Bridge of Birds
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Bridge of Birds | |
 First edition, hard cover dust jacket |
|
| Author | Barry Hughart |
|---|---|
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Series | Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox |
| Subject(s) | China -- Fiction |
| Genre(s) | Historical Fiction, Fantastic Fiction |
| Publisher | St. Martin's Press |
| Publication date | 1984 |
| Media type | book |
| Pages | 248 |
| ISBN | 0312095511 |
| OCLC | 10147148 |
| Followed by | The Story of the Stone Also published in omnibus edition: The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox. |
Bridge of Birds is a fantasy novel by Barry Hughart, first published in 1984. It is the first of three novels in the The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox series. The original draft of Bridge of Birds is included in a special slipcased version of the omnibus collection, The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox, released by Subterranean Press in 2008.[1]
Hughart called the novel "a modern version of a classical form of Chinese novel, which was an underground Taoist form designed to fight back against Confucians. Confucians liked to castrate people who fought the establishment. Without mentioning names, the Taoists could use real emperors and real power structure in a fantasy form." [2]
Contents |
[edit] Plot
The book is set in a fantastical version of ancient China (Hughart subtitled it "A Novel of an Ancient China That Never Was"). It draws on and reinvents the traditional tale of Cowherd and Weaver Girl and other myths, poems and incidents from Chinese history.[3] The real story of the Cowherd and Weaver Girl is referenced at the end of the book.
The book begins on the fifteenth day of the eighth moon in the Year of the Dragon 3,337 (A.D. 639) with the children of the 7th-century Chinese village of Ku-fu falling prey to a strange plague (one that has apparently learned how to count[4]). One of the villagers, Lu Yu (usually called Number Ten Ox), is sent to Peking to seek a sage who can discover the nature of the plague and its cure. He finds Li Kao, an ancient scholar with a "slight flaw in his character", and when Master Li returns with Number Ten Ox to the village he swiftly discerns that the problem is not plague. It is poison.
The children of Ku-Fu will slowly decline toward certain death unless a cure is found. The only hope lies in the healing strength of a legendary ginseng plant called the Great Root of Power. In all of China only one such plant is known to exist, and thus Master Li and Number Ten Ox begin a journey that will require all of the young man's strength and the old man's wiles (not to mention character flaws). Unbeknownst to them their quest is being interwoven with another one, and wherever they turn they will face murderous mazes, marvels, and monsters, and before they can find the Great Root of Power they must find something that had been stolen more than a thousand years ago, stolen from Heaven itself.
[edit] Awards
- 1985 World Fantasy Award - Best Novel
- 1986 Mythopoeic Award - Best Fantasy.
[edit] Foreign language editions
- גשר ציפורים / Gesher tsiporim (Hebrew, 2002; OCLC 57289055)
- La magnificence des oiseaux : une aventure de maître Li et boeuf numéro dix (French, 2000; OCLC 49181060)
- Die Brücke der Vögel : Roman aus einem alten China, das es nie gegeben hat (German, 1986; OCLC 52140127)
- Puente de pájaros : una novela de la antigua China que nunca existió (Spanish, 2007; OCLC 137316167)
[edit] References
- ^ "Hughart, The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox: Subterranean Press". http://www.subterraneanpress.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=hughart&Category_Code=PRE&Product_Count=16. Retrieved on 2009-05-26.
- ^ "Barry Hughart Finds His Place". Locus 18 (12): p. 5. December 1985. ISSN 0047-4959. OCLC 2255782.
- ^ Interview with Barry Hughart (2000) at the Internet Archive
- ^ Hughart, Barry (1984). "The Plague". Bridge of Birds. Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox (1st ed.). St. Martin's Press. pp. 14. ISBN 0312095511. OCLC 10147148.
