Shangji Long

About the Book

During the Tang Dynasty, there was a world that was separated from earth. There was a kingdom ruled by a dragon king who was born with incredible power, yet it was also dangerous as well. His name was Shangji Long; he lived in a crystal palace. There lay the Pearl of Fucanglong, a special jewel that contained unlimited power. However, another kingdom—where yao guai lived—have come and invaded Shangji Long’s kingdom to steal the pearl. He wouldn’t let that happen; thus a war began. When the battle was getting intense, the pearl was no longer in the kingdom; for some reason, it was on earth, in the land of China. When the yao guai found out its location, five of them came to retrieve it. Shangji Long came down from his kingdom to stop them. His success came with a price: he sealed them in another world to prevent them from causing any more havoc, but he turned to stone in the process. The people that he saved thanked him and would never forget his sacrifice. They moved his stone body and the pearl to a cave; there he would be waiting until the time was right for a certain person to free him in the future.

About the Author

I have a very vast interest in Chinese culture and studied all about it when I was in elementary school. When I read that the dragon has an important part and has a long history in that culture, I had the idea to make a heroic character of it. “Shangji long” means “superior dragon” because of his great power, while “yao guai” means “demon” or “evil spirit.” I choose to have the story take place in China where I got the idea from—that way, people would know how much I learned from research while keeping true to its roots.