Welcome to the final part of our look back at the history of corruption. We've already been to India, Rome, China, Egypt, Babylon, and Greece - and seen that corruption is as old as civilisation. Even when God emperors ruled they were acutely aware of corruption - it seems to be a universal part of political life. The records we've looked at go back 4,000 years, but it's undoubtedly been around longer than that - since before records began. In this post we'll travel to China

Think corruption is a modern disease? Think again. For nearly 4,000 years, kings, priests, and philosophers have wrestled with the same question: what happens when power serves itself? This three-part Rotten&Co series digs into ancient laws, lost empires, and moral manifestos to reveal how early civilizations confronted greed, graft, and the misuse of authority — sometimes with brilliance, sometimes with brutality.