Teenager Shen and his younger sister, Chang, seek refuge with a troupe of traveling acrobats after they are separated from their parents, and eventually join the Treasure Fleet of the new Emperor in hopes that it would keep them out of harm's way.
Fifteen-year-old Hong and his older brother Chen face famine, flood, pirates, and jealous rivals on their journey through fifteenth century China as Chen pursues his calling as a scholar and Hong becomes involved with a secret society known as the White Lotus.
In post-Ming dynasty China, Peony, a young girl betrothed to someone she has never met, observes a handsome man while hidden from view at a performance of the opera "The Peony Pavilion"--a work that has compelled young Chinese women to starve themselves to death--and, dead at sixteen, begins a transformative journey as a "hungry ghost.".
In a novel based on Chinese Cinderella tales, fourteen-year-old stepchild Xing-Xing endures a life of neglect and servitude, as her stepmother cruelly mutilates her own child's feet so that she alone might marry well.
In post-Ming dynasty China, Peony, a young girl betrothed to someone she has never met, observes a handsome man while hidden from view at a performance of the opera "The Peony Pavilion"--a work that has compelled young Chinese women to starve themselves to death--and, dead at sixteen, begins a transformative journey as a "hungry ghost.".
A study of the Ming Dynasty in China from 1368 to 1644, describing the Ming governmental, economic, and social structure that brought the empire to its zenith, and discussing the corruption, divisiveness, and other factors that led to its downfall.
