Passing on the Torch

It's complete! Historical research is no easy task, so please support the official release. Your subscriptions are what keep me writing. I'm currently polishing the whole story and organizing my research, and I'll post bonus chapters from time to time. Thank you all for your support along the way! The bonus chapters are planned as follows: 1. Before the Story · Dayi: The High Priest's working life in Yin's capital (not really); 2. Afterword · In the Wilds: The High Priest's socialization training in Qi (not really); 3. Travelogue · Dark Bird: Bai Yue takes the shamans on research trips (and vacations); 4. Miscellany · Bin Songs: Farming-life bonus chapters from the perspective of farmers and commoners, including the story of Dan Fu, grandfather of the Zhou people, leading his clan from Bin to the Zhou Plain in the early Zhou period. 5. A few forum-style chapters and sweet little scenes that didn't make it into the main story.

The everyday lives of Shang and Zhou civil servants (crossed out) government officials and priests, building Western Zhou from the ground up. Major events: the Battle of Muye, the Rebellion of the Three Guards, the demolition of Great Shang, the conquest of Yan, and the construction of Chengzhou.

I took heavenly fire from the branches of an ancient tree and borrowed the sun's light with a burning mirror.

Now I pass this fire to the people, to light their way into the unknown.

*

At the end of the Yin-Shang dynasty, Heaven's Mandate was about to shift. Deer grazed in the fields, and wild geese filled the plains.

The high priest Bai Yue plucked the stars from a raging wind, then left Yin's capital with a secret passed down for five hundred years, becoming the great shaman of Feng and Hao.

The four seas were in turmoil, the nine provinces in upheaval, and nowhere was at peace.

She watched the city walls, built with sacrificial blood and bronze, crumble, and the heavenly city adorned with bone, jade, and turquoise become a wasteland.

So, amid the chaos, she felled the sacred tree, burned its golden branches, and even joined forces with the new king to kill the “gods.”

*

In ancient times, heaven and earth stretched vast and empty, and all living things suffered together.

Our ancestors once took the lightning fire from the heavens and broke off the golden branches of shamanic magic, weaving them into a dream that lasted a thousand years and lulled ten thousand people into its spell.

Now the dream is over.

●Reader's guide:

1. An educational story with a romantic view of history, about Chinese civilization “leaving the shamanic wilderness.” The heroine is a genuine shaman priestess who reads the stars, tells fortunes, and practices shamanic rites. There are no supernatural phenomena in the story.

2. Historical fiction with a small amount of romance. The heroine practices visiting marriage, so readers can ship couples as they like. The ending is open, though it could also be called happy. The story weaves in research on the economy, culture, religion, geography, military and government, crafts, and historical events of the late Shang and early Zhou. An educational bedtime read that lets you step into the oracle-bone and bronze ages (Hush, this isn't CCTV-9).

3. Scholars still disagree about the history of the Three Dynasties. There is no final consensus, and new discoveries keep changing the picture. The historical events and character assessments in this story are just one possible interpretation. They are not guaranteed to be absolute fact, and your exam graders may not share this view. For exams, follow your textbook!

4. The shamanic beliefs, deities, and political discussions in the story do not represent my personal views. They are considered from the perspective of the time and place, and discussed in context.

5. Cherish your life and avoid heavy metal contamination. Eating or drinking from bronze vessels is strongly discouraged.

6. Pronunciations and notes are in the paragraph comments and author's notes. Turn on both features for a better reading experience. Detailed research can be found in the companion reference book, The Dawn of a Thousand Eras. If you're interested, I recommend reading it after the story to avoid spoilers.

Dedicated to the Yin Ruins

“Vast mountains and seas; may we soar for ten thousand generations.”

Bamboo Scrolls series: Xia and Shang volume, Chasing the Sun: a short story about Tang's conquest of Xia (in preparation).

Spring and Autumn volume, Chasing the Light: a travel guide to the Spring and Autumn period, and a look at the Zhou dynasty's poetry-gathering and military-inspection systems (in preparation).

Warring States volume, Song of a Thousand Springs: a report on the development of pre-Qin medicine, with a lovers' rivalry (in progress).

Qin and Han volume, Treatise on the Celestial Offices: centered on Bian Que and the Qin reconquest of Baiyue (next up).

Yuan and Ming volume, Lord of the Mountains and Seas: the greatest work on Chinese medicine of the ancient world, and the Ming campaign to pacify Yunnan (complete).

The absurd one, The Dayi Shang Fortune-Telling Unlimited Liability Company, is something I really want to write soon.

Theme: The purpose of ancient shamanic practices was to overcome nature and avert disasters. They embody our ancestors' tireless exploration of the real world and their unremitting pursuit of objective laws., A Comprehensive History of Chinese Shamanism