the Fourfold Encounters of Records Grand Historian: Seeing Mandate Heaven - My Fate Is Heaven's/史记四见

My Fate Is Heaven's focuses on two chapters of the Records of the Grand Historian: the Biography of General Li Guang and the Basic Annals of Xiang Yu.¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿Li Guang and Xiang Yu were both great heroes who met with defeat - their virtues as conspicuous as their flaws. As a commander, Li Guang was not competent in organizing and planning the movement and operations of large forces; he could not adapt to the new circumstances of large-scale mobile warfare that emerged during the Han-Xiongnu conflicts. His fate cannot be fully explained by the circumstances of his time or by destiny alone. Yet Sima Qian deeply sympathized with him and composed his biography with such brilliance that it has become a masterpiece of Chinese prose. "Since ancient times, beautiful women and renowned generals have rarely been permitted to grow old in the world." Down through the ages, readers have felt but one thing: if he was not the Flying General, then who could be?As for the Basic Annals of Xiang Yu, it stands not only as the pinnacle of the Records of the Grand Historian but also as a model of classical Chinese prose. A work of such towering stature repays close reading with manifold rewards.The Basic Annals of Xiang Yu concludes with the account of Xiang Yu's burial: "The King of Han held a funeral ceremony for him and departed in tears." After all, Xiang Yu had once been the sovereign of the realm - that his rival should offer him genuine respect bears witness to his stature as a man among men.¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿"¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿"¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿"¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿"¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿Tan Musheng is a historian, writer, and Ph.D. candidate in modern Chinese history at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. A former senior editor at The Economic Observer and co-founder of Interface Media, he later founded the New Asia Humanities College. His lecture series on Chinese history has garnered millions of listeners online. He is the author of The Empress's Flight West and The Witchcraft Scandal That Shook Chang'an.¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿"¿¿¿¿¿¿"¿¿¿¿¿"¿¿¿¿¿¿¿"¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