In the Zhenguan era of the Tang, the realm was at peace and the land was magnificent, all under the Li clan’s special favor.
Li Jing struck north against the Turks, while Emperor Taizong campaigned east against Goguryeo. Their armies were so mighty that they commanded the respect of the four seas. Now, let us set out anew and restore the old realm. Before the portraits of the meritorious officials, Li Yuan plucked his pipa and sighed alone. In the towers of Lingyan Pavilion, Li Shimin, drunk, danced lightly in the spring breeze.
In the most magnificent, grandest, and most spirited age in Chinese history, outside the ancient capital of Chang’an, a young man in coarse, shabby clothes gazed at the imperial city in the glow of the setting sun and smiled...
