My aim is to create a modern musical theatre based on the foundations of Eastern traditional drama, an omnipotent theatre of singing, dialogue, movement, and the martial arts. —Gao Xingjian on Snow in August (Gao 2002: 6) Snow in August is based on the life of Huineng (633-713), the Sixth Patriarch of Zen Buddhism and founder of the Sudden Enlightenment School. According to Gao Xingjian, the sources for this “major drama about life” are Huineng’s autobiographical Platform Sutra 壇經[1-1] and various koan cases (Gao 2002: 5). It is not surprising that Gao Xingjian has discovered a kindred spirit in Huineng, as there are elements in the Zen master’s life that strike a chord with our playwright. To put it more succinctly, Huineng, like Gao Xingjian, was always someone on the margins of society, often by choice. According to Huineng’s biographies (which are half legend and half history), he was an impoverished woodcutter from the southern part of China, the backwater of Chinese culture.
