In 1923, archaeologist Lin Yanzhi transmigrated into Republican-era Beiping. A broken Han dynasty stele engraved with “Western Hangu Pass” made him realize that Dunhuang’s Yang Pass had a counterpart on Sicily; the flames of Red Cliffs had once burned along the coast of East Africa; the heroes of Liangshan had built their meeting hall on an island in the Southern Hemisphere; and the Womanland from Journey to the West had received an authentic bronze seal of investiture during the Ming dynasty. The Great Wall, beacon towers, garrisons, and ports, from the Arctic Circle to the Antarctic ice shelves, were relics of the Qin, Han, Three Kingdoms, Song, and Ming dynasties spread across the globe. Yet for four hundred years, they had been systematically altered, destroyed, and concealed by a Western organization called the Geographical Cartography Hermetic Society.
“The spring breeze never crosses Yumen Pass.” Ming dynasty soldiers carved those words into a harbor in Cuba.
Armed with knowledge beyond his time, Lin Yanzhi sets out from Beiping, traveling through Europe, the Arctic, Africa, the Americas, and Australia. Amid pursuit, warfare, and the encirclement of the great powers, he risks his life to save the truth from being erased, using rubbings, photographs, and film. “What those who came before left behind must be protected.” The Global Relics Chronicle is eventually completed, and couriers around the world spread the truth across the seas through oral accounts. The blood and bones of soldiers who stood guard a thousand years ago are finally remembered. The spring breeze has crossed Yumen Pass.
