Han Han
Encyclopedia
Han Han is a Chinese
professional rally
driver, best-selling author, singer, creator of Party
and China's most popular blog
ger—indeed, possibly the most popular blogger in the world. He has published five novels to date, and is represented by the Hong Kong based Peony Literary Agency. He is also involved in music production
. In September 2010, British magazine New Statesman
listed Han Han at 48th place in the list of "The World's 50 Most Influential Figures 2010".
, Unhappy Days (不快乐地混日子), was published when he was attending junior middle school
. He was admitted to Shanghai
's Song Jiang No. 2 High School (上海市松江二中) based on his sporting achievements. During his first year of high school
(1999), Han won first prize in China's New Concept Writing Competition with his essay, Seeing Ourselves in a Cup (杯中窥人), on the Chinese national character. Failing seven subjects
at the year-end examination, Han was retained for a year in school. This incident was reported in the media
and ignited a heated debate on China's "quality education" (素质教育) policy, whether holistic
or specialised
learning should be implemented in schools, and other educational issues. Following another seven subject failure in the senior middle school second year examinations, Han quit school.
After dropping out of school, Han worked on a series of essays – One Degree Below Freezing (零下一度), Press Release 2003 (通稿 2003), And I Drift (就这么飘来飘去), and Miscellaneous Essays (杂的文). His essays were accepted into various publications. Han's first novel
, Triple Door (三重门), on life as a third-year junior school student in Shanghai, raised his prominence in China outside Shanghai. With over two million copies printed, this novel is China's bestselling
literary work in the last 20 years. Other novels – Like a Speeding Youth (像少年啦飞驰), Riot in Chang'an City (长安乱), A Fortress (一座城池), Glory Days (光荣日), His Kingdom (他的国) were also published during this time.
Fueled by his love of racing, Han became a professional rally driver and wrote less frequently. However, he continued to blog on current affairs
, with some articles attracting a large number of readers and sparking intense debates. Han's blog has registered well over 300 million hits
, the largest online following of a personal blog in China.
In February 2005, a Hollywood
movie was planned with the script
to be based on Chinese writer Xie Hang's novel, Dysmenorrhoea (痛经), and filming to take place in a northern Chinese
city. As Han's image suited him to play the male lead role
, the Chinese partner company recommended him for the role to the American
producers. When media outlets asked Han for his views on this matter, he replied, "I have yet to receive this invitation, but basically I would reject it." He explained, "It doesn't matter that this is a Hollywood movie, as my decision would depend on who's playing the female lead." On hearing that the script was about the forbidden love between a boy and his female teacher, Han laughed and rejected the role, saying, "This makes it even more difficult for me, I will not play such a role."
Han is also involved in music production. His debut album
, R-18 (十八禁, restricted to 18 and above), was released in September 2006, with all lyrics
self-composed.
and bookseller Bai Ye (白烨) published a blog post entitled, Status and Future of the Post-80 Generation (”80后“现状与未来), criticizing the works of writers born in the 1980–1989 period. As this was the first decade during which China's one-child policy
was in effect, most of these writers were only children. Han responded critically with his online article The "Literary Circle" Is Bullshit, Don't Act Pretentious (文坛是个屁 谁都别装逼). This exchange escalated into the "Han-Bai controversy", with both sides arguing on issues such as the post-80 classification, whether the works of post-80s qualified as literature and whether post-80 writers should be considered real writers.
On 4 March 2006, Bai published an online article entitled My Declaration – a Reply to Han Han (我的声明 – 回应韩寒), stating that Han's articles in this exchange had crossed the boundaries of literary debate into the realm of humiliation and personal attack. Subsequently, writer Lu Tianming (陆天明), his director son Lu Chuan
(陆川), and musician Gao Xiaosong
(高晓松), entered the debate, which became the focus of the online community for a time. Han debated with the above personalities on his blog. The debate finally concluded with Bai, Lu Tianming, Lu Chuan, and Gao shutting down their personal blogs.
