Yang Du (Upper, Middle, Lower): Textual Comparison with this Edition

Author: Tang Haoming
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-02-01
Features: Tang Haoming's epic historical novel Yang Du (originally titled A Peerless Genius), created with a magnificent spirit and profound historical knowledge, is considered an artistic masterpiece. It has won the China Book Award, the National Book Award, and the National Outstanding Novel Award. Yang Du was a highly controversial figure in modern Chinese history; extraordinarily talented and ambitious, he was taught imperial studies by the renowned scholar Wang Kanyun and studied constitutional monarchy in Japan. He aspired to make a significant impact on the political stage of the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China. This book uses Yang Du as a thread to connect numerous figures such as Yuan Shikai, Yuan Keding, Cao Kun, Wang Jingwei, Sun Yat-sen, Huang Xing, and Cai E, vividly depicting the turbulent path of Chinese people's efforts to save the nation at the turn of the century. Yang Du participated in the memorial to the throne, later supported Yuan Shikai's declaration of empire, turned to helping Sun Yat-sen after the collapse of the Hongxian Dynasty, and in his later years, had close ties with the Communist Party. His life embodied the intricate and sharp contradictions of modern Chinese history. With a desire to save the nation but entrusting it to the wrong people, and with vast knowledge but failing to grasp the pulse of the times, Yang Du's tragedy is also a microcosm of China's difficult rise in the modern era.