Late Ming: I'm No Spoiled Scion

Why did the Ming dynasty fall so suddenly?

Did it fall because of the Wanli Emperor or the Chongzhen Emperor? Because of the eunuchs or the civil officials? Because of the Donglin faction or the eunuch faction?

Did it fall because it lacked money or because it lacked troops? Because of the “bandits” or the Jurchens? Because of natural disasters or human calamities?

Did it fall because of the princely estates or the wealthy households? Because of overseas silver or domestic surcharges? Because society was open or because the government was closed off? And in the end, was the Ming dynasty’s fall the fall of a country, or the destruction of the world as people knew it?

In fact, no matter how hard we try, and no matter how much we want to describe a period of history as a whole, the problems we can uncover are always only fragments of the long river of history, and perhaps just scattered pieces.

There are a thousand Hamlets in a thousand readers’ eyes. Perhaps we can experience something different by looking through the eyes of specific historical figures.