Background
The main thematic element of the novel concerns the complex, troubled relationships between the great multitude of characters from various kingdoms and sects, and the inherent bond that underlies the struggles of each. The novel examines the cause and effect that forms and breaks these bonds on five uniquely corresponding levels: self, family, society, ethnic group, and country (dominion). The novel's historical setting is in the Northern Song Dynasty, and includes the non-Han Chinese empires of Liao, Dali, Western Xia and Tubo.
Read more about this topic: Demi-Gods And Semi-Devils
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“Silence is the universal refuge, the sequel to all dull discourses and all foolish acts, a balm to our every chagrin, as welcome after satiety as after disappointment; that background which the painter may not daub, be he master or bungler, and which, however awkward a figure we may have made in the foreground, remains ever our inviolable asylum, where no indignity can assail, no personality can disturb us.”
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