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Here is a list of books about various ancient cultures that we love. If there is a book you would like to see on this list, just post it in the thread.

• San Kuo or Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Lo Kuan-Chung (Three Kingdoms China)
  
• Daily Life in Traditional China: The Tang Dynasty by Charless Benn (Tang Dynasty China o.0)
  
• Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee by Robert VanGulik (Tang Dynasty China)
  
• The Life and Death of a Druid Prince: The Story of Lindow Man an Archaeological Sensation by Anne Ross and Don Robins (Iron Age England)
  
• The Romanovs: Autocrats of all the Russias by W. Bruce Lincoln (Tsarist Russia)
  
• The World of the Shining Prince by Ivan Morris (Heian Japan)
  
• Tale of the Heike translated by Helen C. McCollough (Kamakura Japan)
  

A note from Ivynian : Arthur Waley is my god.


Thanks to Chaeval for the idea of having a booklist!

As the Sanguo rounded the northeasterly curve of the great Yangtze, I pressed myself forward against the rail as though to propel my body along even more swiftly towards the place of my dreams. The past three days aboard the incredible "Three Kingdoms" cruise ship had only whetted my appatite for more. Rather than slaking my thirst for history, every recreation, every arts demonstration, every sight aboard the remodeled vessel, cast now in the image of an Eastern Han Dynasty warship, only increased my longing for the real thing.

I had spent hours gazing upon the replica of the famous cliff, until I saw the paired hanzi on the back of my lids every time I shut my eyes, and last night's dramatic recitation of a famous historical narrative recounting the epic battle of Chibi had set my blood to singing. Red Cliff! The birthplace of the Three Kingdoms era, the battlefield that changed the course of an entire empire! Soon I would walk on the very ground where Zhou Yu commanded the combined forces of Wu and Sui against the overwhelming forces mustered by Cao Cao. I would stand in the Yijiang Pavilion at the crest of Chibi mountain and look upon the exact vista, (unchanged through blessed, fortunate government edict!) where Huangn Gai’s brilliant stragegy was carried out. I would even make my offering at Baifeng Pavilion under the sky on Jin Iuan mountain, at the very altar where Zhuge Liang performed his mighty feat of Taoist magic to call the East Wind.

At last the face of Chibi mountain hove into view, those two proud carved symbols shining like beacons against the dull rock face plunging into the southern river bank. The shipboard replica was indeed exactly like, but it was in no way the same. At my back, the intense rays of the sinking sun bathed the rock face with the brilliant autumn light Hubei was famed for, and in that ruddy glow, I could see it all. Arching high overhead, the birdwing shape of the old guardtower cast its shadow across the water, reaching out for the massed ships of Wei, mightiest of the kingdoms that had been carved out of the lands held by the Han dynasty. Cao Cao had chased the small forces from Shu to the very borders of Wu, where Huangn Gai had sent his prime minister to plead for alliance. Tricked by a Shu spy into committing to a naval assault, the Wei king had lost his forces when Zhou Yu ordered a flotilla of small watercraft set ablaze and sent across the river. That unseasonable east wind summoned by Zhuge Liang had carried those brands to the northern shore, and all the might of Wei was set to naught.

An older Chinese gentleman, my dinner companion for the preceding nights, had come up behind me while I gazed raptly upon the vision granted to me, calling me back to earth with his prosaic tones. "So amazing," he mused. "Five hundred thousand men, cast down by thirty thousand. Why, it is as if a midge brought down a dragon! You know the story, young lady?"

I wished for nothing so much as his absence, but I did not have it in me to be rude to my elders. "Indeed, sir. In 208 A.D, the Three Kingdoms were created as separate nations, with independent kings, thanks to the victory won by the forces of Wu and Shu. Zhou Yu, king of Wu, is said to have carved those two hanzi into the rock wall with his own hands, commemorating the red glow cast on the cliff by the burning ships of Wei. They read "Chibi", or "Red Cliff", do they not?" It hurt me to speak so prosaically of those tremendous symbols, when I could feel the pride and defiance etched into the stone with every chisel mark.

"Indeed," he beamed at me, nearly bursting with pleasure that I was not ignorant, "They are most incredible. Each hanzi is over a meter square! I do so love to see them." Sensing his pride in his history, I forgave the old man for interrupting my reverie. "They are amazing," I said sincerely. "I cannot wait to view them closer, and visit the museum. The very first museum devoted entirely to an ancient battle in all of China! I have permission to study in the cultural history data room, and I'm thrilled, but I must confess I look forward to gazing upon the faces of the heroes in the waxen exhibit." My attention drifted back to sights before me as I was consumed once more by my longing to arrive.

When next I looked up, my companion had abandoned me, already joined with the throng waiting to disembark. My soul was quieted by the hanzi before me, those marvelous signposts from the heroes of days long gone. They endured, eternal as the mountain itself, and I knew I had all the time I needed, to find whatever it was I so desperately sought here. From the badge of victory, my eyes fell to the rushing waters below, and I found myself thinking of the vanquished and fallen. More than nine hundred years ago, Su She had written of them; "The great river surges east, / Its waves have scoured away / since time began all traces of heroic men." To my fanciful mind, it seemed suddenly sad that hundreds of thousands of men had gone to their deaths under the currents of the Yangtze, their fate to be crushed under the ever-turning wheel of China's destiny, only to be dismissed from the tales which turned upon the marvelous victory wrested from them.

