Red Poppies

{{Short description|1998 novel by Alai}}

{{Italic title}}

{{For|the Georgia O'Keeffe painting|Oriental Poppies}}

{{Chinese

|order=st

|s=尘埃落定

|t=塵埃落定

|p=Chén'āiluòdìng

}}

Red Poppies ({{zh|s={{lang|zh|尘埃落定}}}}) is a 1998 Chinese-language novel by the Tibetan Chinese writer Alai, whose theme is based on the Tibetan custom and traditions. The novel consists of 12 chapters with a total of 481,000 Chinese characters. It won the Mao Dun Literature Prize in 2000.{{Cite web|url=http://www.china.com.cn/culture/txt/2000-10/19/content_5008247.htm|title=茅盾文学奖"尘埃落定"(Red Poppies won the Mao Dun Literature Prize)|last=|first=|date=|website=china.com.cn|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=}}

Summary

Set in Ngawa, Sichuan, the novel chronicles the stories of a Tibetan Tusi and his family from the 1920s to 1949, which gives a general introduction to the economic development in Ngawa, the territorial disputes among Tibetan chieftains, and the fights for throne succession.

Main characters

=Family of Tusi Maiqi=

  • The first-person narrator: considered as an 'idiot', the second son of Tusi Maiqi, mother is a Han Chinese
  • Tusi Maiqi: father of the first-person narrator
  • Mother: the second wife of Tusi Maiqi, a Han Chinese woman as a gift given to Maiqi by a merchant trading furs and herbs
  • Brother: the eldest son of Tusi Maiqi, son of Maiqi's first wife, considered as the successor of Tusi Maiqi
  • Sangji Zhuoma: maid of the first-person narrator
  • The lame butler
  • Weng Bo Yi Xi: Lama of Gelug
  • Suo Lang Ze Lang: attendant of the first-person narrator
  • Yang Zong: used to be the woman of the chieftain Zhazha, belongs to Tusi Maiqi after Zhazha's death
  • Lama Menba
  • Sister: half-blooded, shares the same father with the narrator, lives in London
  • Uncle: Tusi Maiqi's younger brother, trades in India
  • The silversmith: later marries Sangji Zhuoma

=Other characters=

  • Special commissioner Huang: an official of the national government
  • Tusi Ronggong: a female Tusi
  • Tana: the beautiful daughter of Tusi Ronggong
  • Tusi Laxueba
  • Tusi Wangbo

Reception

Comments by the selection committee of the Mao Dun Literature Prize: "The novel narrates from a unique viewpoint, with a rich connotation of Tibetan culture. A slight of fantasy enhances the artistic expression. The writing style is light, charming and poetic".{{Cite web|url=http://www.xzbu.com/5/view-2127893.htm|title=论《尘埃落定》的象征意蕴 (The symbolical implication of Red Poppies)|last=|first=|date=11 May 2012|website=www.xzbu.com|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170322203701/http://www.xzbu.com/5/view-2127893.htm|archive-date=22 March 2017|access-date=}}

Adaptations

  • TV series: a television adaptation of Red Poppies was first shown in 2003.{{Cite web |url=http://sichuan.scol.com.cn/cdxw/20030103/20031314955.htm |title=成都电视台拿到《尘埃落定》全国首播权 |access-date=2010-04-23 |archive-date=2005-11-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051107034602/http://sichuan.scol.com.cn/cdxw/20030103/20031314955.htm }}
  • Dance drama: Red Poppies was adapted into a dance drama by Hong Kong Dance Company in 2006.

References

{{reflist}}

Further reading

  • {{cite thesis|last=Li|first=Huimin|url=https://scholars.hkbu.edu.hk/ws/portalfiles/portal/55048070/OA-0257.pdf|title=《狼圖騰》、《塵埃落定》英譯研究: 從互文性角度分析兩部以中國少數民族邊地為背景的中文小說英譯|trans-title=A Study of Wolf Totem and Red Poppies: An Intertextual Analysis of English Translations of Two Chinese Novels Set in China’s Ethnic Minority Regions|publisher=Hong Kong Baptist University|date=2016-03-23|language=zh-hant}} - Abstract in English