The TARDIS materialises in a Chinese fishing village in the year 1522 AD, where warrior monks are fighting pirates with uncharacteristic fierceness — and the Doctor and Sharon find evidence that an alien weapon has been used. Abbot Yueh, puzzled by the strangers, takes them back to Shaolin monastery as prisoners. The Doctor learns from the novice Chang that the monks have been practising martial arts for centuries; but ever since Yueh took over from the former abbot Hsiang, the monks' abilities have been tested by the "bronze men" in a secret chamber. The Doctor slips out of the monastery to question Hsiang, who has apparently become a hermit. Hsiang informs him that some time ago a star fell to Earth, and Yueh went to investigate; when he returned, he deliberately crippled Hsiang and left