There is a period in ancient Chinese history that was called ‘The Spring and Autumn', referring to the time between 770 BC to 403 BC. Its name might elicit romantic thoughts from the unsuspecting, but it was one of the more brutal periods in the history of ancient China of constant turmoils.
Due to poor management, the vast Central Kingdom under the Zhou rulers had been broken up into hundreds of smaller fiefdoms in this period, oversaw by relatives of the central ruling family. These men held the title of Dukes and Barons. Among them were a handful of powerful states that were not satisfied with the size of their lands and its resources, and constantly invaded and took lands from their neighbors.
In the Duke & I, the archaic and peaceful tribe of Lirong , a once nomadic tribe which descended from the Mongolians that settled on the secluded Mount Blackmare suddenly found itself sandwiched between two superpowers, the Qin and the Jin.
The Qin would be the ultimate winner at the end of the five hundred years struggle and built the now world-famous Great Wall of China and the terracotta army tomb of the first Emperor of China who united all states in 221 BC, but at the time of the story at 672 BC, they were only one of the many who harboured ambitious dreams of unifying the country.
The Jin had foreseen the anger of leaving the Qin unchecked, and they started invading lands between them, including Lirong, Hu, Guo, Zheng, and many other smaller states to create buffer zones between them.
(I have included a link to a youtube video which showed how the map of ancient China changed over time. The light pink area on the top left that kept growing and growing is the State of Jin. The bright green one on the far left would be Qin. Lirong is too small to be identifiable on the map.)
After the army of Lirong was poorly defeated, the Duke of Jin demanded offerings from the Baron of Lirong. His two daughters, age unknown in history but no doubt already considered marriage-age in their teens in those times, were then sent off to be the brides of the Duke.
We do not know the names of his daughters from historical records, but we do know that the elder princess of Lirong was give the title of Consort Li (Liji) subsequently in the harem of the Duke of Jin after the Mountain Li, which mean a beautiful black female horse for its resemblance to the animal.
This was the backdrop of the story to the Duke and I, in which the Princess of Lirong will make her arduous journey with her younger sister from Lirong to Jin and began her long road to avenge for her country, as it would soon be annihilated after she arrived in the court.
Would you like to know more about the story of the Princess of Lirong and her heroic acts?
Read the Duke & I series to find out!
