Hua Hu, Book II: The Thunder Spell (English Edition)

This is the English version of "Hua Hu", Book 2. Hanson Chan's Hua Hu, Book 1 & 2, in English editions were in fact published in 2006. Both were translated from the original Chinese versions by the same author, and Chinese versions are also available. Hanson Chan's "Hua Hu", Book 1 & 2, were novels of Chinese martial arts based on a historical event and polemics between Taoism and Buddhism during the imperial times in China. The center and focus of this religious controversy were an ancient Taoist scripture, known as Hua Hu Jing, which was written and circulated in China since the fourth century. According to history, the Taoist scripture stated that Lao Tzu, the famous philosopher and author of the Tao Te Ching, after finished his writing for the foundation of Taoism left China for India, where he taught a student named Sakyamuni, and that this last disciple of his founded a religion later called Buddhism, which preached kindness to all. However, the above story was challenged by Buddhists and deemed as a fabricated slander. For centuries, debates between the two religions were held without any result until the time of Khan Kubilai's reign when the Taoists were finally announced defeated and the then Mongol emperor decreed that all copies of Hua Hu Jing were to be banned and burnt...... Hanson Chan, author of the novels Hua Hu 1-The Forbidden Scripture & Hua Hu 2-Thunder Spell, used this historical incident as background and wrote the story of a Taoist girl who at the last request of her Sifu must fulfill her sworn duty to save the sole surviving copy. Hua Hu, Book 1: The Forbidden Scripture describes the twists and turns of her flight from Yenching (today's Beijing) with the book, while being pursued by Buddhist's and the Mongol military, to Dun-Huang. Hua Hu, Book 2: The Thunder Spell uncovers secrets hidden within the Taoist scripture. It was believed that the instruction for "Thunder Spell" was kept within the text of Hua Hu Jing. As legend revealed, the magical power of Thunder Spell was the highest technique for Taoists to summon deities of natural forces to perform magic in their ceremonial services. If one possessed the skill, power and success would be followed soon. So, in the process of unveiling the final truth, the Taoist girl was trapped and forced into a series of bloody fights against trickery and betrayal, selfishness and vanity, as well as dreams and disappointments during her struggles and involvement with different other sects in Taoism. In writing these two novels, Hanson Chan not only examined volumes of books related to the historical incidents, but also made several trips to China to visit various sites of interest for factual details. He will share his research and information with readers in these books.