The hottest writer in China: Mo Yan
By admin on 2014-12-26

After a three-year absence, renowned Chinese writer Mo Yan has dared to go where few have before, delving into the sensitive topic of China's family planning policy, a bold move which is destined to make an indelible mark on a lingering ache that has haunted many Chinese people for more than half a century.

In his latest work Frog, Mo's protagonist is based on his aunt, a countryside doctor who delivered the author himself and thousands of others and faithfully carried out China's family planning policy in local rural areas.

The novel, 10 years in the making and revised three times, presents a unique perspective on life on the grasslands over the past 60 years from the perspective of a local female doctor who specialized in child birth.

Before the family planning policy was adopted, Mo's aunt, referred to in Frog simply as Gu Gu ("aunt" in Chinese), was once considered a godsend who helped deliver little miracles to local families. After the family planning policy was adopted, she transformed into the image of a devil who enforced abortive methods for women pregnant with a second child.

The heart-wrenching predicament facing Gu Gu sees her burdened with the pressure and responsibility of keeping birth rates low while in her heart, she is a good-natured doctor, very fond of children and focused on protecting infants and preventing miscarriages.

Frog delves into Gu Gu's state of mind, revealing her inner struggle between answering the political call of the time and the pregnant families, abortions and deaths as a result of her actions.

"She experienced many memorable moments throughout her 50 years as a local doctor," Mo was quoted by Sina.com as saying. "It sparked my interest and thinking and has spurred me to present the character to readers through literature."

"The family planning policy is a basic condition of China dealing with the most conservative element of traditional culture. It touches the sorest points and most delicate parts of the souls of thousands of millions of Chinese people," he added.

China's family planning policy has long been a topic that writers have dared not touch upon and few literary works have dealt with the subject.
Mo explained that a writer should face the realities of society and not shy away from serious problems. He said that a writer has the right to disclose everything as long as it is present in real life and it is left for readers to judge whether it is right or wrong.

The novel is written in an epistolary style, comprising of five parts of four letters and a play, with the latter part focusing on Gu Gu's confessions of the heart. She marries a local artist who makes clay figures and through his hands finds solace from the aborted children in her life.

The title of Frog symbolizes the lives and multiplication of life, according to Mo, as a frog has a strong ability to reproduce. Another connotation is the homophone of frog or wa in Chinese that has a similar pronunciation to the goddess in Chinese mythology Nu Wa who created human kind.

In stark contrast to his previous works, Mo does not pay deliberate attention to the use of florid words in Frog, but instead emphasizes the use of plain language to reflect the suffering and spiritual heartache of many Chinese people.

Mo explained that he endeavored to reproduce the painful realities of the family planning policy through the use of simple wording and that directly reflecting society's concerns and the lives of everyday people was his untiring pursuit.

As one of the most renowned and prolific modern writers in China, Mo was born in 1955 in Gao Mi, Shandong Province and named Guan Moye. His pen name Mo Yan in Chinese means "not to speak," as the writer tends to be frank in his depictions and his views are often not welcomed – as a result he chose the name to remind himself to speak less.

The author's birth into a poor peasant family and his early life in the countryside has inspired much of his works, with his roots always close to his heart. Many of Mo's novels have touched on delicate topics related to the countryside and the lives of the lower social classes.

Joining the army at the age of 20, Mo began writing in 1981 when he was still a soldier. Mo is one of the most highly acclaimed writers in China with accolades both at home and abroad including the Kiriyama Prize for Notable Books in 2005 for his novel Big Breasts and Wide Hips, the Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize XVII in 2006 and the Newman Prize for Chinese Literature for Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out, last year.

Several of Mo Yan's novels have been translated into many languages, including English, French and German and Mo has been touted as one of China's "hottest" writers and one with the most potential to one day take home the Nobel Prize in Literature.