Taishun County, a mountainous county in southern Zhejiang, is a place with nine mountains, half water and half farmland. It is rich in stone, and masonry is a profession that many people here are engaged in. In the early 1960s, it was China's most difficult three-year period. The protagonist Aye grew up in a poor family with a divorced mother, four brothers, and only one of his fathers to earn work points. He learned the craft from the master stonemason Asong, and later moved to Shaanxi to learn craftsmanship. A series of changes occurred after he became a master in southern Shaanxi, and finally he became a master of stone carving.
