前汉通俗演义 (Dramatized History of the Former Han Dynasty)

《前汉通俗演义》为民国蔡东藩在"演义救国"思想指导下创作的系列长篇历史小说之一，写秦末群雄逐鹿，刘邦建汉至王莽纂汉一段历史。这是一部以正史为经，轶闻为纬，体例特殊，自批自注的演义巨作。全书文笔亲切自然，通俗易懂。本书记述的朝代包括秦和西汉。从秦王赢政出身讲起，到西汉政权被王莽篡夺为止，共两个半世纪。书中较细地描述了秦朝暴政、楚汉相争、汉武帝开疆拓土，也揶揄了妄想成仙的秦皇汉武，揭露了王莽的阴险狡诈。全书较好地描绘了统一的封建帝国初期的面貌(The Dramatized History of the Former Han Dynasty is one of the lengthy historical books from the Republic of China by Cai Dongfan in the "Dramatized History to Save the Nation" series created under ideological guidance. It compiles history from the period between the feudal lords vying for supremacy at the end of the Qin Dynasty and Liu Bang's established Han Dynasty to Wang Mang. This is an epic dramatized history that takes official history as sacred and anecdotes as threads, with a distinctive style and comments and annotations. This book is an account of the Qin and Western Han dynasties. From the birth of the Qin Emperor Ying Zheng to the seizing of power in the Western Han Dynasty by Wang Mang, it covers two and a half centuries. The book describes in comparative detail the tyranny of the Qin Dynasty, the Chu-Han Contention, and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's expansion of territory. It also ridicules the vain attempt at immortality of Emperor Wu of Han's combining his name with Qin Shuhuang's and exposes Wang Mang's treachery and deceit. The book describes well the features of the unified feudalism in the early dynasties.)