Whispering a prayer for their souls, I dropped overboard a roll secreted from the luncheon table. "Your forgiveness that it isn't rice," I whispered softly, and turned away to walk into history.

The Reign of Empress Wu Zetian During the Tang Dynasty

The Tang Dynasty spanned from the years 618 AF to 907 AD, and it was hailed as the golden age of literature and art as well as an overall high point in Chinese history. The government began to move away from the aristocratic families that had dominated much of the country through politics and gravitated more towards scholarly individuals who prized rational thought over popular lineage. Among all of these improvements, there was also a time of freedom for the women of the nation, best shown through the emergence of the first female empress of China, Wu Zetian.

Born into a rich and noble family in 624 AD, Zetian was taught to play music, read, and write at an early age. Her charm and clever mind eventually earned her a spot in the castle as a concubine to Emperor Tai Tsung with whom she found great favor. He admitted her into his imperial study where she had access to official documents and affairs of state, giving her exposure to the schedule and process of government life.

When Zetian was 26, Emperor Tai Tsung died, leaving his son Kao Tsung, a man she also cared for, the throne. As per court procedures, all of the existing concubines were to be sent to a nunnery to live until death, but Emperor Kao Tsung was fascinated by the beauty and mind of Wu Zetian so a few years later she returned to the palace as a second grade concubine.

All of her years in the palace had given Zetian a certain unquenchable thirst for one thing: power. So, starting with Emperor Kao Tsung, she began her swift climb up the political ladder through manipulation and ruthlessness.

After giving birth to two sons for the Emperor, Zetian took a big leap forward in her status so that the only women that stood between her and the throne were Empress Wang and the head concubine, Xiaoshu.

Tapping into her clever mind, Zetian immediately accused the Empress of murdering her youngest daughter, which eventually led to her execution and immediate dismissal from the palace. Shortly after, Xiaoshu was also put to death through similar means of deception.

This removed all female opposition from her as she became Empress Wu Zetian, wife to Emperor Kao Tsung. But a woman of such ambition could not be satisfied until she held the power of the Emperor. Through mere suggestion, her husband began to adopt all of her ideas regarding agriculture, tax reduction, social reforms, fire fighting, and labor saving practices. It wasn’t long before the Empress was considerably active in state affairs, and she had even created her own band of hit men who would exterminate anyone who opposed the Empress whether by banishment or murder.

In 660 AD, the Emperor suffered a debilitating stroke that rendered him as a figurehead only, giving his wife complete control of the empire in every sense excluding the title.
Twenty-three years later, Emperor Kao Tsung died, and Empress Zetian moved her third son into office assuming she would be able to control his actions entirely. But to her displeasure, he was much harder to control than she had anticipated so she removed him from office a year later, replacing him with her weak fourth son who did not resist her control in the slightest sense.

Throughout her many years of gaining power, the Empress had gained incredible confidence, and in 690 AD, she grew tired of ruling the country behind the scenes and took over the throne entirely, making her the sole ruler.

Despite her merciless and cruel methods of gaining office, Empress Wu Zetian is still regarded as a great and competent ruler to this day. She took great strides in the field of agriculture and her social reforms greatly elevated the prosperity of peasants in China. But her greatest accomplish was her policy of putting scholars in office over military men; she even required that an exam be taken before she would personally interview each candidate. Empress Zetian wanted the best and brightest of China, regardless of social standing, to be part of her government, enriching the everyday life of the common man.

In the area of religion, the Empress favored Buddhism over the popular Taoism, allowing for the greatest spread of Buddhism under her rule. Furthermore, she made it her mission to destroy the Confucian principle that women were to be subordinate to men by paying writers to compose biographies about influential women of the past and present. She wanted to remind the citizens that women were just as capable as men so it was nonsensical that they did not have equal opportunities in life.

As she grew older, Empress Wu Zetian’s paranoia decreased, causing her to cut the size of her secret service dramatically. Eventually, she began to deteriorate in her cleverness, and she was convinced to abdicate the throne to her third son who had ruled the empire for a short time before her reign. Before her death, she was given the title of Supreme Empress, the title that she would be most remembered by.

In 705 AD, Empress Wu Zetian died. By her own wishes, her tombstone was left blank, and she was buried next to Emperor Kao Tsung in the royal tomb. Until this day, some remember the Empress as a ruthless politician who destroyed everything in her path until she got what she wanted, but others argue that she did just what any man would do in her position. Regardless, she is honored as a great ruler of China, and under her rule, the people prospered during the Tang Dynasty.

Her cleverness and beauty (as well as her love of male concubines) have been immortalized in countless pieces of poetry and artwork in an attempt to remember the Empress and her reign. Despite all the passing years, her extreme influence is still evident in the present day society of China.

Links:

http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/imperial2.html

http://www.womeninworldhistory.com/heroine6.html

http://www.warriortours.com/intro/history/tang/wuzetian.htm