Author Description

The Phoenix seeks a mate takes place in the early years of the Western Han Dynasty. A young scholar, Sima Xiangru, heads to the capital Chang'an to seek his fame. A poet and a literatus, Xiangru finds the minor imperial guard positions granted to him dissatisfying, and takes an opportunity to impress the king of Liang with his poetic verses. When Xiangru returns home in triumph, he discovers that his family steward has stolen everything and left him destitute. He takes refuge with a wealthy neighbor and falls in love with a young widow. The Peacock flies southeast is set in the prefecture of Lujiang during the Eastern Han Dynasty. A young girl, Liu Lanzhi, is forced to enter an arranged marriage with Jiao Zhongqing, a minor official from a respectable family. The two meet on their wedding day and to their delight realize they have admired one another from afar. But when her husband leaves to take up his official post, Lanzhi suffers under the harsh treatment of her mother-in-law.