Novelist Alai Photo: Courtesy of Xinhua Winshare Publishing and Media Co.,Ltd

The front cover of his new book Zhandui Photo: Courtesy of Xinhua Winshare Publishing and Media Co.,Ltd

During the thousands of years of Chinese history, the security and prosperity of minority groups has always been a big concern for the central government. In a culturally unique region like Tibet, ensuring the local people's welfare as well as their harmonious integration with other ethnic groups often tests the wisdom of local and central government officials.

Now, with the publication of a new book Zhandui by the influential Tibetan writer Alai, readers are sure to gain fresh insight into this region. Being one of the top writers in China, Alai is not only in the spotlight because of his identity as a Tibetan writer, but also his stories of local history and culture.

In 2000, when Alai was 41, his first full length novel The Dust Settles won the 5th Mao Dun Literature Prize (the most prestigious literature prize in China), making him the youngest ever winner of a Mao Dun prize.

Following this he published several other significant novels on Tibetan topics, including the Hollow Mountains Trilogy (2007-09) and King Gesar (2009). His Zhandui targets Tibetan history again, but instead of being written as a novel Alai uses a non-fiction style to tell the story.

Non-fiction literature

The book's name Zhandui comes from a historical place in today's Xinlong county in the southwestern Sichuan Province. In history, people from Zhandui were known for their toughness and fighting spirit, and in their local language "Zhandui" means iron stone.

The book spans 200 years from the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) to the year 1950, when the area was liberalized by the Chinese People's Liberation Army. The writing details the historic changes in local people's lives and thoughts, as well as their conflicts with local and central governors.

Initially planning to write it as a fictional novel based on a legendary leader of a local tribe, Alai said he changed his mind when his research deepened.

"It turned out that I didn't need to make anything up since there are so many historic stories which are far more powerful than the imagination of a writer," said Alai.

Despite already being widely recognized overseas, the area of non-fiction literature has only emerged in China over years.

In December last year, Zhandui won a prize for non-fiction awarded by People's Literature magazine, in which the story had been serialized over the past year.

Alai's meticulous research has been recognized by many in literary circles, and lays a solid foundation for his writing. "Alai has heralded a new era for non-fiction literature," said Shi Zhanjun, editor-in-chief of  People's Literature. "He has accomplished what an intellectual should do, using a small area like Zhandui to reveal the larger problems of a nation."

"The reason I wrote about Zhandui is because it gives a flavor of the entire Tibetan area in Sichuan Province and epitomizes thousands of years of history," Alai told the Global Times.

Inspiration from history



For current local governors, problems in ethnic areas can easily become headaches if they turn a blind eye towards the lessons from history. "Turbulence in the Tibetan region appeared long ago in history, from the Qing Dynasty to the period of Republic of China," said Alai.

"The 200-year-long history of Zhandui in the book mirrors the experiences and lessons of the conflicts. I hope it can contribute to the resolution of today's problems."

During the Qing Dynasty different emperors launched seven wars in Zhandui, from 1730 to 1903, attempting to conquer the area. After the Qing Dynasty collapsed, the armies of the Kuomintang, local Tibetan troops and even foreign armed forces such as the British army were all involved in trying to conquer the small county, but all ended in failure.

The reasons for their failures are basically the same in nature. "In the book the same stories happen again in a cycle, with different people playing the same role," said Alai. "It's as if we are controlled by the invisible hand of God."

Understanding conflicts



Alai noticed during the research for his writing that the reasons behind the problems that different regions face are complicated and cannot all be simply concluded as ethnic or religious in nature. "Sometimes their problems are just the same as people in other parts of the country. It's not only about relations between Tibetan and Han people," said Alai.

For example, the development of local mines can confront with local people's traditional concepts. "They would say that the mountain is divine and inviolable, but if we tell them the reasons behind the development and make them aware of the potential benefits, they would accept it after all," said Alai.

This kind of thing not only happens in Tibet. The ignorance of local people's welfare during rapid development can easily give rise to conflicts between developers and residents.

"It is a common problem in China, not just in Tibet. Simply defining all the problems in the Tibetan region as either a national problem or an ethnic problem is ineffective and even counter-productive," he added.

Though Zhandui features many conflicts, it is different from other books in that it was written to inspire current society to find better solutions to those conflicts.

"We used to think that as China develops, all the social problems would naturally dissolve, but it hasn't happened that way," said Alai. "Many new problems appeared, such as the rise of nationalism."