chayan: the Traveler name for the folk of Syai
Cheleh: Court Chronicler, Khailin’s father
Chuntan: second month of autumn
Dragon: sign of the Syai zodiac for those born in the month of Kunan, cardinal sign, Female Fire
Dragon Empress: title taken by Liudan when she ascended the throne of Syai
Eagle: sign of the Syai zodiac for those born in the month of Sinan, cardinal sign, Male Air
Early Heaven Cahan, the Spirit Paradise: the home of the lower deities of the great pantheon, not the high rulers and the greater powers, but deities who originated in Cahan and were never mortal
Eleo: Tammary’s kidnapper
Empress-Heir: title of oldest daughter of the Emperor, usually reserved for a period between the death of the prior Emperor and ascension to the throne of his heir (i.e., prior to coronation)
Female Earth: one of the cardinal points of Syai astrology
Festival of All Souls: celebrated on the last day of Chuntan (the last day of autumn)—a celebration dedicated to death and renewal during which the Emperor makes sacrifices in the Tower of the Lord of Heaven in the innermost sanctum of the Great Temple
First Circle: the commercial circle of the Great Temple, where offerings may be bought, ganshu readings obtained, yearwood beads are carved and sold
First Princess: title given to the oldest female child of the Emperor, the heiress to the throne
Fourth Circle: the inner part of the Great Temple where the Three Pure Ones, the rulers of the Three High Heavens of Cahan, reside—Shan-sei, the ruler of Shan (the Heaven of Pure Spirit), I’Chi-sei, the ruler of I’Chi (the Heaven of Pure Energy), and Taiku-sei, the ruler of Taikua (the Heaven of Pure Vitality)
ganshu: method of fortune-telling using precepts associated with the Way and with Syai astrology
ghost road: a road beyond the physical world, across space and time, which leads everywhere and anywhere—dangerous to noninitiates but used by adepts to travel quickly from place to place
Great Temple: the chief temple in the Imperial capital of Syai
hacha-ashu: the “male” alphabet, the common tool of writing the spoken language of Syai (women are mostly illiterate in it, with few exceptions)
Han-fei: the Holy Fool, a character used in the Teaching Tales as an example and as a way to explain the complexities of the Gods and their Way to the people
Holy Sages: wise and learned men who have become greatly venerated in their lifetimes and have achieved immortality by being placed in the Second Circle in the Great Temple as guiding spirits
Hsih-to, the Messenger of the Gods: a deity of Later Heaven, a nonmortal lesser spirit often portrayed as winged or wearing winged attire; frequently appealed to by the faithful to carry prayers and entreaties to higher Gods and spirits, but also, in the lore of the Way, the spirit used within Cahan as the Gods’ own messenger spirit to one another and to their faithful on Earth
Hummingbird: sign of the Syai zodiac for those born in the month of Siantain, cardinal sign, Female Air
Imperial Council: two-tiered governmental advisory body to the Emperors of Syai, consisting of a Chancellor and a number of Ministers with specific duties and portfolios (in the secular tier) and the Nine Sages of Syai, forming the religious and spiritual advisory tier, consisting of nine philosophers and scholars of the Way
Imperial Guard: elite, highly trained fighting force, the Emperor’s first-call personal army and guard
Ivory Emperor: the Emperor who dies in the earthquake, father of Liudan, Antian and Tammary
Jessenia: Traveler woman, Jokhara’s sister, Tammary’s aunt
JeuJeu: an Imperial Guard, once in charge of Guard trainees
jin-ashu: the “female” alphabet, or the “women’s tongue”—a secret language passed from mother to daughter for generations, an arcane knowledge confined to women and forbidden to males. It is a written language which has no spoken counterpart—it is the common tongue, as spoken in Syai, but simply rendered in a unique and secret written form. It has a whole rich literature written in it which no man can ever read.
jin-shei: a pledged sisterhood of female friends who are not related by blood. The sworn sisters are much closer to one another than to their own blood kin, and jin-shei was a lifetime commitment, binding and holy. If a sister asked anything of another in the name of the sisterhood, the request had to be honored at all cost.
