INK 墨

Suggestions for writers and works to read in Chinese languages - mostly Mandarin, with some exceptions.

The writers introduced include novelists across a range of genres, essayists, sociologists, historians, journalists, and others. Also listed are projects that provide access to writing alongside academic research and cultural commentary.

Click here to skip ahead to the writers.

Since first beginning to learn Chinese, I've sought out reading recommendations from friends and native speakers.

Over time I've developed my own sense of how and where to seek out content I'm interested in - something I tend to take for granted in my native language.

Tastes differ and there are of course many other writers worth spending time with; these are shared here to point towards those I've got something out of, and in some cases to promote lesser-known writers or books deserving of a broader audience.

See SOURCES for details on where to get hold of Chinese-language books.

Eileen Chang 張愛玲 (1920 - 1995), also known as Zhang Ailing, was a novelist, screenwriter, and essayist, and a major figure in 20th century Chinese literature.

Zhang's works remain widely read in the Chinese-language world today, many of them focused on the 1930s to 1940s of the Republican era. She is perhaps best known overseas as the author of Lust, Caution 《色，戒》, which Ang Lee 李安 adapted for the screen in 2007. Her novel Naked Earth 《赤地戀愛》, one of few translated into English, depicts a young couple separated by Party bureaucracy and the Korean War.

In addition to her fiction, she was an active translator, and her research on Cao Xueqin's 曹雪芹 Dream of the Red Chamber 《紅樓夢》 is credited with having revived scholarly interest in the classic novel.

Chen Hsueh 陳雪

Chen Hsueh 陳雪 (1970 - ) is a novelist and short story writer.

Her 1995 collection Vile Girls Book 《惡女書》 explores its protagonists' struggles to accept their non-conventional sexuality, amid strained family ties and social stigma.

The strongest of the stories are Looking for Lost Angel Wings 《尋找天使遺失的翅膀》 and After the Cat Died 《貓死了之後》, which speak directly through first-person narratives, whereas the magical realist style of the other two seems to dilute the impact.

In one passage of Night Maze 《夜的迷宮》 Chen composes across the page in rows and columns simultaneously, an unusual technique that gives a stream-of-consciousness-like feel. It would be interesting to see this developed to greater effect.

Since gaining infamy for the controversy of Vile Girls Book, her debut work - published in a less tolerant Taiwan, over two decades before it legalised same-sex marriage - Chen has spoken of her desire not to be typified as a genre writer. Chen is a prolific writer with several acclaimed full-length novels, some of which are on this list.

Chen Zhongshi 陳忠實

Chen Zhongshi 陳忠實 (1942 - 2016) was an author and the 1997 recipient of the Mao Dun Literature Prize 茅盾文學獎.

The novel that earned him recognition, White Deer Plain 《白鹿原》, follows two rival families in rural Shaanxi province through the major upheavals of the first half of the 20th century. From the decline of the Qing Dynasty, through the establishment of the Republic of China, Japanese occupation and civil war, and the ultimate victory of the Communist Party, Chen depicts the conflicting interests and obligations that lead individuals to fateful decisions.

The narrative complexity brings out the overwhelming uncertainty people endured during the period, and avoids any sense of a simple moral path to safety.

Chiang Hsun 蔣勛

Chiang Hsun 蔣勳 (1947 - ) is a writer, artist, and former professor of fine arts at Taiwan's Tunghai University 東海大學. He has written extensively on global culture, art history, and Chinese history, and is a popular speaker due to his accessible style.

His extensive output includes interpretations of literary classics, such as his mesmerising in-depth series on Dream of the Red Chamber 紅樓夢 - akin to the late Frank Delaney's contribution to James Joyce's Ulysses - essays on Buddhism, and musings on artistic expression across differing cultural and societal values.

China Heritage

The China Heritage project, which also houses The Wairarapa Academy for New Sinology 清漪書院, is a product of collaboration between sinologist Geremie Barmé and fellow scholars of China's culture and politics.

Though not "native" content, the site is included here due to being an excellent gateway to encounter independent thinkers in the People's Republic of China and its community-in-exile, and a resource for those interested in in-depth analysis of contemporary China's politics and society.

Its publications provide insight into the context of current developments, and their coverage of the writings of prominent intellectuals - such as the ongoing Xu Zhangrun 許章潤 series - shares invaluable expertise on the subtleties of language and historical references used to express political opposition, among other insights.

China Unoffical Archives
中國民間檔案館

The China Unoffical Archives launched in December 2023 as a platform "dedicated to making accessible the key documents, movies, blogs, and publications of a movement of Chinese people seeking to reclaim their country's history."

