Wang Lixiong
Encyclopedia
Wang Lixiong is a Chinese writer and scholar, best known for his political prophecy fiction, Yellow Peril
, which was ranked 41st in The 100 Most Influential Chinese Novels in 20th Centuryby Asia Weekly
and has gained widespread popularity in China as well as worldwide media attention despite having been banned by the communist regime.
Wang is also a well-known Tibetologist, specialist and critic of Chinese-Tibetan relations, his book Sky Burial:The Fate of Tibet is widely recognized as the first and best choice for the people who wants to explore into issues of Tibet in a rational way and with full spectrum of views.
Wang is regarded as one of the most outspoken dissidents, democracy activists and reformers in China. He is married to Woeser, a Tibetan
poet
and essayist in China.
in Jilin province and currently resides in Beijing
. His mother was a playwright of Changchun Film Group Corporation
, and his father, Wang Shaolin, was the vice president of China Fist Automobile Works, who was alleged to have been a Capitalist roader
and Soviet revisionism spy by the communist regime during Cultural Revolution
, and committed suicide in 1968 after his long imprisonment.
Together with many fresh high school graduates in cities, Wang was sent to countryside for four years from 1969 to 1973 following Mao Zedong's
Down to the Countryside Movement
, a result of the anti-bourgeois thinking prevalent. In 1973, he was admitted into Jilin University of Technology
by virtue of his hard laboring during the so-called reeducation
, and after the graduation, he was assigned to work in China Fist Automobile Works that his father used to work.
In 1980, Wang quit his job and became a freelance until now.
His most famous adventure was the solo rafting along the upper reaches of Yellow River
, in the Amdo
area of Tibet Plateau in 1984. It took him three months to travel 1200 km on a raft made of inner tubes of truck tires by himself. And his diary during the time was published in 1988 by Huacheng Publishing with the title Drifting.
Machine was published by Jintian (Mandarin for "today"). It is a story about a farmer’s journey to invent Perpetual Motion
Machine with the faith that he, his family and his village would be salvaged from poverty by having this magic machine. The protagonist was widely considered very symbolic of the author himself – quixotic or idealistic.
In 1991, Yellow Peril
was published by Mirror Books under pseudonym Bao Mi (Mandarin for "Kept Secret"), painted an apocalyptic scenario in which civil war erupts between north and south China - with Nationalist-ruled Taiwan backing the south - and ends in nuclear conflict and millions of starving refugees spilling across borders. For years, the author of one of the best-selling novels in the Chinese-speaking world was known simply to readers as "Bao Mi", for Wang’s own protection because he broke taboos and spelled China's doomsday. Yellow Peril
was recently translated into English as China Tidal Wave.
Beginning with his solitary adventure rafting across Tibet plateau along the upper reaches of Yellow River
in 1984, and after more than a decade study of Tibet during which he had been to Tibet dozens of times and lived in that region for more than two years, Wang finished his book Sky Burial: The Fate of Tibetin 1998. The book, with the honest and unbiased views; throughout investigation of histories; detailed analysis of issues and comprehensive supporting data, immediately won him high regards from both the supporters of Chinese government and followers of The Dalai Lama, and became a mandate in Tibet study.
From 1991 to 1994, he wrote a book of political theory, Dissolving Power: A Successive Multi-Level Electoral System, which drew tremendous disruptive responses although he himself valued it the most – some believed it offers a promising solution that China could and should adopt for a smooth transition towards democracy, some think it is purely a dream of utopia.
After ten more years of further study in progressive democracy, he completed another political theory book Bottom up Democracies in 2006. Realizing that it is not possible to promote his theory in China and make it a political reality, he started to research on internet development trying to find the linchpin which will connect his theory with real world.
To support Tenzin Delek Rinpoche
, an important Tibetan Lama of the region of Litang who was accused of being involved in a bomb attack and sentenced to death penalty, On December 13, 2002 Wang Lixiong and 24 other Chinese intellectuals issued a petition requesting the right to appoint independent lawyers for Rinpoche's trial, as well as the right for local and international media to cover the trial and interview Chinese government officials; in addition, the petition called for representatives of the Tibetan community in exile to attend the proceedings.
In 2001, Wang issued a public statement on his decision to resign from Chine Writers Association: “It is not only acquiescence which is demanded, but also the annihilation of the whole personality, of all conscience and of all individual pride, that we are being made into crouching dogs. Belonging to this organization is no longer an honor, on the contrary, is a shame of any writer worthy of the name”.