, Han posted a blog article on 26 September 2006 entitled Why do modern Chinese poetry and poets still exist? (现代诗和诗人为什么还存在). In this and other related articles, he parodied modern Chinese poets
including the late Xu Zhimo
(徐志摩) and the late Hai Zi
(海子), igniting a controversy involving poets such as the Lower Body Poet
Shen Haobo
, Yang Li (杨黎), Yi Sha (伊沙), and Dong Li (东篱).
On 10 April 2007, Han criticised rock
singer Zheng Jun
's (郑钧) capriciousness in a blog post entitled Some Recent Arrangements (最近的一些安排), igniting a controversy between the two. In 2006, Zheng condemned the Super Girl singing competition (超级女声) as being "unbearably disgusting", but participated in the judging for a similar competition Super Boy
(快乐男声) in 2007.
online shopping marketplace (淘宝网). The bookstore site stated that it would sell only Han's original autograph
ed books. As the number of sales transactions on Han Han's Bookstore was unusually large, the online system erroneously classified these as false transactions and attempts at credit fraud
, leading Taobao to investigate the issue.
On 1 May 2009, Han posted an article on his blog entitled Request for articles, recruitment, article fees and article submission email address for a new magazine. The post mentioned that Han would be setting up a magazine, informing the email addresses for article submission, response to recruitment ads, and advertising offers, but without revealing the magazine's title to prevent illegal copying. The blog post also mentioned that the writer of the selected cover story, if the story had not been previously published, would get up to RMB
2,000 per 1,000 characters in article fees. This would be 10 to 40 times of the standard rate in China's publishing industry, and 2 to 4 times higher than what China's top magazine would pay China's top writer for an article. Writers of previously unpublished non-cover story articles in the magazine would be paid RMB 1,000 per 1,000 characters, 10 to 20 times higher than standard rates in the publishing
industry. As for previously-published articles or selected extracts from articles, the rate would be RMB 500 per 1,000 characters, which would be about 15 times the standard rates. Contributors of photographs would be paid up to RMB 5,000 per photograph.
Han also invited article submissions for a "braindead" (脑残) column, deliberately publishing articles that the magazine disagreed with or were not up to standards. The rate for such articles would be RMB 250 per 1,000 characters. 250 is a Chinese slang
with the same meaning of "You idiot". Han gave the rationale for including this column:
Within five days of putting up the blog post, Han received over 10,000 article submissions from across China, and also a few thousand résumé
s. Interestingly, there were several articles of the types which Han had expressly forbidden from submission, such as cut and paste job
s, pornographic
literature and dissertations. Han expressed his exasperation with these and declared that such articles would not be published.
Han's setup of his magazine received widespread attention, with editors proclaiming that the higher fee
s enabled the writing profession to regain a measure of financial independence and dignity One journalist
even commented that Han had completed his transformation from a rebellious youth into a full-fledged intellectual.
Due to certain publishing and circulation restrictions in China, Han's magazine, which was originally planned for publication in August 2009, remained unpublished for some time.
One of the delays was reportedly because of an article that detailed the blacklisting of actors.
On July 6, 2010, his magazine Party
(独唱团) was finally published.
According to the publisher, the magazine became the most popular book on Amazon.cn less than 10 hours after pre-selling.
However, it only lasted one issue. In December, 2010, Global Times, a state-linked newspaper, reported "Han Han's magazine dies". The paper reported: "Han went through more than 10 publishers to try and save that content and may have planned to include in the second issue."
as he was not involved in other revenue generating activities. However, he continued to race as it gave him a sense of achievement. Winning prizes also enabled him to prove to himself that he was a well-rounded learner. As Han stated in a media interview in 2007:
The following highlights some of Han's achievements in his racing career:
In September 2009, Han participated in the 2009 Rally Australia
, a round of the World Rally Championship
(WRC). Following this, he wrote a blog post entitled Report on supervision and guidance work in preparation for the WRC in Australia (赴澳大利亚监督指导世界拉力锦标赛的工作报告), using irony to express dissatisfaction with China's standards of race management, economic conditions, political consciousness of the population, etc. in comparison with Australia.
