On March 27, 1981, Mr. Mao Dun, a famous modern Chinese writer, literary critic, cultural activist and social activist, died of illness.
Mao Dun left a will before his death and donated 250,000 yuan to encourage the development of literature. In accordance with this last wish, the Mao Dun Literature Prize was established to reward outstanding novels, with Mr. Ba Jin, a famous contemporary Chinese writer, as the director of the jury. In 1982, Zhou Keqin's "Xu Mao and His Daughters", Wei Wei's "Dongfang", Mo Yingfeng's "General Yin", Yao Xueyu's "Li Zicheng", Gu Hua's "Furong Town", and Li Guowen's "Spring in Winter" became the first Mao Dun Literature Award winners.
Writer Mao Dun
The Mao Dun Literature Prize represents the highest award of Chinese literature, and it is very difficult to win. As early as 1953, Mr. Wang Meng, who became famous with a "Long Live Youth", was shortlisted for the Mao Dun Literature Award three times, all of which were named Luosun Shan and became a "runner", until 2015, when he successfully won the 9th Mao Dun Literature Award with a "Landscape Here". At that time, Wang Meng was 81 years old.
Of course, more literary creators have never been shortlisted for the Mao Dun Literature Award in their lifetime. After all, in the past 30 years, the Mao Dun Literature Award has only been held for a total of 10 sessions, and only 45 people and 46 novels have won the Mao Dun Literature Award (Zhang Jie once won the second and sixth Mao Dun Literature Awards for "Heavy Wings" and "No Words" respectively).
If you look at the place of origin of the winners, which province has the most writers who have won the Mao Dun Literature Prize? The answer must be Henan Province. So far, the literary Yujun has shined in the selection of the Mao Dun Literature Award and performed very well, with a total of 9 people having won the Mao Dun Literature Award, accounting for one-fifth of the total number of winners.
Among the winning writers of the first Mao Dun Literature Award, two Henan writers appeared. They were Wei Wei and Yao Xueyan.
Wei Wei
Wei Wei was born on March 6, 1920, and was a native of Zhengzhou, Henan. In 1950, Wei Wei went to the Korean battlefield as a military cultural worker, and his newsletter "Who is the Loveliest Person" influenced an entire generation. In 1978, Wei Wei completed the novel "Orient" on the theme of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and won the Mao Dun Literature Award in 1982.
Yao Xueyu was born on October 10, 1910, and was a native of Dengzhou, Henan. Because he came from a poor family, he only attended primary school for 3 years, relying on self-taught talent. In 1957, Yao Xueyu began to write a 5-volume long historical novel "Li Zicheng", and it was not until 1999 that this huge production was initially completed. In 1982, the second volume of Li Zicheng won the Mao Dun Literature Prize.
In 1985, the second Mao Dun Literature Award was awarded, and the third Henan writer entered the list of winners, his name was Li Zhun.
Li Zhun was born on July 4, 1928, and was a native of Luoyang, Henan. Li Zhun has two identities, one is a screenwriter and the other is a writer. In these two different fields, Li Zhun has achieved excellent results. In terms of screenwriting, Li Zhun and Li Cunbao are the screenwriters of the movie "Garland Under the Mountain", which has caused a huge sensation. In terms of literary creation, in 1985, Li Zhun won the second Mao Dun Literature Award for his novel "The Yellow River Flows East".
Movie "Garland Under the Mountain"
From the third to the fifth session, Henan writers and Mao Dun Literature Award were missed for three consecutive years. By the time the Sixth Mao Dun Literature Award was awarded in 2005, two more Henan writers appeared among the winners, Liu Jianwei and Zong Pu.
Liu Jianwei was born in October 1963 and is a native of Nanyang, Henan. Liu Jianwei is a military man who specializes in literary creation of military themes, and won the Mao Dun Literature Award in 2005 for a long novel "The Age of Heroes".
Zong Pu was born on July 26, 1928, with his ancestral home in Tanghe, Henan, and was born in Beijing. Zong Pu was a female writer from a family of intellectuals, and her father was the famous philosopher Feng Youlan, so she was very good at writing literary works on intellectual subjects. In 2005, Zong Pu won the 6th Mao Dun Literature Award for his novel "The Record of Eastern Tibet".
Zong Pu
Next, in the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th Mao Dun Literature Awards, Henan writers appeared in the list of winners.
The winner of the 7th Mao Dun Literature Award was Zhou Daxin. Born in 1952, Zhou Da was a native of Dengzhou, Henan Province, and was a fellow villager with Yao Xueyao. Zhou Daxin, a soldier, won the Mao Dun Literature Prize in 2008 for his novel "Lakes and Mountains" that reflected the construction of the Danjiangkou Reservoir.
Danjiangkou Reservoir
The winner of the 8th Mao Dun Literature Award was Liu Zhenyun. Liu Zhenyun was born in May 1958 and is a native of Xinxiang, Henan. Liu Zhenyun served as a soldier and returned from the army to become a private teacher. After resuming the college entrance examination, he was admitted to the department of Chinese of Peking University as a liberal arts champion of the Henan Provincial College Entrance Examination. Many of Liu Zhenyun's novels have been adapted into film and television dramas, such as "A Place of Chicken Feathers", "Mobile Phone", "My Name is Liu Yuejin", "1942" and so on. In 2011, Liu Zhenyun won the Mao Dun Literature Award for his novel "One Sentence Top 10,000 Sentences".
The winner of the 9th Mao Dun Literature Award was Li Peifu. Born in October 1953, Li Peifu is a native of Xuchang, Henan. In 1997, Li Peifu made a name for himself in the literary world with his novel "The Door of the Sheep". In 2012, Li Peifu published the novel "Book of Life", which won the Mao Dun Literature Prize in 2015.
Li Peifu
The winner of the 10th Mao Dun Literature Award was Li Er. Born in 1966, Li Er is a native of Jiyuan, Henan. Li Er was a representative writer of the New Generation, focusing on the intellectual community and establishing the style of "daily life writing". On August 16, 2019, Li Er won the 10th Mao Dun Literature Award for his novel "Brother Ying Wu".