Historical Romance of the Five Dynasties (2)

Cai DongfanJul 2024

4.4

Word count: 46K words
Chapters: 10

Summary

The Romance of the Five Dynasties is a monumental work of popular history celebrated at home and abroad. The great historian Cai Dongfan takes the official histories as his warp and anecdotes as his weft. Structured in the zhanghui style, written in accessible prose, and enlivened by shrewd commentary, it faithfully recreates the sweeping course of Chinese civilization's historical evolution. The Five Dynasties spanned fifty-three years, during which eight surnames supplied thirteen emperors and the dynastic name changed five times—Liang, Tang, Jin, Han, and Zhou. Because historians had already used these names for earlier dynasties, each is prefixed with "Later"—Later Liang, Later Tang, Later Jin, Later Han, Later Zhou. Beyond these lay the states that sometimes allied with, sometimes broke from, and never submitted to the Five Dynasties—the Ten Kingdoms: Wu, Chu, Min, Southern Tang, Former Shu, Later Shu, Southern Han, Northern Han, Wuyue, and Jingnan. The work portrays the customs and daily life of the common people amid the successive regimes of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, and reveals the survival wisdom of a thousand years of rise and fall through battlefield bloodshed and court intrigue. Grounded in trustworthy histories and supplemented by unofficial accounts, with careful source selection, balanced judgments, rich content, orderly narration, refined and lucid language, and the author's own commentary and annotations, it combines intellectual substance with delight—a true classic of popular history.

Editor's review

This volume follows the first, continuing in zhanghui form through the power struggles of the middle and late Five Dynasties, as the Later Jin, Later Han, and Later Zhou successively take the stage, with the Ten Kingdoms thread interwoven throughout. Cai Dongfan's hallmark is orderly narration in refined, lucid prose; the commentary at the end of each chapter often pinpoints the crux of rise and fall, letting readers see the author's judgments on people and events beyond the history itself. For readers already familiar with the early Five Dynasties, this volume better captures the panoramic view of institutional collapse and unsettled hearts in an age of chaos. The author's annotations preserve the sources of historical material, balancing credibility with readability. As the second stop in a series, it is best not to skip around, since the threads of characters and regimes are closely tied to the first volume; it can also serve alone as supplementary introductory material for the late Five Dynasties.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who have finished the first volume and wish to follow the late Five Dynasties further
History enthusiasts interested in the Later Zhou reforms and the coexistence of the Ten Kingdoms
Readers who enjoy the traditional romance style and are willing to read the commentary slowly

Not a good fit for

Readers who want only a quick overview of the Five Dynasties and are unwilling to commit to a series
Readers who find the zhanghui chapter titles and classical flavor off-putting

Reading tips

Read in sequence with the first volume, noting the succession of regimes and the continuity of character lineages
Focus on the end-of-chapter commentary to trace the author's judgments on causes of rise and fall
After finishing, try drawing a simple chart of regime changes in the late Five Dynasties to consolidate the overall picture

版权信息
自序
第九回失燕土伪帝作囚奴平宣州徐氏专政柄
第十回逾黄泽刘鄩失计袭晋阳王檀无功
第十一回阿保机得势号天皇胡柳陂轻战丧良将
第十二回莽朱瑾手刃徐知训病徐温计焚吴越军
第十三回嗣蜀主淫昏失德唐监军谏阻称尊
第十四回助赵将发兵围镇州嗣唐统登坛即帝位
第十五回王彦章丧师失律梁末帝陨首覆宗
第十六回灭梁朝因骄思逸册刘后以妾为妻

FAQ

Can this volume be read on its own, without the first?

It can, but this volume's characters and regime threads connect heavily to the first, so diving straight in may leave the pre-Later Jin relationships unfamiliar. If time is limited, at least skim the first volume's table of contents and the introductions of major characters before reading this one—it will go much more smoothly.

How do the author's commentary and annotations help the reader?

The annotations explain the sources of historical material and the choices among variant accounts, helping readers judge the basis of the narrative; the commentary expresses the author's views on people and events. Together they remind readers that this is a well-grounded work of popular history and train the habit of reading history with a critical eye.

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About the author

Cai Dongfan Author · China · 1877–1945

Cai Dongfan (1877–1945) was a native of Xiaoshan, Zhejiang, and a modern Chinese writer of historical romances. Beginning in 1916, he spent ten years completing the 11-volume, 1,040-chapter Popular Romances of Successive Dynasties, which recounts the rise and fall of dynasties in an accessible style; he also wrote Romances of Empress Dowager Cixi. Drawing on historical sources and adapting them into simple classical Chinese and the chapter-based vernacular form, his works balance historical fact with narrative interest, allowing ordinary readers to follow the broad course of a dynasty through its chapter headings. The collection holds 381 of his works, including dynastic romances on the Jin, Ming, Tang, Later Han and Republican periods, as well as series such as the Six Histories and the Popular Romances of Successive Dynasties, commonly classified as history reading and classical literature. Regarded as a representative figure in Chinese historical romance writing, Cai Dongfan's series have had a lasting influence in popularizing historical knowledge and continuing the romance tradition, and remain accessible introductions to Chinese history for readers today.