Microhistory: Our Ancestors’ Genius Survival Wisdom

Across China's five thousand years of civilization, what has there never been a shortage of? Clever people!

And what have our ancestors had in abundance? Wisdom!

From the pre-Qin era through the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, historical figures from every age step forward to share their stories. In just a hundred or two hundred words, each one lays out the remarkable survival wisdom that made them peerless and left others in awe.

Compiled by Huang Yihe, Microhistory: The Clever Survival Wisdom of Our Ancestors explores the art of dealing with people, governing, getting things done, speaking, and living. Through sixteen topics and nearly a thousand historical anecdotes, it introduces the survival philosophies and clever strategies these shrewd ancestors used to navigate a complex and changing world.