Dou Xiaogu, the Heroine of Dongchang

From the fifteenth year of the Qianlong reign (1750) to the fifth year of the Daoguang reign (1825), the story unfolds primarily along the Dongchang Prefecture stretch of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, spanning Shandong, Hebei, Jiangsu, and the capital. Against the backdrop of the Qianlong era’s prosperity giving way to decline, it portrays the collision and convergence of the canal’s commercial civilization and the chivalrous spirit of the martial world.

The novel follows Dou Xiaogu, a farm girl who grows from a naive young novice learning martial arts into a legendary heroine amid the upheavals of the canal’s escort agencies. As a woman, she breaks through the constraints of gender, staying true to her original ideals of loyalty, trustworthiness, honesty, righteousness, and helping the vulnerable. She strives forward amid flashing blades, embodying the courage to shoulder responsibility and take decisive action, while also reflecting the lives of ordinary people along the canal and the changes of the times.