Barry Hughart Books

I open my tale in Ku‑fu, a village so humble that its only boast is the strength of a single ox‑like young man. When the plague comes, it moves without sound and without mercy: every child collapses into a deathlike slumber. No herbs, no prayers, no exorcisms awaken them. The people are bewildered, ...

From Bridge of Birds: A Novel of an Ancient China That Never Was

In Peking we wander through the labyrinth of humanity’s shadow. Thieves hawk philosophies, storytellers barter confessions for wine, and every alley hides a secret older than empire. Amid this carnival of vice, Master Li reads patterns that others overlook—the way a tale’s moral mutates in repetitio...

From Bridge of Birds: A Novel of an Ancient China That Never Was

Our story begins in the small, unassuming village of Ku-fu, where children suddenly fall into a mysterious sleep, neither living nor dead. I, Number Ten Ox, a man of great physical strength but little learning, am chosen by my elders to find help. Fate, in its peculiar generosity, leads me to Master...

From The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox

If our first adventure dealt with the restoration of life to the innocent, the second—*The Story of the Stone*—explored what happens when the living desire eternity. A monk’s murder and a stolen sacred artifact draw us into a labyrinth of intrigue where mysticism and science intertwine in the pursui...

From The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox

Our story begins with an invitation into melancholy: the bleak and legendary Valley of Sorrows. I, Master Li Kao, and my strong, guileless companion Number Ten Ox arrive at the monastery of the Laughing Prince after the death of a monk—an event so shrouded in mystery that even the mountain mists see...

From The Story of the Stone

As we press deeper into the Valley’s secrets, the monastery’s divisions expose deeper wounds in the soul of faith. I watch monks who whisper formulas of alchemy in the dead of night, their hands trembling as they grind powders meant to capture immortality. Others chant sutras that renounce desire en...

From The Story of the Stone