A Record of the Seasons

The years turn, and the sun and moon mark the passage of time. The millennia of Chinese history are not cold ticks on a clock, but myths of mountains and seas woven into calendars, blended with solar terms, and passed down through festivals.

Since ancient people first observed the heavens, set the seasons, and divided the years, humanity has worked the land according to the twenty-four solar terms and followed the customs of successive dynasties to offer sacrifices and pray for peace. The black birds return at the spring equinox, lotus-scented breezes flourish at the summer solstice, wild geese depart at the autumn equinox, and life lies dormant beneath the snow at the winter solstice. Firecrackers drive away the Year Beast at the New Year, dragon boats ferry the river god at the Dragon Boat Festival, moonlight shines on immortal palaces at the Mid-Autumn Festival, and people climb high to honor the spirits on the Double Ninth Festival. Every seasonal landscape has its origins, and every time of year holds its own legends. The ancient gods govern the order of heaven and earth, keeping the seasons turning year after year and life thriving without end.

But time has its cracks, and the workings of Heaven have gradually fallen into disorder. At some unknown point, the stars shifted from their courses, the solar terms lost their order, and the spiritual essence of the festivals faded away. Spring, summer, autumn, and winter fell into chaos; farming lost its rhythm, and heat and cold fell out of balance. Ancient myths passed down for millennia were obscured by time, and the order of the seasons teetered on the brink of collapse.

Wang Quan is a descendant of the Xi Huang lineage, generations removed from Shangguan Ling, the direct disciple of Feng Yanmo. He carries on the Xi Huang literary heritage and fulfills his master's legacy, shouldering a thousand-year mission to restore the order of heaven and earth and bring the ancient seasons back to life. With his meager cultivation, he walks among humanity, protecting the turning of the seasons and the peace of the passing years.

In mortal form, he unravels the mysteries of the sun and moon. He records China's millennia of history in the book of the seasons.

As the scattered myths of the solar terms return one by one, the lost origins of the festivals awaken, and the disordered calendar and stars fall back into their proper courses, Wang Quan finally wields his brush and, through his own efforts, continues the grandest epic of mountains and rivers beneath heaven. He writes this chronicle of the sun, moon, and seasons, linking past and present, humanity and the divine.