Great Tang Empire (Three Hundred Years of Sui Chaos and Tang Prosperity)

Author: Chen Shun-chin (Author), Liao Wei-chi (Translator)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-01-06
Features: ★ Heavily recommended by the renowned historian Baoyang. ★ Sold over two million copies in Japan and hailed as the "Humanistic White Paper of China's Power Game." ★ Original source material for the popular TV dramas "Zhenguan's Rule," "Zhenguan Changge," "Great Tang Dynasty," and many other Tang Dynasty-themed series. Academic and historical works are upright and serious, yet often dry and tedious for general readers; fiction novels are lively and legendary, but excessive dramatization can distort historical truth. Thus, we can only choose Chen Shun-chin's historical works. Chinese history is long, Chinese historical books are numerous, but the Chinese people are still ignorant of history! The past is blank, making us a rootless people. It's not that we forget our origins, but that historians and writers have failed to transform the arduous ancient historical texts into modern language, or to convert the rigid academic narration into engaging popular language. Now, Mr. Chen Shun-chin, this cultural giant, has taken on this responsibility. His series of historical stories have turned the scattered historical records into vivid and dynamic tales!—Baoyang
History always lingers in our minds, even behind the splendid and magnificent empire of the Tang Dynasty, the shadows of swords, daggers, and bloodshed are always present. Power, money, honor, and beauty are always the root of evil, and also the spoils of war. The Great Tang Empire—Three Hundred Years of Sui Chaos and Tang Prosperity is born from the historical masterpiece Eighteen Histories Briefly by the Song Dynasty scholar Zeng Xianzhi, a work little valued by modern Chinese. Renowned Chinese-American popular historian Chen Shun-chin has spent decades completing this book. Drawing on folk records scattered outside official histories, it restores historical details with the cultivation of a scholar and the popular style of a storyteller, offering a fresh interpretation of the familiar figures of the Tang Dynasty. Events such as the beauty plot to force Li Yuan to rise in Jin'an, the complex behind the Xuanwu Gate Incident, Li Shimin's harm to the later dynasty by taking the daughter of Emperor Yang of Sui as a concubine, the homosexual issues of the crown prince, Wu Zetian's historical logic of autocratic rule, and the love story between Li Longji and Yang Guifei—all seemingly ordinary historical events, because they are at critical junctures in history, have shaped the rise and fall of the Tang Dynasty. The author's extraordinary insights and judgments truly grasp the pulse of history.
The book's features are:
1. It delves into the core of history, piercing through the depths of human nature, revealing the power rules of emperors, and can be called the "Humanistic White Paper of China's Power Game."
2. It analyzes the unchanging essence of history—fluctuating human desires—providing readers with the joy of reading history that hits the mark, guiding them to interpret Chinese history from the perspective of interpersonal relationships, and more deeply grasp the human nature behind historical events, directly striking the core of China's power game for thousands of years.
3. It focuses on historical details, bringing it close to daily life, offering both the stratagems of competing for power at the top for readers at different levels, and the wisdom of survival in society.
In short, Chen Shun-chin's history is captivating. History always lingers in our minds, even behind the splendid and magnificent empire of the Tang Dynasty, the shadows of swords, daggers, and bloodshed are always present. Power, money, honor, and beauty are always the root of evil, and also the spoils of war. The Great Tang Empire—Three Hundred Years of Sui Chaos and Tang Prosperity is born from the historical masterpiece Eighteen Histories Briefly by the Song Dynasty scholar Zeng Xianzhi, a work little valued by modern Chinese. Renowned Chinese-American popular historian Chen Shun-chin has spent decades completing this book. Drawing on folk records scattered outside official histories, it restores historical details with the cultivation of a scholar and the popular style of a storyteller, offering a fresh interpretation of the familiar figures of the Tang Dynasty. Events such as the beauty plot to force Li Yuan to rise in Jin'an, the complex behind the Xuanwu Gate Incident, Li Shimin's harm to the later dynasty by taking the daughter of Emperor Yang of Sui as a concubine, the homosexual issues of the crown prince, Wu Zetian's historical logic of autocratic rule, and the love story between Li Longji and Yang Guifei—all seemingly ordinary historical events, because they are at critical junctures in history, have shaped the rise and fall of the Tang Dynasty. The author's extraordinary insights and judgments truly grasp the pulse of history.
The book's features are:
1. It delves into the core of history, piercing through the depths of human nature, revealing the power rules of emperors, and can be called the "Humanistic White Paper of China's Power Game."
2. It analyzes the unchanging essence of history—fluctuating human desires—providing readers with the joy of reading history that hits the mark, guiding them to interpret Chinese history from the perspective of interpersonal relationships, and more deeply grasp the human nature behind historical events, directly striking the core of China's power game for thousands of years.
3. It focuses on historical details, bringing it close to daily life, offering both the stratagems of competing for power at the top for readers at different levels, and the wisdom of survival in society.
In short, Chen Shun-chin's history is captivating.