Ancient China: The Warring States

Ancient China: The Warring States

From The Ancients by History Hit

May 7, 2026 · 60 min · Episode 659

About this episode

The episode explores the chaos of ancient China during the Warring States period and its impact on the formation of an empire.

How did ancient China plunge into 261 years of chaos, and how did that turmoil forge an empire? Tristan Hughes is joined by Professor Andrew Seth Meyer to explore the Warring States period, from collapsing Zhou power and ruthless coups to mass armies, crossbows, and battlefield slaughter. They trace the rise of Confucian ideas, the seven great states, and the brutal climb of Qin toward China’s first emperor To find out more about Andrew's new book To Rule All Under Heaven, head to his website: https://www.andrewsethmeyer.com/ MORE The Romans and China Listen on Apple Listen on Spotify The Terracotta Army: Listen on Apple Listen on Spotify Presented by Tristan Hughes. The producer and audio editor is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff. All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds The Ancients is a History Hit podcast. Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe .   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People in this episode

Host: Tristan Hughes

Guest: Professor Andrew Seth Meyer

Topics covered

  • Warring States period
  • ancient China
  • Confucian ideas
  • Qin dynasty
  • military history

Keywords

  • ancient China
  • Warring States
  • Confucianism
  • Qin
  • battlefield
  • history
  • empire

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: History Hit, Epidemic Sounds

Books & works: To Rule All Under Heaven

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