Preface

This is an East Asian based novel, inspired by wuxia (martial arts) genre, legendary mythical tribal confederations, and the Silk Road civilisations (even the ancient Iranic people).

The legends happened before the union of the Yan-Huang (Huaxia) tribes, predecessors of the modern Han Chinese.

I derived the names of the empires and states from legendary tribes within the Central Plains, and the neighbouring tribes (e.g., Xirong, Beidi) just outside the borders of the Central Plains.

There is no superior culture in my novel.

Each fictional empire and state have their own strengths and weakness.

Modern language limits me to Mandarin's Hanyu Pinyin romanization for uniformity and ease of reading in English to maintain the East Asian 'Chinese' flavour.

So names like Ashina or Halun can be pronounced in Mandarin, but they belong to the tribes outside the Central Plains.

Some may coincide with historical Chinese names.

Remember this is not historical fiction but a alt-historical one! Enjoy!