Two Thousand Years (Image and Text)

Author: Hu Sheng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-09-01
Features: This is a book with a real soul, a living book. Just like bees making honey, it is digested and integrated, hence readable, and hence must be read. — Wu Han (Historian, Educator, Social Activist)
Fifty years ago, when I first read Hu Sheng, I was still a high school student. The article was originally serialized in the High School Student magazine and later included in the Kaiming Youth Series, titled Two Thousand Years. I still remember it to this day, showing how deeply it left an impression. — Gong Youzhi (Doctoral Supervisor at Peking University, Party History Expert)
This is an early work by Hu Sheng. It was first serialized in the High School Student magazine, later compiled into a book, and widely popular among high school and university students. It was highly praised by figures such as Ye Shengtao, Wu Han, and Gong Youzhi. For a long time, this book was published under a pen name, and this is the first standalone book published under Hu Sheng’s real name. The entire book offers a comprehensive perspective to examine Chinese history from the Qin Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty over two thousand years, providing in-depth yet accessible analyses on a range of issues: why ancient China gave rise to emperors, why people could endure tyrannical rulers, how becoming an official or a soldier became the two pillars of the imperial system, and why peasant wars and border conflicts frequently occurred. For readers who have suffered from textbook-style history books, these arguments offer a fresh perspective and give a unique understanding of Chinese history.