明朝那些事兒

明朝那些事儿 #1-7

by 當年明月

主要讲述的是从1344年到1644年这三百年间关于明朝的一些事情，以史料为基础，以年代和具体人物为主线，并加入了小说的笔法，对明朝十七帝和其他王公权贵和小人物的命运进行全景展示，尤其对官场政治、战争、帝王心术着墨最多，并加入对当时政治经济制度、人伦道德的演义。

Genres: History, China, Politics, Nonfiction, Sociology, Asia

2665 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 2011

Reviews

[Sandie Chu · Rating 5 out of 5]

For someone who did not study Chinese history, these books gave me an insight of the entire Ming dynasty. The writer wrote it in such modern ways that you were not even aware that its a historical book. A superb book!!!

[Suyan Yi · Rating 5 out of 5]

很早就关注《明事儿》了 然而真正有时间 有机会去读才是一个多月前发生的事 喜欢当时明月的叙事风格 把所有事历史从很简单得人物心理出发点进行叙述 读的时候一路笑个不停 很赞成作者的观念 就是不要把历史想象的太复杂 而是从人的角度出发发现问题 解决问题
不要把人想的太坏 也不要把人想的太好 —欢乐颂齐点对王柏川所说

[Barack Liu · Rating 5 out of 5]

503-Stories about Ming Dynasty-Dang Nian Ming Yue-History Novel-2006

Barrack
2024/01/21

"Those Things in the Ming Dynasty" was first published in Tianya Community in March 2006. The serialization was completed on March 21, 2009. It was compiled into a book and published while writing, with a total of 7 books. It mainly tells some stories about the Ming Dynasty during the three hundred years from 1344 to 1644. It is based on historical materials, takes the era and specific characters as the main line, and adds a novel style of writing and humorous language. It provides a panoramic display of the fate of the sixteen emperors of the Ming Dynasty and other princes, dignitaries, and small figures. It especially focuses on officialdom politics, wars, and the emperor's mentality, and also adds a story about the political and economic system, human ethics, and morality at that time.

Mingyue was born in Yichang, Hubei in 1979. He has a working university degree and is a contemporary Chinese writer. His pen name is Nian Mingyue. He started working in July 2000 and works at the Foshan Customs Office in Shunde. In 2007, he ranked 22nd on the "Second Rich List of Chinese Writers" with a royalty of 2.25 million yuan.

Table of Contents
1. One Hongwu Emperor
Zhu Yuanzhang
Zhu Yunwen's chapter
2. Twenty thousand nations come to court
Zhu Di's chapter
Zhu Gaochi's chapter
Zhu Zhanji's chapter
Zhu Qizhen Chapter
Zhu Qiyu's chapter
3. The Palace of Three Monsters
Zhu Qizhen Chapter
Zhu Jianshen
Zhu Youtang ( ch ēng)
Zhu Houzhao
4. Pretend to be peaceful
Zhu Houcong (cōng)
5. Wu Empire is in sway
Zhu Houcong's chapter
Chapter by Zhu Zaihe ( hou )
Zhu Yi (yì) Jun's chapter
6. Lu Ri Du Xi Shan
Zhu Yijun's chapter
Zhu Changluo
Zhu Youxiao's chapter
7. Seven finale
Zhu Youxiao's chapter
Zhu Youjian's chapter

The author was only 27 years old when he wrote this historical novel "Those Things in the Ming Dynasty". His job income may not be extremely high at that time, but it is better than stable, and he has a lot of free time after work. His works were first published serially on online forums. It quickly became popular, and its biggest feature is probably the fun nature of its writing. In the early days when humans invented writing, books recorded national events. However, entertainment-based novels were not possible until the price of books became extremely low. Later, newspapers were born, and serial novels became a new creative form. In recent decades, with the rise of the Internet, serializing novels on the Internet has become a new trend. No matter how the form changes, its primary purpose is always to attract readers and make them interesting. When I was studying in the United States, one of the cultural characteristics I experienced was "Take it easy. Don't be so serious." Humor is ubiquitous in people's daily interactions. In contrast, traditional Chinese culture pays more attention to solemnity and seriousness, and sometimes entertainment is sacrificed in order to maintain this seriousness. Therefore, reading becomes like a sacred act that needs to be bathed in and renewed before the mind can be righteous, rather than a relaxing recreational activity where one can just read and eat peanuts. However, it turns out that in order for a work to have widespread influence, the interest that caters to the public's taste is often an important factor. If the work is too advanced, its scope of dissemination and audience will be limited, and it will be easily lost over time. There are many lost masterpieces in Chinese history. When I was in middle school and high school, I also liked to pursue gorgeous words when writing to show my knowledge. But now it is believed that writing should first pursue fun and humor.

