Yan Lianke

Yan Lianke (zh-tspw|t=閻連科|s=阎连科|p=Yán Liánkē|w=Yen Lien-k'e, b. 1958) is a Chinese writer of novels and short stories based in Beijing. His work is highly satirical, which has resulted in his most famous works being banned in the PRC. He has admitted to self-censorship while writing his stories in order to avoid censorship.

He started writing in 1978 and his most famous works include: "Xia Riluo" (夏日落), "Serve the People" (为人民服务), "Enjoyment" (受活), and "Dream of Ding Village" (丁庄梦). He has also published more than ten volumes of short stories including the winner of the Lu Xun Literature Award in 2000, "Nian Yue Ri" (年月日). "Enjoyment", which was published in 2004, received wide acclaim in China, garnering the 3rd Lao She Literature Award (获第三届老舍文学奖) in the novel category. While his works have been widely published abroad, some of his more controversial works have been banned in China.

Life

Yan Lianke was born in Song County, Henan Province, China. Though he lives in Beijing, he has said that his heart remains in Henan, and he has based numerous works on life in Henan, including "Dream of Ding Village". He entered the army in 1978. He graduated from Henan University in 1985 with a degree in politics and education. In 1991, he graduated from the People's Liberation Army Art Institute with a degree in Literature.

To serve the people (為人民服務)

*This is a phrase coined by Mao Tse-Tung in 1944 when he wrote an article:"To Serve The People" 為人民服務, to commemorate the death of a red army soldier 张思德 Zhang Si-De. In that article Mao said:" To die for the benefit of the people, is heavier than Tai mountain 泰山; working for the fascists, and die for those who oppress and exploit the people, the death would be lighter than a feather. Comrade Zhang Si-De died for the benefit of the people, so his death is heavier than Tai mountain."
During the cultural revolution time, this article was a must read for millions of Chinese;and it was one of the Three Old Articles 老三篇. "To serve the people" then became one of the most popular slogans at all times, even until today. However, there was evidence suggested by author Jung Chang's book , indicating that Comrade Zhang Si-De was in fact killed while processing raw opium when the kiln collapsed on him.

*Yan Lianke 閻連科 used Mao's phrase "To serve the people" for the name of his novel, which contains vivid and colorful descriptions of sex scenes, resulting in explosive controversy when it was featured in 2005 in a magazine "Flower City" 《花城》雙月刊. The Chinese government ordered the publisher to stop the release of 30,000 copies of the magazine, resulting in a huge demand on the novel by readers.

*The storyline is similar to D. H. Lawrence's "Lady Chatterley's Lover": the younger wife (28 yrs) of a older army general (52 yrs), who is impotent, begins to seduce a soldier (33 yrs), assigned to do the domestic chores for the general. During sex, they have discovered that by smashing anything that has pictures or writings of Mao Tse-Tung, or writing the slogan "To serve the people", they achieved incredible climax in sex. They then purposely collected Mao's statues or busts and kept them nearby, so that they could be smashed during sex. The story's background was the cultural revolution era, and the main characters were fully aware of the consequences of smashing Mao's statues. It was death by firing squad.

The smashing of anything Mao Tse-Tung was the cause of the banning of the novel by the Communist government, because even today, Mao Tse-Tung is still revered by many Chinese in China.

Dream of Ding Village (丁庄梦)

*Another award winning novel by Yan Lianke 閻連科, it was about an extremely sad and heavy subject:AIDS sufferers that have no or minimum outside help. In 2005, it was one of The Best Ten Books Award by Yazhou Zhoukan [cite web|url=http://www.yzzk.com/cfm/Content_Archive.cfm?Channel=as&Path=3134611291/07AS1.cfm|title=2005亞洲週刊十大好書揭曉　．章海陵|accessdate=2008-09-24] 亞洲週刊, a popular weekly magazine published in Hong Kong.

Dream of Ding Village 丁庄梦 was rightly being compared with the book by Albert Camus, Nobel prize for Literature winner in 1957, The Plague (La Peste) 1947. It was called the Chinese version of
The Plague

Dream of Ding Village 丁庄梦 was published in Hong Kong at 2006, was again banned by the Chinese government, the reasons put forward was "using dark descriptions, to exaggerate the harm and fear of AIDS".To get first hand knowledge, starting from 2003, Yan Lianke went to visit the AIDS sufferers seven times, and lived with them at the villages.

References

Awards

* 2000 Lu Xun Award for "Nian Yue Ri" (《年月日》)
* 2005 Lao She Award for "Enjoyment" (《受活》)
* 2005 Asia Weekly 10 Best Novels award for "Dream of Ding Village"

External links

* [http://www.zonaeuropa.com/culture/c20060113_1.htm] Discussion of Two Novels about Blood Selling
* [http://www.zonaeuropa.com/culture/c20060327_1.htm] Being Alive is Not Just an Instinct. An interview with Yan Lianke about "Dream of Ding Village"
* [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/08/AR2007070801063.html] An article on Yan Lianke's self-censorship.

Persondata
NAME= Lianke, Yan
阎连科(Simplified Chinese); Lianke, Yan (Hanyu Pinyin)
SHORT DESCRIPTION= Chinese Novelist, Satirist
PLACE OF BIRTH= Song County, Henan, China