Believing that the Dalai Lama is the key to resolve the issues of Tibet[1], [2], Wang Lixiong, together with other Chinese intellectuals, strongly urged Chinese authorities to take the middle way
approach proposed by the Dalai Lama into serious consideration as it showed the deepest sincerity from the Dalai lama, should be treated as the basis for any further negotiations for the future of Tibet. He was invited 4 times to meet with the Dalai Lama with regard to this matter. His analysis of middle way
was elaborated in his work Unlocking Tibet.[3] And his meeting with the Dalai Lama was documented in his article Dialogues with the Dalai Lama.
In the wake of Tibet riot on 3/10/2008, Wang, with the support from the pro-democracy activities in China, urged the Chinese government to invite UN investigators to Tibet to change the international community’s distrust of China, and on March 22, 2008, issued a 12-point petition about the situation in Tibet.
in 1999. When conducting research for a book following the same suit of Sky Burial: The Fate of Tibet, he was arrested for photocopying an internal publication - stamped as “secret” - of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps
. Refusing to recant or promise collaboration in order to obtain his release, he attempted suicide in the high-security prison in Miquan . He recorded the incident in a short essay entitled Memories of Xinjiang
published in 2001. In prison, he shared a cell with an Uyghur prisoner arrested in Beijing for organizing a demonstration protesting discrimination (Mokhtar), with whom he entered into a long and ongoing discussion on Xinjiang
which formed the backbone of his book My West China; Your East Turkestan published in 2007. In this book, Wang concluded that Xinjiang
’s issues had dangerously “Palestinized.” The XinJiang
riot in July 2009 proved his fear.
Wang would be placed under house arrest whenever there were sensitive incidents or events. i.e. the outbreak of anti-Chinese protests in Tibet in March, 2008.
2007 Honorary membership, Chinese Studies Association of New Zealand
2003 Hellman-Hammett Grants, Human Rights Watch
2002 Freedom of Expression Award, Independent Chinese Pen Association
2002 Visiting Scholarship, US Congress
1999 The 100 Most Influential Chinese Novels in 20th Century (Yellow Peril ranked 41st), Asia Weekly
2009 Sky Burial: The Fate of Tibet, 2nd Edition (天葬:西藏的命运再版), Lotus Publishing
2009 The Struggle for Tibet, Verso Publishing (co-authored with Tsering Shakya)
2008 China Tidal Wave (English edition of Yellow Peril translated by Anton Platero), Global Oriental Ltd.
2008 Yellow Peril, New Century Edition (黄祸新世纪版), Lotus Publishing
2007 My West China; Your East Turkestan (我的西域; 你的东土), Lotus Publishing
2006 Bottom-up Democracy (递进民主), Lotus Publishing
2006 Unlocking Tibet, Tersey Tsultim Publishing
2002 Dialogue with Dalai Lama, Renjian Publishing
2002 The Spiritual Journey of a Free Soul, China Movie Publishing
1998 Dissolving Power: A Successive Multi-Level Electoral System (溶解权力: 逐層递选制), Mirror Books Publishing
1998 Sky Burial: The Destiny of Tibet (天葬:西藏的命运), Mirror Books Publishing
1991 Yellow Peril (黄祸), Mirror Books Publishing
1988 Drifting (漂流), Huacheng Publishing
1984 Gate to Heaven (天堂之门), Huacheng Publishing
2008 History of Tibetan-Chinese Relations (西藏与中国的历史关系)
2008 Roadmap of Tibet Independence (西藏独立路线图)
2009 Mappō (末法时代)
2004 The Two Types of Imperialisms That Tibet Encounters (西藏面临的两种帝国主义)
2002 Cultural Reflections on Tibet Issues (西藏问题的文化反思)
2000 A Successive Multilevel Electoral System vs. a Representative Democratic System: Comparison on Resolutions for Tibet Issues (逐层递选制与代议民主制: 解决西藏问题的方法比较)
The repository of Wang Lixiong's Articles
族群对话与新媒体
Yellow Peril (novel)
Yellow Peril is a 1991 novel by Wang Lixiong, written in Chinese under the pseudonym Bao Mi , about a civil war in the People's Republic of China that becomes a nuclear exchange and soon engulfs the world, causing World War III...
, which was ranked 41st in The 100 Most Influential Chinese Novels in 20th Centuryby Asia Weekly
Yazhou Zhoukan
Yazhou Zhoukan , literally as "Asia Weekly", is the only Chinese language international affairs newsweekly which has been published for over 20 years...
and has gained widespread popularity in China as well as worldwide media attention despite having been banned by the communist regime.
