Net Discusses World Affairs (East News Time Selection)

Author: Xu Shiping
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-08-01
Features: History has always been written by the victors, but non-merits cannot be judged by themselves. The Yongle Emperor was a king who drove history and directed an era with his talent and political strategy. The grievances and conflicts in the heavens, thrilling and unpredictable, who can judge them. The Ming Dynasty's Yongle era, from 1402 to 1423, was the second dynasty after the death of the founding emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, with Emperor Zhu Di as the ruler. Zhu Di aspired to be a monarch as renowned as Qin Shi Huang, Emperor Wu of Han, and Emperor Taizong of Tang, aiming to establish a central empire where all nations would come to pay homage. His ambition determined that all his achievements were closely intertwined with the development of the Ming Dynasty: Zheng He's seven voyages to the West, the compilation of the Yongle Encyclopedia by three thousand scholars, the dredging of the Grand Canal, and five campaigns against the northern nomads, all of which left a rich cultural heritage for later generations. He was a courageous, strategic, ambitious, and talented emperor. This historical novel masterpiece spans over one million words, with the author skillfully portraying the Ming Dynasty's Yongle Emperor, Zhu Di, who embodied both kindness and evil, great cunning and great prowess, greatness and nobility, and. The novel breaks away from the conventional approach of following historical events step by step, appropriately reflecting the creative style of historical literature and literary history. Zhang Xiaotian seems to possess a natural talent for blending literature with history and vice versa. He can always extract lessons from the vast ocean of Chinese history, offering people multifaceted nourishment in terms of the rise and fall of dynasties, wisdom of life, philosophy of survival, and rich knowledge. In handling the relationship between history and poetry, as well as history and literature, Zhang Xiaotian has accumulated extensive creative experience, which is the secret to the enduring success of his historical novels and their large readership. – Renowned critic