Moonlake's Fiction Space

Remarkable Women in Ancient China (20)- Empress Deng Sui

Who is she:

One of the renowned female politicians from the Han dynasty

Notable Life Events:

Born in 81 AD, as daughter of a military official in a region bordering one of the prominent nomad groups of that era
When she was only two, her father was removed from his position due to acquaintance with a relative of the Emperor and the whole family moved back to their ancestral home
When she was five, her grandmother cut her hair for her but due to poor eyesight, accidentally injured her forehead and she did not react. When asked about it, she claimed that she did not want to make her grandmother feel bad because she cut her hair for her out of love
She could read from the age of six and became well versed in two texts already by the age of 12. She was very interested in books but her mother chided her for not learning a woman’s duty so she learnt to sew by day and read by night.
In 92 AD, she was chosen to enter the Imperial Palace as a prospect concubine for the Emperor and males of the royal line but this had to be postponed for three years because her father died soon (the custom at that time dictated that children had to hold off marriage for three years after the death of their parents)
In 95 AD, she officially entered the Imperial Court and started learning from Ban Zhao (link) in not just the classical texts but also astronomy and mathematics
In the winter of 96 AD, she was chosen as a concubine by the Emperor He of the Han Dynasty after he chose his Empress in the spring of that year
In the summer of 102 AD, the original Empress was deposed by the Emperor and Deng Sui was chosen as the new Empress
In the year 105 AD, Emperor He died. His eldest son had a chronic disease and could not ascend the throne while the younger princes have all successively died. Consequently, Deng Sui made a three-month baby the Emperor and effectively ruled in his stead under the title of “female sovereign” for 16 years
During the 16 years of her reign, she
- conquered ten years of the most severe natural disasters in the eastern Han period
- defeated pirates and the threat of multiple nomad groups and even managed to expand territory
- participated in the refinement of the paper making art by Cai Lun (the type of paper he made was credited as one of the Four Great Inventions of ancient China alongside the compass, printing and gun powder) and put Zhang Heng in place to build an astrology equipment and the very first earthquake detector (see pic at the top).
- Created the first ever co-ed school in Chinese history so that females can be educated outside the home
- Ordered the first Chinese dictionary to be made
She died in 121 AD

Why is she remarkable:

She was actually ranked as Best Empress by Chinese historians and it is clear that she had done a lot of good during her reign

Moonlake’s thoughts on her:

In the Chinese references that I had read through, she seems to be the archetype of a good woman- a very filial grand-daughter (the hair cutting incident) and a woman who knows her place and is not jealous at all (I didn’t mention this in my summary above but it was talked about in the Chinese references I consulted). But to be honest, I’m not quite sure how much of that is actually true or whether it was recorded in that way as to reflect the norm of that period.

At any rate, she must have been highly intelligent, with a thirst for knowledge. It also seems that later she has put that intellect to good use.

English Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deng_Sui

She feels the river shift…

The jump-off line is from Some Feel Rain by Joanna Klink.

She feels the river shift. She feels the mountain shift. Everything is always moving.

She feels the river shift. She feels time itself shift.

She feels the river shift. It is always shifting.

She feels the river shift. Her childhood shifts and she cannot quite see it now. Everything is a haze, colours are no longer vibrant.

She feels the river shift. The clouds shift overhead. Light shifts across the wall.

She feels the river shift. When it falls aparts, she is standing on the shore. Seeing the chasm entering into being from one heartbeat to the next.

She feels the river shift. The rocks under her feet shift.

She feels the river shift. The grasses under her feet shift.

She feels the river shift. A shifting ray of sunlight just dapples the wall.

She feels the river shift. A wind rustles the branches, shifting them according to its tune.

Chinese Lore- a selection of mythical fauna (17)

Zao Fish

Physical Description:

A carp-like fish with chickens’ claws.

Special Properties:

Consuming its meat cures neoplasm, tumors and abnormal growths.

Yi Fish

Physical Description:

A fish with a dog’s head.

Special Properties:

The sound it makes is like babies crying. Consuming its meat can cure insanity.

Zhen Fish

Physical Description:

A fish that looks like the Tiao Fish (the fish that looks like a four-headed chicken with red feathers…) with a needle-like mouth.

Special Properties:

Consuming its meat prevents against pandemics.

Zhu Bie Fish

Physical Description:

Looks like a lung lobe with four eyes and six legs growing on it.

Special Properties:

It can spit out pearls. Its meat tastes sour with a bit of sweetness. Consuming its meat prevents against pandemics.

