Lu Jiamin
Encyclopedia
Lü Jiamin is a Chinese
writer, most famous for his best-selling 2004 novel Wolf Totem
, which he wrote under the pseudonym Jiang Rong. He is married to fellow novelist Zhang Kangkang
.
, a town outside of Shanghai. They both joined the Communist Party of China
in Shanghai in the 1920s, and both his parents served in the army during the Second Sino-Japanese War
, fighting against the Empire of Japan
. After the war, his mother became involved in education, while his father rose to the position of bureau chief in the Ministry of Health. His mother died of cancer when he was just 11.
Lü first attracted negative attention from the authorities as early as 1964, while still a student; he was denounced as "counter-revolutionary" for an essay he had written. He went on to join Red Guards
, even though his father had been targeted by those same Red Guards as a capitalist roader
; however, when the Red Guards began confiscating books and participating in book burning
s, Lü often secreted the books away, adding them to his own private collection. In 1967, as a 21-year old high school graduate, Lü volunteered to go to East Ujimqin Banner
in Xilin Gol League
, Inner Mongolia
, where he remained for eleven years, until the age of 33. By his own admission, he chose the remote location of Inner Mongolia rather than the more popular Heilongjiang
in Northeastern China so that he could bring his books with him; he feared that if we went to Heilongjiang, he would have to live in army
barracks, and might get his books confiscated.
in 1978, where he participated in the Beijing Spring
movement, becoming editor-in-chief of the eponymous literary journal Beijing Spring. A year later, he entered the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
. After his graduation, he became an associate professor at the China Labor College. He was arrested for his role in the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
, but was released in January 1991 without ever having been tried, along with Liu Suli and Chen Po
as well as student leaders Xiong Yan
and Zhou Suofen. He finally produced a complete first draft of Wolf Totem 1997, and only submitted the final draft to his publisher at the end of 2003. His hardest work on the novel was done in the final six years; his wife, herself a famous novelist, described how he "locked himself in his office every day and refused to tell me what he was doing".
Though Lü often agreed to give interviews to both domestic and foreign media, he refused to allow pictures of himself to be published. Until 2006, only five people even knew his true identity; he never revealed his real name to the media, though his identity became known to China's Ministry of Public Security
. A number of other writers took advantage of Lü's anonymity to write fake sequels to Wolf Totem, including two books both entitled Wolf Totem 2, as well as the 250,000-character long Great Wolf of the Plains all with the imprint of the Changjiang Arts Publishing House. As a result, in April 2007, he issued a statement which denounced all such "sequels" as fraudulent; he indicated that he was doing research for another book, but would not be publishing anything new in the short term. His identity finally became widely known in November 2007, after he won the first Man Asian Literary Prize
; a photograph he had submitted to the jury, along with his real name, were published by newspapers all over the world. However, he remained unable to obtain a passport, and thus could not leave mainland China
to attend the awards ceremony.
, he expressed his belief that China risked becoming "like Nazi Germany
" if it did not further democratise. He also indicated his admiration for Li Yuchun
, a 2005 participant in the Chinese televised singing competition Super Girl whose idiosyncratic style and choice of songs gained her popularity and ultimately led her to win first prize in the contest; he described her as a "good symbol for Chinese society". Authors he names as having influenced his work include Balzac
, Tolstoy
, Jack London
, and Jane Austen
.
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
writer, most famous for his best-selling 2004 novel Wolf Totem
Wolf Totem
Wolf Totem is a semi-autobiographical novel about the experiences of a young student from Beijing who finds himself sent down to the countryside of Inner Mongolia in 1967, at the height of China's Cultural Revolution...
, which he wrote under the pseudonym Jiang Rong. He is married to fellow novelist Zhang Kangkang
Zhang Kangkang
Zhang Kangkang is a Chinese writer.She is married to fellow writer Lü Jiamin, who attained international fame with his 2004 novel Wolf Totem.-Works:* The Boundary Line...
