Romance of the Three Dynasties of China

The Complete Introduction to Romance of the Three Dynasties of China Romance of the Three Dynasties of China imitates the ancient chapter structure of Romance of the Three Kingdoms and adopts the impassioned narrative style of the Yang Family Generals. With official history as its skeleton and romance as its garment, it spans from the primordial chaos of antiquity, the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, the Xia, Shang, and Western and Eastern Zhou dynasties, the Spring and Autumn period with its various states, the Seven Warring States, all the way to the fall of Qin and the rise of Han, completely dramatizing the epic rise and fall of ancient China over a thousand years. The entire book consists of two hundred and twenty-eight chapters, with one event per chapter, a neat structure, and antithetical chapter titles, strictly following the chronological order. It discards the shortcomings of vague general narratives and meticulously details the merits and faults of successive emperors, the virtues and villainies of famous ministers, major wars, court and factional coups, changes in rites and music, and the evolution of folk customs. It traces back to Pangu creating the world and the Three Sovereigns civilizing humanity, and extends down to the six states uniting under Qin and the second emperor overthrowing the empire, continuing dynasty by dynasty without gaps or omissions of any emperor. The book fully recounts Yu the Great taming the floods and establishing hereditary rule, the three hundred years of order and chaos in the Shang dynasty, the eight hundred years of Zhou rites handed down, the five hegemon lords vying for supremacy among the states, and the seven warring states contending for the Central Plains. Loyal ministers dying for their country, treacherous officials disrupting the court, wise rulers striving for good governance, and tyrants overturning the state—human gains and losses, the cycles of heaven's way—all are laid out one by one. The writing is semi-classical and semi-vernacular, impassioned and profound, with rich details. It adheres to the historical outline of the Records of the Grand Historian while also possessing the narrative tension of classical romance. Looking over the order and chaos of the three dynasties and surveying the rise and fall through the ages, it can serve as a mirror for reading history and a masterpiece handed down through generations. — Description from novelcodex.orgFull novel: Romance of the Three Dynasties of China — read the rest free on N​o⁠v​e⁠l​C⁠o​d⁠e​x⁠.​o⁠r​g⁠