What is "Zhu Ming Dynasty" about? Thoughts after reading "Zhu Ming Dynasty"

"The Zhu Ming Dynasty" is the 21st volume in the "History of China" series by teacher Yi Zhongtian. This book does not explain the general history of the Ming Dynasty, but focuses on the period from the founding of the country to the middle of the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di can be said to have changed the course of China. The book also focuses on the unique political system of the Ming Dynasty, including Jinyiwei, Dongchang, Xichang, etc. that everyone is interested in. I believe that friends who like to read history will not miss the works of Teacher Yi Zhongtian. This time I have found two book reviews for you. Friends who are interested should take a look first.

Thoughts after reading "The Zhu Ming Dynasty":

A brief overview of the history of the Ming Dynasty: from major events, to politics, to social economy, and finally to culture. After reading this book and then reading "Those Things in the Ming Dynasty", my thinking will become clearer. The notes are as follows:

Imperial power and prime ministerial power, prime minister system and cabinet system, six ministries, nine ministers and three division governors, Ming autocratic dictatorship and Qing autocratic dictatorship;

Liu Sanwu rejected the king of Yan, Huang Zicheng Jianwen, Yang Rong Ti visited the mausoleum, Tie Xuan deceived Zhu Di, and Fang Xiaoru harmed the ten clans;

Zhu Di's cabinet was established, and the vassal king was cut; Jin Yiwei, Ji Gang killed Jie Jin;

The cabinet became a fake prime minister, and the eunuch Chengzhen emperor, Wang Zhen, Wang Zhi, Liu Jin, Wei Zhongxian;

Court staff and literary prison, Zhang Yong and Wang Shouren;

Noisy in the early period, lazy in the middle period (Jiajing, Longqing, Wanli), sick in the later period Disappointed (Taichang, Tianqi, Chongzhen), Wu Zong is the turning point between the first and the middle;

Wealth and capital have no place to go and cannot be used to improve people's livelihood, technological innovation and expand reproduction. They can only be used for extravagant desires. It’s really a big problem;

If you are familiar with Huguang, you will be enough in the world; if you are like Suzhou, you will be craftsmen in Guangzhou;

North and South rankings, Jin gentry, rural covenants, business registration, imperial examination, Yangzhou thin horse;

Children's Examination, Provincial Examination, General Examination, Palace Examination, Two Lists, Three Yuan Ranks;

Chen Hongshou's prints, Zhang Dai's essays, jokes, leaves, novels and operas;

< p> The Tang Dynasty is on the horse, the Song Dynasty is in the boudoir, and the Ming Dynasty is in the market place;

The Water Margin of the Three Kingdoms journey to the west, the feelings of family and country, the loyalty of the rivers and lakes, the worldly feelings, the spirit of the times;

Write about characters, realistic stories, personal creations, The Jin Ping Mei is epoch-making;

The legend of the Tang and Song Dynasties in classical Chinese short stories, the legend of the Ming and Qing Dynasties with Southern opera as the main opera;

Tang Xianzu’s artistic world is based on emotions and is composed of dreams , seemingly illusory, but not unreal;

Li Zhi’s childlike innocence and throat-cutting.

Author: Half-Tone Photographer (from Douban)

Two thoughts after reading "Zhu Ming Dynasty":

I read the first part of this book before. When I found out that the latest volume had been updated, I couldn’t wait to read it. This should be the first one about the Ming Dynasty, and it is a bit broad. I have read Mingyue's "Things About the Ming Dynasty" before. I can't remember the specific content, but I have an impression: fascinating! After reading it in the fifteenth year of Wanli, I was more impressed. I have also read about the Ming Dynasty before. Some books, so it is easy to read this book, after all, the writing is much simpler.

No matter how you write, you have to write about Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang first. There is no way around it. Writing about him naturally has some typical labels: killing heroes and deposing prime ministers. They are all familiar content, but some details will still make your hair stand on end when you see them again; King Zhu Di of Yan was even worse than his father. What impressed me most was Fang Xiaoru’s extermination of ten tribes and the move of the capital to Beijing. I checked it online. The nine tribes made me feel uncomfortable when I saw them. The ten tribes that killed Fang Xiaoru alone killed more than 800 people! They were brought to Fang Xiaoru one by one and killed. I think many of these 800 people didn't have much friendship with him at all. The first time I saw this period of history, I was so sad that I was speechless; moving the capital to Beijing can be said to have affected Chinese history for hundreds of years, until now.

Then we will talk about the perverted politics of the Ming Dynasty. In fact, the spy politics and autocracy were further strengthened. Jinyiwei, Dongchang, Xichang, and Si Lijian were basically the existences that could suppress the cabinet (government). They were all measures to focus more and more power on the emperor himself. However, the Ming Dynasty happened to have a lot of weird emperors, and it felt like a good start was completely ruined.

To summarize the Ming Dynasty, Yi Zhongtian used the words "noisy in the early stage, lazy in the middle stage, and sick in the late stage" to describe it very vividly. In the early stage of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the father and his son flipped the table and threw the stick down, and everyone lost their temper. , after a few ruffians had a lot of trouble, the babies of the empire got a little angry, and then the three serious ones stayed away for about a hundred years. Of course, they had some free time in the meantime, but after all, they were middle-aged and incapacitated. It's up to me. Later, I had no other choice and couldn't bear the trouble anymore, so just let it go. The most impressive thing is our "number one player" Zhengde young man. His life is definitely enough to write a pure YY novel.

The most interesting aspects of this volume are the two points of life in the city and the love of telling jokes. Especially during the more than 100 years of Taiping, life in the city was actually very interesting, and everyone remembered it. The nickname is a small one, and even thieves have nicknames. Marrying a famous prostitute is even more prestigious, which shows that people were quite elegant at that time; Yangzhou thin horse, at first I thought it was a kind of horse from the south of the Yangtze River, but later I found out that it was a kind of horse from the south of the Yangtze River. The human flesh business is really an anecdote; the jokes at that time were very interesting and more high-end than today. It is really impossible to do this trick without some writing and ink. There is also the eroticism and love in the Ming Dynasty, which shows that the Neo-Confucian rule of the Dynasty and the Three Cardinal Guidelines and Five Constant Ethical Ethics are very strict, but I think the more erotic love is like this, the more unique and beautiful it becomes, and it feels a bit like "the yellow flowers on the battlefield are particularly fragrant". Well, that’s the wrong word!

Generally speaking, this book is a bit simple to write. The first part seems to be an ordinary narrative without many comments and features of its own, but the last two The chapter is eye-catching, well written and insightful. In fact, apart from politics, there are actually many things worth knowing about the Ming Dynasty.

Author: Chunxiao Mengzao (from Douban)