We Made A New Channel!

Kurzgesagt has introduced a new channel titled “Nightshift - Kurzgesagt After Dark,” dedicated to the darker stories of history. The debut video centers on a brutal event in 1809 in the Pearl River Delta. Pirates attacked the fishing village of Sanshan after residents failed to pay protection money. Despite the villagers’ attempts to defend themselves with a wooden palisade and armed men, their efforts failed catastrophically when their only cannon exploded. The resulting massacre left two thousand dead, and the pirates displayed eighty severed heads as a grim warning to others. This incident raises a significant question: how could the Chinese Empire, the wealthiest state on Earth, fail to protect its people? At the turn of the 19th century, China was home to nearly a third of the world's population and possessed the largest economy. Having functioned under a consistent operating system for two millennia, the "Middle Kingdom" saw itself as the pinnacle of civilization, responsible for revolutionary inventions like gunpowder, paper money, and the compass. The ruling Qing Dynasty, originally Manchu outsiders who conquered the region in 1644, chose to preserve the sophisticated Chinese system rather than replace it. The transcript characterizes the Emperor in Beijing as a supermassive black hole, acting as a powerful center of gravity that shaped every aspect of society. By exploring these haunting historical moments, the new channel aims to shed light on the complex, often grim narratives that define the "after dark" side of human history.