MING TO QING
I learned some intriguing history by spending all that time with Sword Stained with Royal Blood, a tale centered on the collapse of the Ming Dynasty (although magic snake swords and ice toads probably did not figure in the real events). The Jianghu part was literary fantasy, but the political underpinings of the plot were not fiction.  An entertaining way to absorb some history...and make it feel like I am not wasting my time watching romantic soap operas of imperial China.

I was however a little puzzled by the Emperor's character: he seemed so young, but well played, by Gao Hu, a Shanghainese Tiger a couple months younger than my son.  But then I looked at the history which revealed  that  after Beijing was invaded by rebels the Ming Emperor hung himself at the age of 33!  (Younger than my son even...that means I could be an Empress Dowager.) Chongzhen became emperor at 17, inheriting a pack of troubles from his more incompetent brother. The Ming was destined to fail, but not helped because Chongzhen was too young and had advisors who maybe had interests other than his success in mind. So Gao Hu, (an actor/singer, whose name when Googled also yields a musical instrument rather like an er hu) despite his youthful demeanor, was actually even a little old for the part. Interesting too, Gao Hu's birthday is the same date Chongzhen died, April 25.