Princess Yongtai

Author: Li Jingtian
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2006-10-01
Features: After sleeping in Songshan for over 1,400 years, a princess of the Northern Wei Dynasty reappears in the public eye—Long March historical novel The Princess Yongtai, created by young author Li Jingtian of Henan over eight years, is published and released by Henan Literature and Art Press. The Princess Yongtai was the daughter of Emperor Xuanwu of the Northern Wei during the Northern and Southern Dynasties period in China. She pursued the truth, goodness, and beauty of humanity with unwavering dedication, stubbornly resisting a time filled with hypocrisy, ugliness, and evil. Her fate was tragic yet heroic, her life both sorrowful and magnificent. Based on her legendary life, young writer Li Jingtian created the long historical fiction novel The Princess Yongtai.
In the late Northern Wei Dynasty, the youngest daughter of Emperor Xuanwu, the Princess Yongtai, accompanied her mother on a spring outing to Songshan Mountain. There, she met a cowherd named Song Sanlang and was deeply moved by his simplicity and kindness, forming a profound bond with him. The princess fell in love with Songshan and admired Sanlang, longing to stay among the common folk. However, due to political intrigue and rivalry among powerful court officials, the princess was forced to enter a nunnery, shaved and practicing asceticism. Dissatisfied with the marriage alliance with the Southern Qi, she resolutely cut her hair to resist the marriage. When she heard false rumors that Sanlang had been harmed, she completely lost hope and retreated to Songshan, taking refuge in the Buddhist monastery.
The novel also portrays several historically renowned cultural figures of the Northern Wei, such as the great writer Wen Zisheng, the agriculturalist Jia Sixie, and the geographer Li Daoyuan, who, along with the protagonist, compose a symphony celebrating truth, goodness, and beauty while condemning hypocrisy, ugliness, and evil. The story uses the narrative to depict characters, characters to portray history, history to reflect culture, culture to explore human nature, and the Buddhist monasteries to depict Songshan, which in turn represents the world. It vividly paints a historical panorama of the turbulent late Northern Wei Dynasty.
In the spring of the third year of Emperor Xuanwu’s Yanchang era (514 AD), Yangcheng was bustling with activity. First, Yangcheng was famous for its mountain, the Central Plains’ Mount Songshan, towering and majestic, dominating the central plains and overlooking the four seas, making it a perfect destination for spring outings. Second, since the capital was moved from Pingcheng (modern-day Datong, Shanxi) to Luoyang in the eighteenth year of Emperor Xiaowen’s Taihe era (494 AD), Mount Songshan, as the capital’s sacred mountain, had become the preferred destination for people to pay homage. Especially in March, when the spring breeze swept across, Mount Songshan transformed into a stage for peaches and apricots. At this time, officials, scholars, and commoners from the capital and beyond flocked to the mountain, singing and dancing in the spring, indulging in joy and merriment.
The magistrate of Yangcheng, of course, was no less busy. He welcomed and entertained the distinguished guests, showing great hospitality while seizing the opportunity to curry favor. The day the guests left in high spirits was also the day the magistrate’s career soared. Thus, every magistrate poured their heart and soul into the constant welcoming and sending off, exhausting themselves in the process. Three days ago, the newly appointed magistrate of Yangcheng, Zheng Yan, received an imperial decree from Empress Gao, stating that she would visit Mount Songshan that day. The so-called "observing folk customs and understanding public sentiment" was merely official jargon—it was actually a spring outing for pleasure, but the court presented it with great seriousness.
Knowing this, he had to greet the empress with great sincerity. Moreover, the empress was his cousin, and this magistrate was appointed by his cousin, the Grand Secretary Gao Zhao, who was a high-ranking official. He could not possibly be ungrateful. Serving this cousin well was like building a "ladder to promotion." Therefore, as soon as the imperial decree arrived, Yangcheng was thrown into chaos: collecting mountain chickens and wild rabbits from mountain villagers, ordering yellow river carp from fishermen, and gathering silk and brocade from silk farmers.