Snow in August is an opera libretto, or play for music, by Gao Xingjian, set in the seventh century in China. It draws on the story of Huineng, a figure of Chan, or Zen, Buddhism who is traditionally said to have become the sixth patriarch of the school. The play follows his search for insight amid rivalry, ordinary desires and religious politics. It combines poetic language, song and ritual, and reflects on enlightenment, power and the freedom of the human mind.