A Thousand Years of Longing

The historians of the past wrote about rulers and ministers. But who remembers the common people? Who cared whether they lived or died? Faced with brutal wars and foolish, incompetent rulers, did they have the right to speak up and object? Did women have the right to decide their own lives? And since historians were mostly tools rulers used to paint a picture of peace and prosperity, and were sometimes powerless to act as they wished, has the true history been buried beneath lies?

Du Fu's poetry depicts every facet of society and every kind of life. So I believe that, no matter the era, ordinary people deserve to have their stories told. Among them are those who loyally serve their country and die for it, talented men and women who never get the recognition they deserve, and people who suffer the pain of separation. There is love between parents and children, and the sorrow of parting. I want to depict the ordinary people who were never mentioned in the history books but truly existed. As best I can, I will use my imagination to create one vivid, small-scale character after another. Their joys and sorrows, their lives, deserve to be recorded. Perhaps we, too, will one day become insignificant figures in history, people whose names were never recorded. But we really did live in this time, and we have our own stories. That is why I want to depict the people living in each era, because they are the ones who best reveal its defining features.

Theme: The lives of ordinary people in different dynasties, reflecting the characteristics of their times