The archives include an extensive back-catalogue of the renowned history magazine China Through the Ages 《炎黄春秋》 - abruptly dismantled in 2014 - in addition to a growing body of other important writing and films that shed light on the broad scope of discussion and research that persists outside of official narratives.

Chu T'ien-wen 朱天文

Chu T'ien-wen 朱天文 (1956 - ) is a novelist and screenwriter, and one the most celebrated Taiwanese literary figures of the 20th century. Her father Chu Hsi-ning 朱西甯 (1927 - 1998) and Chu T'ien-hsin 朱天心 (1958 - ) are also prominent writers.

Chu T'ien-wen is known for her prolific collaboration with Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-hsien 侯孝賢, for whom she wrote or co-wrote over a dozen scripts, including the masterpiece A City of Sadness 悲情城市. She has also worked alongside directors Chen Kunhou 陳坤厚 and Edward Yang 楊德昌.

Her literary output is highly regarded as well, amongst which is Notes of a Desolate Man 荒人手記. The novel is written as the diary of a gay man who has arrived in Japan to be with his friend who is dying of AIDS, and recollects his memories of their shared past.

Feng Tang 馮唐

Feng Tang 馮唐 is the pseudonym of Zhang Haipeng 張海鵬 (1971 - ), a writer, poet, and private equity investor from Beijing.

Oneness 《不二》 depicts Tang dynasty monks and nuns as sexual deviants with cynical attitudes towards their faith and peers. Feng's explicit deadpan humour is reminiscent of Wang Xiaobo 王小波, and he combines this with historical detail and satirical plays on monastic politics to great effect.

Hao Jingfang 郝景芳

Hao Jingfang 郝景芳 (1984 - ) is a science fiction writer and 2016 recipient of the Hugo Award for Best Novelette.

Her novella Folding Beijing 《北京摺曡》 is a futuristic riff on the experiences of the city's beipiao 北漂 or migrant workers, whose labour is essential to its function, and yet must eke out precarious lives in a legal grey zone without basic rights.

Hsieh Tzu-fan 謝子凡

Hsieh Tzu-fan 謝子凡 is an author, translator, and former advertiser.

Me and the Garbage Truck I Chased 《我和我追逐的垃圾車》 is a collection of semi-autobiographical short stories. Divided across four themes (Hot - Cold - Dark - Light), Xie's restrained but reflective writing style gives depth to her everyday subject matter.

LEAP 藝術界

LEAP 藝術界 is a biannual, bilingual contemporary art and cultural commentary magazine.

The print edition places the Chinese and English articles versions right beside each other, which can be especially useful as a learning tool for gleaning context from complex prose.

The LEAP website also provides free access to many of their articles.

Leung Man-tao 梁文道

Leung Man-tao 梁文道 (1970 - ) is a writer, cultural critic, and public personality. He was a long-running guest on Dou Wentao's 竇文濤 news talk-show Qiangqiang Sanrenxing 鏘鏘三人行 until its cancellation in 2017.

His books I Read 《我讀》 and I Write 《我執》 consist of series of short entries of reflections on reading and writing, respectively, with expansions on his personal philosophy as a practicing Buddhist.

Liu Cixin 劉慈欣

Liu Cixin 劉慈欣 (1963 - ) is a science fiction writer, former engineer, and recipient of the 2015 Hugo Award for Three Body Problem 《三體》, the first book of his trilogy by the same name.

His engineering background shows in the descriptions of a near-future Earth trying desperately to develop technological solutions to an existential threat, and his application of game theory to space exploration in the second instalment, Dark Forest 《黑暗森林》, is engaging, as are the more experimental plotlines of the finale, Death's End 《死神永生》.

The narrative is let down by two-dimensional characters, and Liu's reliance on lazy stereotypes makes some sections tedious. Still, his strategic plot developments and talent for the science he knows is worthwhile for those interested in the genre.

For a detailed critical commentary on the trilogy and Liu's worldview, see this Yibao article by Wang Qingmin 王慶民.

Liu Yichang 劉以鬯

Liu Yichang 劉以鬯 (1918 - 2018) was a writer, editor and publisher, and one of the most prominent Hong Kong literary figures of the 20th century. Liu began as a newspaper editor and columnist during the Japanese occupation of China, and over the course of his prolific career continued on to serve publications in Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore.

Credited as the first Chinese-language stream-of-consciousness novel, The Drunkard 《酒徒》 relates the perspective of a writer whose lamentations over the lack of an audience for serious literature in Hong Kong serve as an excuse for his descent into alcoholism, and rejection of his art form in favour of the easier income offered by pulp fiction and erotica.

