Shi-yin grew up at the Shaolin Monastery near Loyang studying chi kung, kung fu and meditation since childhood. She also studied Taoism, T'ai Chi Ch'uan and Mi-tsung. She burned the midnight oil to memorize and embody the six Classics of Confucianism. She is recognized as a master of the Five Excellences: painting, poetry, calligraphy, medicine and T'ai Chi Ch'uan. After a series of lucid dreams Shi-yin sets out on a journey halfway around the world to find a village of people living in equality attuned continuously to the common good. In 1829, at thirty-one years old, she boards an East Indiaman in Guangzhou headed for Plymouth. Her life is transformed across the journey of her quest as she transforms all within the sphere of her interactions.