Wang is also a well-known Tibetologist, specialist and critic of Chinese-Tibetan relations, his book Sky Burial:The Fate of Tibet is widely recognized as the first and best choice for the people who wants to explore into issues of Tibet in a rational way and with full spectrum of views.
Wang is regarded as one of the most outspoken dissidents, democracy activists and reformers in China. He is married to Woeser, a Tibetan
Tibetan people
The Tibetan people are an ethnic group that is native to Tibet, which is mostly in the People's Republic of China. They number 5.4 million and are the 10th largest ethnic group in the country. Significant Tibetan minorities also live in India, Nepal, and Bhutan...
poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
and essayist in China.
Early life and education
Wang Lixiong was born in 1953 at ChangchunChangchun
Changchun 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...
in Jilin province and currently resides in Beijing
Beijing
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...
. His mother was a playwright of Changchun Film Group Corporation
Changchun Film Group Corporation
Changchun Film Group Corporation is a Chinese film production company in Changchun, Jilin province, China. It is one of the studios transitioned from the 1940s, and has been considered one of the cornerstones of the Chinese film industry...
, and his father, Wang Shaolin, was the vice president of China Fist Automobile Works, who was alleged to have been 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....
and Soviet revisionism spy by the communist regime during 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...
, and committed suicide in 1968 after his long imprisonment.
Together with many fresh high school graduates in cities, Wang was sent to countryside for four years from 1969 to 1973 following Mao Zedong's
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...
Down to the Countryside Movement
Down to the Countryside Movement
The Down to the Countryside Movement was a policy instituted in the People's Republic of China in the late 1960s and early 1970s. As a result of the anti-bourgeois thinking prevalent during the Cultural Revolution, Mao Zedong declared certain privileged urban youth would be sent to mountainous...
, a result of the anti-bourgeois thinking prevalent. In 1973, he was admitted into Jilin University of Technology
Jilin University
Jilin University is a leading national university under the direct jurisdiction of China's Ministry of Education.-History:Founded in 1946 as the Northeast College of Administration in Harbin, Heilongjiang, Jilin University merged with many Universities and colleges and changed its name many times...
by virtue of his hard laboring during the so-called reeducation
Reeducation
Reeducation may refer to:* A euphemism for Brainwashing, efforts aimed at instilling certain beliefs in people against their will* Reeducation through labor, also called laojiao, a form of penal detention in China; or the Soviet gulags for "re-education of class enemies" and reintegrating them...
, and after the graduation, he was assigned to work in China Fist Automobile Works that his father used to work.
In 1980, Wang quit his job and became a freelance until now.
Adventures
Wang claims to have traveled to all the provinces of mainland China.His most famous adventure was the solo rafting along the upper reaches of Yellow River
Yellow River
The Yellow River or Huang He, formerly known as the Hwang Ho, is the second-longest river in China and the sixth-longest in the world at the estimated length of . Originating in the Bayan Har Mountains in Qinghai Province in western China, it flows through nine provinces of China and empties into...
, in the Amdo
Amdo
Amdo is one of the three traditional regions of Tibet, the other two being Ü-Tsang and Kham; it is also the birth place of the 14th Dalai Lama. Amdo encompasses a large area from the Machu River to the Drichu river . While culturally and ethnically a Tibetan area, Amdo has been administered by a...
area of Tibet Plateau in 1984. It took him three months to travel 1200 km on a raft made of inner tubes of truck tires by himself. And his diary during the time was published in 1988 by Huacheng Publishing with the title Drifting.
Writing Highlights
In 1983, Wang’s first novella The Patient of Perpetual MotionPerpetual motion
Perpetual motion describes hypothetical machines that operate or produce useful work indefinitely and, more generally, hypothetical machines that produce more work or energy than they consume, whether they might operate indefinitely or not....
Machine was published by Jintian (Mandarin for "today"). It is a story about a farmer’s journey to invent Perpetual Motion
Perpetual motion
Perpetual motion describes hypothetical machines that operate or produce useful work indefinitely and, more generally, hypothetical machines that produce more work or energy than they consume, whether they might operate indefinitely or not....
Machine with the faith that he, his family and his village would be salvaged from poverty by having this magic machine. The protagonist was widely considered very symbolic of the author himself – quixotic or idealistic.
