The Ancient Tea Horse Road

Author: Jing Yi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-07-01
Features: Jing Yi's position in contemporary ethnic minority literature does not lie in the quantity of her works, but in her pioneering awareness of female literature in the new era, her influence on the emergence of contemporary ethnic minority women's literature, and her status as a Bai ethnic female writer who won national awards for both short stories and a collection of excellent stories, thus being recorded in literary history. – Excerpt from History of Contemporary Chinese Literature.
The story takes place in 1942 during World War II. China's Anti-Japanese War has entered its most arduous phase. Burma is occupied, forcing the Burma Road to be cut off, which in turn blocks the last land route to China's war zones, preventing foreign aid from entering China via Burma. At this critical moment for the Chinese nation, the ancient Tea Horse Road stretching across Yunnan, Sichuan, and Tibet to India becomes the only ground route capable of transporting international aid to China. Lhasa becomes a bustling commercial city in southwestern China, where merchants of various ethnic groups gather. At this time, horse caravans from Tibetan, Han, Naxi, Bai, Pumi, Hui, and Yi ethnic groups set off on the Tea Horse Road, embarking on a journey tied to their fate across generations.
Nima Tseren, a wealthy merchant from Lhasa, Tibet; Gesang Tso, the son of the head of the Sanjiang tusi in Yunnan; and Mu Shiro, the new head of the Naxi merchant family "Mujiachang," along with Yang Laoren, the tea king of Dali Bai ethnicity, find themselves at the crossroads of old feuds and new conflicts. Under the instigation of Japanese spies Jing'an, the assassin "Seven Fingers Wolf," and Chen Peixiong, the boss of Lhasa's "Hejichang," a new wave of revenge ignites along the Tea Horse Road.
However, facing a formidable enemy, the spirit of unity and resilience among the Chinese nation enables all past grievances and feuds between the ethnic merchant groups to be resolved. This ensures the transportation of war materials and maintains political and economic ties between the inland regions of China and Yunnan, Sichuan, and Tibet, unfolding a magnificent and miraculous epic.