Conquering the world and governing the world are two extremely difficult tasks, and the core qualities required are different. The outstanding qualities Zhu Yuanzhang displayed during his military campaigns may no longer be applicable or too extreme when governing the world. Cruelty to the enemy and decisiveness to kill are extremely valuable qualities on the battlefield. But in the absence of enemies, this spirit of life and death may affect his subordinates. It is difficult for a soft-hearted person to survive to the end of a cruel war. Since ancient times, people who can be good emperors often have few good men and women, especially the founders. With the right help, you may be able to avoid going to extremes. In Zhu Yuanzhang's life, Queen Ma played such a role. However, once he lost a virtuous wife like Empress Ma who could influence his decision-making, Zhu Yuanzhang lost restraint in his behavior and became extreme. There are no perfect people in this world. Strength and persistence may sometimes turn into stubbornness, and tolerance may sometimes mean weakness and hesitation. Therefore, it is extremely important to find a person or even a team that can assist you and help you achieve balance.

Zhu Yuanzhang made a lot of efforts to leave his descendants a peaceful and prosperous age and a stable country. For this reason, he did not hesitate to kill countless people and bear the notoriety in history. However, history has shown us a truth: when an over-protected eagle faces a hungry wolf that licks blood from its knife head to survive, it is often difficult to win. The duel between Zhu Yunwen and Zhu Di is an example. Judging from the power on paper, Zhu Yunwen has a greater chance of winning, but his failure is not only due to his own mistakes in decision-making, but also to the accuracy of Zhu Di's decision-making, and to a certain extent, luck. If Zhu Di was slightly unlucky, the result might be completely different. Similarly, the Seven Kingdoms Rebellion during the period of Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty is also a case. If Emperor Jing had been less lucky, history might have been different. This shows that even a man as talented and strategic as Zhu Yuanzhang cannot guarantee that his huge family fortune will remain intact for a long time. Descendants with insufficient abilities often find it difficult to maintain such a large empire. On the other hand, even people who come from humble backgrounds, have experienced ups and downs, and even have been monks and beggars, can achieve great things. Of course, the consequences of failure and success in these cases are too extreme, but at least ordinary people can take their morals to encourage themselves.

The core of life is to keep making decisions. Whether it was Zhu Yunwen deciding whether or how to reduce the vassal state, surrendering or escaping, or whether Zhu Di decided whether to rebel, how to rebel, and how to stabilize his rule, these decisions had an impact on the fate of tens of millions of people and even the historical direction of an empire. profound influence. For most ordinary people, although our choices may not have a significant impact on other people's lives, they have far-reaching significance for our own lives, such as choosing to accept or give up a job, deciding which city to live in, Choosing which company to work for, etc. Faced with complex choices, how do we make decisions? I sometimes take a written approach, where I list out the pros and cons of different options as best I can, rather than just vaguely considering them in my head. But even so, there is no guarantee that the choice made is always optimal. How should we balance our own psychological tendencies and objective circumstances? Should we rely on intuitive choices, or should we make decisions based on objective data and facts?