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
professional rally
Rallying
Rallying, also known as rally racing, is a form of auto racing that takes place on public or private roads with modified production or specially built road-legal cars...
driver, best-selling author, singer, creator of Party
Party (magazine)
Party is a literary magazine created and edited by Han Han. Since its launch at July-6-2010, the first issue have been sold at least 800, 000 and also hit the top one in Amazon China...
and China's most popular blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
ger—indeed, possibly the most popular blogger in the world. He has published five novels to date, and is represented by the Hong Kong based Peony Literary Agency. He is also involved in music production
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
. In September 2010, British magazine New Statesman
New Statesman
New Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....
listed Han Han at 48th place in the list of "The World's 50 Most Influential Figures 2010".
Early life and increasing prominence
Han's first essayEssay
An essay is a piece of writing which is often written from an author's personal point of view. Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. The definition...
, Unhappy Days (不快乐地混日子), was published when he was attending junior middle school
Middle school
Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...
. He was admitted to Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
's Song Jiang No. 2 High School (上海市松江二中) based on his sporting achievements. During his first year of high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
(1999), Han won first prize in China's New Concept Writing Competition with his essay, Seeing Ourselves in a Cup (杯中窥人), on the Chinese national character. Failing seven subjects
Course (education)
The very broad dictionary meaning of the word course is the act or action of moving in a path from point to point . There are multiple meanings for this word, some of which include: general line of orientation, a mode of action, part of a meal, a mode of action, and many more. This article focuses...
at the year-end examination, Han was retained for a year in school. This incident was reported in the media
Media of the People's Republic of China
Media of the People's Republic of China primarily consists of television, newspapers, radio, and magazines. Since 2000, the Internet has also emerged as an important communications medium....
and ignited a heated debate on China's "quality education" (素质教育) policy, whether holistic
Holistic education
Holistic education is a philosophy of education based on the premise that each person finds identity, meaning, and purpose in life through connections to the community, to the natural world, and to humanitarian values such as compassion and peace. Holistic education aims to call forth from people...
or specialised
Special education
Special education is the education of students with special needs in a way that addresses the students' individual differences and needs. Ideally, this process involves the individually planned and systematically monitored arrangement of teaching procedures, adapted equipment and materials,...
learning should be implemented in schools, and other educational issues. Following another seven subject failure in the senior middle school second year examinations, Han quit school.
After dropping out of school, Han worked on a series of essays – One Degree Below Freezing (零下一度), Press Release 2003 (通稿 2003), And I Drift (就这么飘来飘去), and Miscellaneous Essays (杂的文). His essays were accepted into various publications. Han's first novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
, Triple Door (三重门), on life as a third-year junior school student in Shanghai, raised his prominence in China outside Shanghai. With over two million copies printed, this novel is China's bestselling
Bestseller
A bestseller is a book that is identified as extremely popular by its inclusion on lists of currently top selling titles that are based on publishing industry and book trade figures and published by newspapers, magazines, or bookstore chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and...
literary work in the last 20 years. Other novels – Like a Speeding Youth (像少年啦飞驰), Riot in Chang'an City (长安乱), A Fortress (一座城池), Glory Days (光荣日), His Kingdom (他的国) were also published during this time.
Fueled by his love of racing, Han became a professional rally driver and wrote less frequently. However, he continued to blog on current affairs
Current affairs (news format)
Current Affairs is a genre of broadcast journalism where the emphasis is on detailed analysis and discussion of news stories that have recently occurred or are ongoing at the time of broadcast....
, with some articles attracting a large number of readers and sparking intense debates. Han's blog has registered well over 300 million hits
Hit (internet)
A hit is a request to a web server for a file . When a web page is uploaded from a server the number of "hits" or "page hits" is equal to the number of files requested. Therefore, one page load does not always equal one hit because often pages are made up of other images and other files which stack...
, the largest online following of a personal blog in China.
In February 2005, a Hollywood
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Hollywood is a famous district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema...
movie was planned with the script
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
to be based on Chinese writer Xie Hang's novel, Dysmenorrhoea (痛经), and filming to take place in a northern Chinese
North China
thumb|250px|Northern [[People's Republic of China]] region.Northern China or North China is a geographical region of China. The heartland of North China is the North China Plain....
city. As Han's image suited him to play the male lead role
Leading actor
A leading actor, leading actress, star, or simply lead, plays the role of the protagonist in a film or play. The word lead may also refer to the largest role in the piece and leading actor may refer to a person who typically plays such parts or an actor with a respected body of work...
