Wang Meng (author)

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

Wang Meng
Wang Meng Frankfurt Book Fair 2009
Minister of Culture
In office 1986–1989
Preceded by	Zhu Muzhi
Succeeded by	He Jingzhi
Personal details
Born	(1934-10-15) October 15, 1934 (age 90) Beijing, China
Political party	Chinese Communist Party
Alma mater	Beijing Normal University
Occupation	Writer

In this Chinese name, the family name is Wang.

Biography

Wang was born in Beijing in 1934. During his middle school years, he was introduced to the Chinese Communist Party ideology and joined the Communist Youth League.^[1]

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" (组织部来了个年轻人). This caused a great uproar.^[2]

He served as China's Minister of Culture from July 1986 to September 1989.^[3]

On 27 June 2015 at the United International College's 7th Graduation Ceremony in Zhuhai, Wang Meng was rewarded with the Honorary Fellowships.^[4] In 2015 he was awarded the Mao Dun Literature Prize for The Scenery Around Here.^[5]

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, 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.^[6]: 196