Han Shaogong
Encyclopedia
Han Shaogong is a Chinese novelist and fictionist.
Han was born in Hunan
, China
. While relying on traditional Chinese culture, in particular Chinese mythology
, folklore
, Taoism
and Buddhism
as source of inspiration, he also borrows freely from Western literary techniques. As a teenager during the Cultural revolution
he was labeled an ‘educated youth’ and sent to the countryside for re-education through labour http://www.china.org.cn/english/culture/62806.htm. Employed at a local cultural center after 1977, he soon won recognition as an outspoken new literary talent. His early stories attacked the ultra-leftist degradation of China during the Mao era
; they tended toward a slightly modernist
style. However, he reemerged in the mid-1980s as the leader of an avant-garde
school, the "Search for Roots" or the Xungen Movement
.
Han's major work to date is A Dictionary of Maqiao
, a novel published in 1996 and translated into English in 2003. His writing is influenced by Kafka and by the magic realism
of Gabriel García Márquez
. In 1987, he published a Chinese translation of Milan Kundera
's The Unbearable Lightness of Being
and edited Hainan Jishi Wenxue ("Hainan Documentary Literature"), a successful literary magazine. He has been given the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
and with other Chinese writers visited France
in 1988 at the invitation of the French Ministry of Culture. Han was invited back in 1989 but was denied permission to leave China until 1991.
Han's other works include Moon Orchid (1985), Bababa (1985), Womanwomanwoman (1985), Deserted City (1989), and Intimations (2002).
Han was born in Hunan
Hunan
' is a province of South-Central China, located to the south of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and south of Lake Dongting...
, China
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...
. While relying on traditional Chinese culture, in particular Chinese mythology
Chinese mythology
Chinese mythology is a collection of cultural history, folktales, and religions that have been passed down in oral or written tradition. These include creation myths and legends and myths concerning the founding of Chinese culture and the Chinese state...
, folklore
Chinese mythology
Chinese mythology is a collection of cultural history, folktales, and religions that have been passed down in oral or written tradition. These include creation myths and legends and myths concerning the founding of Chinese culture and the Chinese state...
, Taoism
Taoism
Taoism refers to a philosophical or religious tradition in which the basic concept is to establish harmony with the Tao , which is the mechanism of everything that exists...
and Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
as source of inspiration, he also borrows freely from Western literary techniques. As a teenager during the Cultural revolution
Cultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
he was labeled an ‘educated youth’ and sent to the countryside for re-education through labour http://www.china.org.cn/english/culture/62806.htm. Employed at a local cultural center after 1977, he soon won recognition as an outspoken new literary talent. His early stories attacked the ultra-leftist degradation of China during the Mao era
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
; they tended toward a slightly modernist
Modernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
style. However, he reemerged in the mid-1980s as the leader of an avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
school, the "Search for Roots" or the Xungen Movement
Xungen movement
The xungen movement is a cultural and literary movement in mainland China emphasizing local and minority cultures. It began in the late-1980s. Its premise is that the Cultural Revolution destroyed a pluralistic Chinese identity that had existed for centuries, and that the reconstruction of that...
.
Han's major work to date is A Dictionary of Maqiao
A Dictionary of Maqiao
A Dictionary of Maqiao is a novel written by Chinese writer Han Shaogong. It was first published in 1996 and has been translated into English by Julia Lovell. Yazhou Zhoukan selected it as one of the top 100 greatest Chinese novels in the 20th century.Maqiao is a village in Hunan province, China...
, a novel published in 1996 and translated into English in 2003. His writing is influenced by Kafka and by the magic realism
Magic realism
Magic realism or magical realism is an aesthetic style or genre of fiction in which magical elements blend with the real world. The story explains these magical elements as real occurrences, presented in a straightforward manner that places the "real" and the "fantastic" in the same stream of...
of Gabriel García Márquez
Gabriel García Márquez
Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez is a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo throughout Latin America. He is considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in...
. In 1987, he published a Chinese translation of Milan Kundera
Milan Kundera
Milan Kundera , born 1 April 1929, is a writer of Czech origin who has lived in exile in France since 1975, where he became a naturalized citizen in 1981. He is best known as the author of The Unbearable Lightness of Being, The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, and The Joke. Kundera has written in...
's The Unbearable Lightness of Being
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
The Unbearable Lightness of Being , written by Milan Kundera, is a philosophical novel about two men, two women, a dog and their lives in the Prague Spring of the Czechoslovak Communist period in 1968. Although written in 1982, the novel was not published until two years later, in France...
and edited Hainan Jishi Wenxue ("Hainan Documentary Literature"), a successful literary magazine. He has been given the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
The Ordre des Arts et des Lettres is an Order of France, established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture, and confirmed as part of the Ordre national du Mérite by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963...
and with other Chinese writers visited France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in 1988 at the invitation of the French Ministry of Culture. Han was invited back in 1989 but was denied permission to leave China until 1991.
Han's other works include Moon Orchid (1985), Bababa (1985), Womanwomanwoman (1985), Deserted City (1989), and Intimations (2002).