The Beauty That Faded Away

Throughout the ages, the histories have mostly been filled with biographies of men. Countless women were either reduced to supporting roles or lost to anonymity. Even those with astonishing talent and unmatched strength of character were eventually buried beneath the dust of time, leaving behind only indistinct silhouettes as their youth faded away.

This book turns its gaze to a cast of women, brushing away the dust of history to tell the legends of those who were forgotten and erased. Among them is Princess Pingyang, who cast off her finery, donned armor, and led an army of women to guard mountain passes and range across battlefields, winning glorious victories for the Tang dynasty, yet receiving only a few brief lines in the histories and little recognition from later generations. There are also gifted women in secluded chambers, unwilling to settle for an ordinary life, who give voice to the vastness within them through their writing; extraordinary women in turbulent times who protect the people and defend their lands, sustaining a realm through their wisdom; and healers of great compassion, hidden beyond the halls of government, who save lives and ease suffering.

Born in an age ruled by men, they were not confined to the inner chambers or bound by fate. As women, they did things that could move heaven and earth. Though their names were never inscribed in the histories, their lives proved that women were never mere adornments to history: they possessed courage, vision, and achievements equal to any man's.

This is an epic of nameless women, giving the splendor buried for a thousand years a chance to bloom again, and telling the world that women, too, can shine across the ages, be remembered for centuries, and build a world of their own.