The novel is a fictionalized account of the legends around the Buddhist monk Tang Sanzhuang's pilgrimage to India during the Tang dynasty in order to obtain Buddhist scriptures.

Her office did not disclose what they told her, except that the monk had quoted Buddhist scripture, saying, "a tree bears fruit when it sheds flowers."

In Tibetan Buddhism there are a large number of scriptural texts that have come down through various spiritual beings who have left them for us to study and supplicate.