Five Thousand Years of China: Student Edition

Author: Zhong Lei, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-06-01
Features: The Chinese nation has a long history and splendid civilization, enough to make every descendant of the Yan and Huang tribes in the vast land of China feel immense pride and heartfelt self-esteem. This book begins with the primordial ancestor Pan Gu opening the heavens and earth, and presents the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, the Xia, Shang, Western Zhou, Spring and Autumn, Warring States, Qin, and Han dynasties, the Three Kingdoms, Eastern and Western Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Sui, Five Dynasties, and Ten Kingdoms, the Northern and Southern Song, Liao, Jin, Yuan, Ming, Qing, Republic of China, and People's Republic of China—showing the brilliance and vicissitudes of five thousand years of Chinese history to the readers. In this five-thousand-year history, the Chinese nation has endured and strived, with generation after generation producing countless great historical figures. Such as the statesman Qin Shi Huang and Cao Cao, the strategists Zhang Liang and Zhuge Liang, the thinkers Confucius and Mencius, the national heroes Lin Zexu and Deng Shichang, the scientists Zhang Heng and Shen Kuo, the medical practitioners Hua Tuo and Li Shizhen, the literary figures Ouyang Xiu, Wang Anshi, Su Shi, and Li Qingzhao, the poets Li Bai and Lu You, and the revolutionaries Sun Yat-sen and Li Dazhao, among others. They created countless world-firsts and miraculous achievements for the Chinese nation. Of course, there have also been many national traitors in Chinese history, such as the treacherous Qin Hui and the traitorous Yuan Shikai. But history is a mirror, allowing later generations to learn, reflect, and innovate. Otherwise, how would Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty have left the famous saying, "To govern by the examples of the past is to know the rise and fall of states"? Therefore, although countless bloodshed and turmoil have occurred in history, they have not affected the progress of Chinese history, human advancement, or social development. Today's genetic engineering, electronic information, and space exploration are the best proof.