Dragon Bed - 14th to 17th Century - Six Chinese Emperors

Author: Li Jiefei
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-12-01
Features: The content, approach, style, and writing method of this book are generally not bound by rigid conventions. The author has never intended to disguise themselves as a professional historian, imitating their methods and formats. Additionally, there are writers in the literary world who create historical novels using history as their material for literary creation—but the author is not of this kind. The author feels that they are doing the opposite, bringing the spirit and perspective of literature into historical writing. This will manifest in two aspects: narrative and reflection.
As for narrative, it involves carefully studying historical materials, thoughtfully considering their relationships and various possibilities, organizing them, and presenting them anew. Reflection, on the other hand, is quite simple. In the face of historical figures and events, the author cannot merely be a copyist of books or a mouthpiece for past opinions, judgments, and perspectives. Instead, they must strive to offer deeper and more unique personal insights and views. Otherwise, they would be unworthy of the readers who are willing to spend money and time on this book.
Introducing the spirit and perspective of literature into historical writing is not an excuse to arbitrarily manipulate history. On the contrary, the more one does so, the more one must adhere strictly to principles. In the use and understanding of materials, creativity and depth should be pursued, but the sources of the materials must be clear and reliable. During the writing process, some suggested reducing direct citations of ancient texts and translating them into modern language for easier reading. The author considered this suggestion carefully but did not dare to adopt it. After all, all the cited materials are basic primary sources and should remain in their original form in the book, serving as a reference for verification against the author's use and interpretation. However, the issue of understanding unfamiliar or difficult sentences for ordinary readers needs to be addressed. Annotations are the usual practice, but finding them can be tedious, and the author often lacks the patience for it. After deliberation, the author decided to try the following method: adding marginal notes directly after the relevant sentences, distinguished from the original text by square brackets. Here is a special note:
(1) In the book, any text within square brackets printed in a different font is an annotation on the citation;
(2) These annotations mainly fall into two categories: one is a direct translation of the original meaning, and the other appropriately extends, comments on, or reinterprets it to aid readers in understanding and enhance reading interest.