Ma Jian (born 18 August 1953) is a Chinese-born British writer.

Biography

Ma was born in

Qingdao Qingdao (, also spelled Tsingtao; , Mandarin: ) is a major city in eastern Shandong Province. The city's name in Chinese characters literally means " azure island". Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, it is a major nodal city of the One Belt ...

, a city in Shandong Province on China's Yellow Sea coast, on 18 August 1953. As a child, he was the pupil of a painter who had been persecuted as a Rightist. After his school education was cut short by the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goa ...

, he studied by himself, copying out a Chinese dictionary word by word. At fifteen, he joined a propaganda arts troupe, and was later assigned a job as a watchmender's apprentice. For a few years he worked in a petrochemical plant near Beijing, then in 1979, moved to the capital and became a photojournalist for a magazine published by the

All China Federation of Trade Unions The All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) is the national trade union center of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the largest trade union in the world with 302 million members in 1,713,000 primary trade union organizations. Th ...

. During this time, he joined the 'underground' No Name art group, the Yuanmingyuan poetry group, and the April photographers' group. He held clandestine exhibitions of his paintings in his one-room shack in Nanxiao Lane, which became a meeting point for dissident artists and writers of Beijing. In 1983, his paintings were denounced during the Anti-Spiritual Pollution Campaign, and he was placed in detention. After his release, he resigned from his job and set off on a three-year journey through China, selling his paintings and stories as he went. When he returned to Beijing in 1986, he wrote '' Stick Out Your Tongue'', a novella inspired by his travels through

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, ...

. Its publication in the official journal ''

People's Literature ''People's Literature'' (《人民文学》''Renmin wenxue'') is the oldest continuously published literary magazine in China, and the first literary magazine published in Communist China. Established in 1949, the magazine is published by the Peo ...

'' in February 1987 coincided with a nationwide crackdown on the arts, and the government publicly denounced the work as an example of

bourgeois liberalism Bourgeois liberalization () is a term used by the Chinese Communist Party to refer to either the prevalent political orientation of Western representative democracy or mainstream Western popular culture. The late 1980s saw the first major usage o ...

. All copies of the journal were confiscated and destroyed, and a blanket ban was placed on the future publications of Ma Jian's books. Just before this event, Ma Jian had moved to Hong Kong, where speech freedoms are much higher. He wrote ''

Bardo In some schools of Buddhism, ''bardo'' ( xct, བར་དོ་ Wylie: ''bar do'') or ''antarābhava'' (Sanskrit, Chinese and Japanese: 中有, romanized in Chinese as ''zhōng yǒu'' and in Japanese as ''chū'u'') is an intermediate, transitio ...

'', a novel about two doomed lovers who are reincarnated through Chinese history, and '' The Nine Crossroads'', about a group of

sent-down youth The sent-down, rusticated, or "educated" youth (), also known as the ''zhiqing'', were the young people who—beginning in the 1950s until the end of the Cultural Revolution, willingly or under coercion—left the urban districts of the ...

who are sent to a remote mountain inhabited by a primitive tribe. In 1989, Ma Jian returned to Beijing and took part in the democracy protests. After the

Tiananmen massacre The Tiananmen Square protests, known in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident (), were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing during 1989. In what is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or in Chinese the June Fourth ...

, he remained in the capital and wrote The Noodle Maker, a dark political satire. For the next few years, he travelled back and forth between Hong Kong and China, editing, briefly, the Hong Kong arts magazine, Wen Yi Bao, and setting up the New Era publishing company and the literary journal ''Trends'', which published essays and novels banned in China. After the

Handover of Hong Kong Sovereignty of Hong Kong was transferred from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China (PRC) at midnight on 1 July 1997. This event ended 156 years of British rule in the former colony. Hong Kong was established as a special admin ...

to China in 1997, Ma Jian moved to Germany to take up a post teaching Chinese literature at

Ruhr University The Ruhr University Bochum (, ) is a public research university located in the southern hills of the central Ruhr area, Bochum, Germany. It was founded in 1962 as the first new public university in Germany after World War II. Instruction beg ...

