This is a humorous book that tells the “serious” history of the Qing Dynasty in a decidedly “irreverent” way. From Nurhaci launching his rebellion with just thirteen suits of armor to Puyi abdicating in the Forbidden City after riding a bicycle, three hundred years of Qing history are broken down, steeped in a teapot of humor, and poured out as story after story that will make you laugh through your tears.
In this book, you’ll see Kangxi ascend the throne at age eight and dare to take on Oboi in a “wrestling match”; Yongzheng sleep only four hours a day and write millions of characters’ worth of “social media posts” while reviewing memorials; Qianlong compose forty thousand doggerel poems as he spends the imperial treasury down to the last coin; and Cixi, fleeing for her life, become so moved by a bowl of well water that she exclaims, “It’s so sweet!”…
Beneath its lighthearted, comic exterior, this book adheres closely to historical fact as it traces the rise and fall of the Qing’s twelve emperors: from the dynasty’s emergence amid the mountains and rivers of the northeast, to the height of the “Kangxi-Qianlong Golden Age”; from the humiliation of the Opium Wars to the struggles of the Hundred Days’ Reform; and finally to its subdued end amid the gunfire of the Wuchang Uprising. It covers the emperors’ grand strategies for ruling the country and keeping the peace, such as Hong Taiji’s manipulation of others to eliminate his enemies, Kangxi’s leading troops into battle, and Yongzheng’s reform of the tax system. It also exposes their petty flaws: Qianlong’s vanity and extravagance, Daoguang’s extreme stinginess, and Cixi’s diversion of military funds to renovate a garden.
This is at once a concise history of the Qing Dynasty, a guide to surviving the workplace, and a portrait of human nature. By the end, you’ll realize that history can be this much fun, and behind its fascinating stories are lessons just as fascinating.
