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Bridge of Birds
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Master Li: Book 1

Bridge of Birds (1984) (edit title/settings)

A Novel of an Ancient China That Never Was

by Barry Hughart (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

When the children of his village were struck with a mysterious illness, Number Ten Ox found master Li Kao. Together they set out to find the Great Root of Power, the only possible cure, and together they discover adventure and legend, and the power of belief....

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Part 1 - Master Li

Lu Yu, is the tenth son and the strongest. His father passed away when he turned eight and his mother followed a year later. He was sent to live with his Aunt and Uncle in the village of Ku-fu in the valley of Cho.
Pawnbroker Fang approached Ma the Grub with... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

Part 1 - Master Li

Lu Yu, is the tenth son and the strongest. His father passed away when he turned eight and his mother followed a year later. He was sent to live with his Aunt and Uncle in the village of Ku-fu in the valley of Cho.
Pawnbroker Fang approached Ma the Grub with the idea of joining forces, and opened negotiations by presenting Ma's wife with a picture of a small fish drawn upon a piece of cheap paper. She accepted the gift and in turn extended her right hand and made a circle with the thumb and forefinger. It was at this moment that her husband crashed in and yelled at her. The happiest time for Ma and Fang was the annual silk harvest, its where they made all their money.
The landmarks are the lake and wall. His ancestors laid out the village so that it was sheltered from the Black Tortoise, a beast of the worst character, whose direction is north and whose element is water and whose season is winter. It is open to the Red Bird of the south, and the element of fire and the season of summer. And the eastern hills where the Blue Dragon lives, with the element of wood and the hopeful season of spring, are stronger than the hills to the west, which is the home of the White Tiger, metal, and the melancholy season of autumn.
The village was in the shape of a unicorn, a gentle and law-abiding creature with no natural enemies whatsoever. But when the earth heaved, they knew something was wrong and it was discovered that the last five rice paddies had been forgotten and mistakenly arranged so that they formed the wings and body of a huge hungry horsefly that had settled upon the tender flank of the unicorn. So, the paddies were altered into the shape of a bandage, so that Ku-fu was never disturbed by upheavals again.
They produced a small lake that captured and held onto good influences.
Their wall is very famous and is called Dragon's Pillow because one night a dragon leaned against it and fell asleep, and in the morning the wall was found shoved into a weird position.
A man named Wan was holed up inside the wall where he was to watch over CHina and sound the alarm if threatened. His body and his spirit remained in the Eye of the Dragon (the watchtower). Over the centuries Dragon's Pillow was abandoned except by the children, until one day while they were playing a game, a hollow, bodiless voice drifted down to them from the Eye of the Dragon. It was a strange message that many still don't know the meaning behind.
Monkey symbolizes intellect.

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Quotes edit see section history

  • “...fable has strong shoulders that carry far more truth than fact can.”
    Number Ten Ox
  • “...the emotional health of a village depended upon having a man whom everyone loved to hate, and Heaven had blessed us with two of them.”
    Number Ten Ox
  • “I clap my hands and bow to the four corners of the world...”
    Number Ten Ox

First Sentence edit see section history

I shall clasp my hands together and bow to the corners of the world.

Table of Contents edit see section history

1 - The Village of Ku-fu

Series & Lists edit see section history

This is book 1 of 3 in Master Li. (standard series)

Followed by The Story of the Stone.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Barry Hughart (Author)

Other Contributors:

  1. Mary Meitzelfeld (Cover Artist)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Country: USA
Publication Date: 1984
ISBN: 0312095511
Page Count: 248

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