Wang Meng (; born 15 October 1934) is a Chinese writer who served as China's Minister of Culture from 1986 to 1989.

Biography

Wang was born in Beijing in 1934. During his middle school years, he was introduced to communist ideology and in 1949 officially joined the

Communist Youth League The Communist Youth League of China (CYLC), also known as the Young Communist League of China or simply the Communist Youth League (CYL), is a youth movement of the People's Republic of China for youth between the ages of 14 and 28, run by the ...

. Wang Meng has published over 60 books since 1955, including six novels, ten short-story collections, as well as other works of poetry, prose and critical essays. His works have been translated and published in 21 different languages. In 1956 Wang published a controversial piece, "The Young Newcomer in the Organizational Department" (). This caused a great uproar and subsequently led to his being labelled a "rightist". In 1963, he was sent to

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 ...

to be "reformed" through labor. It was largely during this period of hardship that he accrued much of the experience that would later become the material for his short stories and novels. Not until 1979 was this injury redressed. In 1980 he was invited to be in residency at the

International Writing Program The International Writing Program (IWP) is a writing residency for international artists in Iowa City, Iowa. Since 2014, the program offers online courses to many writers and poets around the world. Since its inception in 1967, the IWP has hosted o ...

at the University of Iowa. He served as China's Minister of Culture from July 1986 to September 1989. In an article in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'', critic

Jianying Zha Jianying Zha or Zha Jianying (; born 1959) is a Chinese American journalist and non-fiction writer. She writes and publishes in both English language, English and Chinese language, Chinese.Dan WashburnInterview: Author Zha Jianying on Grappling Wit ...

asked, 'Is China's most eminent writer a reformer or an apologist?' in response to the criticism of Wang Meng's public lecture at the Frankfurt International Book Fair on October 18, 2009. On 27 June 2015 at the

United International College Beijing Normal University-Hong Kong Baptist University United International College (UIC; ), a public college located at Xiangzhou District, Zhuhai, Guangdong, China. It was co-founded by Beijing Normal University and Hong Kong Baptist Univer ...

's 7th Graduation Ceremony in

Zhuhai Zhuhai (, ; Yale: ''Jyūhói''), also known as Chuhai is a prefecture-level city located on the west bank of Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern Guangdong province, People's Republic of China, on the southeastern edge of Pearl ...

, Wang Meng was rewarded with the Honorary Fellowships. In 2015 he was awarded 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 ...

for 'Scenery on this Side''.

Selected publications

;Books available in English: * ''100 Glimpses into China: Short Short Stories from China'' (by Wang Meng,

Feng Jicai Feng Jicai () is a contemporary Chinese author, artist and cultural scholar. Biography Born in Tianjin in 1942 to a family originally from Ningbo, Zhejiang province, Feng rose to prominence as a pioneer of the Scar Literature movement that emerg ...

Wang Zengqi Wang Zengqi (; 1920 – 1997) was a contemporary Chinese writer. He is famous for his short stories and essays. He is regarded as a successor of Beijing School Writers. Biography Wang was born in a landowner family in 1920 in Gaoyou, Jiangsu pro ...

and others) (Xu Yihe and Daniel J. Meissner). Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1989. * ''Alienation'' (Nance T. Lin and Tong Qi Lin). Hong Kong: Joint Publishing Co., 1993. * ''Bolshevik Salute: A Modernist Chinese Novel'' (Wendy Larson). Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1989. * ''Prize-winning Stories from China, 1978-1979'' (by

Liu Xinwu Liu Xinwu (; born June 1942) is a Chinese author, and one of the earliest proponents of the post-Maoist wave of Chinese literature. Biography Born in the province of Sichuan, his family moved to Beijing, a city that figures prominently in his ...

, Wang Meng, and others). Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1981. * ''Snowball'' (Cathy Silber and Deirdre Huang). Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1989. * ''The Butterfly and Other Stories'' (intro. by Rui An). Beijing: Chinese Literature,1983. * ''The Strain of Meeting'' (Denis C. Mair). Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1989. * ''The Stubborn Porridge and Other Stories'' (Zhu Hong). New York: George Braziller, 1994. * ''Wonderful Xinjiang: A photographic journey of China's largest province as told through the pen of Wang Meng''. Pleasantville: Reader's Digest, 2004.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wang, Meng 1934 births Living people Ministers of Culture of the People's Republic of China Short story writers from Beijing People's Republic of China politicians from Beijing Chinese Communist Party politicians from Beijing International Writing Program alumni Chinese male novelists Mao Dun Literature Prize laureates Beijing No. 4 High School alumni Chinese male short story writers 20th-century Chinese short story writers Victims of the Anti-Rightist Campaign People's Republic of China short story writers