TsinghuaX: Chinese History From Warring States to the Tang Dynasty | 资治通鉴

Zizhi Tongjian _is one of the earliest Chinese historiographies spanning nearly 300 volumes and covering 1,300 years of history. Literally meaning “Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance,” _Zizhi Tongjian is an annalistic-style history featuring the subjects of politics and the military as the main thread of narration. The collection has been cherished by scholars over numerous dynasties for its historical value and insight into governance, peace and stability.

This guided reading course will help learners deepen their understanding of Chinese history, in addition to applying _Zizhi Tongjian’s _ancient wisdom to modern-day governance. Because _Zizhi TongJian _is a rich, expansive text, this course is intended to remove colloquial barriers and help students gain a deeper understanding of Chinese history from Emperor Qin to Caocao and Emperor Taizong.

"Zizhi Tongjian" is a famous chronicle style history book compiled by Sima Guang of the Northern Song Dynasty and the first work of the "Tongjian style" category of traditional history books. The book takes politics and military as the main narrative line, starting from 403 BC and ending in 959 AD. With 294 volumes and more than 3 million words, it systematically presents the magnificent historical picture of China over more than 1,300 years. Since the publication of this book, it has not only been valued by scholars of all ages for its irreplaceable value as historical data, but has also been praised by later generations for its fundamental motivation and excellent historical knowledge for educating people, summarizing the rise and fall of chaos in the past, and presenting a story that transcends time and space. of great vitality. However, "Zizhi Tongjian" is vast in length and complex in content, and due to the characteristics of the historical documents themselves, it is difficult for young students who are not majoring in literature and history to read through and understand its gist. As a general humanities course, the "Introduction to "Zi Zhi Tong Jian"" course aims to eliminate professional barriers and guide students to experience the charm of this great Chinese historical work up close. The lecturer of the course, Professor Zhang Guogang, has devoted himself to studying "Zi Zhi Tong Jian" for decades. By carefully selecting the words and deeds of classic characters and historical scenes, he analyzed the details and analyzed them piece by piece, using modern thinking to summarize the cultural essence and elucidating historical wisdom in vivid language, with special emphasis on Among them are the practical significance of self-cultivation, family management, and country governance, as well as the historical comparison between Chinese and Western cultures. Through the course "Introduction to "Zi Zhi Tong Jian"", students can not only have a more comprehensive grasp of the basic context of the development and evolution of Chinese history from the Warring States Period to the Five Dynasties, but also understand the basic principles of how to draw realistic nutrition from traditional culture. method to pave the way for further learning about Chinese culture in the future.