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This book takes Bai Juyi's long narrative poem "Song of Everlasting Sorrow" as the research object, revealing how this eternal song has transformed imperial love and the rise and fall of dynasties into cultural symbols that span thousands of years. The text focuses on the ultimate romance between Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty and Concubine Yang Guifei from the ultimate romance in Huaqing Pool to the life and death farewell of Maweipo, and analyzes the core of "Eternal Regret" - not only the political tragedy of "the six armies have no choice but to do nothing", but also the eternal longing of "the soul never comes to dream". The book restores the historical context from the prosperous Kaiyuan Dynasty to the Anshi Rebellion, decodes the metaphorical tension of "The fishing sun and the drums startle the neon clothes", and shows how personal emotions have become a footnote to the turning of the times; by contrasting the extravagance of the court with the desolation of exile, it deconstructs the power paradox behind "death before the brows of a moth and a horse". Finally, it was pointed out that the eternal charm of this poem is that it is not only an elegy to the prosperous Tang Dynasty, but also reflects the collective dilemma of human beings in the face of love, power and destiny. When modern people reread "Eternal Life and Sometimes End", they can still touch the resonance and tremor that transcends the times.

This book helps you quickly understand the Opium War, the beginning of modern history. From the pre-war confrontation between China and Britain, the opium trade, to Lin Zexu's smoking ban and the smoke of artillery fire; detailing the impact of the Treaty of Nanjing, tracing the reflections of "Opening Your Eyes to See the World", and the Second Opium War... The seven short essays outline the causes, processes and warnings of a century of national humiliation, inviting you to deeply understand the humiliation and awakening of modern China.