Huo Da (; born 26 November 1945) is a Chinese female writer of Hui ethnicity. She also is a film editor. Her Hui name is Fa Tumai (). One of her works, ''The Muslim's Funeral'' won the

Mao Dun Literature Prize Mao Dun Literature Prize () is a prize for novels, established in the will of prominent Chinese writer Mao Dun (for which he personally donated 250,000 RMB) and sponsored by the China Writers Association. Awarded every four years, it is one of t ...

in 1991. It has been translated into English, French, Arabic and Urdu. Her most famous novel, and the only one to be translated into English, was the 1988 ''Muslim Funeral'', which chronicled the history of three generations of a family of Muslim jade carvers in Beijing; it provoked controversy for its positive attitude towards market entrepreneurialism and its suggestion that the

Han Han may refer to: Ethnic groups * Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group. ** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...

in Beijing negatively stereotype the Hui for their poverty and lack of education, while they do not have the same attitude towards the

Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. The Later Jin (1616–1636) and ...

.Gladney 1998: 126-127

Biography

Huo Da was born into a family of scholars on 26 November 1945 in Beijing. She graduated from

Beijing Construction College } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...

in 1966. And then she engaged in translation work for many years. In 1976, she became a film editor of Beijing Film Studio. In 1978, she was transferred into Beijing television art center and started her professional writing career.

Works

* ''The Muslim's Funeral'' () (1982) * ''I'm not a Hunter'' () (1982) * ''Red'' () (1985) * ''War'' () (1988) * ''The split Sky'' () (1997) ** 霍达文集 (''Collected Works of Huo Da''). Beijing October Literature and Arts Publishing House, August 1999. . * 红尘 (''Red Dust''). Beijing October Literature and Arts Publishing House, April 2005. . * 万家忧乐 (''The Worry and Joy of Thousands of Households'') * 龙驹 (''Dragon Foal'') * ''Magpie Bridge''

Biography

Works

References

Further reading