BENEATH YELLOW CLAY

For fifteen hundred years the tomb of a general buried during the Three Kingdoms dynasty has remained hidden beneath the pale yellow clay of Shanxi Province; guarding the secret to the mysterious tomb of the first great emperor of China – Qin Shi Huang. Two young Melbourne University tutors believe they can break into the general’s tomb, believe they can loot the tomb of its ancient artefacts, the jade, the porcelain, and whatever else is there for the tomb raider to take. But are they naïve or just foolish in their simple belief that they can enter China and steal its treasures and smuggle them away without running afoul of those who also want those beautiful things? Did they not realise that there are those who will take whatever measures may be needed to seize and sell the looted objects for the millions of dollars which they will fetch? Did they really believe they could steal these priceless antiques from an ancient time without the danger and death which would follow such wealth?