10 Most Influential Contemporary Chinese Writers

Contemporary Chinese literature is rich and colorful. There are all types of writers and various types of writings. Then which Chinese writers do you enjoy? And what type of work? Below is a list of most influential contemporary Chinese writers and their works. Each had made grate contribution in contemporary Chinese literature. Hope you can find your favorite writer here.

1. Mo Yan 莫言 (1955 – )

Mo Yan, Chinese Noble Literature Prize winner, became well-known for his novel The Garlic Ballads and his international breakthrough came with the epic novel Red Sorghum. Combing audacious narrative style with old Chinese literature and popular oral traditions, his works have a rare aesthetic value and depth of thought.

2. Yu Hua 余华 (1960 – )

His most important novels including Chronicle of a Blood Merchant and To Live. Yu Huang has an sharp perceptivity in art and exquisite narrative skills. His works (especially his later ones）are filled with a tremendous compassion and an spontaneous and honest writing style,

3 Sun Li 孙犁 (1913 – 2002)

His works like story Lotus Lake are widely appreciated by readers. Chairman Mao Zedong praised him as a writer with unique writing style. His works are full of profound connotation of Chinese traditional culture.

4. Wang Zengqi 汪曾祺 (1920 – 1997)

Shoujie and Danao Jishi are both his award-winning novels. His novels contain both the traditional flavor and modern consciousness. With an elegant and natural style, his novels are similar to prose.

5. Bei Dao 北岛 (1949- )

Bei Dao is one of China’s most important contemporary authors and commonly considered the most influential poets in China during the 1980s. His works The August Sleepwalker, Old Snow, Unlock, Landscape over Zero, Midnight’s Gate, and Waves have been internationally acclaimed for their subtlety, innovation, and eloquence.

6. Zhang Chengzhi 张承志 (1948 – )

Zhang Chengzhi is the most influential Muslim writer in China. His representative works are The Black Steed and Golden Pastures. His works not only keep alive an old-fashioned idealism but also has given the humanist subject an infusion of energy.

7. Shi Tiesheng 史铁生 (1951-2010)

Shi Tiesheng, a paralyzed Chinese writer, is best known for his essay The Temple of Earth and I and novel Notes on Principles. Shi Tiesheng is praised to inspired people to probe into the ultimate reality of life.

8. Yu Guangzhong 余光中(1928 – )

Yu Guangzhong is a Taiwan writer and poet. Yu is considered as one of the “Top 10 Poets” of modern Taiwan. The Columbia Anthology of Modern Chinese Literature has called him “one of the most prolific and acclaimed writers in Taiwan.”

9. Chen Zhongshi陈忠实 (1942 – )

Chen Zhongshi is famous for his magnum opus White Deer Plain for which he won Mao Dun Literature Prize in 1996. The book tells of the struggles of two rural families, fights between arch foes, love affairs and spiritual life on the plain to the east of Xi’an. The novel has been hailed by critics as a modern classic.

10. Wang Anyi 王安忆 (1954 – )

Wang Anyi’s most well-known works are short story Baotown and novel The Song of Everlasting Sorrow. Many of her works have won literature awards and has been translated into other languages. She uses her elegant pen to present a vivid and detailed reality from a feminine perspective. Her works perfectly combines literature and aesthetics.