jin-shei-bao: one of the jin-shei sisterhood
Jokhara: Tammary’s mother, a Traveler woman
Kannaian: second month of summer
Khailin: one of the jin-shei sisters, daughter to Cheleh, Chancellor of the Court, briefly married to Lihui, the alchemist
Kito: Tai’s husband, son of bead-carver So-Xan
Kunan: first month of autumn
-lama: a term of respectful address, as in “master,” used to a superior or higher-ranked person or from apprentice to master craftsman
Lan: the Second Age, losing of milk teeth
Later Heaven deities and spirits: according to the teachings of the Way, the part of Cahan where the lesser deities, the spirits of those who were once mortal but achieved immortality in Cahan through their actions or attributes while alive, make their home (e.g., the Holy Sages, the past Emperors, lesser deities like Ama-bai and Yu
Lesser Gods, the spirits of Rain and Thunder and Wind and Fire: the elementals often prayed to by country people regarding the vagaries of weather or natural catastrophes; their shrines are housed in the Second Circle of the Great Temple
Li: Nhia’s mother
Lihui: the Ninth Sage of Syai, the highest-ranking and also the youngest of the Nine Sages of the Imperial Council; emerges as an immortal mage of great evil power
Linh-an: capital city of Syai
Lion: sign of the Syai zodiac for those born in the month of Kannaian, cardinal sign, Male Fire
Liu: the First Age, birth/toddler
liu-kala: the First Age (often applied to an era, not to persons)
Liudan: youngest legitimate daughter of the Ivory Emperor, by the concubine Cai; subsequently inherits the Syai throne and rules as the Dragon Empress
Little Empress: affectionate title by which the First Princess, the heir to the Syai throne, is often known
Lord of Heaven: highest and most powerful Deity in Cahan, never named
-mai: a term used from a senior to a junior, as in, for instance, a master to an apprentice
Maxao: once an Imperial Sage but betrayed and blinded by his student and apprentice, Lihui, and left for dead. He assumes the position of Brother Number One in the Linh-an Beggars’ Guild, leading Nhia to dub him “the Beggar King” when she first meets him. A powerful mage.
Nhia: crippled child of Li the washerwoman, who rises to become Chancellor of Syai, renowned for her wisdom and empathy
Nine Sages: the spiritual tier of the Imperial Council
Oylian: see Second Princess Oylian
Pau: the Sixth Age, the Last Age, the age of widowhood/old age/death
Pike: sign of the Syai zodiac for those born in the month of Chuntan, cardinal sign, Male Water
Qai: the Fourth Age, full adulthood, raising a family of one’s own
Qiaan: daughter of Aric of the Imperial Guard and Cai, Imperial Concubine; subsequently used by Lihui as a pawn in his bid for power
Qiu-Lin: wife and Empress to the Cloud Emperor, one of past Emperors of Syai, also a renowned poetess of her time
Rimshi: Tai’s mother
Rochanaa: childless wife of Captain Aric of the Guard, adoptive mother of Qiaan
Rulers of the Four Quarters—Kun Lord of the North, Sin Lord of the East, T’ain Lady of the West and K’ain Lady of the South: deities of the Lower Heaven, but because they are associated with the four quarters and thus with astrological issues these four Gods are deemed to be responsible for human fates, and are the ones invoked by ganshu
readers and Syai astrologers for forecasting and fortune-reading
Ryu: Fifth Age, the age of grandchildren
sai’an: form of address, “lady”
Second Circle: the Great Temple Circle dedicated to the Later Heaven deities and spirits
Second Princess Oylian: younger sister to Antian, older sister to Liudan, perishes in the earthquake at the Summer Palace
sei: form of address, “lord”
Siantain: first month of spring
Sinan: second month of winter
so ji: the carved jade marriage proposal token. As my beloved wishes, the words had originally meant. If the bride or groom being courted accepted the token, the marriage proposal was deemed to have been accepted, and the betrothal was official from that moment.
So-Xan: yearwood bead-carver at the Great Temple, father to Kito, father-in-law to Tai
Swan: sign of the Syai zodiac for those born in the month of Chanain, cardinal sign, Female Water
Syai: the Middle Kingdom, the Empire where Jin-shei takes place.
Szewan: healer to the Imperial Court of Syai, formerly a Traveler by the name of Sevanna
Tai: daugher of Rimshi, founder, with Tian, of the jin-shei circle of this story, the keystone character of the circle, the one with the steady ordinary life on which all others rest
Taian: second month of spring
Tammary: daughter begotten on the Traveler woman Jokhara by the Ivory Emperor, half Traveler, half chayan
Tannuan: first month of winter
Third Circle: the Great Temple circle dedicated to the lower deities of the Early Heaven
Third Prince Zhu: suitor to Khailin, subsequently marries someone else
Third Princess: title to the third daughter of the Emperor, borne by Liudan before she inherited the throne
Three Pure Ones, the rulers of the Three Heavens of Cahan—the Shan, the I’Chi, the Taikua, the realms of Pure Spirit, Pure Energy, Pure Vitality: the high lords of the three great Heavens of Cahan—rulers of the spirit (translated into the mind/soul in a human being), energy (heart/blood), and vitality (reproductive organs/sexual organs)
Travelers: the gypsy folk of Syai, usually fair in coloring. They run fairs and carnivals and generally live on the move in their caravans, although there are Traveler settlements up in the north, which is where they originated
Tsu-ho, the Kitchen Spirit of Plenty: one of the Lower Heaven deities
Way of the Cha (the Way): “Cha is the path of the spirit and energy and power. Cha is part of every thing and every creature in the world. Pure cha is what the highest Heaven is made of, a perfect place where the male and the female, the chao and the cha’ia, meet and meld in flawless balance and equilibirum, where the Seeker loses the self but becomes the whole world.”
