Mirror Fluctuation (Illustrated Complete Edition) - Popular Series of Chinese Classical Novel Masterpieces

Author: Li Ru Zhen
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-01-01
Features: The era reflected in A Journey to the West in Search of Immortality is not the Qing Dynasty in which the author lived, but rather a period feigned under the rule of Empress Wu Zetian of the Tang Dynasty. Although the author employs romanticism to depict a series of fantastical and bizarre stories in a fictional overseas world, this extraordinary fantasy world actually reflects the real social reality of the time.
The entire book follows a very simple yet clear narrative thread. Structurally, the book can be divided into two parts. The first fifty-four chapters describe the protagonist Tang Ao failing the imperial examinations, feeling disheartened and melancholic. He accompanies his sister-in-law Lin Zhiyang on a journey overseas, guided by the shipmaster Duo Jiugong, and observes the strange and wondrous customs of over forty countries. Later, he seeks immortality on Little Paradise Island and does not return. The chief of the Flower Gods, the Flower Immortal, is reborn as Tang Ao's daughter, named Tang Xiaoshan. Deeply longing for her father, Tang Xiaoshan sets sail to find him and unexpectedly discovers a "Heavenly Book" on Little Paradise Island.
The next fifty-four chapters describe Empress Wu Zetian establishing the first women's imperial examinations, with the disgraced Flower Gods all passing the exams and reuniting in the mortal world. Later, Tang Xiaoshan returns to the immortal realm. The conclusion depicts Emperor Zhongzong Li Xian restoring the throne, and Empress Wu Zetian issues a decree to reopen the women's imperial examinations the following year.