Three Books of Gaochang (empty City Chronicles)
by Qiu Huadong
About This Novel
Gaochang, located in the Mutugou River oasis on the northern edge of the Turpan Basin, was originally a military and political center. As the heart of the North Silk Road, it controlled the north-south trade routes of the Tianshan Mountains. "Unexpectedly, wonderful things can be seen in Gaochang." Gaochang's calligraphy and ink marks bear witness to the integration of Han culture and highlight the regional color. "Three Books of Gaochang" takes silk scripts, brick scripts and blanket scripts as clues and includes four parts: "Don't Avoid Death", "Rooted in the Central Plains", "Heart is the Place to Go" and "Gaochang Duima". An iron bird runs through history and contemporary times, witnessing the wars, iron horses, and fireworks of the Han, Tang, and Song Dynasties regarding Gaochang. In "Don't Avoid Death", Ban Yong, the son of Ban Chao, the guard of the Western Regions, is imprisoned and awaits the death penalty, recalling the legend of two generations of father and son who are closely connected with the Western Regions by flesh and blood. "Roots in the Central Plains" tells the story of Zhang Huaiji, a famous scholar from Xizhou in the Tang Dynasty, who accompanied the general Wang Xiaojie to conquer Tubo and recover the four towns in Anxi. During the march, he was entrusted with telling the past events of his homeland in Gaochang. During the war, he discovered a mysterious iron bird from the Han Dynasty on a beacon, whose sound traveled through time and space. "Heart Is Home" tells the story of Wang Yande, a chamberlain in the early Northern Song Dynasty, who was ordered by Taizong to serve as an envoy to the Uighur Kingdom in Gaochang. Crossing the quicksand, crossing the Yellow River, and avoiding assassinations, he arrived in Gaochang after going through many hardships. He accidentally obtained a chirping iron bird in the Jiaohe Buddhist niche, which repeatedly provided warnings and saved lives in danger. In the epilogue "Gaochang Duima", art history professors and students visit the ruins of the ancient city of Jiaohe, and paper-cutting restores the thousand-year-old "Gaochang Duima". An ancient iron bird discovered in the Jiaohe channel is magically activated in the moonlight, resonating with the paper-cut horse.
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