We say, "Success is nothing but failure, and failure is nothing." Success and failure are often caused by the same factors. This applies not only to individuals but also to countries. This phenomenon can be understood as a double-edged sword. Zhu Di gained the world by seizing the throne of his younger brother and nephew, but in the era of his grandson Zhu Zhanji, there was another situation where his uncle wanted to seize the throne of his nephew. However, because Zhu Gaoxu's ability was not as good as Zhu Di's, and Zhu Zhanji's ability seemed to exceed that of Emperor Jianwen, Zhu Gaochi, and Zhu Gaoxu were unable to replicate Zhu Di's success. However, it is conceivable that Zhu Di's deeds gave strong encouragement to his descendants' rebellious actions. A dynasty, especially the first three generations of leaders in the early days of the founding of the country, often has a profound impact on the future of the entire dynasty. This is just like how the early historical events of a nation will affect its subsequent development or a person's childhood and adolescent experiences will have a significant impact on his or her later life. Therefore, we must be extremely cautious in the early stages of things, because the seeds of success and failure planted at that time will affect future development. Older people often think it is beneficial for young people to experience some hardship. I think one of the foundations of this view is probably to achieve the unity of knowledge and action through suffering. Before experiencing hardship, people may only know theoretically but not be able to do it; but after experiencing hardship, it is possible for people to transform their knowledge into doing it. The sooner you can achieve the integration of knowledge and action in many aspects, the greater the impact on your personal future. This may be the point of suffering.

There is a saying that goes, "Blessings come from disasters, and misfortunes come from blessings." It embodies the impermanence of fate. What seems good now can turn bad, and current misfortunes can be the foreshadowing of good things to come. When the Jin Kingdom destroyed the Northern Song Dynasty, the situation seemed bright, but later the Jin Kingdom was destroyed by the powerful Mongolian cavalry. The Mongolian Golden Family swept across the Eurasian continent during its heyday, but just over 200 years later, their descendants were beaten to the point of fleeing by Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di's father and son and even surrendered. However, just over 80 years later, the Oara, a branch of Mongol descendants, rose again and approached Beijing, causing the Ming Dynasty to almost repeat the tragedy of the Northern Song Dynasty. On the other hand, the Jurchens, who were still very weak at the time, later became the Manchus, and eventually rose up and dominated the world. The future is difficult to predict and blessings and misfortunes are unpredictable. Therefore, whether in victory or defeat, we should maintain an attitude of neither arrogance nor discouragement. After all, no one knows what the future will bring. We can only act cautiously without losing hope.

A person's talents are often not directly related to his character. There have been people in history who were morally corrupt but talented, and there have been people who have good character but lacked talent. Moral cultivation alone is not enough to change reality. If you really want to succeed in your career, it is not enough to just read the books of sages. The key is to have problem-solving skills. Wang Yangming, Yu Qian, Zhang Juzheng, and others have all achieved "turning the tide before it fell and supporting the building before it collapsed." They are not only well-educated people but also kings of practice. The so-called "read thousands of books and travel thousands of miles" actually emphasizes the combination of theory and practice, to experience, face challenges, solve problems, and even bear the consequences. "Recite three hundred poems and teach them how to do politics, but they are not up to the mark; when they are sent to all directions, they cannot be specific; even though there are many, they are still ridiculed?" No matter how many books you read, if you don't have the ability to solve practical problems, what's the point? Even those people in history who were as short-lived as meteors experienced various hardships in their early years, not to mention those great people who can stand like evergreen trees. The greatest value of a person's life in the world lies in his ability to solve problems. Sometimes even the way to solve problems is not that important.

[Qiaomu2003 · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book. If one doesnt have enough time to read the historical record, this book would give him both a review and insight of Ming dynasty.

[Lille · Rating 5 out of 5]

最爱关于于少保以及北京保卫战的篇章。这本书介绍了许多明朝人物，间接影响了读者对明朝哲学、历史的接受度。我也因此书认识了王阳明以及心学。

[Adeline Shen · Rating 1 out of 5]

没有读完，也不想读了，废话连篇，一千多页的书，实际内容可以压缩成三百页。

[EthanZhu · Rating 5 out of 5]

《当年明月》这本书以诙谐幽默的口吻描写了一个朝代近三百年的历史，勾画了其中一些重要人物与事件。不得不说，这真的是一本非常“上瘾”的历史书，尽管我对历史并没有特别的兴趣，但依然花了很长时间慢慢读完了整整七册。

