Remnants of Tang

MaopiChuangshi Chinese Network2021

Rating 4.8

Word count: 3.9M words

Summary

Remnants of Tang is a long-running alternate-history novel by the web author Maopi, serialized on Chuangshi Chinese Network from the mid-2010s and completed on October 12, 2021, totaling 1,194 chapters and roughly 3.86 million characters. The story begins in Lingnan at the end of the Tang dynasty: the protagonist, Zhou Huai'an, was originally a medical worker involved in a foreign aid construction mission; during an evacuation, he is caught in an explosion, falls into the water, and wakes to find himself in an ancient city being slaughtered by war. He crawls out of the mud on the riverbank and barely survives a world littered with corpses, relying on the few supplies he has with him, his medical knowledge, and a strange ability that "requires constant eating to maintain and upgrade." He is then swept into the tide of Huang Chao's rebel army; his identity and origins are mistaken, so he simply presents himself as a "time traveler" and starts from the lowest rank: first surviving among the troops, using the chance to win hearts and pick out useful talents, then holding Guangzhou after the rebel main force leaves Guangdong, gradually seizing local leadership, building a regime on the Lingnan base, advocating righteousness to save the people, and clashing one by one with warlord commanders, aristocratic clans, and the future heroes of the Five Dynasties. The novel follows the path of "a bandit defying heaven," deliberately avoiding the talented scholars, beauties, and scholar-official reform formulas of the High and Early Tang, lowering the lens to mud-footed peasants, refugees, and low-ranking soldiers. It writes of famine, massacre, military grain, and marches on one side, and of the joys and sorrows of small people amid chaos and the struggles among the great on the other; beneath its humorous narrative tone lies the cruel backdrop of imperial collapse and order rebuilt around the Huang Chao Rebellion. The protagonist is ruthless, pragmatic, and extremely resilient under pressure, and the romance thread also occupies a certain length.

Editor's review

写唐末的网络小说不少，但大多数作者一落笔就往长安、洛阳的宫阙里钻，写皇帝、宰相与节度使的权谋。猫疲的《唐残》偏要从水里爬上岸——一个刚被炸进河里的援建医生，睁眼就是屠城之后的尸堆与泥泞，这个开场几乎就是全书的宣言：这不是一部看士大夫如何改良王朝的书，而是一部看蝼蚁如何掀翻棋盘的书。它的长处有三。其一是历史的“颗粒度”。作者对唐末的军制、粮运、岭南地理、藩镇关系显然下过功夫，行军、扎营、征粮、溃败写得有实感，主角搞的那些“种田”举措也不是凭空变出火药与蒸汽机，而是顺着时代的物质条件往前拱一步，因此读来可信。其二是群像。朱老三、李鸦儿、杨大眼、钱婆留这些在史书里只有寥寥数笔的名字，被写成有脾气、有算计、也有可笑之处的活人；底层兵卒与流民的死生，也被认真对待。其三是腔调。作者用插科打诨的笔调写极惨的事，笑完之后往往更觉沉重，这是老作者才敢用的写法。当然它并非无懈可击：中后期卷帙浩繁，节奏时有松散，主角“疑似触手怪/吃货”的金手指设定也带着明显的网络文学趣味，未必人人受用；主角的道德立场偶有摇摆，行事狠辣处可能让偏好正剧口味的读者不适。但若你想看一部真正把视线放在“残唐”二字上的长篇——王朝将倾、礼法失效、人人自谋生路——这仍是绕不开的一本。

Who it's for

A good fit for

喜欢唐末、五代历史，想从底层视角看王朝崩解的读者
能接受长篇网络小说体量、愿意追看千章以上的老书虫
偏好种田经营与军政建设细节，而非纯金手指爽文的读者
欣赏诙谐笔调与群像刻画，不介意黑色幽默的读者

Not a good fit for

偏好纯正剧、严肃历史小说笔法，反感网络文学腔调的读者
对金手指、系统设定与“吊打全世界”式叙事较为排斥的读者
希望一次读完、篇幅要求精炼紧凑的读者

Reading tips

开篇数十章都在“活着”上打转，节奏偏慢，建议至少读完第一卷《活在岭南》再判断是否合口味。
可对照黄巢起义、藩镇割据的基本史实阅读，看到朱老三、李鸦儿等绰号时不妨查一查对应人物，趣味会翻倍。
全书近四百万字，宜按卷推进，一卷读完稍作停顿，避免长时间连续阅读导致疲沓。
遇到主角“触手怪/吃货”式设定与突兀乱入时，可将其视为作者的自嘲式调味，不必当作严肃设定考据。

About the publisher

Chuangshi Chinese Network

Chuangshi Chinese Network focuses on publishing online literature, with about 3,710 titles in the collection across quality novels, alternate history, premium web fiction, male-oriented fiction, urban fiction and youth literature. Representative works include Tang Can, Otherworld Development System, The High Official, Rebirth: God-Level Top Student, White Bone Taoist Temple and Domineering Immortal Path, spanning historical, fantasy, urban and youth coming-of-age themes. Authors associated with the site include Mao Pi, Miao Yao Dawang, Sanjie Dashi, Zhiniao Cun, Ye Duzui, Qinwen Zhijian and Wuse Ding, whose works mainly target online readers and genre-fiction audiences. Public information about the site's founding background is limited; this introduction is based on the books and authors in the collection and highlights its genre-oriented web-fiction publishing profile.

FAQ

《唐残》是实体书还是网络小说？

它是猫疲在创世中文网连载的网络小说，2021年10月12日完结，共1194章、约386万字，未查到正式出版的中文实体书信息，故本页出版社、ISBN 等字段仅标注连载平台。

《唐残》和《幻之盛唐》是同一位作者吗？

是。两部都出自猫疲之手，《幻之盛唐》是其较早的唐朝穿越作品，主角为梁笑，走的是天宝年间与欧亚局势的路子；《唐残》则将时间推到唐末，视角转向底层草贼。

没读过唐末历史能看懂吗？

可以。小说以穿越者视角展开，历史背景随剧情逐步交代，不熟悉晚唐藩镇与黄巢之乱的读者也能跟上；但若略知朱温、李克用、钱镠等人物，会更容易读出作者埋的梗。

主角周淮安是什么设定？

他原是参与对外援建任务的医疗人员，撤侨途中遇爆炸落水后穿越到唐末，随身带有部分物资与一个需靠不断进食维持的能力，被形容为“伪装成穿越者的疑似触手怪/吃货”，行事务实、抗压能力强。

这本书有感情线吗？

有，且占一定篇幅。女主角为菖蒲，作者对女性角色的刻画在读者评价中颇受称道；但主线仍是乱世求生与军政扩张，感情线并非全书重心。

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About the author

Maopi Author

Maopi is a Chinese web author whose nationality, birth and death dates remain undisclosed; public information is limited, and eight of the author's works are currently held in the database. Judging from the available titles, Maopi's writing centers on alternate history and Eastern fantasy, and the works are often grouped under premium fiction and male-oriented fiction categories. Representative works include Tang Can, The Illusory High Tang, Tang Qi Tan, and Time Traveler Traveled Through a Time Traveler. These titles largely revolve around Tang dynasty settings and time-travel premises, suggesting a preference for staging narratives on alternate historical ground and blending time travel with fantasy elements. With biographical details unavailable, readers mostly come to know the author through the works themselves, and this choice of themes and style remains the main clue to understanding Maopi.