The Mandate of Heaven (75 page)

The finally victory of the Mongols over the Song Dynasty in 1279 meant alien invaders now controlled the Middle Kingdom. Their Yuan Dynasty commenced with a semblance of good government under Khubilai Khan but by the time of his death their rule had deteriorated. Economic ruin set in: overtaxation by foreign tax collectors; inflation caused by printing worthless paper money (the Mongol version of ‘quantitative easing’); costly wars; and extravagant wastefulness within the court.

The oppression and exploitation of native Chinese, who were literally fourth-class citizens in their own land, contributed to the people’s troubles. Divisions between Chinese Daoists and Tibetan Buddhists imported by the invaders stirred religious discord. Khubilai Khan’s successors proved increasingly inept and corrupt, provoking numerous rebellions of the kind led by Hsiung and his Yueh Fei Rebels.

Scholar-officials like Deng Nan-shi and Teng found themselves ejected from the upper strata of society, ranked lower than prostitutes. Crucially, the Imperial Examinations that once provided their gateway to high office had been abolished. Little wonder scholars detested the Mongols and mocked them as unwashed barbarians unfit to rule. Many literati were forced to gain an ignoble living as teachers and popular artists. Some, like Teng, wrote commercial dramas for the theatre. The scholars’ fate demonstrates both the fragility of all culture and its ability to endure. In the end, writing brushes proved mightier than swords.

One or two commentators have suggested that in
Breaking Bamboo
the Mongols were presented in a far too negative way. Such critics will certainly be affronted by
The Mandate of Heaven
. The three viewpoint characters are all Chinese with little reason to love the ‘barbarian’ invaders. In reality, of course, there were as many ‘good’ Mongols as there were ‘bad’ Chinese – although contemporary notions of good and bad differed deeply from our own. The fact remains, however, that their government became emblematic in China of misused, incompetent power. Certainly that is what the Mongols represent to Teng, Hsiung and Yun Shu.

Although Yuan Dynasty China is a vanished world, I hope the concerns of the characters in this novel do not feel irrelevant to modern readers. Yun Shu’s resistance to the odious practice of footbinding connects with struggles by generations of women to escape mental and physical confinements; as does, in a different way, her devotion to Daoism.

Above all, I hope Hsiung, Teng and Yun Shu – pine, bamboo and plum – affirm that the human spirit is a tree with generous and kindly roots, however tangled and diverse. If readers of this trilogy and its cast of characters find echoes of their own tangled lives, I shall count my labours more than repaid.

Many thanks to Ed Handyside for his continued faith in the trilogy and for making this book possible. His incisive editing also deserves a special mention. As ever, grateful appreciation for the help of Jane Gregory and everyone at Gregory and Company. A number of people were kind enough to read early versions of the novel and their comments were tremendously helpful: Alex Quigley’s suggestions on the Worthy Master Jian clarified my thinking; Jane Collins went ‘above and beyond’ with her typo spotting; Dr Craig Smith’s encouragement was appreciated deeply. I would also like to thank the numerous people who have supported this trilogy in diverse ways over the years, not least Dr Lily Chen and Miss Li Xiaoxi for their wonderful Chinese translations of
Taming Poison Dragons
and
Breaking Bamboo
. Finally, my biggest thank you is reserved for my wife, Ruth, without whom neither pine nor bamboo nor plum could have blossomed.

Tim Murgatroyd

Western China, 1196:

Yun Cai, a handsome and adored poet in his youth, is now an old man, exiled to his family estates. All that is left to him are regrets of a growing sense of futility and helplessness and the irritations of his feckless son and shrewish daughter-in-law. But the ‘poison dragons’ of misfortune shatter his orderly existence.

First, Yun Cai’s village is threatened with destruction by a vicious civil war. His wayward second son, a brutal rebel officer, seems determined to ruin his entire family. Meanwhile, Yun Cai struggles to free an old friend, P’ei Ti, from a hellish prison – no easy task when P’ei Ti is the rebels’ most valuable hostage and Yun Cai considers himself merely a spent and increasingly frightened old man.

Throughout these ordeals, Yun Cai draws from the glittering memories of his youth, when he journeyed to the capital to study poetry and join the upper ranks of the civil service: how he contended with rivalry and enmity among his fellow students and secured the friendship of P’ei Ti. Above all, he reflects on a great love he won and lost: his love for the beautiful singing girl, Su Lin, for which he paid with his freedom and almost his life.

Yun Cai is forced to reconsider all that he is and all that he has ever been in order to determine how to preserve his honour and all that he finds he still cherishes. Only then can summon the wit and courage to confront the warlord General An-Shu and his beautiful but cruel consort, the Lady Ta-Chi.

‘A riveting story.’
John Green,
The Morning Star

‘An evocative and epic tale of love, honour and valour in the midst of civil war.’
femalefirst.co.uk

Tim Murgatroyd

I, the great Khan Khubilai, order my armies to advance by sea, river, land and mountain. Those who serve us by persuading the treasonous to submit to our just rule shall be rewarded… those who persist in foolish opposition shall endure every woe imaginable…

Central China, 1264…

When Mongol armies storm into the Middle Kingdom, the descendents of Yun Cai (
Taming Poison Dragons
) are trapped in a desperate siege that will determine the fate of the Empire. Guang and Shih are identical twins, one a heroic soldier idolised by the city he defends, the other a humble doctor. In the midst of war, jealous conflicts over Shih’s wife and concubine threaten to tear the brothers apart. Enemies close in on every side – some disturbingly close to home.

Can the Yun family survive imprisonment, ruthless treachery and Kublai Khan’s bloody hordes? Or will their own reckless passions destroy them first?

Searing and achingly beautiful tale of Sub-Saharan West Africa.

Gavin Weston

“
Harmattan is just the novel that all readers need right now.”

Glenn Patterson

Haoua is a young girl growing up in a remote village in the Republic of Niger. Spirited and intelligent, she has benefited from a stable home life and a loving and attentive mother and enjoys working and playing with her siblings and friends.

She worships her elder brother, Abdelkrim, a serving soldier who sends money home to support the family. But on his last home visit, Abdelkrim quarrels with their father, accusing him of gambling away the money he sends and being the cause of their mother’s worsening health. It also emerges that their father plans to take a second wife.

Despite this Haoua finds contentment in her schoolwork, her dreams of becoming a teacher and in writing assiduously to the family in Ireland who act as her aid sponsors.

But for Haoua, there are new storm clouds on the horizon: as civil strife mounts in Niger, she fears for Abdelkrim’s safety, her mother’s illness is much more serious than anyone had recognised, and her father’s plans are turning out to be far more threatening than she could have ever imagined.

Approaching her twelfth birthday, Haoua feels alone and vulnerable for the very first time in her life.

“
Harmattan
is a captivating and beautifully written debut novel. Gavin Weston’s unique and distinctive style hails a new era in Northern Irish literature.” Kellie Chambers,
Ulster Tatler