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Qing Dynasty's 12 Emperors (New with Full-Color Illustrations) YAN ChongNian
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Only Han, Tang, Ming and Qing dynasties survived more than 200 years in China history. Qing is the last one and also the only one whose rulers were not of the Han race. Every Chinese people shakes head and sighs when they read the recent history. Why! Is it the monarchy governance? Is it Cixi (慈禧) to be blamed? Was it God's will? If I were Qian Long (乾隆), would China have risen to its place as a major global player 300 years ago? At the very least we would have avoided the multi-nation invasion and the Opium Wars. After the Tong Zhi period, the demise of the Qing Dynasty became just a matter of time. The government botched one opportunity after another. It has been 210 years since Qian Long descended from the throne in 1796 and left behind the most prosperous time. If we think about these last 200 years Chinese people have to sigh again.
YI ZhongTian's (易中天) commentary on the era of the Three Kingdoms (品味三国) has inspired the public to take an interest in popular history. YAN ChongNian (阎崇年) further demythified history for the mass. They both came to fame as media personalities before they published: re-printed again, then new edition, then newer with illustrations, then with color illustrations – the contents are mostly the same but the price is not. Those who bought the book early on might begin to feel buyer's remorse. But the whole book (TV versions) can be downloaded free of charge. Interesting business model.
Although the Qing Dynasty had such a long history it had no more than twelve emperors. The reign of Nurhaci (努儿哈赤) and Hung Taiji (皇太极) didn't really count. Guang Xu (光绪) and Xuan Tong (宣统) were useless. The prosperity of the early era was followed by the Jia Qing (嘉庆), Dao Guang (道光), Xian Feng (咸丰) and Tong Zhi (同治). Those 4 did away the great Qing Dynasty in 80 short years.
Make you think.