Historical Romance of the Former Han (12)

Cai DongfanJul 2024

4.3

Word count: 42K words
Chapters: 9

Summary

This book is one of the series of long historical novels written by Cai Dongfan in the Republican era under the guiding idea of "romance for national salvation." It covers the period from the late Qin wars among competing powers and Liu Bang's founding of the Han to Wang Mang's usurpation. Readers who love history should not miss it. The book is a monumental romance that takes official history as its warp and anecdotes as its weft, with a distinctive format and the author's own annotations. The writing is warm and natural, accessible and easy to understand. Both plot and style are excellent, making it highly readable. The work values factual accuracy, using the techniques of romance fiction to give history strong narrative drive, faithfully recreating the sweeping history of the Qin and Western Han dynasties and portraying epic tales of heroes and their times.

Editor's review

The twelfth volume of the Romance of the Former Han continues Cai Dongfan's distinctive method of taking official history as the warp and anecdotes as the weft, vividly narrating the long history from the late Qin wars among competing powers to Wang Mang's usurpation. In the series, this volume advances the narrative and connects the fates of its characters; readers can follow Liu Bang, Xiang Yu, and others in their choices amid turbulent times, and also appreciate the interplay of the historian's eye and the novelist's craft in the author's interlinear annotations and comments. The writing is warm and natural, with no barrier to entry, yet it retains the skeleton of historical fact. It is suitable for reading in fragments during commutes or before sleep, and also as an introductory text for understanding the rise and fall of the Western Han. For readers who wish to approach history through story, this volume offers a coherent and pleasurable reading experience; for those who prefer textual criticism, the annotations will also prompt reflection on the selection of historical sources.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers interested in the history of the Qin–Han transition who want a story-based introduction
Readers who enjoy chapter-style historical romances and care about plot continuity and character fates
Office workers who want to read history in fragments during spare time
Students at middle school level and above who want to broaden their extracurricular historical horizons

Not a good fit for

Professional researchers expecting rigorous academic textual criticism and extensive annotations with documentary sources
Readers who prefer the pace of modern vernacular fiction and have little patience for chapter-style narration
Readers who only want a complete single-volume story and do not wish to follow a series' threads

Reading tips

First browse the table of contents to clarify the threads of characters and events, then read chapter by chapter to avoid confusing earlier and later plots due to the serial nature of the series.
Pause briefly at the author's annotations and comments, and compare them with the main text to appreciate the author's choices and judgments regarding historical sources.
After every few chapters, summarize the main events and character relationships in a few sentences to aid memory and connect with later volumes.
If you doubt a historical point, mark it and consult relevant entries in official histories, forming the habit of reading the romance alongside historical records.

版权信息
自序
第八十四回询宫婢才识酬恩擢循吏迭闻报绩
第八十五回两疏见机辞官归里三书迭奏罢兵屯田
第八十六回逞淫谋番妇构衅识子祸严母知几
第八十七回杰阁图形名标麟史锦车出使功让蛾眉
第八十八回宠阉竖屈死萧望之惑谗言再贬周少傅
第八十九回冯婕妤挺身当猛兽朱子元仗义救良朋
第九十回斩郅支陈汤立奇功嫁匈奴王嫱留遗恨

FAQ

Can I read the twelfth volume directly without having read the previous ones?

Yes, but this volume is in the middle-to-late part of the series, and its characters and events are closely connected to earlier content. It is advisable to first understand the basic outline from the late Qin to the mid-Western Han, or quickly skim the tables of contents and summaries of earlier volumes, before starting this one; the reading experience will be smoother.

Is this book a novel or a history book?

It is a historical romance: it uses official history as its skeleton, unfolds the plot with fictional techniques, and includes the author's own annotations and comments. It is both narrative and grounded in historical fact, but it is not entirely equivalent to an academic history work; it can be read alongside official histories.

Do the author's annotations and comments affect reading fluency?

The annotations are a hallmark of Cai Dongfan's romances and often contain historical commentary and supplementary explanation. On a first reading, you may skim them to grasp the main thread and read them closely on a second pass; if a historical point interests you, the annotations often provide the author's perspective and enhance understanding.

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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.