Three Hundred Years of the Great Song: The Breath I Couldn't Hold Back

From the Later Zhou’s House of Chai handing over the throne to the leap at Yashan, this book lays bare more than three hundred years of history, nine Northern Songs and nine Southern Songs, with great men, cowards, and madmen taking turns on the stage. Other books on Song history start off all high and mighty: impoverished and weak, favoring civil officials over the military. It feels like doing a reading-comprehension exercise. This book doesn’t do that. It puts on no airs, bows to no one, and doesn’t cover up for emperors or praise scholars as saints. It gives credit where it’s due: the Song was wealthy, cultured, and knew how to live. And it calls out what deserves criticism: factional infighting, cowardice abroad, and an ending without even a shred of dignity. You’ll see how Zhao Kuangyin schemed his way into having the yellow robe placed on his shoulders; how Wang Anshi turned good intentions into a mess; who really had Yue Fei killed; and how Li Qingzhao, a woman, held on through an age of chaos. You’ll also find the everyday details textbooks leave out: what people ate and wore, how they bought homes, and how they chose to lie flat. The author breaks down the historical sources and mixes them with modern jokes. It’s an easy read, and after the laughter, you can still chew over the lessons: how a dynasty rises, and how it gradually brings about its own downfall. Three hundred years of bustle and absurdity, all in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.