The Twenty-Five Histories, Read in a Whole New Way

How the Twenty-Five Histories Can Be Read

This book tells the story of the Twenty-Five Histories from beginning to end. More than forty million characters, hundreds of volumes, and countless names, reign titles, institutions, and systems: an ordinary person could never finish them in a lifetime. But history should not be the exclusive preserve of scholars in their studies. It should be a window through which every Chinese person can understand where they came from.

This book does one thing: it retells more than forty million characters’ worth of historical texts in the form of stories.

These are not fanciful tales or embellished romances. Every story comes from official histories, and every detail stands up to scrutiny. Yu the Great passed his home three times without entering while controlling the floods. This was no myth, but the choice one man made between duty and family. Qin Shi Huang conquered the six states and unified the realm. “Tyrant” alone cannot explain him; his story reveals the full logic behind the birth of an empire. Emperor Wu of Han drove the Xiongnu north, Emperor Taizong of Tang ushered in the Zhenguan era, Genghis Khan’s cavalry swept across Eurasia, and Zhu Yuanzhang rose from beggar to emperor. These are not dry accounts, but stories of real people, with flesh and blood. Empress Ma saved her husband with a pastry; Yu Qian owned no wealth to leave behind; Fang Xiaoru’s ten clans were executed, yet he refused to draft the edict. History holds both the ice-cold and the burning hot.

Take a little time after a meal and read a few pages. You don’t need to memorize reign titles or recite institutions. Keep reading, and the threads of five thousand years will fall into place. Only by knowing where we came from can we better understand where we should go.