The Five Dynasties

Cai Dongfan's History of China is a modern-language edition of his popular historical romances covering the successive dynasties, a vast and accessible history of China. Across more than a thousand chapters, it recounts the changing fortunes of the ages, beginning with Qin Shi Huang and ending in 1920. Its eleven volumes cover 2,166 years of history. In its immense span of time, vast cast of characters, and monumental length, it is considered the greatest historical romance of its kind. Cai Dongfan has been hailed as a great historian of his generation, wielding a brush of enduring brilliance.

In selecting and using historical sources, Cai Dongfan relied primarily on official histories while also drawing on unofficial records and anecdotes. As he put it, he used official histories as the foundation, striving for accuracy, and anecdotes as the framework, avoiding fabrication. He used unofficial accounts and other such sources with great care, often subjecting them to repeated verification.

In form, the work stands out for its principle of using moral ideas to convey events and expressing feeling through the telling. Cai wrote the main text, annotations, and commentary himself.