Luo Hongyu (, born June 20, 1942
["Gu Hua" ''The Writers Directory 2010''. Ed. Lisa Kumar. 25th ed. Vol. 1. Detroit: St. James Press, 2009. 1082. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Retrieved 17 Oct. 2012.]), better known by his
pen name
A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name.
A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...
Gu Hua (), is a Chinese author. His writings concern rural life in the mountainous area of southern Hunan of which he was very familiar.
["Gu Hua 1942–." ''Encyclopedia of Modern China''. Ed. David Pong. Vol. 2. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2009. 150-151. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Retrieved 17 Oct. 2012.] In 1988 he emigrated to Canada.
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Life
He was born in a small village of only forty or fifty families. Rural traditions had been very well-preserved there and inspired him during his formative years. Later, when he attended school, he was exposed to classical works (such as '' The Five Younger Gallants'') and developed an interest in literature. However, his father died when he was still quite young and, in 1958, he was forced to suspend his education for a year to help his family.
In 1959, he was accepted at the Agricultural Technology School in Zhangzhou
Zhangzhou (, ) is a prefecture-level city in Fujian Province, China. The prefecture around the city proper comprises the southeast corner of the province, facing the Taiwan Strait and (with Quanzhou) surrounding the prefecture of Xiamen.
Nam ...
Prefecture. Two years later, toward the end of the Great Chinese Famine, he was transferred to the Qiaokou Agricultural Institute in Yinzhou and worked on a small rural farm for fourteen years, through most of the Cultural Revolution
The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...
. His first published works appeared in 1962.
He published prolifically from 1971 to 1976 and, in 1975, became a creative consultant for the Ganzhou
Ganzhou (), alternately romanized as Kanchow, is a prefecture-level city in the south of Jiangxi province, China, bordering Fujian to the east, Guangdong to the south, and Hunan to the west. Its administrative seat is at Zhanggong District.
His ...
song and dance troupe. Much of his writing was influenced by the concept of the "" (三突出). In 1980, he became a member of the China Writers Association
The China Writers Association (CWA) is a subordinate people's organization of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles (CFLAC).
Founded in July 1949, the organization was initially named the China National Literature Workers Association. ...
(CWA).
In 1988, he emigrated to Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
, where he still maintains his residence. Despite this, he has served as President and Vice-Chairman of the Hunan branch of the CWA.
Works
Gu is best known for his 1981 novel ''Furong zhen'' ('' A Small Town Called Hibiscus'') which won the inaugural Mao Dun Literature Prize (1982), one of the most prestigious literature prizes in China.[Guang, Yang (2011, Sep 21). "The best is yet to come, says writer Mo Yan." ''McClatchy - Tribune Business News''.] It was the third top-selling novel to ever win that prize, selling over 850,000 copies.[ The novel was a rebuke of the Cultural Revolution. It was adapted to film in 1986 as '' Hibiscus Town'', winning many awards including 'Best Film' of the 1987 ]Golden Rooster Awards
The Golden Rooster Awards () are film awards given in mainland China. The awards were originally given annually, beginning in 1981. The name of the award came from the year of the Rooster in 1981. Award recipients receive a statuette in the sha ...
.
In 1986, ''The New York Times'' reported that he has "risen to prominence in the last three years among some younger writers who seek to rediscover, if not necessarily to affirm, China's traditional life and values.[ In China he has been called the Shen Congwen of the 1980s and even the ]Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Literary realism, Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry ...
of Hunan," although Perry Link (professor of Chinese at the University of California) disagreed that Gu is comparable to those talents.[Sorensen, Simon. "Virgin Windows." '']World Literature Today
''World Literature Today'' (''WLT'') is an American magazine of international literature and culture, published at the University of Oklahoma. The magazine's stated goal is to publish international essays, poetry, fiction, interviews, and book ...
'' 72.1 (1998): 203. Literature Resource Center. Retrieved 17 Oct. 2012. He published a new anthology of his poetry in 2015 and a novel, ''Beijing Relics'', in 2016.
List of Works
*1981 ''Furong zhen'', trans. by G. Yang as '' A Small Town Called Hibiscus'', 1983
*1982 ''Paman Qingteng Oe Muwu'', 1982, trans. as ''Pagoda Ridge and Other Stories'', 1986
*1986 ''Xin ge jing'', 1986
*1984 ''Gu Hua Zhongpian Xiaoshuoji'', trans. as ''Collected Novellas of Gu Hua''
*1984 ''Jiejie Zhai'', trans. as ''Sisters' Village''
*1985 ''Gu Hua Xiaoshud Xuan'', trans. as ''Selected Novels of Gu Hua''
*1985 ''Chen Neu'', trans. by H. Goldblatt as ''Virgin Widows'', 1997
*Other books published in Chinese
*Screenplays of own novels
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gu, Hua
1942 births
Living people
Short story writers from Hunan
People from Chenzhou
International Writing Program alumni
Mao Dun Literature Prize laureates
Chinese male novelists
Chinese male short story writers
20th-century Chinese short story writers