In 1991, Yellow Peril
Yellow Peril (novel)
Yellow Peril is a 1991 novel by Wang Lixiong, written in Chinese under the pseudonym Bao Mi , about a civil war in the People's Republic of China that becomes a nuclear exchange and soon engulfs the world, causing World War III...
was published by Mirror Books under pseudonym Bao Mi (Mandarin for "Kept Secret"), painted an apocalyptic scenario in which civil war erupts between north and south China - with Nationalist-ruled Taiwan backing the south - and ends in nuclear conflict and millions of starving refugees spilling across borders. For years, the author of one of the best-selling novels in the Chinese-speaking world was known simply to readers as "Bao Mi", for Wang’s own protection because he broke taboos and spelled China's doomsday. Yellow Peril
Yellow Peril (novel)
Yellow Peril is a 1991 novel by Wang Lixiong, written in Chinese under the pseudonym Bao Mi , about a civil war in the People's Republic of China that becomes a nuclear exchange and soon engulfs the world, causing World War III...
was recently translated into English as China Tidal Wave.
Beginning with his solitary adventure rafting across Tibet plateau along the upper reaches of Yellow River
Yellow River
The Yellow River or Huang He, formerly known as the Hwang Ho, is the second-longest river in China and the sixth-longest in the world at the estimated length of . Originating in the Bayan Har Mountains in Qinghai Province in western China, it flows through nine provinces of China and empties into...
in 1984, and after more than a decade study of Tibet during which he had been to Tibet dozens of times and lived in that region for more than two years, Wang finished his book Sky Burial: The Fate of Tibetin 1998. The book, with the honest and unbiased views; throughout investigation of histories; detailed analysis of issues and comprehensive supporting data, immediately won him high regards from both the supporters of Chinese government and followers of The Dalai Lama, and became a mandate in Tibet study.
From 1991 to 1994, he wrote a book of political theory, Dissolving Power: A Successive Multi-Level Electoral System, which drew tremendous disruptive responses although he himself valued it the most – some believed it offers a promising solution that China could and should adopt for a smooth transition towards democracy, some think it is purely a dream of utopia.
After ten more years of further study in progressive democracy, he completed another political theory book Bottom up Democracies in 2006. Realizing that it is not possible to promote his theory in China and make it a political reality, he started to research on internet development trying to find the linchpin which will connect his theory with real world.
Social Activities
In 1994, Wang Lixiong initiated as one of the founders The Friends of Nature, an environment protection organization, the first non-governmental organization in China, was forced to resign in 2003 on the request from Chinese government.To support Tenzin Delek Rinpoche
Tenzin Delek Rinpoche
Lithang Tulku Tenzin Delek Rinpoche or Tenzing Deleg is a Tibetan Buddhist leader from Garze, Sichuan. He was arrested on April 7, 2002 during a raid on Jamyang Choekhorling in Garze, Sichuan, China...
, an important Tibetan Lama of the region of Litang who was accused of being involved in a bomb attack and sentenced to death penalty, On December 13, 2002 Wang Lixiong and 24 other Chinese intellectuals issued a petition requesting the right to appoint independent lawyers for Rinpoche's trial, as well as the right for local and international media to cover the trial and interview Chinese government officials; in addition, the petition called for representatives of the Tibetan community in exile to attend the proceedings.
In 2001, Wang issued a public statement on his decision to resign from Chine Writers Association: “It is not only acquiescence which is demanded, but also the annihilation of the whole personality, of all conscience and of all individual pride, that we are being made into crouching dogs. Belonging to this organization is no longer an honor, on the contrary, is a shame of any writer worthy of the name”.
Believing that the Dalai Lama is the key to resolve the issues of Tibet[1], [2], Wang Lixiong, together with other Chinese intellectuals, strongly urged Chinese authorities to take the middle way
Middle way
The Middle Way or Middle Path is the descriptive term that Siddhartha Gautama used to describe the character of the path he discovered that led to liberation. It was coined in the very first teaching that he delivered after his enlightenment...
approach proposed by the Dalai Lama into serious consideration as it showed the deepest sincerity from the Dalai lama, should be treated as the basis for any further negotiations for the future of Tibet. He was invited 4 times to meet with the Dalai Lama with regard to this matter. His analysis of middle way
Middle way
The Middle Way or Middle Path is the descriptive term that Siddhartha Gautama used to describe the character of the path he discovered that led to liberation. It was coined in the very first teaching that he delivered after his enlightenment...
was elaborated in his work Unlocking Tibet.[3] And his meeting with the Dalai Lama was documented in his article Dialogues with the Dalai Lama.