The vivid evocations of the streets and nightlife of 1960s Hong Kong bring to mind Henry Miller's Paris of the 1930s, though it is William Faulkner, James Joyce and Virginia Woolf to whom the protagonist makes repeated references and served as apparent inspiration to the author.

Liu Yichang's work in turn has served as a major influence for acclaimed director Wong Kar Wai 王家衛; The Drunkard provided the inspiration for the latter's 2046, and his internationally renowned In the Mood for Love 《花樣年華》 drew on another of Liu's works, Intersection 《對倒》.

Lu Xun 魯迅

Lu Xun 魯迅 was the pseudonym of Zhou Shuren 周樹人 (1881 - 1936), a writer, essayist, and translator, who played a prominent role in the birth of modern Chinese literature.

His short story collection Call to Arms 《呐喊》 is regarded as one of the first works written entirely in vernacular Chinese. It is worth reading for its historical significance alone, emerging in the aftermath of the 1919 May Fourth Movement 五四運動 that saw widespread demonstrations against imperialism and calls for social modernisation.

The collection includes the novella The True Story of Ah Q 《阿Q正傳》, a satire of backward character traits perceived as emblematic of how the country had fallen victim to the encroachment of foreign powers during the late Qing dynasty and early Republic of China period.

Qi Jun 琦君

Qi Jun 琦君 (1917 - 2006) was a writer, essayist, critic and translator.

Her novel Ripe Tangerine 《橘子紅了》 is a critique of female exploitation under traditional family structures. Xiufen 秀芬 becomes the third wife in a rural household, arranged as Dama's 大媽 futile attempt to coax her husband back from the city he has abandoned her for to be with his second wife.

Zhang Yimou 張藝謀 explored similar themes in his film Raise the Red Lantern 《大紅燈籠高高挂》, released the same year in 1991.

Qian Zhongshu 錢鍾書

Qian Zhongshu 錢鍾書 (1910 - 1998) was a scholar and writer, and one of the most lauded Chinese literary figures of the 20th century.

Fortress Beseiged 《圍城》 is a satirical novel written during his time in Shanghai under Japanese occupation. Centred on Fang Hongjian 方鴻漸, who has returned home after squandering funds and his studies in Europe, the book takes on middle-class affectations and relationships during the Republic of China era.

Resonate 回響

Launched in 2020, Resonate 迴響 is a Cantonese periodical from Hong Kong featuring short stories, non-fiction articles, cultural commentary, and related content.

Each issue focuses on a theme or topic, with past issues touching on subjects such as advertising, anime, fate, horror, money, and nostalgia.

Resonate aims to expand the use of Cantonese in written form, and highlight themes and issues specific to Hong Kong. The magazine features regular contributors, and also accepts submissions via its website.

Sang Ye 嗓晔 & Zhang Xinxin 張辛欣

Sang Ye 嗓曄 (1955 - ) is a journalist, writer, and oral historian. Zhang Xinxin 張辛欣 (1953 - ) is a writer, novelist, and playwright.

In 1986, the pair published Chinese Lives 《北京人：一百個普通人的自述》, a book of interviews with people from a wide range of social, family, and occupational backgrounds, in a country very different to today.

Song and Zhang edited themselves out of the interviews, to present their subjects' accounts as uninterrupted monologues.

I read the English translation ahead of my first visit to China, and found the authors' deeply humane treatment of their subjects' diverse and sometimes tragic experiences striking. I was fortunate to later track down a second-hand Chinese edition (see SOURCES for places to search), but the translation is worth reading if that's unavailable.

Sang Ye published a further oral history titled 《1949 1989 1999》, later translated to English as China Candid: The People on the People's Republic by China Heritage founder Gereme Barmé, and Miriam Lang.

Sanmao 三毛

Sanmao 三毛 was the pseudonym of Echo Chen Ping 陳平 (1943 - 1991), a writer and translator. Her then-unconventional lifestyle, which saw her leave Taiwan alone for Europe and Morocco, embodied a free and independent way of life that inspired many across the Chinese-speaking world.

Stories of the Sahara 《撒哈拉的故事》 is typical of her autobiographical writing style, based on her experiences living in Morocco with her Spanish husband, who passed away in an accident just a few years after publication. Her struggles to cope with this loss informed much of her subsequent work, and likely contributed to her suicide a decade later.

Wang Mun Kiat 黄文杰

Wang Mun Kiat 黃文傑 (1967 - ) is a Singaporean poet and engineer.

