Gao Xingjian

Before the Chinese-born novelist and playwright Gao Xingjian won the Nobel Prize in Literature, in 2000, the Chinese government led a semi-formal campaign, for nearly thirty years, to win the prize—an effort Julia Lovell chronicles in “The Politics of Cultural Capital: China’s Quest for a Nobel Prize in Literature.”

Consider the case of the first native-born Nobel laureate for literature, Gao Xingjian, who won the prize in 2000.

Nobel Literature Laureate Gao Xingjian may be nearing his 74th birthday, but retirement could not be further from his mind.

Individuals are silenced on daily basis, and the pool of sensitive words grows by the hour: Liu Xiaobo, Gao Xingjian, Ai Weiwei, Wei Jingsheng, Liao Yiwu, Ma Jian, Mo Zhixu, Xiao Shu … The list goes on.

Be firm in removing all comments which disgrace the Party and the government, defame cultural work, mention Nobel laureates Liu Xiaobo and Gao Xingjian and associated harmful material.