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The Celestial Empire: Path of the Dragon attempts to unveil some of the mystique of China - its people, art, culture and the heritage of this 5,000 year-old empire. This 18 part series follows Chinese history with its unrelenting perseverance through the ages. Both past and present are explored, with each episode focusing on a unique facet of Chinese life.
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These video biographies reveal the lives, careers, times, and literature of twenty five major American and British authors. Illustrations, diary extracts, letters, conversations, music of the time and narration recreate the aura of each, with works carefully placed in biographical context.
check individual tittles for times.
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This episode looks at the factors that have contributed to China's strength and staying power including Confucianism, a secular philosophy of social conduct, not a religion; cultural pride which unifies rather than divides the population, despite its diversity; the importance of education: the country's efficient and modern bureaucracy; and the lack of a dominant religion or passion for religion among the Chinese.
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Takes us to the Sumerian archaeological sites in present day Iran, Iraq, Syria, and elsewhere, to see the influence of cuneiform, the oldest known writing system in the world. Its development brought about a cultural renaissance,and Sumer's rise in the Mesopotamian region. The influence of these Sumerian wedge characters did not end with the fall of Sumer, but also provided a literary foundation for civilizations that followed. Cuneiform influenced Akkadian, Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian writing, evolving over time from rudimentary pictures to standardized symbols.
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This revealing look at how the Chinese relate to each other on a daily basis evaluates to what extent the Confucian ideal of family life really exists.
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This episode examines the various aspects of traditional morality in China.
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Describes dramatic change brought about by the evolution of writing from simple letters to entire alphabetic systems. This program both examines the reasons the alphabets were developed, and traces how the use of alphabets spread around the world, changing the cultures they touched. Letters of a sphinx discovered on the Sinai Peninsula in 1905 reveal how the characters found there were in a very different style from earlier forms of writing and suggest the beginning of an alphabet.
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What happened in Europe at the time of the renaissance and
how has it influenced modern man? This historical documentary
takes us back to one of history's most intriguing and crucial
chapters of Europe's history when doors opened to whole
new worlds; when man explored the stars, and traveled to the
ends of the earth.
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Considers the nature of England's monastic orders, their power and corruption, and the aftermath of the edicts of 1536 and 1539.
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Mawlana-Jalal-al-din-Rumi emerged in the 13th century as an apostle of tolerance long before the development of Renaissance humanism and many centuries prior to the European Enlightenment. His was a light of spirituality thrusting from the darkness of the Medieval Age towards a new type of humanism.
His teachings encompassed the ideas of tolerance, urging human beings to respect each other's faiths, ideals, orientations, cultural values, and developing the ability to get along despite divisions of nationality and religion.
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The Written Word investigates the development of ancient writing. Who invented letters, how did they do it, and what was their motivation? The answers to these questions provide a key to understanding the development of civilization itself.
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