, and to work on '' Beijing Coma'', a novel about the Tiananmen massacre and the decade of political repression and economic growth that followed it.Holbrook Pierson, Melissa. "Strong Medicine", review of ''Beijing Coma'', ''The Nation'', 4/11 August 2008, p. 34–36. In 1999, he moved to London and wrote '' Red Dust'', a fictionalised account of his journey through China in the 1980s, which won the 2002 Thomas Cook Travel Book Award. He returned to China regularly, and resumed work on '' Beijing Coma'', which was finally published in 2008 and won the 2009

Index on Censorship Index on Censorship is an organization campaigning for freedom of expression, which produces a quarterly magazine of the same name from London. It is directed by the non-profit-making Writers and Scholars International, Ltd (WSI) in association w ...

T.R. Fyvel Book Award and the 2010 Athens Prize for Literature. In 2008–2009, he travelled extensively through the remote interior of China to research ''The Dark Road'', a novel that explores the

One Child Policy The term one-child policy () refers to a population planning initiative in China implemented between 1980 and 2015 to curb the country's population growth by restricting many families to a single child. That initiative was part of a much bro ...

, published by

Chatto & Windus Chatto & Windus is an imprint of Penguin Random House that was formerly an independent book publishing company founded in London in 1855 by John Camden Hotten. Following Hotten's death, the firm would reorganize under the names of his business ...

and Penguin in 2013. In 2001, he collaborated in founding the Independent Chinese PEN Centre, a branch of

PEN International PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internatio ...

, became its board member in 2003–2005 and 2009–2011, a member of its Freedom to Write Committee since 2003, and director of its Press & Translation Committee since 2011. Ma Jian is a vocal critic of China's Communist government. His works explore themes and subjects that are taboo in China. He has continually called for greater freedom of expression and the release of jailed writers and other political prisoners. As a result, his books have been banned in China for the last 25 years, and since the summer of 2011, he has been denied entry into the mainland. Despite the restrictions placed on him, Ma Jian has become a leading Chinese writer, internationally distinguished with his works translated into a great number of languages, including English, French, Spanish, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Catalan, Japanese, Dutch, Hebrew, Romanian, Turkish, Greek, Polish, Korean, Italian and Portuguese. In April 2012, while attending the

London Book Fair The London Book Fair (LBF) is a large book-publishing trade fair held annually, usually in April, in London, England. LBF is a global marketplace for rights negotiation and the sale and distribution of content across print, audio, TV, film and di ...

, Ma used red paint to smear a cross over his face and a copy of his banned book '' Beijing Coma'' and called his Chinese publisher a "mouthpiece of the Chinese communist party" after being "manhandled" while attempting to present the book to the director of the General Administration of Press and Publication and the director of National Copyright Administration, Liu Binjie, at the fair. In November 2018, Ma was a guest at the Hong Kong International Literary Festival.

Tai Kwun Tai Kwun, or the Former Central Police Station Compound (CPS Compound) includes three declared monuments in Central, Hong Kong: the former Central Police Station, the Former Central Magistracy, and the Victoria Prison. Surrounded by Hollyw ...

, the venue for the events, initially cancelled his two talks, because it did not want to "become a platform to promote the political interests of any individual", but subsequently reversed course. The incident sparked public outcry in Hong Kong. Many related this with the recent Victor Mallet visa controversy and the cancellation of

Badiucao Badiucao (; born c. 1986) is a Chinese political cartoonist, artist and rights activist based in Australia. He is regarded as one of China’s most prolific and well-known political cartoonists. He adopted his pen-name to protect his identity. E ...

's exhibition, complaining that China was covertly silencing critics in the autonomous territory and curbing her autonomy. He lives in London with his partner and translator, Flora Drew, and their four children.