, the Chinese partner company recommended him for the role to the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
producers. When media outlets asked Han for his views on this matter, he replied, "I have yet to receive this invitation, but basically I would reject it." He explained, "It doesn't matter that this is a Hollywood movie, as my decision would depend on who's playing the female lead." On hearing that the script was about the forbidden love between a boy and his female teacher, Han laughed and rejected the role, saying, "This makes it even more difficult for me, I will not play such a role."
Han is also involved in music production. His debut album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
, R-18 (十八禁, restricted to 18 and above), was released in September 2006, with all lyrics
Lyrics
Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...
self-composed.
The Han-Bai controversy
On 2 March 2006, Chinese literary criticLiterary criticism
Literary criticism is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often informed by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of its methods and goals...
and bookseller Bai Ye (白烨) published a blog post entitled, Status and Future of the Post-80 Generation (”80后“现状与未来), criticizing the works of writers born in the 1980–1989 period. As this was the first decade during which China's one-child policy
One-child policy
The one-child policy refers to the one-child limitation applying to a minority of families in the population control policy of the People's Republic of China . The Chinese government refers to it under the official translation of family planning policy...
was in effect, most of these writers were only children. Han responded critically with his online article The "Literary Circle" Is Bullshit, Don't Act Pretentious (文坛是个屁 谁都别装逼). This exchange escalated into the "Han-Bai controversy", with both sides arguing on issues such as the post-80 classification, whether the works of post-80s qualified as literature and whether post-80 writers should be considered real writers.
On 4 March 2006, Bai published an online article entitled My Declaration – a Reply to Han Han (我的声明 – 回应韩寒), stating that Han's articles in this exchange had crossed the boundaries of literary debate into the realm of humiliation and personal attack. Subsequently, writer Lu Tianming (陆天明), his director son Lu Chuan
Lu Chuan
Lu Chuan is a Chinese filmmaker and screenwriter. He is the son of the novelist, Lu Tianming.-Education:Educated at the People's Liberation Army International Relations University in Nanjing, Lu spent two years serving in the Army as a secretary to a general. After his time in the army, Lu...
(陆川), and musician Gao Xiaosong
Gao Xiaosong
Gao Xiaosong is a Chinese composer, songwriter, music producer and director, "Campus Folk" representative.-Career:1969 Born into a family of senior intellectuals1988 Graduated from Beijing No.4 High School...
(高晓松), entered the debate, which became the focus of the online community for a time. Han debated with the above personalities on his blog. The debate finally concluded with Bai, Lu Tianming, Lu Chuan, and Gao shutting down their personal blogs.
Other controversies
Questioning the value of modern Chinese free verseFree verse
Free verse is a form of poetry that refrains from consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or any other musical pattern.Poets have explained that free verse, despite its freedom, is not free. Free Verse displays some elements of form...
, Han posted a blog article on 26 September 2006 entitled Why do modern Chinese poetry and poets still exist? (现代诗和诗人为什么还存在). In this and other related articles, he parodied modern Chinese poets
Chinese poetry
Chinese poetry is poetry written, spoken, or chanted in the Chinese language, which includes various versions of Chinese language, including Classical Chinese, Standard Chinese, Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese, Yue Chinese, as well as many other historical and vernacular varieties of the Chinese language...
including the late Xu Zhimo
Xu Zhimo
Xu Zhimo was an early 20th century Chinese poet. He was given the name of Zhangxu and the courtesy name of Yousen . He later changed his courtesy name to Zhimo ....
(徐志摩) and the late Hai Zi
Hai Zi
Hai Zi is the pen name of the Chinese poet Zha Haisheng . He was one of the most famous poets in Mainland China after the Cultural Revolution. He committed suicide by lying on the path of a train in Shanhaiguan at the age of 25.-Life:Zha Haisheng was born in an agricultural family of a small...
(海子), igniting a controversy involving poets such as the Lower Body Poet
Lower Body Poets
The Lower Body Poets are a movement of poets in China in the early 21st century. Among them are Yin Lichuan and Shen Haobo...
