Kingdoms in peril : a novel of the ancient Chinese world at war / Feng Menglong, translated by Olivia Milburn.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Feng, Menglong, 1574-1646, author.

Contributor:

Milburn, Olivia, translator.

Series:

World Literature in Translation

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Chinese literature--Fiction.

Chinese literature.

China--History--Zhou dynasty, 1122-221 B.C--Fiction.

China.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (372 pages)

Place of Publication:

Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2022]

Summary:

This abridged edition introduces readers to the power and drama of this electrifying classic Chinese novel. One of the great works of Chinese literature, beloved in East Asia but virtually unknown in the West, Kingdoms in Peril is an epic historical novel charting the five hundred years leading to the unification of China under the rule of the legendary First Emperor. Writing some fourteen hundred years later, the Ming-era author Feng Menglong drew on a vast trove of literary and historical documents to compose a gripping narrative account of how China came to be China. Here, translated into English for the first time, Kingdoms in Peril recounts the triumphs and tragedies of those five hundred years, through stories taken from the lives of the unforgettable characters that defined and shaped the age in which they lived. This abridged edition distills the novel's distinct style and its most dramatic episodes into a single volume. Maintaining the spirit and excitement of the original novel, this edition weaves together nine of the most pivotal storylines--some extremely famous, others less well known. Readers will glimpse the intensity of tectonic events that shaped everyday lives, loves, and struggles, with powerful women featuring as prominently in the novel as they have in Chinese history. There are many historical works that provide an account of some of these events, but none are as thrilling and breathtakingly memorable as Kingdoms in Peril.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Map 1. The Zhou Confederacy circa 500 b.c.e.

Map 2. The Kingdoms of the Warring States Period in circa 260 b.c.e.

Introduction

The Curse of the Bao Lords

An Incestuous Love Affair at the Court of Qi

The Wicked Stepmother, Lady Li Ji

The Fight for Lady Xia Ji

The Orphan of the Zhao Clan

The Downfall of the Kingdom of Wu

Rival Students of the Master of Ghost Valley

The Family Troubles of the King of Qin

The Assassins Strike

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780520380523

0520380525

OCLC:

1296424938