Work

Ma came to the attention of the English-speaking world with his story collection '' Stick Out Your Tongue'', translated into English in 2006. The stories are set in

. Their most remarked-upon feature is that traditional

Tibetan culture Tibet developed a distinct culture due to its geographic and climatic conditions. While influenced by neighboring cultures from China, India, and Nepal, the Himalayan region's remoteness and inaccessibility have preserved distinct local in ...

is not idealised, but rather depicted as harsh and often inhuman; one reviewer noted that the "stories sketch multi-generational

incest Incest ( ) is human sexual activity between family members or close relatives. This typically includes sexual activity between people in consanguinity (blood relations), and sometimes those related by affinity ( marriage or stepfamily), ado ...

, routine

sexual abuse Sexual abuse or sex abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using force or by taking advantage of another. Molestation often refers to an instance of sexual assa ...

and ritual rape". The book was banned in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

as a "vulgar and obscene book that defames the image of our Tibetan compatriots." Ma's travel memoir ''Red Dust: A Path Through China'' (2001) is about his wanderings through remote areas of China from 1983 to 1986 as a long-haired jobless vagabond. It won the 2002 Thomas Cook Travel Book Award. His novel '' Beijing Coma'' (2008) tells the story of the

Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 The Tiananmen Square protests, known in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident (), were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing during 1989. In what is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or in Chinese the June Fourth ...

from the point of view of the fictional Dai Wei, a participant in the events left in a coma by the violent end of the protests. The comatose narrator functions as a metaphor for the ability to remember and the inability to act. It has received critical acclaim, with Tom Deveson of ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

'' describing it as "epic in scope but intimate in feeling … magnificent" and the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

'' calling it "an epic yet intimate work that deserves to be recognised and to endure as the great Tienanmen novel.”

Awards and honours

* 2002 Thomas Cook Travel Book Award * 2009 China Free Culture Prize * 2009

TR Fyvel Book Award * 2010 Athens Prize for Literature

List of works

Books of short stories and novellas * '' Stick Out Your Tongue'' (亮出你的舌苔或空空荡荡) (1987) banned in China, English version:

and

Farrar, Straus & Giroux Farrar, Straus and Giroux (FSG) is an American book publishing company, founded in 1946 by Roger Williams Straus Jr. and John C. Farrar. FSG is known for publishing literary books, and its authors have won numerous awards, including Pulitzer ...

(2006) * ''A Dog's Life'' (你拉狗屎) (1987) * ''

The Lament "''Li Sao''" (; translation: "Encountering Sorrow") is an ancient Chinese poem from the anthology ''Chuci'' traditionally attributed to Qu Yuan. ''Li Sao'' dates from the late 3rd century BCE, during the Chinese Warring States period. Backgro ...

'' (怨碑) (1996) Novels * ''

'' (思惑) (1989) * '' The Noodle Maker'' (拉面者) (1991), English version: Chatto & Windus (2004) and Farrar, Straus & Giroux (2005) * '' The Nine Crossroads'' (九条叉路) (1993) * '' Red Dust'' (非法流浪) (2003), English version: Chatto & Windus and

Pantheon Books Pantheon Books is an American book publishing imprint with editorial independence. It is part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.Random House, Inc. Datamonitor Company Profiles Authority: Retrieved 6/20/2007, from EBSCO Host Business Source ...

(2001) * '' Beijing Coma'' (肉之土) (2009) banned in China, English version: Chatto & Windus and Farrar, Straus and Giroux (2008) * ''The Dark Road'' (阴之道), ''Yun chi dao'' (2012), Taipei: Yun Chen Publishing. English version: Chatto & Windus and Penguin (2013) * '' China Dream'' (2018) English version translated by Flora Drew: Chatto & Windus, Other collections * '' Ma Jian's Road'' (马建之路), travel notes and photographs (1987) * '' Life Companion'' (人生伴侣), collection of poems and essays (1996) * '' Intimately Related'' (发生关系), collection of essays (1997)

References

External links

Ma Jian at FSG

Ma Jian
Bio, excerpts, interviews and articles in the archives of the

Prague Writers' Festival The Prague Writers' Festival (PWF) is an annual literary festival in Prague, Czech Republic, taking place every spring since 1991. In 2005 the festival was also held in Vienna. Many of the events are broadcast via the internet. International lite ...