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In this finely-etched study of the family of Lo, squires of a small hamlet, perched precariously above the Yangtze Gorges, the immediate days preceding the marriage of the heir, Lo Ma-hang, to Bright Virtue give us the unexpected visit of the mysterious K'o I-wan, the arrival of Wao, the Emperor's Messenger, with his red knee-pads, in search of K'o, and the coming of the lovely Golden Screen, for whose dancing men pay strange coin.
On the conventional pattern of the family wedding stand super-imposed the highly coloured mesh of romance in high places and the arbitrary actions of the great.
The quiet tyranny of the old dowager, Black Dragon, and the successful escape of Phoenix from the family influence are sketched in this crowded picture: K'o's white stallion, Cuckoo, the earthy love of the stableman and Cassia, Uncle Han's unusual hobbies and surprising domesticity - in all these Keith West paints for us a charming picture of two faces of Chinese society in the Ming Dynasty.
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