In the second year of the Tianqi reign, Su Hao, the young heir to a paper effigy shop, was convinced he had transmigrated to the ordinary final years of the Ming dynasty. He worked hard at his studies, hoping to pass the imperial examinations, until...
His father, blind in one eye, missing one hand and both legs, shakily handed him a battered book. “Son, this is our Su family’s ancestral manual. I’m passing it on to you today. Whether you study it is up to you.”
Su Hao looked down at the tattered book titled Paper Effigy Secret Arts and stared at it in bewilderment!
This was the late Ming dynasty of Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, where dark and heretical arts ran rampant!
Feng shui, physiognomy, spirit mediums, martial artists, temple attendants, spirit mediums...
The three teachings and nine schools, the thirty-six trades: every line of work was steeped in the uncanny...
The martial world, the imperial court, the streets and markets...
(A late-Ming struggle for supremacy)
