The Great Scissors of Song and Liao, the Chinese Gourd of Plenty, Shanxi's Sugar-Coated Haws, Luoyang's Treasure Basin, Guanzhong's Big Pocket, Liaodong's Long-Necked Vase... Every place name holds the rise and fall of a dynasty. Sima Yi, the office accountant; Zhao Gou, the rampaging king; Li Xuan, the fanatic football fan; Li Zicheng, the laid-off courier; Huang Ba, the prison graduate student; Xiao Yan, the man left holding the bag... Every name has a story behind it.
The first volume begins with Zhao Kuangyin, who overthrew Later Zhou and founded his own dynasty, revealing the cycles behind history. It then turns to women who were deeply objectified in the patriarchal age. Although women had little room to make their mark in ancient China, every dynasty had women who found a chance to carve their names into a world dominated by men.
The second volume begins with Wei and explores the love and enmity between the two dynasties that history pairs as "Wei and Jin." After the conflict between Later Jin and Fan Yanguang of Weizhou comes to an end, it recounts the "Liu Han" lineage and the distinct paths to founding a dynasty taken by Liu Bang, Liu Xiu, Liu Bei, and Liu Yu, ending the book with Liu Yu's ambition to "swallow ten thousand miles like a tiger."
This book is very interesting. It reinterprets Chinese history from a unique perspective and allowed me to see a different side of women in the male-dominated era. I especially like the description of the female characters who left their names in history. The author's point of view is very novel, which gave me a new understanding of history. Recommended to friends who like history, you will definitely get something different!
An introductory work on Chinese history. Although it does not involve much historical knowledge, it has some novel ideas in the organization and narration of historical materials. It connects historical events and historical figures in different time and space through different latitudes or internal connections. The writing is more vivid and interesting, which is helpful for readers to become familiar with historical events.