Source: Education Development & Alumni Affairs Office
Written by: Education Development & Alumni Affairs Office
Photo by: Li Yikun, Liu Jia, Jin Feng
Edited by: Wang Dongmei

On the morning of November 30, Mr. Mo Yan, 2012 Nobel Laureate in Literature, gave a lecture entitled “Prototypes of the characters in my novels” at Yat-sen Distinguished Scholars Forum in K.K. Leung Hall on South Campus of Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU). More than 1,500 faculty members, students and alumni attended the lecture, including Prof. Li Ping, Deputy Secretary of SYSU Party Committee; Prof. Li Mengfeng, Vice President of SYSU; and Mr. Chen Shaobin, Assistant President of SYSU.

In a humorous and lively way, Mr. Mo Yan told the audience about the real-life prototypes of some characters in his novels such as The Transparent Carrot, Red Sorghum, Sandalwood Death, Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out, and shared his experience in literary creation. According to Mo Yan, writers cannot write if they are cut off from life; no matter they like it or not, writers should deal with all kinds of people; only through careful observation, profound understanding and digging out the features can writers create classic characters in their novels.

Prof. Xie Youshun from Department of Chinese of SYSU gave a comment on the lecture. In the following Q&A session, Mr. Mo Yan discussed with the audience on issues related to classic works, internet literature, etc.

After the lecture, Prof. Li Ping and Prof. Li Mengfeng presented a gift to Mr. Mo Yan on behalf of the university.

Mo Yan is the pen name of Guan Moye. He was born in Gaomi in Shandong province in 1955.  

In 1976, Mo Yan joined the People's Liberation Army and began to study literature and write. His novels included The Transparent Carrot, Red Sorghum, The Garlic Ballads, Sandalwood Death, Big Breasts & Wide Hips, Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out, Frog, etc. He has also published many short stories and essays.

Mo Yan's works have been translated into English, French, Spanish, German, Russian, Japanese and many other languages. Mo Yan has won many awards and honors. In 2012, Mo Yan was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for his work as a writer "who with hallucinatory realism merges folk tales, history and the contemporary".