is far away’

‘The emperor is far away’

July 7, 2026 · 26 min

About this episode

This episode explores the complexities of life in Ming Dynasty China through essays that address significant philosophical and societal questions.

Ming Dynasty China left us copious texts, but these veil the lives of the vast majority of its people from our view. Aeon audio explores the most profound and relevant ideas, told through essays that help us make sense of ourselves and the world. We ask the big, existentially significant questions and find the freshest, most original answers, provided by leading thinkers on philosophy, science, psychology, society and culture. Each episode features a narrated Aeon essay, a journey into expert concepts and stories that provoke, enrich and expand our horizons. Aeon is a nonprofit digital magazine publishing essays and videos that seek to illuminate the big questions of life. Free to read and now free to listen, Aeon’s mission is to share knowledge and insight with everyone, everywhere. Discover essays and videos at aeon.co . Aeon essays are only ever written and edited by human experts. We use AI for audio narration only.

People in this episode

Host: Aeon

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Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Ming Dynasty

Places: China

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