After retiring as an Air Force pediatrician I have devoted my main activities to the writing of historical fiction about ancient China. This interest arose from my abiding interest in how something has come about, ranging from the evolution of life and its varieties of forms, to the rise of a culture, to the development of people from birth to death. In its long history China went through many dynasties, which rose and fell almost with regularity. In the process of the many changes there were innumerable fascinating and compelling events and trends. I decided to tell the story of some of these events. Because the official histories present the events essentially in outline or synoptic form, there is much room for imagination to "put flesh on the bones." That is what I have tried to achieve - to tell the story in an interesting way, presenting not only the actions but also the imagined character of the principal persons involved and their motivations.