Chinese mythology, folktales, and literature
Brief: This article tells the Southern Palace Restoration: deposed Emperor Yingzong was restored to the throne in a 1457 coup. His allies framed and executed national hero Yu Qian on false treason charges. The coup leaders later turned on each other and were destroyed. Yingzong regretted Yu’s death, but the Ming Dynasty’s golden age…
Introduction: This article recounts the late Yuan Dynasty’s fatal succession crises. Frequent coups, broken pacts, and assassinations rocked the court after Emperor Chengzong’s death. Rival princes and warlords fought for the throne, draining the empire. By the time Huizong took power, decades of chaos had doomed Mongol rule in China.
Introduction: This post recounts the background and course of Wang Anshi’s Xining Reforms during the Northern Song Dynasty. It begins with young Prince Zhao Xu’s admiration for Wang Anshi’s reform ideas amid the Song’s crises in finance, military, and governance. It depicts the sharp ideological conflict between Wang Anshi and his former friend Sima…
Brief: This article explores the legendary integrity of Bao Zheng, a renowned judge during the Song Dynasty, contrasting him with his predecessor Fan Zhongyan. It details his strict adherence to impartiality, highlighting how he refused to take even a single Duan inkstone as a souvenir to distinguish public duty from private gain. A key…
Zizhi Tongjian (Comprehensive Mirror to Aid in Government) is a monumental chronological universal history of China, compiled under the leadership of Sima Guang (1019–1086), a prominent statesman and scholar of the Northern Song dynasty. The main text comprises 294 scrolls, supplemented by two auxiliary works: Kaoyi (Textual Criticism and Discrepancies) and Rilu (Daily Records),…
Sima Guang (1019–1086 CE) was a prominent statesman and historian of the Northern Song dynasty. His courtesy name was Junshi, and he styled himself Yusou (“Old Recluse”). Born in Sishui Village, Xia County, Shanzhou (in present-day Shanxi Province), he was widely known as “Master Suishui.”