The poems of his second collection Short Tongue 《短舌》 are haiku-like in their brevity, but Wang manages to imbue their clipped lines with barbed social commentary.

I've spent little time with Chinese poetry in the past, often finding the form's abstract nature to be beyond my language ability.

Some entries of Short Tongue are cryptic, but in general it's accessible and I'd recomend it to others interested in trying poetry in Chinese.

The publisher Sea Breeze Books 海風書屋 also offers a bilingual edition, with English translations by the poet Daryl Lim Wei Jie 林偉傑.

Wang Shuo 王朔

Wang Shuo 王朔 (1958 - ) is a novelist and screenwriter. Known for his liu mang 流氓 or 'hooligan' style of writing, his works have been popular source material for film and television since the late 1980s.

The dark humour of Please Don't Call Me Human 《千萬別把我當人》 gets close to the bone with its ridicule of totalitarian bureaucracy. Published in the 1980s, a similar work could not evade censorship today.

Wang Xiaobo 王小波

Wang Xiaobo 王小波 (1952 - 1997) was a novelist and essayist. Born in Beijing, he was amongst the many 'sent-down' or 'educated' youths 知識青年 extracted from urban life to labour in rural areas during the Cultural Revolution 文革.

That experience influenced some of his best-known works, including the satirical Golden Age 《黃金時代》. Essay collections such as Silent Majority 《沉默的大多數》 exhibit his vernacular wit and talent for querying social norms.

Wu Ming-Yi 吴明益

Wu Ming-Yi 吳明益 (1971 - ) is a writer, artist and academic, and a professor of Chinese literature at National Dong Hwa University 國立東華大學. His writing has explored environmentalism and themes unique to Taiwan, such as the influence of the island's Japanese occupation.

The Stolen Bicycle 《單車失竊記》 revolves around a man seeking his long-absent father, with meditations on Taiwan's role in World War II. His meticulous effort to piece together whatever fragments he can - down to cataloguing bicycles used in the theatre his father served in - vividly contrasts the inability to know the person at the centre of his search.

Xue Yiwei 薛憶潙

Xue Yiwei 薛憶溈 (1964 - ) is an author, academic, and doctor of linguistics.

His first novel, Desertion 《遺棄》, uses a first-person narrative to explore the protagonist's philosophical reflections, as he struggles against bureaucratic opposition to quit his vacuous government job.

With Shenzheners 《深圳人》, Xue took inspiration from James Joyce's Dubliners to produce these short stories on fictional residents of the Chinese city.

Yang Weidong 楊偉東

Yang Weidong 楊偉東 (1966 - ) is an artist and independent filmmaker. After suffering a politically-motivated family tragedy, he sought to understand how society could arrive at a state in which such acts occur without recourse.

The result is Put This On Record 《立此存照》, a multi-volume series of over 500 interviews with prominent figures including officials, economists, historians, philosophers and activists across a spectrum of socio-political attitudes. Yang provides his subjects space to elucidate their thoughts, and humbly resists bringing his personal motivation into direct view.

Yibao 議報

Yibao 議報 is an online publication featuring social commentary and political editorials.

Operating in association with the non-profit NGO Citizen Power Initiatives for China 公民力量, Yibao's main focus is on the PRC, with critical features on subjects such as governance, economics, human rights, history, and the arts.

Coverage also extends to world affairs, in particular concerning major geopolitical events and players, translations of articles from Western publications, and news from the Sinophone world.

Yu Hua 余華

Yu Hua 余華 (1960 - ) is an author, and committee member of the Chinese Writers Association.

To Live 《活著》 follows the hubristic descent into poverty of the arrogant son of a land-owning family. As the events of civil war, famine, and the Cultural Revolution unfold, the protagonist emerges with a kinder outlook even under increasing isolation.

As a study of an individual, To Live makes a good compliment to Chen Zhongshi's 陳忠實 broader take on similar themes from that era in White Deer Plain 《白鹿原》.

Zhang Yinlin 張蔭麟

Zhang Yinlin 張蔭麟 (1905 - 1942) was a writer and professor of history.

His Outline of Chinese History 《中國史綱》 is an excellent introduction to ancient China, from the Xia dynasty through the Warring States period, unification under Qin Shihuang, and on to the establishment of the Eastern Han dynasty in the 1st century AD.

The book is full of anecdotes on figures and events, and traces the emergence of China's philosophical schools, social customs, and political systems.

More Ink 墨單

For ink of another kind, explore the works of Beijing-based artist Liu Dan 劉丹 (1953 - ).

Poppy 《罌粟花》, 2007, Liu Dan 劉丹