Romance of the Former Han (6)

Cai DongfanJul 2024

4.3

Word count: 44K words
Chapters: 10

Summary

This book is one of the series of full-length historical novels written by Cai Dongfan during the Republic of China under the guiding idea of "using historical romance to save the nation." It covers the period from the contending warlords at the end of the Qin dynasty and Liu Bang's founding of the Han to Wang Mang's usurpation of the Han throne. Readers who love history should not miss it. This book is a monumental work of historical romance that takes the official histories as its warp and anecdotes as its weft, with a distinctive format and the author's own commentary and annotations. The writing is warm and natural, accessible and easy to understand. Both plot and prose are excellent, making it highly readable. The work emphasizes factual accuracy and uses the techniques of the historical romance novel to give history a strong narrative quality, vividly recreating the sweeping history of the Qin and Western Han dynasties and portraying one epic after another of heroes and their times.

Editor's review

Cai Dongfan's The Early Han Dynasty Romance uses official histories as its framework and anecdotes as its texture, and its format of self-commentary and self-annotation is quite distinctive among historical romances. This is the sixth volume, continuing the narrative from the contention of rival powers at the end of the Qin dynasty to Wang Mang's usurpation of the Han throne. The writing is warm and natural, accessible and easy to understand, and the plot moves briskly. Its value lies in turning events from historical texts into stories with scenes and characters, while the annotations indicate sources and the author's judgments, so readers can enjoy the reading experience and also appreciate the praise-and-blame style of traditional historians. It is suitable as an introductory reader for understanding the historical outline of the Qin-Han transition, and also for reading in fragments during commutes or before sleep. While reading, pay attention to the interplay between the main text and the author's annotations, which is an important feature distinguishing this book from ordinary romances.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers interested in Qin-Han history who hope for a story-based introduction
Literature lovers who enjoy traditional chapter-based narrative and commentary style
Middle school students and lower-year undergraduates in history and literature who need to accumulate historical material
Office workers who hope to read a long historical story casually in fragmented time

Not a good fit for

Research-oriented readers expecting rigorous academic verification or the latest archaeological findings
Readers who prefer the pace of modern vernacular fiction and are uncomfortable with a mixed classical-vernacular style
Readers who only want a complete standalone story and do not wish to follow a series of volumes

Reading tips

First browse the volume's table of contents to clarify the timeline of characters and events, then begin reading the main text.
Read the main text alongside the author's self-commentary and self-annotation, noting the author's selection of historical material and tendencies of praise and blame.
After each chapter, summarize the plot in two or three sentences to help connect the threads of earlier and later volumes.
When encountering unfamiliar official titles or place names, look them up as needed rather than pausing too long and disrupting the reading rhythm.

版权信息
自序
第四十回保储君四皓与宴留遗嘱高祖升遐
第四十一回折雄狐片言杜祸看人彘少主惊心
第四十二回媚公主靦颜拜母戏太后嫚语求妻
第四十三回审食其遇救谢恩人吕娥姁挟权立少帝
第四十四回易幼主诸吕加封得悍妇两王枉死
第四十五回听陆生交欢将相连齐兵合拒权奸
第四十六回夺禁军捕诛诸吕迎代王废死故君
第四十七回两重喜窦后逢兄弟一纸书文帝服蛮夷

FAQ

What is the relationship between this book and official histories such as the Book of Han?

This book uses official historical records as its skeleton, supplements them with anecdotal details, and links events together in a romance style. In his annotations, the author often explains the sources and discrepancies of historical material. It is popular historical writing, not a replacement for the original official histories; readers can treat it as a guide into Qin-Han history.

Can I read the sixth volume directly without having read the first five?

Yes, but this volume continues from earlier characters and events, so reading it directly will leave some background missing. It is advisable first to look at the table of contents and chapter titles to grasp the general outline, or to start from the first volume for a more coherent experience.

Do the author's self-commentaries and annotations affect the smoothness of the story?

The annotations are a feature of this book and appear alongside the text, so they may feel slightly interruptive at first. You can skip the annotations and read the main text first, then return to them carefully; this preserves the story's continuity and also allows you to appreciate the author's historical judgments.

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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.