- A work of fiction based on historical facts. - It covers three centuries from the beginning of the decline of the Qing Dynasty to the present day. - Main characters: * THE IMPERADOR - a "demigod", living in a paradise confined to palaces, surrounded by a large court at his service. Lord of a vast territory he administered according to his will, between Peace and War. His subjects, a myriad of faceless souls, built their lives between hard work (necessary for their sustenance) and the veneration of the "SOL KING" (with the exception of the Empress and the Concubines no one in his presence could look him in the face, and when they retired, they had to do it backwards without ever turning their backs). *ZIZI - the Emperor's penultimate consort. With her death she ascended to her place the Concubine XI *LI - Concubine. It represents in the work the "Positive and Noble side of the whole Human Being". Defender of moral, cultural and civic values. (has a transversal role and continuity throughout the work) *XI - Concubine. It represents the "Negative, perverse and petty side of the human being". This character portrays another very real one that in a short time ascended from Concubine to Empress and with the death of the Emperor came to assume the government. His disastrous reign plunged the Empire into chaos and the greatest economic crisis and power struggle, culminating in his death in the implantation of the Republic (during his reign more than 12,000,000 people died from hunger and power struggles). * SONG - Represents the architect and the worker of the transition from Imperial China to Modernity. He came to power after political and military strategies and after a "Long March". He launched a radical land reform by overthrowing landowners and dividing their large estates into popular communes. The definitive triumph of his Party, which he had helped to create, occurred decades later, marked by the crises of the "Great Leap Forward" and the "Cultural Revolution. * LILI (LI's granddaughter) - This character assumes in the work the gigantic defence by the TEACHING and the CULTURE of a people... * SUN - Represents the Man of Broad World Vision, Strategic and Political, defending the High Values for Humanity in the coming years. * SNU (SUN Adviser) - Represents Discreet, Assertive and Struggling Women, assuming an increasingly frequent profile in the new generations.

J. B. Melo, casado, nasceu numa pequena aldeia do Douro Litoral, em Portugal, a 25 de Dezembro 1949. Licenciado em Engenharia Mecânica pela Universidade do Porto, onde frequentou curso Mestrado Materiais e Processos de Fabrico. Durante mais de três décadas exerceu funções de chefia como engenheiro mecânico em Empresas do Sector Automóvel. Tirou o curso de cinco anos em Acupuntura e Fitoterapia Tradicional Chinesa, reconhecido pela Universidade Chengdu na China. Desde cedo desenvolveu o gosto pela leitura. Viveu a maior parte da sua vida na cidade do Porto e atualmente reside em Braga com mulher e filha.