Content introduction
"Eight Hundred Years of Jingchu" is a magnificent epic masterpiece. With nearly 500 chapters, it provides the first panoramic representation of the eight hundred years of the Chu Kingdom's vicissitudes from its founding to its demise.
The whole book begins in the era of King Cheng of Zhou Dynasty, when Xiong Yi was granted the title of Zinan and established the capital in Danyang. Since then, the people of Chu have made great efforts to open up the mountains and forests along the Jianghan River Basin. After several generations of management, until Xiong Tong assumed the title of King Wu, the Chu Kingdom began to become powerful. Later, King Wen moved to Ying, became king and competed in the Central Plains. King Zhuang became a "blockbuster", aspired to the Zhou Dynasty, achieved hegemony, and pushed the Chu Kingdom to its peak.
However prosperous and declining, this epic also profoundly depicts the shadow of the empire. The shame and humiliation of Master Wu entering Ying, the deep hatred of beating corpses and digging up graves, and the crying loyalty of Shen Baoxu and Qin Ting, staged the legend of national restoration from a desperate situation. After the ZTE, Wu Qi's reforms were like meteors passing by, illuminating the way forward but fleeting; in the age of Huai Xiang, Qu Zi sang by the river and turned his political ideals into the swan song of "Li Sao". Until Bai Qi uprooted Ying, the ancestral temple was burned down, and the last spiritual totem of the Chu people collapsed in the fire.
But the soul of Chu is immortal. In this homeland, Xiang Yu's oath of "Although there are three households in Chu, Chu will surely die if Qin is destroyed" was finally realized by Xiang Yu. The courage of the giant deer to break the cauldron and the sorrow of Gaixia to bid farewell to my concubine brought the most tragic conclusion to this eight-hundred-year-old epic.
This is not only a history of the struggle for hegemony between princes and generals, but also a history of the growth and integration of civilizations. The Chu people blended Chinese and Miao Man to create a unique culture - rich in shamanism, magnificent in thought, and peaked in bronze and lacquer craftsmanship. Chu Ci, Chu sounds, and Chu customs are ultimately deeply embedded in the genes of Chinese civilization.
