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"To be popular with young people, a successful historical story has to easily connect with modern life," he says. "Jianwen was born into a royal family. He is indecisive and weak. He doesn't know what to do in the future.

"These problems also bother many young people today. I'll be glad if Jianwen can inspire them to find their own solutions."

Ma's knowledge of history is proven. Even though he is often labeled as a maverick, he won the People's Literature Award-one of China's highest and most orthodox book awards-in 2010, through his work exploring An Ode to the Goddess of Luo, a well-known poetic prose from the Three Kingdoms period (220-280).

In Beyond the Ocean, the lead role of Jianwen and its back-ground story make it easy for contemporary audiences to connect with the events of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). In the early Ming era, the young Emperor Jianwen was overthrown by his uncle Zhu Di (later known as Emperor Yongle) in a civil war, but his whereabouts after the war remain a mystery.

One theory suggests that the reason Yongle sent mariner Zheng He on a long voyage overseas was to search for his long-lost nephew.

"But I can only say it's about ancient China," Ma says of his novel. "I will keep drawing a conscious line between actual historical events and my own fiction."