Bridge of Birds

Bridge of Birds is a fantasy novel by Barry Hughart, first published in 1984. It is the first of three novels in 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.
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."
The book is set in a fantastical version of imperial China (Hughart subtitled it "A Novel of an Ancient China That Never Was"). It draws on and reinvents the traditional tale of The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl and other myths, poems and incidents from Chinese history. The real story of the Cowherd and Weaver Girl is referenced at the end of the book.
In the beginning of the novel, the village of Ku-fu is stricken by a plague which kills its silkworms and sends its children between the ages of eight and thirteen into a coma. Number Ten Ox, the narrator, is dispatched to find a wise man who can cure the children. In Peking, he finds Master Li Kao, a drunken scholar with a self-described "slight flaw in his character", who immediately identifies the cause of the plague as ku poison, an incurable poison inflicted on the village by two dishonest villagers trying to corner the silk crop. In order to cure the children, Ox and Master Li set out to find the Great Root of Power, which can cure anything. They begin by seeking it in the palace of the feared Ancestress.
As it turns out, however, the Ancestress possesses only the lesser Root of Power, and the true Great Root is in the possession of the tyrannical and avaricious Duke of Ch'in. After surviving the Duke of Ch'in's deadly games that consisted of labyrinths and terrible monsters, they succeed in gathering different parts of the Ginseng. Still, these are all ineffective in curing the children. Along with the Ginseng, they also find three handmaiden ghosts that repeated the same story, "The birds of China must fly!" One of the many people they meet in their adventure is Henpecked Ho, who tells them the story of how a god, Star Shepherd, fell in love with a human girl, who was given the title of Princess of Birds. They also meet Key Rabbit, who is married to Lotus Cloud. Like every other man with a pure heart, Ox worships Lotus Cloud and showers her with expensive gifts. The heroes visit the Old Man of the Mountain. There they learn that in order to become immortal one must obtain something from the gods, and to become invulnerable one's heart must be removed. This information helps them figure out that somehow their quest to find the Ginseng is intertwined with the story of the Princess of Birds. They also conclude that the Duke of Ch'in knows the secrets of immortality and invulnerability, and was the same Duke who tricked the Princess of Birds and her three handmaidens centuries ago.
Master Li and Number Ten Ox are able to find the Duke's heart. The Duke is killed, and Master Li bows to Lotus Cloud and calls her the Princess of Birds. Master Li and Number Ten Ox listen to a sound that turns out to be the sound of a trillion birds making a bridge to heaven. The Princess places the Great Root of Power in Ox's hand. Back at the village of Ku-Fu, the children are cured. Great glorious explosions of stars streak across the sky as Star Shepherd opens his arms to receive Lotus Cloud, the Princess of Birds.
Among the book's many characters, the major ones include:
Barry Hughart's unpublished original draft for Bridge of Birds featured a similar plot, but Number Ten Ox, the village of Ku-fu, and the ginseng plot were not present in the original draft.
The story of the original draft begins at the Monastery of Shu, whose abbot abuses Li Kao until he saves the abbot's life. The abbot then gives him a beggar's bowl and robe and tells him one day he will be called and it is his duty to follow that call. Li Kao departs on a quest to become rich and stay young in China.
Li Kao begins his journey in the city of Peking where he steals five hundred gold coins in order to start his life of wealth. While fleeing, he falls off a cliff and finds the legendary skull of Cheng Hang, who charges him to find three trinkets, a crystal ball, a bronze bell, and a small flute, in order to fix a terrible event that happened in heaven which has separated two gods in love who are unable to see each other due to the laws of heaven and can only be reunited by forming the Bridge of Birds. Li Kao is given only the knowledge of what to look for and the hint that Cheng Hang will somehow provide Li Kao with a dragon that will help guide him on his quest. His quest takes him to have multiple quarrels with the savage Duke of Ch'in who will do anything in his power to stop Li Kao from succeeding from finding a secret truth hidden inside the quest for the trinkets. In the end, he completes the quest, the Bridge of Birds is formed, and all in heaven is set right again.
Bridge of Birds has been compared to the literary genre of chinoiserie, a synonym for "orientalist" which can refer to the genre of China-based stories (and is also used describe decorative art forms). Well-known novels in the chinoiserie tradition include the Kai Lung stories by Ernest Bramah, The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham, The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck, and the Chia Black Dragon trilogy by Stephen Marley, all novels written in the twentieth century that reflect on the landscape of China and include cultural aspects. Bramah's Kai Lung stories are said to be so accurate to the actual setting and culture of China that he must have lived there at some point in his life; however, there is no evidence of that. Since chinoiserie focuses more on the artistic and beautiful side of China, Stephen Marley likes to refer to his trilogy as Chinese Gothic because its fantasy is darker than that of a book like Bridge of Birds.
In the Bridge of Birds' author biography Barry Hughart mentions that the book was influenced by the fact that "vast numbers of Chinese deities had really originated as characters in novels" and Bridge of Birds contains substantial references and allusions to the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese culture, especially Dream of the Red Chamber and Journey to the West.
Dream of the Red Chamber, written by Cao Xueqin, is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese culture. This novel turned Chinese writing toward the use of personal experience and tragedy and away from a previous reliance on well-known myths and legends and stereotypical characters that had earned fiction a reputation for moral irrelevance. This novel is mentioned in Bridge of Birds.
Journey to the West, by Wu Cheng'en, a quest story like Bridge of Birds, tells a tale of a long pilgrimage from China to India in search of enlightenment. Many obstacles like dragons, tigers, demons and monsters are faced along the way.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms was written by Luo Guanzhong, and The Water Margin is credited to Shi Nai'an. These two novels are also part of the collection of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese culture. Although these two novels are the least like Bridge of Birds, there are still some similarities.
There are numerous allusions to actual Chinese cultural practices and events in Bridge of Birds, including the following:
Most critics praised Bridge of Birds and appreciated its tone, although they agreed that the book started off slowly. The book was singled out as being beautifully written, and the plot, with its incorporation of Chinese myths, characters, and ancient figures, made the novel "a fun read". However, those same side stories and myths could make the book confusing for some readers. The book used considerable comic relief even when there was a plague, the death of children, and what seemed to be an accidental attempt at murder.
The book series is currently under option to be adapted into a live-action film.
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Barry Hughart's sequels to Bridge of Birds, The Story of the Stone and Eight Skilled Gentlemen, were reprinted in 2002 in a single hardcover volume called The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox.
The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox Hardcover
The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox Kindle Edition