title: [Book Sharing] Society is Moving, History Needs to be Understood - Lecture by Lü Jie
published: false
date: 2022-04-05 00:00:00 UTC
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canonical_url: http://www.evanlin.com/reading-history-not-you-think/
---
[](http://moo.im/a/ajmnyH "Society is Moving, History Needs to be Understood")
Society is Moving, History Needs to be Understood - Lecture by Lü Jie
Author: Lü Jie
Illustrator: Chun Yang
Publisher: Yuan Shen Publishing
Publication Date: 2021/09/01
#### Book Recommendation Website:
- [Readmoo Online Book Purchase](http://moo.im/a/ajmnyH)
# Preface:
This is the seventh book I've finished reading this year. Lü Jie is a well-known teacher in the cram school industry, and I've heard of his name through online articles and some programs. After all, the internet often buzzes about how lively and interesting his history classes are. I thought I'd buy this book to read, as one of my casual books (that is, a book to relax and rejuvenate when I'm tired of reading).
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# Content Summary and Thoughts:
History always repeats itself, and human nature, regardless of dynasty or nationality, is frighteningly similar.
Lü Jie not only guides you through the historical context but also helps you understand what those ancient people taught you with their blood and tears.
Did abdication really happen? Was King Zhou of Shang really that bad? Did King You of Zhou really bring down the dynasty by lighting signal fires?
This book starts from the legendary era, goes through the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties, and up to the Hundred Schools of Thought. Lü Jie, a history teacher who is best at storytelling, uses rich stories and easy-to-understand, colloquial language to help you understand the ancient period to the foundation of culture.
Listening to Teacher Lü Jie's lectures, history is no longer fragmented text but a novel full of ups and downs, which you can remember without rote memorization. The life experiences of the ancients are like a survival manual for society, allowing you to read history and understand the way of survival in the real world.
## Chapter List
Chapter 1: This is not history, it's archaeology: Prehistoric Era
Chapter 2: Legends are not just legends: The Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors and Xia
Chapter 3: The first revolution in history: Shang Tang's attack on Jie
Chapter 4: Establishing rituals and music to stabilize the country: Western Zhou
Chapter 5: Heroes emerge in a chaotic world: Spring and Autumn and Warring States
Chapter 6: The true free China: The Hundred Schools of Thought
All the chapters start with the prehistoric era, mentioning Yao, Shun, and Yu. And also mentioning some common knowledge related to literature, such as "passing the door three times without entering," because the "three" in literature is a figurative number, representing many. And it also mentions that Yao was 118 years old and Shun was 83 years old. This means that Yao and Shun were not two people, but two tribes. This kind of small knowledge also helps us understand the origin of Chinese history.
In addition to literature, there are also many interesting related shares in history. For example, astrology and fortune-telling, which started with the astronomical calendar of the Shang Dynasty. The Shang Dynasty invented the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, and had the farmer's calendar and leap months.
In addition to literature and related astrology, the author also cited many interesting stories. For example, King Zhou of Shang favored Daji, and Daji liked the handsome Ji Kao but was rejected. Therefore, she complained to King Zhou, causing Ji Kao to be chopped into meat paste and fed to King Wen of Zhou, which led to the subsequent Zhou Dynasty overthrowing the Shang Dynasty (being handsome is really not good XD).
The Spring and Autumn and Warring States period was a very important era in China, and many ideas began to sprout, and the Hundred Schools of Thought contended. There are also many interesting idiom stories shared:
- The feud between Duke Huan of Qi and Guan Zhong.
- The retreat of Jin Wen Gong for three shes
- The content of Zi Gong acting as a diplomat in Qi's attack on Lu
These three short stories are definitely different from what you imagine, and they are really a very interesting narrative style.
# Thoughts
This book is like a collection of Lü Jie's humorous historical content, and it brings together the interesting content that everyone is familiar with, but the real historical facts will surprise you. And Teacher Lü is very good at using the dialogues of young people (common internet slang, video games, comics) to make the whole book irresistible to read. It allows you to laugh while understanding many interesting historical stories. I highly recommend it for everyone to understand.
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