"In 1867, the Rover, an American merchant ship, sank off the coast of southern Taiwan. About a dozen sailors made it to shore, where they were killed by warriors of the Koalut tribe, which had generations ago been almost wiped out in an attack by Westerners. The United States launched two disastrous military operations against the local aboriginal tribes in retaliation. Eventually, the US Consul to Amoy Charles Le Gendre (a naturalized American of French birth who distinguished himself fighting for the Union in the Civil War) negotiated a treaty with Tauketok, the head chief of the 18 tribes of the area, for safe passage for shipwrecked sailors. This historical novel, written in close consultation with aborigine activists, recounts these events alongside the story of Butterfly, a half aborigine-half Hakka young woman who leaves her village to study Western medicine and with whom Le Gendre falls in love"-- Provided by publisher.

Translated from the Chinese.

Description based on online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on March 16, 2023).

Intro -- Table of Contents -- Foreword, by Michael Berry -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- List of Principal Characters -- 1. A Pyrrhic Victory -- 2. The Tragedy That Befell the Rover -- 3. Orphans of Mixed Blood -- 4. Identity Revealed -- 5. Repulse of the Foreign Forces -- 6. Serenity Lost and Found -- 7. Troops Marching -- 8. Puppet Mountains -- 9. Praying to Guanyin -- 10. Epilogue -- Maps and Illustrations -- Glossary

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