The Ming Dynasty: 300 Years of Those Affairs
From Zhu Yuanzhang’s rise from commoner to emperor to Chongzhen’s hanging at Coal Hill, from Zheng He’s voyages across the seas to Zhang Juzheng’s thunderous reforms, this book uses a humorous and lively style to recount the rise, decline, glory, and disgrace of the Ming dynasty over three hundred years. The author abandons dry piles of historical facts and instead uses a novelistic narrative to bring emperors and ministers down from the pedestal and restore them to flesh-and-blood ordinary people. You will see Zhu Di’s grand vision and iron-blooded ruthlessness, Hai Rui’s uncompromising integrity and stubborn innocence, and Wei Zhongxian’s schemes and his bleak end. The book contains not only the stormy winds of war and the clash of blades and horses, but also the ever-shifting struggles of the court and the everyday life of the common people. Through one vivid story after another, you come to understand the eternal contest between power and human nature, and feel the rise and fall of destinies that make one sigh in regret along the river of history.
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