A novel of Yongle's treasure fleet
The Qilin's Shadow
The court calls the giraffe a qilin and proof of Heaven — a painter sees that it is dying.
- An Auspicious Sign
- The Painter Ma Lan
- Heaven's Approval
- The Treasure Fleet
The dangerous luxury of seeing too clearly.
In this book
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In 1415, the Yongle Emperor’s treasure fleet returned from the ends of the earth with a creature the court called a qilin — a giraffe whose appearance was hailed as proof that Heaven itself approved the usurper’s rule. Among the painters ordered to record this miracle is Ma Lan, a young man of mixed blood raised in the menageries and the painting academy. He alone sees that the qilin is dying, that the voyages have cost more than they have brought, and that someone at court is willing to kill to keep the omens perfect.
As factions of eunuchs and Confucian officials wage war through auspicious signs and purged records, Ma Lan is drawn into a conspiracy that reaches from the shipyards of Nanjing to the inner chambers of the Forbidden City. His only ally is a woman whose true messages are stitched into the emperor’s own robes. Together they must decide what is worth preserving when the empire has decided that the world outside its walls does not exist.
A novel of power, art, and the dangerous luxury of seeing too clearly.