In the wake of Tibet riot on 3/10/2008, Wang, with the support from the pro-democracy activities in China, urged the Chinese government to invite UN investigators to Tibet to change the international community’s distrust of China, and on March 22, 2008, issued a 12-point petition about the situation in Tibet.
Arrest and imprisonment
Wang first began to study XinjiangXinjiang
Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...
in 1999. When conducting research for a book following the same suit of Sky Burial: The Fate of Tibet, he was arrested for photocopying an internal publication - stamped as “secret” - of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps
Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps
The Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps , known as XPCC, the PCC or Bingtuan for short, is a unique economic and semi-military governmental organization in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. The XPCC has administrative authority over several medium-sized...
. Refusing to recant or promise collaboration in order to obtain his release, he attempted suicide in the high-security prison in Miquan . He recorded the incident in a short essay entitled Memories of Xinjiang
Xinjiang
Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...
published in 2001. In prison, he shared a cell with an Uyghur prisoner arrested in Beijing for organizing a demonstration protesting discrimination (Mokhtar), with whom he entered into a long and ongoing discussion on Xinjiang
Xinjiang
Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...
which formed the backbone of his book My West China; Your East Turkestan published in 2007. In this book, Wang concluded that Xinjiang
Xinjiang
Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...
’s issues had dangerously “Palestinized.” The XinJiang
Xinjiang
Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...
riot in July 2009 proved his fear.
Wang would be placed under house arrest whenever there were sensitive incidents or events. i.e. the outbreak of anti-Chinese protests in Tibet in March, 2008.
Awards and honors
2009 Light of Truth Award honored by the Dalai Lama on behalf of ICT2007 Honorary membership, Chinese Studies Association of New Zealand
2003 Hellman-Hammett Grants, Human Rights Watch
2002 Freedom of Expression Award, Independent Chinese Pen Association
2002 Visiting Scholarship, US Congress
1999 The 100 Most Influential Chinese Novels in 20th Century (Yellow Peril ranked 41st), Asia Weekly
Books
2009 Voices from Tibet (听说西藏), Lotus Publishing (co-authored with Tsering Woeser)2009 Sky Burial: The Fate of Tibet, 2nd Edition (天葬:西藏的命运再版), Lotus Publishing
2009 The Struggle for Tibet, Verso Publishing (co-authored with Tsering Shakya)
2008 China Tidal Wave (English edition of Yellow Peril translated by Anton Platero), Global Oriental Ltd.
2008 Yellow Peril, New Century Edition (黄祸新世纪版), Lotus Publishing
2007 My West China; Your East Turkestan (我的西域; 你的东土), Lotus Publishing
2006 Bottom-up Democracy (递进民主), Lotus Publishing
2006 Unlocking Tibet, Tersey Tsultim Publishing
2002 Dialogue with Dalai Lama, Renjian Publishing
2002 The Spiritual Journey of a Free Soul, China Movie Publishing
1998 Dissolving Power: A Successive Multi-Level Electoral System (溶解权力: 逐層递选制), Mirror Books Publishing
1998 Sky Burial: The Destiny of Tibet (天葬:西藏的命运), Mirror Books Publishing
1991 Yellow Peril (黄祸), Mirror Books Publishing
1988 Drifting (漂流), Huacheng Publishing
1984 Gate to Heaven (天堂之门), Huacheng Publishing
Major Essays
2010 Democracy 2.0 - From Direct Democracy to Vector Democracy 民主2.0——从数量民主到矢量民主2008 History of Tibetan-Chinese Relations (西藏与中国的历史关系)
2008 Roadmap of Tibet Independence (西藏独立路线图)
2009 Mappō (末法时代)
2004 The Two Types of Imperialisms That Tibet Encounters (西藏面临的两种帝国主义)
2002 Cultural Reflections on Tibet Issues (西藏问题的文化反思)
2000 A Successive Multilevel Electoral System vs. a Representative Democratic System: Comparison on Resolutions for Tibet Issues (逐层递选制与代议民主制: 解决西藏问题的方法比较)
Columnist contribution
- 2004–Present: Radio Free Asia, Washington D.C.
- 2002: Ming PaoMing PaoMing Pao is a Chinese language newspaper published by Ming Pao Group in Hong Kong. In the 1990s, Ming Pao established four overseas branches in North America, each provides independent reporting on local news and collect local advertisements. Currently, only the two Canadian editions remain: Ming...
, Hong Kong
External links
Wang Lixiong's English BlogThe repository of Wang Lixiong's Articles
族群对话与新媒体