In the fifth year of the Yongjia era, Luoyang fell, and the aristocracy crossed south.
Twelve-year-old Wang Yan, a collateral descendant of the Langya Wang clan, received a jar of "water" and half a damaged genealogy from his father by the Luo River. His father said with his dying breath, "This isn't water. It's a seed. If you can't find somewhere to plant it within ten years, the Wang clan will be no more."
From closed doors among Jiankang's powerful clans to a desperate struggle for survival in the pestilential lands of southern Fujian, Wang Yan had no idea that what he carried was not only his family's hope, but also a shocking secret spanning a thousand years: the Wang clan were actually the guardians of the Luo River's hidden treasure.
Seven hundred years later, in the Northern Song dynasty, Wang Yuan, a descendant of the Wang clan, stood by the Luo River in Luoyang, watching a ferry capsize. He swore to build a bridge over these furious waters, so deep their bottom could not be reached, that would let people cross between life and death.
Another two hundred years passed. As the Song gave way to the Yuan and cavalry swept south, the Wang clan's descendants dug up the Imperial Seal of China beneath the central stone of Luoyang Bridge, facing the ultimate choice of splitting their family in two...
From the Luo River to the Jin River, from Luoyang Bridge to Citong Harbor.
This is an epic family saga spanning a thousand years. It tells of the homesickness of those who crossed south, and the unbroken lineage of Huaxia.
Luoyang is in the genealogy. As long as the genealogy survives, so do our roots.
[Historical Note] In the early years of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the clan system was extremely strict, making it difficult for side branches and refugees to gain a foothold in Jiankang. According to the "Book of Jin", the conflict between natives and guests from Jiangdong was extremely acute at that time. After the refugees from the Central Plains went south, they often had to retreat into the mountains and forests, where they had fierce conflicts with the local indigenous people (descendants of Shanyue and Minyue). At the same time, the legend of Jiuding has been repeatedly recorded in pre-Qin documents (such as "Zuo Zhuan" and "Historical Records"). When Chu destroyed the countries in the Central Plains, the whereabouts of Jiuding became a mystery. This work combines Tibetan guardians, earth fire and the legend of Jiuding. It is a fantasy historical interpretation with great online tension. It lays the core suspense for the subsequent "Luoyang Bridge" and "Citong Port" plots that span thousands of years.
[Historical Note] After the Yongjia Rebellion, the process of the Central Plains gentry and people migrating southward was filled with horrific sufferings. The White Horse Temple in Luoyang was severely damaged during the war. In order to prevent the scriptures from falling into the hands of foreigners, Buddhists often burned or buried them to protect them. At that time, the Yellow River ferry was controlled by the imperial court and aristocratic families, making it extremely difficult for ordinary refugees to cross the river. In addition, the phenomenon of buying and selling people on the refugee road and exchanging children for food has been repeatedly recorded in historical materials such as "Book of Jin". Through Wang Yan's experiences, this chapter truly restores the cruel picture of the people at the bottom being devastated under the grand narrative of Yiguan's journey to the south.
[Historical Note] In the fifth year of Yongjia (311), former Zhao Liu Yao, Shi Le and others attacked Luoyang, and Emperor Huai of Jin was captured, which was known as the "Yongjia Rebellion" in history. In order to avoid the war, the gentry people in the Central Plains began the first large-scale southward migration in Chinese history, which was known in history as the "Southern Crossing in Clothes". "Book of Jin·Biography of Wang Dao" records that "the ladies of Zhongzhou fled to the south of the Yangtze River for sixteen or seventeen years". In this chapter, the plot of Wang Yan fleeing south with his uncle and canning Luoshui is a literary fiction, but the background of his journey to the south and the important role of family genealogy (the absence of genealogy at that time was not enough to prove the identity of the noble family) have strict official historical basis.