A Banquet in This Fleeting Life

Cheng Yizhou, a tunnel construction technician, is accidentally transmigrated to Sheng, a remote kingdom of the Tang dynasty, when a culvert collapses. The people of the Cheng family mistake him for their missing second son. Cheng Yizhou plays along and enters the Cheng household. He writes tales of Journey to the West and practices the Non-Being Heart Sutra. Just then, Sheng is invaded by the Danmao Kingdom, and Cheng Yizhou refines black powder, makes explosives, and builds flying thunder cannons to help the Duke Who Guards the Nation defend Suolong Pass. He makes telescopes and hot-air balloons, then crushes the Danmao army’s camp. Adopted by Sheng’s emperor, he becomes the heir apparent and is sent to the Tang dynasty as a hostage... Thus begins a remarkable life! Yet life is like a dream: after enjoying all the glory and splendor, nothing remains.

“Why toil so hard in this fleeting life? Even the grandest banquet must end. A thousand joys and sorrows are all illusions; from ancient times to now, it has all been one absurd dream.” Borrowing Cao Xueqin’s poem from the opening of Dream of the Red Chamber, this book takes its title: A Banquet in a Fleeting Life.