The Qing Dynasty: A History of China, PART TWO, sweeps you into a vivid journey through the rise and rule of China's last imperial dynasty. This book doesn't merely catalogue emperors and battles — it breathes life into them. You will stand beside Prince Yinzhen, who emerged victorious from a bitter and contentious succession struggle to become the Yongzheng Emperor, and watch him set about rebuilding an exhausted realm with stern discipline and bold reform. You'll feel the taut atmosphere of the Kangxi court as his long reign approaches its end, when every prince and minister has something to lose—or to gain.
As the story unfolds, the stage fills with unforgettable figures. Nian Gengyao, the brilliant general whose battlefield triumphs could not save him from falling out of favor; Longkodo, a power broker whose reach ran deep and dangerous; Prince Yinxiang, loyal to the core, who helped Yongzheng turn ambitious policies into concrete action. Civil servants such as Li Wei, Tian Wenjing, and Ortai became the backbone of a reformed administration, while Zhang Tingyu gave a lifetime of faithful service across three reigns. Their fates intertwine as the Grand Council — the secret heart of imperial power — begins to take shape.
Then comes Emperor Qianlong, whose reign unfolds across decades of triumph and contradiction. You'll follow him from those dazzling early years into the sweep of his great campaigns — the annihilation of the Dzungar Khanate and the forging of Xinjiang, the brutal Jinchuan wars in the rugged Sichuan highlands, and the grinding, costly campaigns against Burma that relentlessly tested the empire's mettle. The narrative reaches one of its starkest crescendos with the Annam expedition (1788–89), the Qing intervention in northern Vietnam that marched under the banners of General Fuk'anggan — where glory and disaster often walked side by side.
Through these lives and campaigns, the story exposes how ambition, loyalty, and power shaped the Qing world. Behind every celebrated victory there is a toll to be paid — and behind every reform, a quiet human cost. From palace intrigue and court maneuvering to bloody fields on the frontier, you'll see an empire at once dazzling and fragile, held together by the wills of men who believed they ruled under Heaven's gaze.
Written with the care of a storyteller and the depth of a historian, This book draws you into the Forbidden City, lets you ride with the banner armies into battle, and introduces the people who forged — and, in time, unmade — an empire. If you love real history told with heart and clarity, the journey through the reigns of Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong will linger long after the last page is turned.
We publiceren alleen reviews die voldoen aan de voorwaarden voor reviews. Bekijk onze voorwaarden voor reviews.