Changing the Sky

Duanren Tianya

No rating yet
Word count
1.2M words
Chapters
31

Tags

Featured Fiction Alternate History Online LiteratureZhang ZhidongLate Qing MinisterLi HongzhongTop-Down ReformAuthor's Self-CommentaryWeb NovelFast PacedEra ImprintTime-Travel Fantasy

Summary

Changing the Sky is an alternate-history time-travel novel by Duanren Tianya, a platinum author on Qidian, running to about 1.23 million Chinese characters and completed in 2009. The title comes from a line of Mao Zedong's — "With so many willing to sacrifice, we dare to make the sun and moon shine in a new sky" — and the author describes it as a journey of time travel, subversion, and "wish-fulfillment change of the heavens," aimed at readers who love history. At the story's opening, late-Qing grandees such as Li Hongzhang, Zhang Zhidong, and Zuo Zongtang are still struggling to prop up a collapsing empire while the foreign powers harbor designs on carving up China; the protagonist enters this world as a time traveler, beginning with encounters at the Zhili Governor-General's yamen involving Sheng Xuanhuai, Li Hongzhang, and others, first taking part in the Sino-French War and appearing on the front lines in Vietnam and at Zhennanguan, then making his mark in the Sino-French negotiations, gradually rising from local office to key posts such as Liangjiang, building up military and administrative power around the time of the First Sino-Japanese War and pushing reform, in an attempt to reverse the nation's fortunes from the top down. Overall it follows the route of a military-history power fantasy, emphasizing political intrigue and battlefield scenes, tightly paced and dense with conflict; it has also drawn criticism for coarse extrapolation and thinly drawn supporting characters, making it a late-Qing time-travel epic with a clear mark of its era.

Editor's review

这是一部典型且完成度较高的晚清穿越爽文，适合想找“一口气读完”的长篇读者。作者断刃天涯是起点中文网白金作家，2005年凭《特工之回到清朝》成名，2019年入选第四届橙瓜网络文学奖“十佳历史大神”，历史类写作经验成熟。本书的优势在于节奏——开局即把主角放进李鸿章、盛宣怀、左宗棠这些真实历史人物的权力网络中，中法战争、越南前线、镇南关等事件被写成一条条可以“下手改变”的关卡，战场描写密集、爽点颇足；同时权力斗法、官场周旋、时局推演交替推进，可读性很强。局限同样明显：推演偏于理想化，主角政治立场被不少读者形容为“放大版的袁大头”，保守与激进的张力未能真正展开；细节略显粗犷，种田、制度建设等内容浅尝辄止，部分配角行为逻辑被简化。总体而言，把它当作节奏明快的清末军史快餐来读最为合适，不必以严肃历史小说标准苛求。

Who it's for

A good fit for

Not a good fit for

Reading tips

  1. 先读第一部“风华初露”，了解主角如何进入晚清权力场，再决定是否追下去。
  2. 遇到李鸿章、盛宣怀、左宗棠、张之洞等真实人物时，可顺手查一下其生平，阅读体验会更立体。
  3. 把本书当作架空推演而非史实读物，遇到与史实出入处不必较真。
  4. 若觉得中后期节奏拖沓，可只读战争与谈判主线章节，跳过日常铺垫。

Contents

  1. Part One: Grace First Revealed: Changes in Time and Space
  2. Part One: The Treasonous Treaty
  3. Part One: The Memorial
  4. Part One: The Slender Horses of Yangzhou
  5. Part One: Meeting Li Hongzhang
  6. Part One: Southward
  7. Part One: Taking Up the Post
  8. Part One: Alarming Zuo Zongtang
  9. Part One: Ten Thousand Miles to the War
  10. Part One: The Great Battle Imminent
  11. Part One: Cannons Roar Before Zhennanguan
  12. Part One: Death Squad! Night Raid!
  13. Part One: Great Victory
  14. Part One: Capturing Bouet Alive
  15. Part One: South to Saigon
  16. Part One: To the Capital
  17. Part Two: Struggle: Washing Away the Dust
  18. Part Two: A Gathering of Giants
  19. Part Two: Welcoming the Princess
  20. Part Two: Li Lianying
  21. Part Two: The Empire Astir
  22. Part Two: Secret Talks
  23. Part Two: Bound by Contract
  24. Part Two: The Jewish Merchant
  25. Part Three: Back Again
  26. Part Three: The Rothschild Family
  27. Part Three: Puppet Troops
  28. Part Three: Shareholders' Meeting
  29. Part Three: Chaos Erupts
  30. Part Three: Fix Bayonets!
  31. Final Chapter: The World Watches

FAQ

《变天》是谁写的，属于什么类型？ 作者是起点中文网白金作家断刃天涯（本名杨英明），这是一部清末背景的历史架空穿越网络小说，全书约一百二十三万字，2009年完结，题名出自“敢教日月换新天”。
这本书是讲清朝还是宋朝的故事？ 讲的是晚清。故事开局时李鸿章、张之洞、左宗棠等人还在，主角从中法战争、越南与镇南关一线介入，其后经历甲午前后的一系列变局，与宋穿小说无关。
《变天》有没有正式出版实体书？ 目前公开资料中未见该书的正式出版信息与ISBN记录，网络上流传的主要是网络连载章节与书友整理的电子文本，实体书情况无法确认。
适合不熟悉晚清史的人读吗？ 可以读，但需要一点耐心。书中大量涉及中法战争、甲午、戊戌前后的史事与人物，若完全不了解背景，建议先简单了解李鸿章、左宗棠、盛宣怀等人的身份，再进入故事会顺畅许多。
阅读时需要注意什么？ 本书是爽文式推演，主角近乎无所不能，历史细节与人物塑造有简化之处，也存在“私货”争议；建议把它当作娱乐性历史小说，而非历史读物，以免产生史实误解。

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Duanren Tianya Author

Duanren Tianya is an online-fiction author about whom little public information is available; no clear record of birth and death dates, nationality, or educational background has been found, and what can be verified is chiefly his works. Sixteen of his titles are held in the collection, including Representative works such as Rebirth: Riding the Waves of a Great Era, Hidden Dragon, Empire Rising, Warlords of the Republic, Rampage, A Life of Playthings, The Spy Returns to the Qing Dynasty, and Urban Flying Dragon. His writing spans urban fiction, alternate history, and wuxia. His works are often grouped under male-oriented fiction, quality fiction, and premium web novels, and typically center on individual striving amid changing times, power struggles, and Jianghu conflicts, with brisk pacing and strong plot momentum as characters seek a foothold and rise amid complex situations. His alternate-history works show a particular grasp of period atmosphere and factional rivalry, while his urban stories emphasize comeback and growth within realistic circumstances. Overall, Duanren Tianya is known for his productivity and range of subjects, and enjoys a certain following among male-oriented readers.