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The inculcation of Buddhism from India as the state religion in China was enabled by the violent rise of China’s only ever woman Emperor. Raised by pious Buddhist parents, Wu Zetian left a trail of bodies in her wake as she charted a path to absolute power. From a lowly ranked concubine in the imperial harem to the corridors of power, she used Buddhism to legitimise her unprecedented claim to rule. Listen as William and Anita discuss the unstoppable rise of China’s only woman Emperor to rule in her own right, and what this meant for Ancient India’s empire of ideas.
To fill out the survey: survey.empirepoduk.com
To buy William's book: https://coles-books.co.uk/the-golden-road-by-william-dalrymple-signed-edition
Twitter: @EmpirePodUK
Email: [email protected]
Goalhangerpodcasts.com
Assistant Producers: Anouska Lewis and Evan Green
Producer: Callum Hill
Exec Producer: Neil Fearn
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
By Goalhanger4.6
20692,069 ratings
The inculcation of Buddhism from India as the state religion in China was enabled by the violent rise of China’s only ever woman Emperor. Raised by pious Buddhist parents, Wu Zetian left a trail of bodies in her wake as she charted a path to absolute power. From a lowly ranked concubine in the imperial harem to the corridors of power, she used Buddhism to legitimise her unprecedented claim to rule. Listen as William and Anita discuss the unstoppable rise of China’s only woman Emperor to rule in her own right, and what this meant for Ancient India’s empire of ideas.
To fill out the survey: survey.empirepoduk.com
To buy William's book: https://coles-books.co.uk/the-golden-road-by-william-dalrymple-signed-edition
Twitter: @EmpirePodUK
Email: [email protected]
Goalhangerpodcasts.com
Assistant Producers: Anouska Lewis and Evan Green
Producer: Callum Hill
Exec Producer: Neil Fearn
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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