The Yellow Book: Wang Fuzhi's Lament for the Ming Loyalists
A blood-and-tears work by Master Chuanshan, a record of the survival of Chinese civilization
Written as the Southern Ming was falling, this work of political essays uses “yellow” as a metaphor for China's rightful heritage, embodied in the bloodline of the Yellow Emperor. By examining the rise and fall of dynasties throughout history, it argues that the root cause of the Ming collapse was the breakdown of the barrier between the Chinese and the barbarians.
Three core values:
A tear-stained diagnosis: It sets out seventeen principles for saving the country, including “upholding the distinction between Chinese and barbarians.”
A repository of cultural genes: In a Warring States style that blends parallel prose and free-form writing, it preserves the collective trauma of the Ming loyalists.
An awakening to modernity: Its idea that “the realm belongs to no single family” was a precursor to the national revolution three centuries later.
This edition presents the original text alongside a modern Chinese translation, bringing this “king of forbidden books,” banned and destroyed by the Qing court for two hundred years, back into the world in a form ordinary readers can enjoy.
