Sha Yexin, born 1939 in Nanjing

Nanjing

' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions...

, is a Chinese writer

Writer

A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....

 and political activist.

Political activism

Yexin became head of the Shanghai People's Art Theatre in 1985. He met with German chancellor Angela Merkel

Angela Merkel

Angela Dorothea Merkel is the current Chancellor of Germany . Merkel, elected to the Bundestag from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, has been the chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union since 2000, and chairwoman of the CDU-CSU parliamentary coalition from 2002 to 2005.From 2005 to 2009 she led a...

 in 2007, regarding freedom of the press

Freedom of the press

Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the freedom of communication and expression through vehicles including various electronic media and published materials...

 issues in China

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...

.

Literary career

He finished his first one-act play, Yi fen qian (One cent), in 1965. Later plays include Haohao xuexi (Diligent study), Yesu¡DKongzi¡DPitoushi Lienong (Jesus, Confucius and John Lennon) and Makesi mishi (Secret history of Marx).

Yexin's play The Impostor (If I Were Real) was written collectively with fellow playwrights Li Shoucheng and Yao Mingde.