Set in the late Qing, during the Tongzhi era, the novel follows a baffling robbery-murder case on an ancient post road in Woman Mountain, western Hunan, and the rise and fall over a century of the four branches of the Xia family in Qingshan Stronghold. Together, these stories paint a vivid, ever-changing portrait of Woman Mountain.
Spanning the late Qing, the Republic of China, and the new society, the novel traces the evolution of history and the transformation of society. The beautiful mountains and rivers of western Hunan, along with its strange and mysterious wu-nuo arts and feng shui, are all brought vividly to life. Local officials, soldiers and bandits, military and political factions, local power struggles, and party conflicts all feature in the story. The many faces of life on wild, mysterious Woman Mountain, and the tangled loves and hatreds of its countless inhabitants, unfold in a blood-soaked history of love and hate, good and evil, and the beauty and ugliness of human nature.
This novel and its characters are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to real people or events is purely coincidental. Do not imitate.
