This is Chris Bricker, and I’m thrilled to introduce you to Bill Porter – or Red Pine – one of the world’s finest translators of Chinese Poetry and religious texts. For those of you who already know him, and those of you who will get to know him, he prefers to just being your neighbor Bill Porter. Each week, Bill will bring you a series of enticing installments that we’re calling A Journey Along the Silk Road. So sit back and enjoy the journey, every Tuesday at approximately 5:20 and Friday at approximately 12:15. And lose yourself in the mystery of the Silk Road!
(Airdate: May 28, 2024) We grabbed another bus, and now we’re in Shaanxi Province on the Wei River Plain, more than 100 kilometers west of Xi’an, The region was famous for its bronze technology. The Wei River plain provided a regular supply of tin, which is a key ingredient in making bronze. North of here was the home of Zhou Dynasty. Let me also tell you the story of the Buddha’s finger bone…
(Airdate: May 21, 2024) We’re 60 kilometers west of Xi’an, visiting the of tomb of Yang Geifei. She was considered the most beautiful woman in China, and after she was buried here it was said that the soil of the grave mound took on a wonderful fragrance, and women came from all over to collect it….
(Airdate: May 14, 2024) Yang Guifei was too much of an incredible distraction to the Emperor and he lost interest in governance. The rebel army stormed the gates, and the emperor and his entourage fled the capital along the same road we’ve been traveling ourselves….
(Airdate: May 7, 2024) We’re making our way from the tombs of Emperor Wu and his general, who together launched a campaign to gain control of the Silk Road. We caught another bus and stopped a the burial place of, Yang Guifei, who was the beloved concubine of Emperor Xuanzong in his later years. “Guifei” was the highest rank of imperial consorts during her time.
(Airdate: April 30, 2024) Emperor Wu’s young general was brilliant and successful, and he extended the Great Wall. During this period, the Han Dynasty saw its greatest territorial expansion.
(Airdate: April 30, 2024) Emperor Wu’s young general was brilliant and successful, and he extended the Great Wall. During this period, the Han Dynasty saw its greatest territorial expansion.
(Airdate: April 23, 2024) We’re 40 kilometers west of Xi’an in a place called Mauling, which is the name of the hill beneath which Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was buried 2000 years ago. He ascended the Dragon thrown in 141 B.C. at the age of 16, and he stayed on the thrown 54 years, longer than any other Chinese emperor.
(Airdate: April 9, 2024) We’re still in Xi’an, the ancient imperial capital of China (Chang’an), and during its heyday in the sixth to the ninth centuries it was the biggest metropolis in the world. More than a million people lived within its 50 Kilometers of stone walls. We’re at the starting point of the Silk Road.
(Airdate: April 2, 2024) We’ve just entered the huge hangar that contains the terra cotta underground army that protects the grave of China’s first emperor, and by using our handy dandy fake teacher’s I.D.s, we’ve saved enough to buy a round of cold beers and a plate of deep-fried chicken guts afterwards.”
(Airdate: March 26, 2024) We’ve just entered the huge hangar that contains the terra cotta underground army that protects the grave of China’s first emperor and, by using our handy dandy fake teacher’s I.D.s, we’ve saved enough to buy a round of cold beers and a plate of deep-fried chicken guts afterwards.