Shen Haobo
Shen Haobo
Shen Haobo is a Chinese poet and publisher, born in 1976 in Taixing, Jiangsu province. He graduated from the Chinese department of Beijing Normal University in 1999....
, Yang Li (杨黎), Yi Sha (伊沙), and Dong Li (东篱).
On 10 April 2007, Han criticised rock
Chinese rock
Chinese Rock , occasionally referred as Mandorock or Cantorock depending on the language of the song in question, is commonly used to describe a wide variety of forms of rock and roll music, in connection with the rock bands...
singer Zheng Jun
Zheng Jun
Zheng Jun is Chinese rock music singer. Originally from Xi'an, he attended university in Hangzhou. His first album, entitled Naked , was released by Red Star Productions in 1993, achieving immediate success...
's (郑钧) capriciousness in a blog post entitled Some Recent Arrangements (最近的一些安排), igniting a controversy between the two. In 2006, Zheng condemned the Super Girl singing competition (超级女声) as being "unbearably disgusting", but participated in the judging for a similar competition Super Boy
Super Boy (contest)
Super Boy or Happy Boy was a national singing contest in People's Republic of China for male contestants, organized by Hunan Satellite Television in 2007, as a spinoff of its popular "Super Girl" series.-Outline:...
(快乐男声) in 2007.
Setup of online bookstore and magazine
On 19 April 2009, Han launched his online bookstore, Han Han's Bookstore, on the TaobaoTaobao
Taobao is a Chinese language web site for online shopping, similar to eBay, Rakuten and Amazon, operated in the People's Republic of China by Alibaba Group....
online shopping marketplace (淘宝网). The bookstore site stated that it would sell only Han's original autograph
Autograph
An autograph is a document transcribed entirely in the handwriting of its author, as opposed to a typeset document or one written by an amanuensis or a copyist; the meaning overlaps with that of the word holograph.Autograph also refers to a person's artistic signature...
ed books. As the number of sales transactions on Han Han's Bookstore was unusually large, the online system erroneously classified these as false transactions and attempts at credit fraud
Credit card fraud
Credit card fraud is a wide-ranging term for theft and fraud committed using a credit card or any similar payment mechanism as a fraudulent source of funds in a transaction. The purpose may be to obtain goods without paying, or to obtain unauthorized funds from an account. Credit card fraud is also...
, leading Taobao to investigate the issue.
On 1 May 2009, Han posted an article on his blog entitled Request for articles, recruitment, article fees and article submission email address for a new magazine. The post mentioned that Han would be setting up a magazine, informing the email addresses for article submission, response to recruitment ads, and advertising offers, but without revealing the magazine's title to prevent illegal copying. The blog post also mentioned that the writer of the selected cover story, if the story had not been previously published, would get up to RMB
Renminbi
The Renminbi is the official currency of the People's Republic of China . Renminbi is legal tender in mainland China, but not in Hong Kong or Macau. It is issued by the People's Bank of China, the monetary authority of the PRC...
2,000 per 1,000 characters in article fees. This would be 10 to 40 times of the standard rate in China's publishing industry, and 2 to 4 times higher than what China's top magazine would pay China's top writer for an article. Writers of previously unpublished non-cover story articles in the magazine would be paid RMB 1,000 per 1,000 characters, 10 to 20 times higher than standard rates in the publishing
Publishing
Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information—the activity of making information available to the general public...
industry. As for previously-published articles or selected extracts from articles, the rate would be RMB 500 per 1,000 characters, which would be about 15 times the standard rates. Contributors of photographs would be paid up to RMB 5,000 per photograph.
