Geniuses should be carefully nurtured

Han Han, the iconic young Chinese writer, is again the center of attention in China after doubts were raised about the authenticity of his writing. It started when Mai Tian, a former senior manager of Baidu - China's largest search engine - raised the suspicion that Han's father and one of his publishers Lu Jinbo might be ghostwriting Han's words. Mai later apologized for the accusation, but the debate has taken on a life of its own, especially after professional whistleblower Fang Zhouzi joined in. The alleged ghostwriters have denied the accusation and Han reacted by promising 20 million yuan ($3.16 million) to anyone who could provide evidence that someone was writing in his stead. Actress Fan Bingbing increased the bounty by another 20 million yuan.

But is Han's writing really that great to warrant all the fuss? I tend to agree with those who claim only great writers like Shakespeare are worthy of the suspicion that their works were written by someone else. As far as Han is concerned, I don't think a ghostwriter is writing for him. A cost-benefit analysis doesn't support hiding behind someone to produce works of youthful, though steadily improving, writing. Ghostwriting also takes talent and effort.

Mai also claimed Han would not be able to post so many blogs as he was always racing cars. But when I reviewed my own micro blog, I found that I am at least two or three times as prolific as Han while still maintaining a day job, writing columns for newspapers, raising two kids, doing household chores, translating novels and often serving as a volunteer. And I have the disadvantage of being 40 years old.