Back to Show
Story of China
The Family: The Basis of Chinese Civilization
At the town of Wuxi in the lower Yangtze valley, Michael Wood joins the Qin family as they celebrate the annual festival for the ancestors, a ritual that goes back thousands of years. Banned under the communists such rituals are coming back everywhere in today’s China, as once more the family regains its central place in Chinese culture.
Support Provided By

Unlock with PBS Passport
55:18
The great Taiping Rebellion, the fall of the Empire and the rise of Mao.

Unlock with PBS Passport
55:48
Michael Wood tells the dramatic tale of China's last empire, the Qing.

Unlock with PBS Passport
56:48
The time of the Great Wall , the Forbidden City and treasure ships sent on ocean voyages.

Unlock with PBS Passport
55:18
Michael Wood tells the tale of China's Renaissance.

Unlock with PBS Passport
57:33
Michael Wood conjures up China's first great international age, the Tang Dynasty.

Unlock with PBS Passport
55:18
Michael Wood returns to the beginnings of Chinese history to find clues to today's China.