*Winner of the 2021 Taiwan Literature Award*A captivating fusion of travelogue, fiction, and cultural meditation, What's a Snow Leopard to You? journeys deep into the heart of Tibet. Chen-Fu Hsu's debut novel begins with a young Taiwanese naturalist on an arduous quest for the elusive snow leopard, while also weaving in excerpts from translated diary entries left behind by a fictional Japanese monk that bear witness to the seismic transformations of Tibet across the decades under Chinese rule.
Following his deeply spiritual connection to Tibet, the protagonist sets off on multiple journeys to the region, describing in brilliant detail the vast beauty of the Tibetan plateau and the wildlife that has existed since time immemorial. However, on his third visit to the region, he is harassed at every turn by the Chinese police who confiscate his belongings, including his books, eventually forcing him to leave for Taiwan. One book overlooked by the Chinese police is the long-lost diary of Udagawa Ekai, a Zen monk who traveled to Lhasa in the post-war years. The diary tells the monk's story up until his death as a recluse, and paints a picture of Tibet as a diverse, deeply religious culture that fought against invaders on multiple fronts.
Hsu laces excerpts from Ekai's diary within his narrative, tracing the changes sparked from the horrors of the Chinese military takeover in the 1950s through the Cultural Revolution and into the contemporary age of forced economic development. Through encounters with the people of Tibet and their stories,
What's a Snow Leopard to You? spans the divide between an intimate portrait of a land in flux and a philosophical inquiry into humanity's fraught yet enduring bond with nature. This richly layered work braids history with myth, environmentalism with art, and creates a single story of change in one of the world's most sparsely inhabited regions.
