Bi Shumin 毕淑敏, (born 1952 in

Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...

) is a Chinese novelist, self-help writer and

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their sy ...

Biography

Born in Yili to a

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...

family, she grew up in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

and as a young woman served as nurse and psychiatrist in

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

. Her first published work was a novella, "Kunlun Shang" ("昆仑殇; Death in Kunlun"), based on her experience as a

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...

medic. She is noted for her women-focused narratives, often surrounding women in the Chinese military on the Tibetan plateau in her earlier work and on urban medical professionals in more recent work. She is also a well-known media presence, based according to one academic analysis on the "charismatic authority claim" that she lives a "balanced and happy life." Her 2003 novel '' Save the Breast'' (''拯救乳房'') "relates an experimentation of talk therapy with a group of patients to deal with the biopolitics of breast cancer as both social stigma and physio-psychic trauma against the tide of medical marketing in today's China." Her 2012 novel ''Coronavirus'' (''花冠病毒'') drew attention during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. The title and "much of the novel’s source material came from Bi Shumin’s own observations during the anti-SARS ( Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) battle of 2003 in China." Several examples of both fiction and essays have been translated into English, and her work has attracted critical attention especially from those interested in gender in contemporary Chinese literature and the depiction of medicine and illness. Prizes she has won include the

Chen Bochui Children's Literature Award The Chen Bochui Children’s Literature Award (陈伯吹儿童文学奖) is a major award issued in China, with the aim of promoting excellence in children’s publishing and cultural diversity. It was originally called the Children’s Literary Ga ...

References

{{authority control 1952 births Living people Chinese novelists 21st-century Chinese novelists Chinese psychiatrists Writers from Beijing People's Liberation Army personnel Chinese women novelists Chen Bochui Children's Literature Award winners