To Rule All Under Heaven: A History of Classical China from Confucius to the First Emperor
In 481 B.C.E., ancient China was on the cusp of one of the most profound revolutions any society has ever undergone, one that would set the course of world history for the following two millennia and a half. The ruling order that had been set up by the Zhou (ca. 1044-256 B.C.E.) kings almost six centuries before was disintegrating. Though the Zhou realm was populous, wealthy, and blessed with a sophisticated and already ancient culture, all of the basic institutions that structured social and spiritual life were in radical decay. For those living at the time, the situation resembled the kind of doomsday scenario spun out in summer blockbusters here today, only it was all too real. The world was literally falling apart.
The following two-hundred and sixty years saw the largest civilization on earth reinvent and recreate itself. Through war, diplomacy, debate, commerce, philosophy, literature, science, and artistic expression, the Chinese of the Warring States gave birth to a radically new social order. To Rule All Under Heaven is the first history in English to bring this dynamic period to life for general readers.
The First History of Its Kind
If one enters almost any bookstore in the English-speaking world in search of a book about classical Athens, the conquests of Alexander, or the early Roman Republic written for a general reader, one will have many options. But if one looks for such a book about the corresponding period in early Chinese history, there are none. I wrote this book to fill that gap. It presumes no prior or special knowledge of East Asian History or culture.
To Rule All Under Heaven recounts the revolution of the Warring States Period, beginning from the time just prior to the death of Confucius in 481 B.C.E. to just after the unification and founding of the empire by the First Emperor and his Qin Dynasty (221 B.C.E.-206 B.C.E.). It is a drama with myriad actors that unfolded across a vast and varied terrain: from the Pacific coast to the foothills of the Himalayas, from the arid Inner Asian Steppe to the steamy rainforests of the southern subtropics. Despite the length, breadth, and intricacy of this epoch, it constitutes a sharply pivotal moment in history. Not only the nation we know of today as China, but the entire world was forever transformed by the maelstrom of the Warring States.
