A Sky Screen Appears, Revealing History’s Regrets

The reason I began writing this sky-screen novel was that I was tired of the same old stories about sky screens that defied the heavens. Too many works portray human nature as overly simple, as if once history was laid bare, everyone would come to their senses, and every emperor would reflect and mend his ways. But people’s hearts are complicated, and the lust for power eats away at the soul. Even with the merits and sins of a thousand years and disasters spanning generations displayed high on the sky screen for all to see, there will still be arrogant emperors who stubbornly go their own way, and powerful ministers and aristocratic clans whose greed knows no bounds. A moment of awakening is easy; holding firm for generations is hard. People today can learn from history, but what of those who come after, a hundred years later, through endless cycles of change? Human nature has never been predictable, and desire never ceases. The sky screen will not overturn the course of dynastic rise and fall, nor erase the trials of a troubled age or the changes of the times. It will only expose all the rot that brings ruin to a nation and tear open the darkest scars of civilization. Those who are willing to learn will take what is valuable and reform, fortify the realm, and guard against hidden dangers. Those who remain obstinate will sink deeper into their flaws, destroy the nation’s future, and lose the people’s hearts. I do not ask for a perfect age of prosperity in my lifetime. I ask only to prevent the cataclysmic disasters that would destroy the nation and its people and sever the continuity of civilization. The strength of Huaxia should not have to be forged again and again in seas of blood and ruin. We should take history as our mirror and remain vigilant from generation to generation, growing through reflection and rising through self-examination, so our cultural legacy endures and our land remains evergreen.