1. Xingjian, Gao (1) China

2. IA -- China – Gao Xingjian (1940 - ) IA -- China – Gao Xingjian (1940 - )

3. Gao Xingjian (1940 - ) Gao Xingjian was born in a province of eastern China & lived in relative privilege since his father was a bank official & his mother was an amateur actress who encouraged a love of theatre & writing. He was educated in the People's Republic of China schools. During the Cultural Revolution (1966-76) Gao was sent to a re-education camp. While there he plucked & burned some of his manuscripts that would have been considered subversive. From 1980-87 he published short stories, essays, dramas, & books. In 1983, Gao was diagnosed with lung cancer. This caused him to re-examine his life. Although the tests were in error and he did not have cancer, it caused him consternation to write Soul Mountain, a book that celebrates individual freedom and imagination as forces that allow humans to transform their lives.

4. Gao Xingjian (1940 - ) By 1986 his work was under the scrutiny of the Chinese government for being at odds with Communist ideals. In that year, one of his plays was banned and until this day, none of his plays have been performed again in China. In 1987 he left China seeking political refugee status in Paris, and by 1989 he renounced the Communist Party. In addition to being a novelist, he is a painter, a translator, a literary critic, & a dramatist. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2000 for his work that showed “ …universal validity, bitter insights and linguistic ingenuity, which has opened new paths for the Chinese novel and drama".