Comprising ancient texts and fables, stories within stories, and a young man's desperate search for his father's legacy, this beguiling tale, by the bestselling author of Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, has the enigmatic mystery of Eco's The Name of the Rose, with the tenderness of the film, Lost in Translation. A young woman hears the tale of a sacred text, written in an ancient language and inscribed on silk cloth many centuries ago. Puyi, the last emperor and owner of the relic, allegedly tore the silk in pieces with his teeth and threw it from a plane when he was taken by the Japanese to Manchuria. A search for this lost text and its poignant, devastatingly simple message begins...This is a beguiling tale of fables, stories within stories, a young man's desperate search for his father's legacy and a young woman's search for the man she loved. Covering almost a century of China's history, this haunting novel combines mystery, harsh reality and tenderness with astonishing insight.