Han also invited article submissions for a "braindead" (脑残) column, deliberately publishing articles that the magazine disagreed with or were not up to standards. The rate for such articles would be RMB 250 per 1,000 characters. 250 is a Chinese slang
Slang
Slang is the use of informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's language or dialect but are considered more acceptable when used socially. Slang is often to be found in areas of the lexicon that refer to things considered taboo...
with the same meaning of "You idiot". Han gave the rationale for including this column:
Within five days of putting up the blog post, Han received over 10,000 article submissions from across China, and also a few thousand résumé
Résumé
A résumé is a document used by individuals to present their background and skillsets. Résumés can be used for a variety of reasons but most often to secure new employment. A typical résumé contains a summary of relevant job experience and education...
s. Interestingly, there were several articles of the types which Han had expressly forbidden from submission, such as cut and paste job
Cut and paste job
A cut-and-paste job or cut and paste approach is a pejorative reference to various kinds of work produced by "cut and paste", i.e., a quick combination of pieces of text collected from various sources, a compilation....
s, pornographic
Pornography
Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...
literature and dissertations. Han expressed his exasperation with these and declared that such articles would not be published.
Han's setup of his magazine received widespread attention, with editors proclaiming that the higher fee
Fee
A fee is the price one pays as remuneration for services. Fees usually allow for overhead, wages, costs, and markup.Traditionally, professionals in Great Britain received a fee in contradistinction to a payment, salary, or wage, and would often use guineas rather than pounds as units of account...
s enabled the writing profession to regain a measure of financial independence and dignity One journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
even commented that Han had completed his transformation from a rebellious youth into a full-fledged intellectual.
Due to certain publishing and circulation restrictions in China, Han's magazine, which was originally planned for publication in August 2009, remained unpublished for some time.
One of the delays was reportedly because of an article that detailed the blacklisting of actors.
On July 6, 2010, his magazine Party
Party
A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, or recreation. A party will typically feature food and beverages, and often music and dancing as well....
(独唱团) was finally published.
According to the publisher, the magazine became the most popular book on Amazon.cn less than 10 hours after pre-selling.
However, it only lasted one issue. In December, 2010, Global Times, a state-linked newspaper, reported "Han Han's magazine dies". The paper reported: "Han went through more than 10 publishers to try and save that content and may have planned to include in the second issue."
Rally racing career
After Han turned professional as a rally driver, there were rumours that he had encountered financial difficulties. Han himself admitted that writers and race car drivers in China earned less compared to those in other professions. Furthermore, his only income source was from book royaltiesRoyalties
Royalties are usage-based payments made by one party to another for the right to ongoing use of an asset, sometimes an intellectual property...
as he was not involved in other revenue generating activities. However, he continued to race as it gave him a sense of achievement. Winning prizes also enabled him to prove to himself that he was a well-rounded learner. As Han stated in a media interview in 2007:
The following highlights some of Han's achievements in his racing career:
- 2003: Raced for Beijing Extreme Speed Racing Team (北京极速车队) in the China RallyChina RallyThe China Rally is the largest rally racing event held in Guangdong, China. The first event was run in 1997, and was introduced to the World Rally Championship calendar for 1999, but was replaced the following year. Since then it has been part of the Asia Pacific Rally Championship...
. Achieved 6th in the Shanghai race, 8th in the ChangchunChangchunChangchun is the capital and largest city of Jilin province, located in the northeast of the People's Republic of China, in the center of the Songliao Plain. It is administered as a sub-provincial city with a population of 7,677,089 at the 2010 census under its jurisdiction, including counties and...
race and 6th in the BeijingBeijingBeijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
race, all in the Group N category. - 2004: Group N 7th position for the Shanghai race, 4th position for the all-China race.
- 2004 June: Joined YunnanYunnanYunnan is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the far southwest of the country spanning approximately and with a population of 45.7 million . The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders Burma, Laos, and Vietnam.Yunnan is situated in a mountainous area, with...
Red River Racing Team (云南红河车队). - 2004: Took 1st position in the Formula BMWFormula BMWFormula BMW is a junior racing formula for single seater cars. It is positioned at the bottom of the motorsport career ladder alongside the longer established Formula Ford category...
Asia Qualifying Race (亚洲宝马方程式资格赛). Received scholarship money of USDUnited States dollarThe United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
50,000.- Entered the annual Formula BMW race, achieved 7th in the BahrainBahrain' , officially the Kingdom of Bahrain , is a small island state near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. The population in 2010 stood at 1,214,705, including 235,108 non-nationals. Formerly an emirate, Bahrain was declared a kingdom in 2002.Bahrain is...
race and 1st in the Rookie Cup. - 8th in the Malaysia Race, 2nd in the Rookie Cup.
