White Deer Plain writer Chen Zhongshi, 73, dies

Chen Zhongshi

Chinese writer Chen Zhongshi died of cancer on Friday in Xi'an, Shaanxi province. He was 73 and his masterpieces included White Deer Plain, which won him China's top literature prize.

Chen was born in August 1942 in Xi'an. He started writing prose in 1965 and completed White Deer Plain in 1992, for which he won the Mao Dun Literature Prize in 1997, one of the most prestigious literature prizes in China.

With the novel's publication in 1993, Chen shot to fame almost overnight. Critics described his works as a "realistic reflection of Chinese contemporary history".

The novel, based on the county annals of Chen's hometown White Deer Plain in Shaanxi, tells of historical changes to the land over 50 years from the end of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). It is a mix of realism, magic realism and many other avant-garde writing techniques.

Since it was first published, it has set a record as a contemporary literary work, with about 2 million copies sold in China, according to People's Literature Publishing House.

It has been translated into French, Japanese, Korean, Mongolian and Vietnamese.

"If this novel can arouse the interest of readers and help them to gain a real sense of the history it relates and of the background against which contemporary China walks, I will feel totally satisfied," Chen once said.

In 2010, the novel was adapted into a film of the same name directed by Wang Quan'an and starring Zhang Fengyi, Zhang Yuqi and Duan Yihong. The film competed for the Golden Bear at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival.

The book was also listed in a must-read selection by the Ministry of Education for university students.

In 1979, Chen became a member of the Chinese Writers Association and served as the association's vice-chairman between 2001 and 2006.

Feng Jicai, another highly accomplished writer, said in a message of condolence: "Chen scaled the highest peak of Chinese contemporary literature. He was a good-natured and well-respected person. His works will live long after his death."

Chen Xiaoming, professor of Chinese language and literature at Peking University, describes White Deer Plain as "integrated, broad, simple, solid and vigorous", regarding it as "a masterpiece that closely combines Chinese cultural tradition and the features of regional culture in northeastern China".

Chang Zhenjia, 72, an editor at People's Literature Publishing House for more than 30 years, read the first edition of White Deer Plain and published the first review of the novel.

"This novel is incomparable in terms of honesty and richness in contemporary Chinese literature," he said.

"It contains so much information in so long a time as half a century, and it's very thoughtful, having many breakthroughs such as the explicit sexual descriptions and the creation of an intelligent, amiable, elite landlord," Chang said.