Thirty-two centuries ago, a relatively small tribe on the western fringe of the Chinese world prospered and became strong. It went on to challenge the powerful kingdom that encompassed almost the entire known civilized world in East Asia. In the culture of the times, a king was acknowledged to have Heaven's Mandate to govern, and essentially to own, everything in his realm; and the king of this large and powerful kingdom certainly and consciously claimed to have this mandate from Heaven. This historical novel is the story of this tribe and its struggle against the dominant kingdom. Did religion play a role in this struggle? What role did women have in this thoroughly male-dominated civilization? Did the character of the leaders and of governance have a role? Although set in ancient China these and other considerations likely apply to any tribe that challenges a much larger kingdom in any historical or pre-historical era in any part of the world.