Poetry Ruling the Rivers and Mountains

Gu Mingchuan, an editor of ancient texts, wakes up as a poor young scholar in Yongning County of the Great Sheng dynasty, unable even to pass the entry-level scholar exam. He has nothing else, but his mind is filled with three thousand poems. When the Zhao family demands repayment of a debt, he takes the stage and recites “Spring River Flower Moon Night.” One poem outshines the entire Tang dynasty, and the county magistrate drops his teacup in shock. At the Wenyuan Pavilion in the provincial capital, he drains a bowl of wine and roars out “Bring in the Wine,” leaving the assembled scholars pale: “Heaven gave me my talents for a reason; a thousand gold coins spent will come back again.” But the greater his fame, the sharper the blades aimed at him. The literary grandmaster Pei Banchao sends him a gilded invitation, a mark of admiration and an attempt to bring him under his wing. The Cui family of Xiangzhou lays a trap for him, expecting this poor scholar to bow his head. Meanwhile, the Tiele invade the northern frontier, and calls for peace ring ever louder through the court. Refugees who have sold their children kneel before him and ask, “Can this world still be saved?” He copies poems to save people, copies poems to make his name, and copies poems to build a peaceful world. He takes up his brush like a blade, bringing poems from another world into this dynasty's storm-tossed age, one line at a time.