Hazy Reading of History: The Imperial Obsession and Grandiose Prosperity of the Ming and Qing Dynasties

Author: Duankuixiang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-07-12
Features: Reading history with a muddled perspective, offering a fresh viewpoint, unconventional yet well-supported; witty and well-researched, engaging and captivating—truly an excellent popular history read. —Yuan Weishi
Duankuixiang tells historical stories in multiple languages: ancient language, language from 20-30 years ago, contemporary official language, and folk language. Is she telling historical stories, or using the same stories to contrast the users of different languages? This narrative style is like holding a mirror up to language, and suddenly we glimpse the faces of different language users, perhaps even guessing what schemes they harbor in their hearts. —Wu Si
Reading history with a muddled perspective does not mean being muddled. In her historical essays, she demonstrates a passion for "personalized history" and "detailed history." I’d like to imagine her as a kind person with a torch, walking along the edge of the night in history, guarding against others falling into the abyss of soul-swallowing or the "trap of traditional Chinese culture." She is benevolent, sentimental, meticulous, and persistent. —Yan Leshan
History is presented here as a series of vivid and perceptive personal experiences, filled with postmodern irony. This "muddledness" is rare, because of its passion and sincerity, insightful thinking, and profound pain. —Zhou Ning
Duankuixiang is a history teacher, but after reading her work, I’d rather think of her as viewing history and analyzing historical facts with a "non-academic" lens. Although some say she discusses history like a storyteller, I believe this is precisely why her work has gained widespread attention. China has never lacked historians who lock themselves in circles, or explaining subtle meanings, but the public’s historical perspective has never been gained through the grand works of such scholars. Duankuixiang discusses history based on well-sourced materials, and narrating it in the form of a storyteller—so what? Haven’t you seen that Cai Dongfan’s historical romances had a greater impact on the public than the Twenty-Four Histories? —Shi Niankan
The author consciously focuses her research on the Ming and Qing dynasties and their people and events. "The obsession of a dynasty" is the author’s summary of the personalities of the Ming emperors and the temperaments of the Ming scholar-officials, while the absurd foreign affairs of the Qing dynasty and the ignorant "Great Tang Middle Earth" consciousness reflect the arrogant prosperity and blind self-delusion of this aging empire. The author consciously focuses her research on the Ming and Qing dynasties and their people and events. "The obsession of a dynasty" is the author’s summary of the personalities of the Ming emperors and the temperaments of the Ming scholar-officials, while the absurd foreign affairs of the Qing dynasty and the ignorant "Great Tang Middle Earth" consciousness reflect the arrogant prosperity and blind self-delusion of this aging empire. Through the frills and complexities of history, the author touches the deeper threads of history and ultimately reaches the understanding that the trajectory and choices of the Ming and Qing dynasties were both cultural accumulations and historical inevitabilities. The humorous and absurd details and stories, as well as the light-hearted and humorous narration and explanation, cannot hide the author’s heavy hope for how an ancient civilization can rise into a new era.