Tibetan Northern Journey - A Record of Ma Lihua's Travels in Tibet (2007 Revised Edition)

Author: Ma Lihua
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-01-01
Features: Ma Lihua entered Tibet in 1976 and over the years, she traveled extensively across various regions of Tibet, writing and publishing numerous works including poetry, prose, academic treatises, and long novels. The writing and research for Journey in Northern Tibet, Westward to Ali, The Soul Like the Wind, and The Red Mountains of Eastern Tibet spanned over two to three decades, presenting both the natural and cultural landscapes of several representative regions of this world-highland. The first three works were compiled into Entering Tibet in the 1990s, becoming a bestseller both domestically and internationally. The literary circles hailed them as "rare treasures on the contemporary Chinese literary scene" and "a bridge between literature and anthropology," earning Ma the title of a writer humanologist. These four long documentary works are also regarded as the foundational works of Chinese literary anthropology. Journey in Northern Tibet depicts the nomadic culture of the high-altitude grasslands in northern Tibet: the spiritual life of nomadic communities for millennia, their reverence for sacred mountains and lakes, the legends of King Gesar, the remnants of the indigenous religion Bon, primal wisdom, and timeless tales. It also covers daily realities such as weddings, funerals, festivals, and entertainment. The vast and magnificent landscapes of northern Tibet, its extraordinary mountains and waters, wildlife, and the desolate wilderness are all vividly portrayed. The historical vicissitudes of nature and culture in this region, as well as its unique humanistic ethos, are thus brought to life.