The following said something about me…

The following said something about me:

I used to walk on my heels. That’s why I didn’t walk very well. Then I learnt you were opposed to walk by putting down your toes first. It was a realisation.
I’m not actually colour blind but sometimes Mum and me disagree about what colour/shade a particular garment is. She’s more often right than me.
I think I’m prettier with glasses. Without them, it becomes clear that the corners of my eyes point downwards.
I have a fear of laser surgery, probably irrational. Perhaps fear is too strong a word but I am not going to undertake laser surgery for my short-sightedness.
I became short-sighted in… I realised I forgot which grade exactly but in primary school.
I’ve never quite moved beyond drawing stick figures with chalk.
I used to like colouring books but I think I’ve lost the touch.
I’ve set out a jigsaw puzzle on an unused table to redo but it’s been just lying there untouched, mostly. It’s been two or three years and I finally finished it several weeks ago. Now I’m onto my second set of jigsaw to be redone.
I could not picture constellations when I look up at the sky- tried once, didn’t work with assistance. But as a child I could conjure stories out of cloud shapes.

Moonlake’s Writing Goals 2024

For those who have followed me for a while, you might have noticed that I have been flagging behind on my WIP. The truth is that I’ve been sidetracked by lots of things: the application for Outschool that I’ve left aside after the initial failed attempt, a proposed trip to Italy, Switzerland and France in May that I already started plotted last night but I still have the daily itinerary to do before the actual trip, a foray into music shows and a detective show in the aftermath of my best friend telling me that she’s under stress from the suicide of a star (she’s always been a sensitive person and it doesn’t really follow but it is too long a story).

Anyway, in order to realign things for myself, I have decided to set the following broad goal for this year: To get up to draft 0.84 (since I’ve been stuck at 0.83 for at least a year now).

Under my broad goal, I would like to set the following mini goals but they might be too ambitious for a year (not sure):

Get clear on the story up to the mid-point (i.e. the first part of Act 2) for both my protagonists
Have a clear idea of where I’m at with the WIP and how far still to go on it

That’s it. I’m forging on.

TBR list for 2024

These are the fantasy books that interest me this year:

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
The new Black Jewels trilogy by Anne Bishop
The Dreaming Tree by C. J. Cherryh
The Doom of Odin by Scott Oden

My choice of Oriental fantasy this year is between Tea with the Black Dragon by R. A MacAvoy and Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan. From the blurb, I think I prefer Daughter of the Moon Goddess.

For my Broadening Horizon Reads, I’ve cycled back to the romance genre this year and I intend to cheat a little by picking Outlander. The other one will be One Hundred years of Solitude, my first foray into magic realism.

For Craft and Curiousity, I have my eyes sets on The Lovely Bones and The Shipping News. The Shipping News will be my third attempt to find a book written in omniscient and since the Shipping News is referred to in UBC Novel writing courses I did, I think I will be third time lucky.

You will meet yourself again…

The jump-off line comes from You Will Be Changed by Jeannette Encinias.

I meet myself again, all these years later. At the core, I’ve never changed. I’m still serious, stubborn and proud. That’s why I liked Pride and Prejudice alone of all the classics I read, Lizzy and Darcy remain one of my favourite couples in stories written or acted out.

I meet myself again after a slumber period. Somewhere along the way I had lost myself. I used to think happiness was all important but then somehow I talked myself into believing that I should strive for contentment instead. Contentment as a compromise, contentment in the form of losing myself in what I had at the moment and talking myself into saying it’s enough. Until it wasn’t and I was completely thrown.

I meet myself again and again. I will probably meet myself in another twenty years and be the same. Same and different.

I meet myself again when I look back into the mirror, if I look beyond my face. Or I don’t look that closely- the face is still the same, has been the same since I was twelve.

I meet myself again on the page.

I meet myself again when I think of what novels to re-read and my emotional reactions to certain elements.

I meet myself again.

Moonlake’s Book Discoveries- December 2023

Fantasy

A girl called Corpse by Reece Carter

This is actually a juvenile fantasy but I’m drawn by the blurb. And I quite enjoyed the story. If you like heartwarming stories I think this will be exactly your cup of tea.

The Last Mapmaker by Christina Soontornvat

This Thai fantasy is quite interesting. I didn’t even realise it’s a middle grade story and at first I was thinking this might be the start of a trilogy when there were about 6 chapters to go. As it turned out, this is just a standalone and it makes sense given the target audience. I like it okay overall as light reading. It started out like a rags-to-riches story but that’s not quite how it turned out.

Ruby by Francesca Lia Block and Carmen Staton

This is really a paranormal romance (PNR) and I didn’t realise it until quite late. It’s okay, not really my cup of tea. I don’t hate it though, just not really drawn overall.

