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 the

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

ideology An ideology is a set of beliefs or values attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely about belief in certain knowledge, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones". Form ...

and 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 or CYL) is a people's organization of the People's Republic of China for youth between the ages of 14 and 28, r ...

. 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. In 1956 Wang published a controversial piece, "The Young Newcomer in the Organizational Department" (). This caused a great uproar. He served as China's

Minister of Culture A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organiza ...

from July 1986 to September 1989. On 27 June 2015 at the

United International College United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

's 7th Graduation Ceremony in

Zhuhai Zhuhai; Yale romanization of Cantonese, Yale: ''Jyūhói''; Chinese postal romanization, also known as Chuhai is a prefecture-level city located on the west bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern ...

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

Mao Dun Literature Prize The Mao Dun Literature Prize () is an award 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 ...

for ''The Scenery Around Here''.

Selected publication

;Books available in English: * ''100 Glimpses into China: Short Short Stories from China'' (by Wang Meng, Feng Jicai, Wang Zengqi 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-Maoism, Maoist wave of Chinese literature. Biography Born in the province of Sichuan, his family moved to Beijing, a city that figures prominently ...

, 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. * ''On the Road at Eighteen'', which portrays a young man sent on the road by his father, and who is attacked by a group of peasants-turned-robbers, 1986.

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 Artists of China