（必须提前说明，我并不擅长写书评，即便现在开始尝试，也并不认为自己能做到十分出色。这不过是内心的表达欲望，以及想确认自己是否真的读懂了这本书的一种验证。也许我的观点有误，亦或是作者的价值观与我不同，但这仅是我的主观看法，所以不奢求所有人都同意我。甚至预见到肯定会有人批评我所写的内容，无论是核心观点、逻辑，还是文笔。不过，谁在乎呢？归根结底，我只是想证明自己确实读过这本书，至于我是否读对读懂，那就见仁见智吧。）

虽然我并不认为自己完全读透了这本书，也无法客观地评价历史中的每一个人物，但我依然想分享其中让我印象深刻的部分，尤其是王守仁。我非常喜欢他对成为圣贤的渴望，特别是当他尝试不同的宗教与学术来寻找生命与成功的真谛时，我感受到了那个时代文人精神的力量。同时，他的个人魅力也不容忽视，我尤其喜欢他的一句话：

“面对一切困难和痛苦，仍坚定前行，泰然处之的人，才有资格被称为圣贤。”

对我个人来说，虽然无法成为圣贤，但我始终力求超越普通人。也许这种愿望有些高远，但总要设定一些目标，给自己增添信心。目前，我也正经历一系列的困难与痛苦，但从未放弃过。这句话，以及王阳明的心学理念，给了我很大的力量。此外，我还特别欣赏他对敌人的机智与狡猾。在我看来，这也体现了智慧的价值。

我还欣赏过徐阶、于谦、海瑞等人，但正如我所说，我并不擅长评判历史人物。阅读过程中，许多人物的故事逐渐淡去，留下的只是“伟大”这一模糊的印象。要问我为什么伟大，我现在暂时说不出来。也许等我再读一遍时，会有不同的理解，届时我可能会修改这篇书评。就目前而言，我想就这样记录下我的感受。

最后，我想说说作者的结尾，非常发人深省。那是徐霞客的故事，而终语则是：“成功只有一个——按照自己的方式，去度过人生。”是的，我曾无数次设想过，如果没有做出一番事业，或没有为这个世界留下什么贡献，就这样死去，那简直是种浪费，可以称得上是失败。我后来才慢慢意识到，幸福的标准与成功是一样的，衡量尺度永远不在他人眼里，而是在自己心里。我们永远不需要对自己太过苛责，但适当的压力是必不可少的。这样才能平复现代人的焦虑。因为放眼整个历史，一切不过是沧海一粟，百年时间一晃而过，怎样才算过得有意义？实事求是，按照自己的方式，不后悔，尽情地去活。

[Naihao Deng · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read it several times myself. I know some people hate it because they judge this book from the perspective of the serious history. I never thought of this book that way and felt it is a great book when I am tired of reading serious history books and want to take a break. Besides, I like the way the author makes those educated guesses, e.g. the author does not conclude whether Emperor Jianwen is dead or not, but inferred it from the length of conversation between Emperor Di Zhu and the person that investigated Jianwen.

Also, I was inspired by lots of figures the author depicts, e.g. Qian Yu who defended the capital city when the emperor had become the prisoner of the invaders. And it reveals the bureaucracy in a funny way, e.g. the argument between Emperor Jiajing and his ministers.

[Douglas Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic read, especially for lovers of history and culture. I began reading these on a whim, but I quickly found myself engrossed in the tale of Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

I truly believe that history can reveal a lot about the present cultural realities of ethnic groups, and reading these books helped me to gain a much better understanding of how past developments led to current cultural realities in China.

If you are interested in learning history or Chinese culture, I would highly recommend these books. You could also use these books to practice Chinese as the language of the books is more colloquial.

[Zhenlan Hu · Rating 5 out of 5]

I often have had a hard time learning history in a classroom setting or from historian or professor. Then, I noted, bought and read this collection of seven books on the history of Ming's Dynasty of China. Now, I am able to say I can discuss the history of that period with ordinary persons with average knowledge in history.