Mystery

Violet Kelly and the Jade Owl by Fiona Britton

It’s an okay book except that it’s too much of a cozy mystery at the end and I was expecting a twist at the end that takes the stakes way beyond. But that never materialised. Ah well.

The Fifth Letter by Nicola Moriarity

I was attracted by the blurb but as a Sherlock Holmes fan I was also struck by the author name which I’m not sure whether is a pen name or not (okay I snooped and apparently it isn’t, just coincidence).

Anyway, I quite enjoyed this book about four long time high school friends, secrets and a fifth letter. And while I am so done with girl groups (I was in a high school all girls group because I went to an all girls’ high school) this book does entice me to keep on reading like a good thriller would do. I guessed one of the plot twists but then I guessed wrong on the final twist. All in all, an enjoyable read.

Sacrifice by Andrew Vachss

I didn’t start with book 1 and there was quite a bit of piecing together about who the protagonist is in terms of his backstory. Also, the plot also wasn’t all there at first but it all came together at the end. The book title was also interesting in that at first I thought it alluded to a certain part of the story but at the end apparently it had a deeper meaning to do with the protagonist’s personal history. Overall, I like this story and I’m a little tempted to go back and read the early books on this protagonist.

Flood by Andrew Vachss

I followed my whim and chased up book 1 of the Burke series. I feel like the reading experience is much smoother for me because this is book 1. Overall, the story is okay but average.

The Blood Road by Stuart MacBride

This is a random find but then I realised I had read this series before. After I finished this book, I realised it was actually the book immediately preceding the one I had read before. And it’s much more exciting due to the content. It’s okay but that’s about it.

Science Fiction

Leviathan wakes by James S. A. Corey (audiobook)

I listened to this concurrently with Years of Rice and Salt and I prefer this because the plot is more engaging and has a faster pace. On the other hand, I’ve always been lukewarm towards the sci-fi genre.

Overall, I find the story okay but I’m not too keen to continue with the series.

Historical Fiction

Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson (audiobook)

I did finish this book but I’m not too engaged with it. It feels more like a thought experiment than a novel. I mean, it is technically a novel made up of ten loosely related ‘books’ but I’m not finding much resonance between individual stories told in each of the books other than the theoretical linkage in the concept for this novel as a whole. Then again, I’m probably the wrong audience for this, it’s probably more geared towards fans of alternative history. Personally, I’m more of a fan of fantasy with occasional foray into historical fiction but I’m still leaning more towards the fantasy side.

Chinese Lore- a selection of mythical fauna (16)

Song Si

Physical Description:

Like a female pheasant with a human head.

Special Properties:

It jumps around whenever humans are nearby The sound of its call is like its own name.

Tian Ma

Physical Description:

Looks like a white dog with a black head.

Special Properties:

It flies away whenever humans are nearby The sound of its call is like its own name.

Jiang Wei

Physical Description:

A crow-like bird with a patterned head, white beak and red feet.

Special Properties:

The sound of its call is like its own name.

Lore:

The youngest daughter of Yan Di (the one who had a daughter that turned into the Yao Grass) drowned at the Eastern Ocean and her spirit turned into the Jiang Wei which always dropped sticks and stones into the ocean hoping to one day destroy it.

Long Snake

Physical Description:

A snake whose hair is as hard as that on the neck of pigs (or hogs, not sure, but this is supposed to hair that are hard).

Special Properties:

The sound it makes is like the sound of a wood block, a small slit drum made from a single piece of wood and used as a percussion instrument, being played.

Moonlake’s Writing Updates- December 2023

This year, I’m approaching the work slightly differently. Instead of always cycling in between my two protagonists, I’ve given my female protagonist two consecutive goes. I’m happy to report that this does let me drill down further into her scenes but progress is still slow overall.

At the time of writing and your reading this, I’m just switching over to my male protagonist and going through what I had written.

Now, as for the WIP overall, I think Act 1 is pretty much down pat. But Act 2 and 3 is not quite all there yet. Basically, when I outlined the story (yes, I took two years but back then I only started with the UBC writing a novel courses and I didn’t quite know the three act structure) I think I made Act 2 and 3 too short and I’ve now come to realise that I just don’t have enough content for them so for the last two years at least most of the work have gone into putting more content into these two parts of the story and filling in gaps. And it isn’t easy, especially in Act 3 when I feel like sometimes I just don’t know scenes well enough and so I left heaps of placeholders and I really have no idea what happens in between one chapter to the next. Basically, it’s back to asking myself lots of questions and jotting down ideas.

That’s all for this year. I will continue to plow on.