Sky Burial An Epic Love Story of Tibet by Xinran.
Title: Sky Burial An Epic Love Story of Tibet.
Author: Xinran.
Genre: Non-fiction, sociology, anthropology, memoir, romance.
Country: U.K.
Language: English.
Publication Date: July 1st, 2004.
Summary: In 1994, Xinran, a journalist received a telephone call asking her to travel four hours to meet a woman who had just crossed the border from Tibet into China. The woman, called Shu Wen, who recounted the story of her thirty-year odyssey in the vast landscape of Tibet in search for her husband with a nomad family. Shu Wen’s journey is an extraordinary portrait of a woman and a land, each at the mercy of fate and politics. It is an unforgettable, ultimately uplifting tale of love, loss, loyalty, and survival.
My rating: 10/10
♥ "Thank you, sir. I will study there hard during the journey and try to adapt to the conditions there."
"War gives no time to study and no chance to adapt," Wang Liang remarked grimly as he got up and walked around to Wen. "It draws clear lines of love and hate between people. I've never understood how doctors manage to choose between professional duty and military orders. Whatever happens, remember one thing: just staying alive is a victory."
♥ Two weeks of travel with the army had taught Shu Wen the body language of soldiers like this one. As she staggered in the wake of the childlike young man she considered how, as a student, she had never thought to wonder how China's fifty-six groups and thousand regional accents managed to communicate when they got together. Now she realized the importance of gesture and the common language of human emotion.
♥ It is true," said Zhuoma. "Even though, here in the north, life is very different from my family lands, where there are roads, agriculture, and more people, we Tibetans all have the same spirituality. Because we are isolated from the outside world, we believe that here all things between heaven and earth exist as they should. We believe that our own gods are the only gods and our own ancestors are the source of all life in the world. We are cut off from the march of time. When our farmers sow their seeds, they simply leave the fate of their crops to the heavens. There are no modern farming techniques. The farmers behave as their ancestors did hundreds or even thousands of years ago, as do the nomads. Both groups have a very difficult life. They are obliged to give away much of their crops and animals as offerings to the monasteries. This is very heavy burden for people who have so little, but they must honor the lamas who protect them.
"People believe that the Dalai Lama of southern Tibet and the Panchen Lama of northern Tibet are the most senior human representatives of the spirits. When they die, a new reincarnation is sought through prayer and special rites: for example, khata scarves, precious bottles, and potions are thrown into a specially chosen lake, after which the surface of the water will reveal the map of the reincarnation's birthplace. Once selected, the new Dalai Lama and Panchen Lamas live our the rest of their lives in magnificent palaces."
"It is so very different from China," said Wen. "For us, religion is not a strong force. We obey only lay rulers."
"But who controls and protects your rules?" Zhuoma asked, puzzled.
"Conscience," replied Wen.
"What kind of thing is 'conscience'?"
"It is not a thing," said Wen. "It is a moral code."
"And what is a 'moral code'?"
Wen reflected. She suddenly realized that this was a very difficult question to answer.
♥ Wen's head was reeling. Never before had she heard a political conversation like this one. When she was young, she had been inspired by political ideals, but she and her friends had all believed the same thing. She wasn't sure she would ever untangle all the confusing information she had just been given. The truth, she thought, would always remain elusive because humans could never recover the past as it had actually happened.