Women’s Tongue: the written version of the Syai common tongue, passed from mother to daughter, a secret alphabet known only to women (see jin-ashu)
Xaforn: the youngest Imperial Guard, one of the jin-shei sisterhood
Xanshi: Tai’s daughter
Xat: the Third Age, the coming of age
Xat-Wau: the coming-of-age ceremony in Syai
Xinxan (or the Finder): a little ugly God worshipped in the Second Circle of the Great Temple
Xsixu: Lihui’s secret identity as Nhia’s teacher
Yan: Khailin’s younger sister
yang-cha: the “external alchemy,” more concerned with understanding the here and now than the afterworld or transcendence; the empirical science
Yearwood: Syai calendar; the reign of each Emperor produces specific beads which are strung onto a special wooden frame on a daily basis. Special beads mark special occasions—coming of age, marriage, etc.
Yehonaia, Empress: Antian’s mother, wife to the Ivory Emperor
Yovann: Tammary’s daughter, ultimately heiress to the throne of Syai (her Traveler name is Jovanna)
Yu, the general of the Heavenly Armies: martial deity concerned with war and conflict
Yuet: healer, Szewan’s apprentice, later Imperial Healer, one of the jin-shei sisterhood
Yulinh: Khailin’s mother
Zhan: Tammary’s lover and husband, father of her daughter Yovann
zhao-cha: the “internal alchemy,” concerned with ethereal realms which could only be gained by the incorporeal, the spiritual
Zibo: the former Chancellor of Syai
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I suppose I could go back a long way to trace the provenance of the thanks I owe for this book. The editors who worked with me on the manuscript—Renee Sedliar in the United States and Susan Watt in the United Kingdom—were absolutely wonderful, and I was overwhelmed by the sheer enthusiasm that this book generated with the people who were in charge of preparing it for publication. But they would probably never have seen this book if my remarkable agent, Jill Grinberg, hadn’t loved it first. And she would probably never have seen it but for the advice of another sterling agent, Anthea Morton Saner, who, astonishingly, still remembered my name nearly a decade of silence after our first contact. And Anthea would never have heard of me if it hadn’t been for the fact that I learned her name through reading one of my favorite authors in the world, Guy Gavriel Kay, who continues to inspire me every time I pick up one of his works … and so it goes. No book is ever born in isolation, and this one is no exception—and the names of the people who fed this one with faith and passion and inspiration would make a list almost as long as the book itself. To all those named in this paragraph, and many, many more—my thanks.
Special thanks are due to some special people who had nothing to do with the publication process, but everything to do with the way the book grew up. To the “beta readers,” who were the first to encounter this story as it was being shaped—Mark and Sharyn in Australia, the Monday Nighters in Florida, and especially Toni for asking a single significant question. To Carol Schmidt, who was instrumental in providing me with the fundamental building block of my story by introducing me to nushu, the women’s language of China. And, always, to my husband, Deck—my first line editor and an unequaled comprehensive one-man support system, without whom it would all have been so much harder.
ALMA ALEXANDER
March 2003
READING GROUP GUIDE
Enter an ancient world of courtly elegance and intrigue, where sages are also sorcerers, and the daughter of a lowly seamstress can become a companion to an empress. In this magical land there is a secret language—a language that women have passed down from mother to daughter for countless generations—a language that signals a bond like no other: the bond of jin-shei.
Which jin-shei sister do you identify with most? Why?
Tai makes a promise to the Little Empress as she is dying, a promise that has far-reaching impact on the rest of Tai’s life. Have you ever made such a promise that you have kept?
When Liudan asks Khaelin to do the “unthinkable” in the name of jin-shei, Khaelin agrees. Do you agree with Khaelin’s decision? Yuet makes a differenc choice, who do you feel made the correct choice? Why? Would you have followed Khaelin’s path or Yuet’s?
What is the greatest sacrifice you have ever made to help a friend? Did you compromise your own values?
Jin-ashu is the secret language of the jin-shei sisters. What are some other sorts of secret languages of women?
Jin-ashu is based on a real secret language—nushu—which was used to subvert in some ways the patriarchal power structure in China. What other ways do people reclaim power in partiarchical societies?
Liudan can be viewed as emotionally unstable, yet the sisters continue to support her and allow her to influence them all—above and beyond the bonds of jin-shei. Why?
The jin-shei sisters go to great lengths—even the risk of death—to protect one another. What sorts of things have your friends done for you? In what ways have you supported your friends? Is mutual support a uniquely feminine trait? Are women predisposed to form these intense bonds and friendships or is that just a s
tereotype?
Alma Alexander’s characters defy stereotypes—for example, Xaforn is the most powerful warrior, a “killing machine” by her own definition, while Liudan creates her own rules and, in fact, rewrites the rulebook for the empire. How are the rest of the sisters unique? In what ways have your own friends defied stereotypes?
Do you agree that the bonds of friendship can be stronger than blood ties? What are some examples from your own life?
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