The Ming Dynasty: Complete Collector’s Edition

Ming Dynasty: Those Things takes a look at the history of the Ming dynasty across the three centuries from 1344 to 1644. Drawing on more than twenty sources and collections of notes from the Ming era, including the Veritable Records of the Ming, the Comprehensive Mirror of the Ming, the History of the Ming, and the Outline of Ming History, and reviewed and recommended by Ming history expert Mao Peiqi, it surveys three hundred years of Ming history and reveals a different Ming dynasty: Highlight 1: Meet the emperors with unique personalities The Ming dynasty lasted 276 years and had 16 emperors, not one of whom fit the same mold. Learn entrepreneurship from Zhu Yuanzhang / Lessons from the Jianwen Emperor’s failure / The Jiajing Emperor’s mastery of power politics / The artsy young Ming Wuzong / Ming Xiaozong, who remained devoted to one wife / The carpenter emperor Ming Xizong... Highlight 2: Meet the military heroes, a generation of extraordinary talents The sheer number of loyal and righteous figures is enough to make you sigh with regret. They faced the enemy with cold resolve and shed tears for their heroes. Xu Da, Chang Yuchun, and Lan Yu: How should the founding-era warrior gods be ranked? / The scholar Yu Qian won the defense of Beijing / Why did the Japanese revere Wang Yangming? / Qi Jiguang, the master of battle formations / Was Yuan Chonghuan a hero or a villain?... Highlight 3: Meet the celebrated ministers remembered through the ages The story of political maneuvering at court and imperial power struggles, with sweeping commentary on the realm, political tactics, the state of the world, and human nature. The man behind Zhu Di, Yao Guangxiao / The many sides of Hai Rui, an upright official of his age / Xu Jie, the Ming dynasty’s foremost politician / Whom did Zhang Juzheng’s reforms threaten? / What kind of organization was the Donglin Party?... Highlight 4: Celebrate a culture that broke with the old and ushered in the new A golden age of calligraphy, poetry, painting, and legendary novels, when culture, the economy, and the arts all flourished. How was the Yongle Encyclopedia compiled? / The rakish talent Tang Bohu / The four great novels of the Ming dynasty that burst onto the scene: Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Water Margin, Journey to the West, and The Plum in the Golden Vase / The madman Li Zhi... The Ming dynasty was an era that stirred the blood, an era of dazzling strangeness, an era both fierce and tender, an era that endured calamity yet rose to grandeur. Like a fold in Chinese history, every page of the Ming dynasty holds a remarkable story, carrying cultural codes, political logic, and insights into human nature that belong to the Chinese people.