A 2,000-year-old battle ended in fire, and a tree species never recovered

A 2,000-year-old battle ended in fire, and a tree species never recovered

An ancient Chinese army set fire to an enemy capital, but things got out of hand.

What 2,000 years of Chinese history reveals about today’s AI-driven technology panic – and the future of inequality

In the sweltering summer of AD18, a desperate chant echoed across China’s sun-scorched plains: “Heaven has gone blind!” Thousands of starving farmers, their faces smeared with ox blood, marched toward the opulent vaults held by the Han dynasty’s elite rulers. As recorded in the ancient text Han Shu (book of Han), these farmers’ calloused hands held bamboo scrolls – ancient “tweets” accusing the bureaucrats of hoarding grain while the farmers’ ch…