Author’s notes for “Heaven Under Earth”
…w a society in which women were so scarce that men had had to improvise around their lack. This involved quite a bit of handwavium (mostly a background biological weapon developed by neo-Confucians to keep women in their place, and which backfired when used in the field), none of which actually showed up in the story but was necessary to help me design it! The caihes are named after Lan Caihe, the mischievous Immortal who is alternately male and f…