[Sheng · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series tells the story about 300 years of Ming dynasty based on historical documents. From the books, I see politics and wars, and how people suffer no matter the dynasty is flourishing or declining. The books also have a sense of humor that intrigues me to continue reading.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took sooooo much time to finish this 😆 Like this a lot !! The writer uses a very modern way to tell the very old stories which makes the reading very entertaining. Only one thing I would be picky is the writer quotes quite a few words from the China’s leaders 😆

[Le Zeng · Rating 5 out of 5]

好书。今年读的最久的书。7本读了一个多月，受益匪浅，感慨良多。非常推荐！

让我这样完全不了解明朝历史的人，看完之后对明朝皇帝、大臣、历史事件如数家珍。皇帝：从前期朱元璋勤奋，朱棣生于沙场死于沙场，朱祁镇的土木堡，到后期嘉靖万历不上朝，到最后崇祯的无可奈何。名人：道衍，郑和，王振，于谦，三杨，王阳明，张居正，海瑞，严嵩，戚继光，李时珍，徐霞客。太多太多故事和事件可以值得诉说。

这本书让我看到一个朝代的兴衰，每一个可能的角色都当过权利最大者：皇帝，宦官，文官集团三者分别统治，或是两两联合制衡统治。无论哪种，最终依旧逃不过灭亡和更替。这就是历史的轮回。

[zhi · Rating 4 out of 5]

当年明月从士大夫的角度解开了明朝276年波澜壮阔的皇权-相权两端，帝王-宦官-文官三体之间斗争，妥协与合作，对于其中每个人都被分成了善，恶，非善非不善，然后绝大部分给予了正当的评价。但是对于重用文官的弘治、崇祯就猛吹，重用内廷勋贵的成化、正德、嘉靖就被黑得惨。另外近三百年间下层人民的生活却不被考虑，上层阶级的各项行为却都给予了尽力地辩解。但是从文学趣味性的角度上，相对于史料来说，这样的写法确实十分有利于历史知识的传播。

[Hongkai Jiang · Rating 5 out of 5]

I somehow read the whole series of 3000 ish pages front to back more than 5 times. He makes the history of one of the longest Chinese dynasties entertaining, exciting and easily read by a middle schooler. In many ways, the lessons from the history and the writing influenced me for years to come.

[Lucy Yang · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful series. I wasn't a big history fan before those books. They changed my whole point of view of history. It doesn't have to be dry, boring and similar.

[Jacqueline · Rating 4 out of 5]

很幽默好读的一套书，但是如果多一些政治细节描写和政客的人物性格刻画会更好，整体来讲更像是第三者在讲故事。

[JinyanC · Rating 5 out of 5]

真是一本有趣的明朝历史、里面有一些野史、作者用词简单容易懂、又最早的发起和最后灭、里面解释生动、作者参考了很多书写一本很好的书。

[Jack Chu · Rating 1 out of 5]

The set of books can not be counted as history books, only story books. And the story mainly takes place in the court,not the folk. Reading throug this book, I found a ridiculous history.

[Radarlei · Rating 5 out of 5]

A novel-like chronicle that depicts the rise and fall of the Ming dynasty of China.

[寻找家园 · Rating 5 out of 5]

后来模仿之作极多，什么《清朝那些事》、《唐朝那些事》，但真正脱颖而出的还是这本。

[Jianwushuang]

写的很好，希望其他朝代也能出出这样的书

[Ringo · Rating 5 out of 5]

audiobook is fun

[Philip Ye · Rating 5 out of 5]

配合 Spotify 上的語音書看，語音還沒聽完，書先迫不及待看完了。其實很久以前看過幾本，也算重讀了一部分吧。

[Yuan · Rating 5 out of 5]

20180416

[Pengling · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a fan would rather read a history book.
听起来如同说书

[Ning · Rating 2 out of 5]

主观性太强了，作为论坛文来讲可以理解，但是出版物还保留大量对敌人的侮辱性词眼，以及对历史人物的过分解读，很多事件也是为了带出自己的观点挑着讲，太误导了。

[hefuduo · Rating 5 out of 5]

主观情绪比较多

[William Cai · Rating 5 out of 5]

我听完了！！！

[F Gato · Rating 4 out of 5]

结尾很对得起这本漫长的书。作者厉害。也发现自己对历史的兴趣只限于看热闹和段子😅