.
Early life
Lü's parents both came from JiadingJiading
Jiading may refer to:*Jiading District, in Shanghai, China*Jiading, Kaohsiung, township in Kaohsiung County, Taiwan*Roman Catholic Diocese of Jiading, diocese located in Chongqing, China...
, a town outside of Shanghai. They both joined the Communist Party of China
Communist Party of China
The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...
in Shanghai in the 1920s, and both his parents served in the army during the Second Sino-Japanese War
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...
, fighting against the Empire of Japan
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
. After the war, his mother became involved in education, while his father rose to the position of bureau chief in the Ministry of Health. His mother died of cancer when he was just 11.
Lü first attracted negative attention from the authorities as early as 1964, while still a student; he was denounced as "counter-revolutionary" for an essay he had written. He went on to join Red Guards
Red Guards (China)
Red Guards were a mass movement of civilians, mostly students and other young people in the People's Republic of China , who were mobilized by Mao Zedong in 1966 and 1967, during the Cultural Revolution.-Origins:...
, even though his father had been targeted by those same Red Guards as a capitalist roader
Capitalist roader
In Maoist thought, a capitalist roader or is a person or group who demonstrates a marked tendency to bow to pressure from Bourgeois forces and subsequently attempts to pull the Revolution in a capitalist direction....
; however, when the Red Guards began confiscating books and participating in book burning
Book burning
Book burning, biblioclasm or libricide is the practice of destroying, often ceremoniously, books or other written material and media. In modern times, other forms of media, such as phonograph records, video tapes, and CDs have also been ceremoniously burned, torched, or shredded...
s, Lü often secreted the books away, adding them to his own private collection. In 1967, as a 21-year old high school graduate, Lü volunteered to go to East Ujimqin Banner
East Ujimqin Banner
-References:*...
in Xilin Gol League
Xilin Gol League
Xilin Gol is one of 12 prefecture level divisions of Inner Mongolia. The capital is Xilinhot, the area is 202,580 km². The league's economy is based on mining and agriculture....
, Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in the northern region of the country. Inner Mongolia shares an international border with the countries of Mongolia and the Russian Federation...
, where he remained for eleven years, until the age of 33. By his own admission, he chose the remote location of Inner Mongolia rather than the more popular Heilongjiang
Heilongjiang
For the river known in Mandarin as Heilong Jiang, see Amur River' is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the northeastern part of the country. "Heilongjiang" literally means Black Dragon River, which is the Chinese name for the Amur. The one-character abbreviation is 黑...
in Northeastern China so that he could bring his books with him; he feared that if we went to Heilongjiang, he would have to live in army
People's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army is the unified military organization of all land, sea, strategic missile and air forces of the People's Republic of China. The PLA was established on August 1, 1927 — celebrated annually as "PLA Day" — as the military arm of the Communist Party of China...
barracks, and might get his books confiscated.
Writing Wolf Totem
Lü began thinking about and writing up the ideas behind Wolf Totem as early as 1971, while still in Inner Mongolia, but did not yet begin to write anything down. He returned to BeijingBeijing
Beijing , 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...
in 1978, where he participated in the Beijing Spring
Beijing Spring
The Beijing Spring refers to a brief period of political liberalization in the People's Republic of China which occurred in 1977 and 1978. The name is derived from "Prague Spring", an analogous event which occurred in Czechoslovakia in 1968....
movement, becoming editor-in-chief of the eponymous literary journal Beijing Spring. A year later, he entered the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences , established in 1977, is the premier and highest academic research organization in the fields of philosophy and social sciences as well as a national center for comprehensive studies in the People's Republic of China. It was described by Foreign Policy...
. After his graduation, he became an associate professor at the China Labor College. He was arrested for his role in the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, also known as the June Fourth Incident in Chinese , were a series of demonstrations in and near Tiananmen Square in Beijing in the People's Republic of China beginning on 15 April 1989...
