WRITER

Gao Xingjian

1940 - Today

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Gao Xingjian (Chinese: 高行健; born January 4, 1940) is a Chinese émigré and later French naturalized novelist, playwright, critic, painter, photographer, film director, and translator who in 2000 was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature "for an oeuvre of universal validity, bitter insights and linguistic ingenuity." He is also a noted translator (particularly of Samuel Beckett and Eugène Ionesco), screenwriter, stage director, and a celebrated painter. Gao's drama is considered to be fundamentally absurdist in nature and avant-garde in his native China. Absolute Signal (1982) was a breakthrough in Chinese experimental theatre. The Bus Stop (1983) and The Other Shore (1986) had their productions halted by the Chinese government, with the acclaimed Wild Man (1985) the last work of his to be publicly performed in China. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Gao Xingjian is the 276th most popular writer (up from 312th in 2019), the 53rd most popular biography from China (up from 60th in 2019) and the 4th most popular Chinese Writer.

Gao Xingjian is most famous for his Nobel Prize winning novel, "Soul Mountain."

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Among WRITERS

Among writers, Gao Xingjian ranks 276 out of 7,302. Before him are Snorri Sturluson, Jami, Arthur C. Clarke, Quintilian, Elfriede Jelinek, and Peter Handke. After him are Pär Lagerkvist, Anna Komnene, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Valmiki, and Germaine de Staël.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1940, Gao Xingjian ranks 20. Before him are Constantine II of Greece, Annie Ernaux, Nursultan Nazarbayev, Qaboos bin Said al Said, Ringo Starr, and Stuart Sutcliffe. After him are Raul Julia, Michael Gambon, J. M. G. Le Clézio, J. M. Coetzee, Burhanuddin Rabbani, and Joachim Gauck.

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In China

Among people born in China, Gao Xingjian ranks 53 out of 1,610. Before him are Lu Xun (1881), Mahmud al-Kashgari (1029), Nurhaci (1559), Yuan Shikai (1859), Mozi (-470), and Hong Taiji (1592). After him are Emperor Gaozu of Tang (566), Shunzhi Emperor (1638), Li Ching-Yuen (1677), Han Fei (-280), Sun Quan (182), and Yongzheng Emperor (1678).

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Among WRITERS In China

Among writers born in China, Gao Xingjian ranks 4. Before him are Li Bai (701), Du Fu (712), and Lu Xun (1881). After him are Wu Cheng'en (1500), Qu Yuan (-343), Mo Yan (1955), Luo Guanzhong (1330), Bai Juyi (772), Su Shi (1037), Kumārajīva (343), and Faxian (340).

Chinese born Writers

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