Two-Way Traffic: China, the Hub of the East

Carlton International Media

China's Great Wall suggests a land that shut itself off from the world, yet travelers, ideas, inventions, and goods have flowed in and out of China since ancient times. Buddhism and Islam entered via its fabled silk roads, and innovations in the arts and industrial sciences were exported from its cosmopolitan seaports to the centers of the known world. Why, then, did the most powerful economy on Earth isolate itself from outside trade? In this program, archaeologists, scholars, and others shed light on the tides of China's cultural and economic fortunes, from ancient times to today, as the country once again opens its doors to the world. (58 minutes)

The Power to Predict: Chinese Astronomy and the Mandate of Heaven

Carlton International Media

In this program, Dr. Sun Xiaochun and others consider the roles of astronomy and astrology in China as they relate to the Mandate of Heaven: the belief that the power to rule derived from the power to predict the future. Records of ancient sky-watching, divination via oracle bones, revolutionary advances in timekeeping, and the remarkably accurate Chinese calendar are evaluated, as well as the sociopolitical contributions of Confucianism, Taoism, and, later, Christianity. For 3,000 years-until the fall of the last emperor, early in the 20th century-the Mandate was the key to power. (58 minutes)

Feast or Famine: Water Management and Food Production in China

Carlton International Media

"To manage the country, we must first control the waters," is an ancient Chinese saying that is more true today than ever. This program documents farmers' hardships-droughts that leave Shanxi Province bone-dry and floods that inundate the lands bordering the Yangtze River-and discusses the exacerbating effects of deforestation and urban growth. Also, potential remedies are showcased, including new dams, increased water conservation, sustainable agricultural practices, improved planting methods, genetic modification of crops, and the monumental South to North Water Transfer Project. (58 minutes)

The Dragon Ascends: Creating China's Future

Carlton International Media

In little more than two decades, China made a leap of industrialization comparable to what took the U.S. a century. This program uses the experiences of entrepreneur Guo Guangchang-called one of China's 100 Richest Business People by Forbes-as a springboard to explore that nation's prospects as the awakened dragon ascends. A grassroots shift toward democratic structures, a new definition of education that promotes individual thought and responsibility, the wealth disparity between the coastal economies and interior provinces, and whether a modernized and prosperous China is ever likely to adopt liberal political and social structures are addressed. (53 minutes)

Forging the Future: China's Industrial Heritage

Carlton International Media

China's first industrial revolution occurred more than two millennia before Europe's. Today, there is a new wave of industrialization in China as the awakened dragon prepares to test its wings. This program draws on historical evidence and expert commentary to vividly illustrate China's early mastery of crucial industrial processes and to explain how they contributed to the wealth and progress of Chinese civilization. Pivotal events that hampered China's advancement in recent centuries and the country's move to regain its momentum as a world-class producer and an Information Age innovator are also examined. (58 minutes)

History as a Mirror: Using China's Past to Shape Its Future

Carlton International Media

This program seeks to understand how the Chinese government, arguably the world's most elaborate and long-lived bureaucracy, has managed to balance the tension between controlling its people and keeping them contented enough to sustain national stability. Events unfolding at the village level in Sichuan Province demonstrate the dynamics of an evolving system of rule modeled on Marxism and informed by the legacies of Qin Shihuangdi and Confucius. Can the centralized command and control system first established so long ago continue to sustain China as it moves toward a market-style economy? (58 minutes)

Family Values: The Chinese Family in Transition

Carlton International Media

Historically, the traditional extended family has been China's built-in social security system. Today, under the pressures of family size limits, rapid urbanization, and Western cultural influences, China's social stability is being stressed to the breaking point. This program captures a transitional phase of Chinese history in which many parents are struggling to instill Confucian values and their own received wisdom about life into their children-teens and young adults who must weigh filial obedience, social obligations, and acceptance of established gender roles against a yearning for personal space and independence. (58 minutes)