- 7th in the Shanghai race, 2nd in the Rookie Cup.
- 6th in the JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
race, 1st in the Rookie Cup.
- Entered the annual Formula BMW race, achieved 7th in the Bahrain
- 2005: Joined Shanghai VolkswagenShanghai Volkswagen AutomotiveShanghai Volkswagen Automotive Co., Ltd. is a joint venture company between Volkswagen Group and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation established in 1984...
333 Racing Team (上海大众333车队). - 2005: Participated in the China Rally 1.6L Category. Achieved 4th in the Shanghai race, 4th in the GuizhouGuizhou' is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the southwestern part of the country. Its provincial capital city is Guiyang.- History :...
race, 4th in the LiupanshuiLiupanshuiLiupanshui is a city whose urban area has 251,900 inhabitants in Western Guizhou province in the People's Republic of China. The population of its jurisdictional area has exceeded 2,830,000 as of 2006, and it is the second largest city in Guizhou...
race, and 4th in the KunmingKunming' is the capital and largest city of Yunnan Province in Southwest China. It was known as Yunnan-Fou until the 1920s. A prefecture-level city, it is the political, economic, communications and cultural centre of Yunnan, and is the seat of the provincial government...
race. - 2005: Participated in the China Circuit Championship Production Car 1600cc Category (中国汽车场地锦标赛 中国量产车1600cc组). Took 1st position in the ZhuhaiZhuhaiZhuhai is a prefecture-level city on the southern coast of Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in the Pearl River Delta, Zhuhai borders Jiangmen to the northwest, Zhongshan to the north, and Macau to the south. Zhuhai was one of the original Special Economic Zones...
race, 2nd position in the Shanghai race, 3rd position in the Beijing race and 1st position in the ShaoguanShaoguanShaoguan , historically known as Shaokwan and Shao-chow, is a prefecture-level city in the north of Southern China's Guangdong province...
race. Won overall 2nd prize for 2005. - 2006: Raced for Shanghai Volkswagen 333 Racing Team. Won 3rd prize in the Shanghai race of the China Circuit Championship 1600cc Category, and 2nd prize in the China Rally.
- 2007: Raced for Shanghai Volkswagen 333 Racing Team, obtained 1st prize in the China Circuit Championship 1600cc Category.
In September 2009, Han participated in the 2009 Rally Australia
2009 Rally Australia
The 2009 Repco Rally Australia was the 20th Rally Australia and the tenth round of the 2009 World Rally Championship season. The rally consisted of 35 special stages and was won on the road by Citroën's Sébastien Loeb...
, a round of the World Rally Championship
World Rally Championship
The World Rally Championship is a rallying series organised by the FIA, culminating with a champion driver and manufacturer. The driver's world championship and manufacturer's world championship are separate championships, but based on the same point system. The series currently consists of 13...
(WRC). Following this, he wrote a blog post entitled Report on supervision and guidance work in preparation for the WRC in Australia (赴澳大利亚监督指导世界拉力锦标赛的工作报告), using irony to express dissatisfaction with China's standards of race management, economic conditions, political consciousness of the population, etc. in comparison with Australia.
Further reading
- Han Han Digest: English translations of selected writings by the world's most popular blogger. 韓寒 比「80後」更輕盈的標籤 Google translation Han Han's famous quotations Google translation 好萊塢“不倫男主角”鎖定韓寒 Google translation
External links
韓寒个人BLOG--two cold so warm（新浪网） 韩寒非官方网站- Asia Weekly (亚洲周刊): Interview with Han Han (韩寒) (Part 1) – China Digital TimesChina Digital TimesChina Digital Times is a bilingual "collaborative news website covering China’s social and political transition and its emerging role in the world," according to the site's About page...
- Asia Weekly (亚洲周刊): Interview with Han Han (韩寒) ( Part 2) – China Digital TimesChina Digital TimesChina Digital Times is a bilingual "collaborative news website covering China’s social and political transition and its emerging role in the world," according to the site's About page...