Can I mention two authors? I love Arthur Golden’s Memoirs of a Geisha, and I must have read and reread it five times over the course of ten years. I would love to meet him someday!
I would also love to spend a day with Mary Stewart, who unfortunately passed away. Her Merlin trilogy made such an impact on me at a time when I sought guidance during the early years of my writing. I learned so much from Merlin’s smart voice and also the way Stewart plotted her scenes. I used to take each chapter, study the structure of the scenes, and analyze how the story progressed. I also admire the voice of her female characters in her romantic suspense books. I love her strong female characters and how Stewart transmitted their intelligence through dialogue.
What research or preparation did you engage in before writing this book?
Oh my. I did a tremendous amount of research on this book. I read Wang Pu’s Tang Hui Yao and Liu Xu’s The Old Tang Book in archaic Chinese script, the earliest historical record about the Tang Dynasty. And then I read The New Tang Book, Book of Odes, Confucius’s Analects, Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching, Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, Ban Zhao’s Lessons for Women, poems before and after the Tang Dynasty, all in archaic Chinese texts and English translations, if I could find them. I spent three years reading and decoding them before I started to write the novel and then continuously reading and studying them as I wrote.
Because the archaic Chinese script is very condensed and the meanings have altered considerably in modern time, I sometimes spent hours just trying to decipher one word. To understand two couplets would sometimes take days. But thankfully, many British and American scholars were fascinated with ancient China and wrote extensively on many subjects in ancient China, so I was able to refer to them and compare the sources. But sometimes problems arose too. Many misunderstandings happened, words were misinterpreted, or sometimes the translations did not appear as graceful as the original texts. In those cases, I resorted to my own translation.
I also read extensively about the world of Tang Dynasty so I could furnish my characters with a truthfully historical setting. I also studied the world history at that period so readers could place China in a global scope and understand the country better.
But my ability to understand the archaic Chinese was not always enough. Once, I came across a Japanese author who wrote five books about Empress Wu, but I was unable to read Japanese. So I dug out a Chinese translation of the books and borrowed those books from a remote library in the United States with the help of my local library. They turned out to be very useful.
Not all of my research findings were pleasant. I found it hard to digest the derogative and disparaging opinions about Empress Wu, and women in general. Sometimes I grew upset, and I simply wanted to throw my findings out the window.
Which character do you feel most closely connected to?
I feel most affinity with the young Mei, which was the main reason I decided to write a young Empress Wu, who was still at an age when romantic love mattered most for her, before she was embroiled in political games.
I can identify with the thrill, the innocence, and the sweetness essential to young love since I was a teenager once. I also have some understanding of forbidden love. When I grew up in China, I was told any expressions of affection to boys were ruinous. Education was the only path that would help me find a better future, so it was most important for me. My parents forbade me to date, and teachers thought it detrimental to cast amorous glances in the classroom. I never dated anyone in school, but I saw how my rebellious friends stole away and met their lovers in secret. So I suppose I can say that I had a taste of love blossoming on discouraging soil.
I can also identify with Mei’s love for her parents, as filial piety is ingrained in the Chinese culture and I was taught so at an early age. As a little girl, I knew the importance of obeying my parents’ will and pleasing them. I think this sentiment was manifested in Mei as she tried to become the Empress to please her father.
Are any of your characters inspired by the people around you?
I hope not! Especially Jewel. I love her as a character—devious, ambitious, but tragic—but I never personally knew anyone like her in my real life.
Acknowledgments
A Chinese adage says, “It takes ten years to sharpen a sword.” Well, this book took ten years to write. Ten years is a long time, and I have many people to thank over this long journey.