Survival struggle in land of the brave
TIBET TAKES ITS TOLL. The harsh land at the roof of the world strips life to the fundamentals and only the brave survive. Beating barely beneath the surface of desolate plains and awesome mountains is the heart of a country struggling no less for a sense of identity as for survival in a changing political and social landscape.
In this curious but powerful first novel translated from Chinese, Alai traces and explains the decline of the feudal chieftain system and the genesis of Chinese hegemony in pre-occupation Tibet. The author is an ethnic Tibetan who now lives in Sichuan and his ability to empathise with, but not moralise about, a difficult time in the history of his homeland has produced an outstanding and touching cameo, giving a human face to a poignant cultural revolution.
He follows the fortunes and misfortunes of the 13-year-old son of the wealthy Maichi family whose power over a swathe of eastern Tibet was originally legitimised by the Chinese authorities. He is caught in a power struggle within his own family as well as with rival chieftains. 'Young master', as he is referred to, was born of a Chinese Han mother and is branded as stupid. But he is not as stupid as he seems and his rivalry with his older brother provides the tension on which the plot builds.
When the chieftain seeks help from a Chinese official over a territorial dispute with a neighbouring fiefdom, the pay-off is that red poppies must be planted to produce opium at the expense of grain for everyone's profit. The consequences are far-reaching. Jealousies, price fluctuations and famines all contribute to a situation which lays the blueprint for the ultimate destruction of a system that had survived, if precariously, for generations.
Alai's ability to characterise the relationships between artisans, monks, bonded slaves and power brokers underpins the geopolitical situation. Love, sex, greed, power and an almost primeval connection to the land is a powerful cocktail the author shakes and stirs with consummate skill. There is no romanticism or glorification, simply astute observation and sympathetic interpretation. All parties use the weapons in the story for personal ends and the victims rarely foresee the coup de grace.
Young master was sent to the northern border of his family's territory to see how he would manage surplus grain with starving neighbours. His surprising wisdom and perspicacity provided food for thought for disputing Tibetans who failed to appreciate the full implications of the ending of the War of Resistance against Japan, and the Chinese civil war as it began to draw to an end. Also, his innovative establishment of a permanent market and the raising of taxes attracted unwelcome attention from further afield and the arrival of Red Chinese troops introduced an explosive new element into an already unstable situation.
The book is full of imaginative imagery. By walking the thin line between genius and madness, Alai emphasises the brittleness of a social order whose time had come. The futile competition between brothers, parents and chieftains proved ultimately to be a fatal distraction from the real enemy ready to manipulate them and their compatriots to virtual oblivion. Who was mad, the young master or those who thought themselves invincible? In the end the mortality of the former is brilliantly exposed as a natural by-product of his own society.
Though the translation is excellent, the first several pages are a bit clunky and might deter some readers. They should persevere. Not only will reading this excellent saga provide a window into an obscure past, but it will also set the scene for the next book in a projected trilogy.
Red Poppies
by Alai (translated by Howard Goldblatt and Sylvia Lin Li-chun)
Methuen $225
