This was the last feudal dynasty in Chinese history, and the most controversial, the most legendary, and the one closest to our own time.
It began among the White Mountains and Black Waters. With just thirteen suits of armor, its founders rose from a small tribe struggling to survive between rival powers into a vast empire that swept across Liaodong and took control of the Central Plains. It created the prosperous Kangxi and Qianlong reigns, when its territory stretched far and wide and foreign states paid tribute, but it also decayed behind closed doors and teetered under the guns of the great powers.
Here, you will see:
How a young man left destitute and bereaved built a kingdom through patience and ruthlessness;
How a gifted heir changed the dynasty’s name and established its institutions, transforming Later Jin into the Great Qing;
How three emperors, Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong, fought powerful ministers, put down rebellions, and expanded the empire, taking the dynasty to its zenith;
The palace intrigues, political scheming, generals fighting to the death, and the integrity of scholars: the truth is more captivating than palace dramas, and far more brutal.
You will witness Dorgon’s ambition and glory, Shunzhi’s infatuation and the mystery surrounding his departure to become a monk, Yongzheng’s iron-fisted reforms, and Qianlong’s Ten Great Campaigns. You will also see Jiaqing’s mediocrity, Daoguang’s weakness, Cixi’s autocratic rule, and the entire course of a dynasty’s rise to its peak and eventual collapse.
No obscure historical records, no dry lectures. In accessible language and from an entertaining perspective, this turns nearly three hundred years of Qing history into a long story that’s fun, funny, easy to follow, and utterly addictive.