, but was released in January 1991 without ever having been tried, along with Liu Suli and Chen Po
Chen Po
Chen Tuan was a legendary Taoist sage. His birth name was Chen Tuan ; his courtesy name was Tunan ; his pseudonym as a sage was Chen Hsi I Chén Xīyí or Master Xīyí 希夷先生 or Fúyáozǐ 扶搖子...
as well as student leaders Xiong Yan
Xiong Yan
Xiong Yan is a Chinese dissident who served as a chaplain in U.S. Army in Iraq. Currently, he serves as a U.S. Army chaplain at the Warrant Officer Career College at Fort Rucker, Alabama. He joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1985 and formally withdrew his membership from the CCP on June 4,...
and Zhou Suofen. He finally produced a complete first draft of Wolf Totem 1997, and only submitted the final draft to his publisher at the end of 2003. His hardest work on the novel was done in the final six years; his wife, herself a famous novelist, described how he "locked himself in his office every day and refused to tell me what he was doing".
Though Lü often agreed to give interviews to both domestic and foreign media, he refused to allow pictures of himself to be published. Until 2006, only five people even knew his true identity; he never revealed his real name to the media, though his identity became known to China's Ministry of Public Security
Ministry of Public Security
Ministry of Public Security can refer to:* Ministry of Public Security of Burundi* Ministry of Public Security of the People's Republic of China* Ministry of Public Security of Costa Rica* Ministry of Public Security of Israel...
. A number of other writers took advantage of Lü's anonymity to write fake sequels to Wolf Totem, including two books both entitled Wolf Totem 2, as well as the 250,000-character long Great Wolf of the Plains all with the imprint of the Changjiang Arts Publishing House. As a result, in April 2007, he issued a statement which denounced all such "sequels" as fraudulent; he indicated that he was doing research for another book, but would not be publishing anything new in the short term. His identity finally became widely known in November 2007, after he won the first Man Asian Literary Prize
Man Asian Literary Prize
The Man Asian Literary Prize, founded in 2007, is an annual literary award given to the best novel by an Asian writer, either written in English or translated into English, and published in the previous calendar year...
; a photograph he had submitted to the jury, along with his real name, were published by newspapers all over the world. However, he remained unable to obtain a passport, and thus could not leave mainland China
Mainland China
Mainland China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China . According to the Taipei-based Mainland Affairs Council, the term excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and...
to attend the awards ceremony.
Political views
Lü describes himself as a "critical left-wing thinker", and remains a supporter of democracy and individualism; in a 2005 interview with British newspaper The Daily TelegraphThe Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
, he expressed his belief that China risked becoming "like Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
" if it did not further democratise. He also indicated his admiration for Li Yuchun
Li Yuchun
Li Yuchun also known as Chris Lee is a Chinese pop singer and actress who achieved instant fame when she won the nationwide singing contest Super Girl in 2005. She is now working with Taihe Rye Music and released her first album The Queen and the Dream in September 2006. Her second album titled...
, a 2005 participant in the Chinese televised singing competition Super Girl whose idiosyncratic style and choice of songs gained her popularity and ultimately led her to win first prize in the contest; he described her as a "good symbol for Chinese society". Authors he names as having influenced his work include Balzac
Honoré de Balzac
Honoré de Balzac was a French novelist and playwright. His magnum opus was a sequence of short stories and novels collectively entitled La Comédie humaine, which presents a panorama of French life in the years after the 1815 fall of Napoleon....
, Tolstoy
Leo Tolstoy
Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist...
, Jack London
Jack London
John Griffith "Jack" London was an American author, journalist, and social activist. He was a pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction and was one of the first fiction writers to obtain worldwide celebrity and a large fortune from his fiction alone...
, and Jane Austen
Jane Austen
Jane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature, her realism and biting social commentary cementing her historical importance among scholars and critics.Austen lived...
.