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Laurie Dennis

Goodreads Author

Born

The United States

Website

https://www.lauriedennis.com

Twitter

LDennis1368

Genre

Historical Fiction

Influences

Writer Lu Xun 魯迅 (1881-1936), poet Li Qingzhao 李清照 (1084-1156), histor ...more

Member Since

February 2013

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I am a writer of historical fiction focused on the founding of China's Ming Dynasty. Why fixate on something that happened over 600 years ago? The early 1300s, when the Mongols ruled China, was an era of political crisis, lawlessness, and natural disasters. (Sound familiar?!) Zhu Yuanzhang 朱元璋, who emerged out of a large cast of contenders to claim the Dragon Throne, was one of the major figures in Chinese history. He has been written about extensively in Chinese, including fiction, drama, film, poetry, and more. And yet, his remarkable story is almost unknown in the English-speaking world. I want to change that. ...more

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How much influence has the Ming Dynasty had on the PRC?

Laurie Dennis Mao Zedong was deeply interested in the story of the Ming founder, because it involved peasant rebellions. Chairman Mao had conversations about this w…moreMao Zedong was deeply interested in the story of the Ming founder, because it involved peasant rebellions. Chairman Mao had conversations about this with historian Wu Han, but then turned on the author when he published his seminal 1965 "Biography of Zhu Yuanzhang." Wu died in prison. Among Wu's listed crimes were "opposing the doctrine of class struggle" in his depiction of Zhu's rise to power, which is nonsense.
The Ming founder worked to broaden access to public schools, reform the legal code, and improve the lives of peasants, but he was an autocrat and did not consider himself a rebel - he was restoring righteous rule!
I think today's PRC leadership admires the the power and influence the Ming founder wielded.
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How do you get inspired to write?

Laurie Dennis I felt frustrated that so little was available in English about the Ming founding, a key moment in Chinese history that resonates with our current wor…moreI felt frustrated that so little was available in English about the Ming founding, a key moment in Chinese history that resonates with our current world.(less)

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Combine Editions
Laurie Dennis’s books

Average rating: 4.73 · 15 ratings · 11 reviews · 3 distinct works

	The Lacquered Talisman: A novel of fourteenth century China 4.73 avg rating — 15 ratings — published 2020 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Lacquered Talisman : A novel of 14th-Century China 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Homeland Heritage 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

32 posts
Laurie Dennis's Blog

The anthem of the Red Turban Rebellion

Happy Birthday Ming Founder!

October 21, 2024, marks the 696th birthday of Zhu Yuanzhang, founder of China’s Ming Dynasty.

He was born in 1328, founded the Ming Dynasty in 1368, and died in 1398.

To be more specific, he was born in an Earth Dragon year on the Dingchou 丁丑 day of the 9th month of the 1st year of the Tianli 天曆 reign of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty’s Wenzong 元文宗 Emperor Tugh Temur. It’s a dat

Laurie is Currently Reading

Laurie Dennis is currently reading

Death in Florence: The Medici, Savonarola, and the Battle for the Soul of a Renaissance City

by Paul Strathern

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Apr 14, 2023 08:33AM

Laurie Dennis is currently reading

The Story of the Stone, or The Dream of the Red Chamber, Vol. 5: The Dreamer Wakes

by Cao Xueqin

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Apr 08, 2023 03:42PM

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Laurie’s Recent Updates

Laurie Dennis wrote a new blog post The cringey world of book promotion I did not realize, in my dreams about getting a book published, that promotion would be such a big part of the process. Then I started attending confe Read more of this blog post »
Oct 21, 2024 05:46AM · 1 like · like

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Quotes by Laurie Dennis (?)

“In these difficult times, when the landscape seems to be shifting and re-forming, and when great changes seem imminent, your role is to discern righteousness and follow it.”
― Laurie Dennis

tags: china, historical-fiction

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Laurie’s Quotes

“In these difficult times, when the landscape seems to be shifting and re-forming, and when great changes seem imminent, your role is to discern righteousness and follow it.”
― Laurie Dennis

tags: china, historical-fiction

0 likes

“When the moon reaches fullness, it begins to wane.
月滿則虧”
― Sima Qian, The Grand Scribe's Records, Vol. 1: The Basic Annals of Pre-Han China

tags: chinese-history

6 likes

“Do you know, I always thought unicorns were fabulous monsters, too? I never saw one alive before!"

Well, now that we have seen each other," said the unicorn, "if you'll believe in me, I'll believe in you.”
― Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures In Wonderland: and Through The Looking Glass

1065 likes

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Laurie Dennis’s Followers (8)

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