Princess Consort Kangding

Footprints, editor of A Lai’s novel The Song of King Gesar and renowned publisher, comments: The Kangding Princess is written in the first person, in the voice of “me, the handsome man from Kangding.” It tells how I met and fell in love with Baima Namu, the beautiful daughter of Chief Mingzheng, the most powerful chieftain in all of Tibet. Together, we transmigrated through a time tunnel on Mount Paoma to the ancient Western Xia Kingdom. There, Baima Namu became a consort of the Western Xia emperor, and our passionate love story continued. In the end, we returned to Lugu Lake, where I became an “honest man,” willingly accepting the rule of Baima Namu’s kingdom of women. The story is wonderfully fantastical. As I am drawn to several women, especially in my romance with Baima Namu, the Western Xia imperial consort, our travels take us through the old lands of the Muya Tibetans, the beauties of Danba, and the Western Xia dynasty. Along the way, the novel brings to life the scenery and customs of Kangding, Danba, and the Dadu River, showcases the Tibetan culture of western Sichuan, and conjures a captivating vision of Western Xia culture. Its depictions of Khampa and Western Xia civilization lean toward the dreamlike, magnificent, and beautiful. Because “I, the handsome man from Kangding,” am fit, handsome, and talented, I am also proud and aloof. This delays the development of the romance while creating room to introduce Khampa culture. This book tells a story set in history, yet it feels both science-fictional and futuristic. It is also one of the rare and truly remarkable transmigration novels about an ethnic minority. Western Xia played an important role in the formation of the peoples of southwest China. The Kangding Princess tells a love story, the greatest theme in the blending of Western Xia and the peoples of the southwest. It also traces the origins of and vividly interprets “Kangding Love Song.”