The true sense of epic lies not in the long span of time, but in hearing the footsteps of civilization in the destiny of the individual. The protagonist Chen Xiaomo (Wei Xiaobao) walked from the Kangxi Dynasty to the eve of the Opium War. What they saw was not only the story of a time traveler, but also all the possibilities, all the regrets, all the tenacity and all the hopes of the entire Chinese civilization at the juncture of modern times.
