Chronicles of the Azure Lotus

Late Qing dynasty, Qinglianchang in western Sichuan. Su Xiulian rode in a bridal sedan chair to marry into the Shen family, expecting a grand courtyard with blue-brick walls at the center of town. When the chair was set down, she found three thatched cottages beneath a pine-covered slope. Her husband, Shen Dehou, was a carpenter: skilled with his hands, kindhearted, and stubbornly strong. One frosty night, bandits came to steal their sheep. She ran barefoot up the steep hill, shouting until her voice gave out. A gunshot rang from the watchtower, and the Qing dynasty fell. Over the decades that followed, the monarchy collapsed, warlords fought, flames of war spread, and the world changed hands. She buried her husband, held up the sky for her children, and kept a pot, a lamp, and a whole community going through war and famine. Flowers bloomed again and again by Qingliantang, and one regime after another came and went atop the watchtower, but her back never bent. She was illiterate and knew nothing of the greater forces shaping the world. She understood only one thing: as long as you are alive, you must protect the people you love. At the heart of great love is a lifetime of hardship. From a young bride to a white-haired old woman, she spent her life holding a family together. She became the family’s roots. While she was there, the roots held firm; when she was gone, they ran deep and the branches flourished. A sweeping century of family and nation unfolds beneath her feet. This is the epic of a family, and the story of China and its people.