A millennia ago, the Wen people lived in the beautiful, fertile land of Yali, where they built the statelet of Wen. Around 800 B.C.E., King Xuan of the Zhou dynasty engaged in battle with Ma Lan, leader of Wen, and invaded the smaller state. Yali came under Zhou rule, but in the Valley of Xuanyao, a sacred place associated with the Wen's deity, Liu Liliu, a few resistance fighters covertly continued the struggle against their would-be conquerors. It is now spring. A young man who has been dispat...