Profile of Mr. WANG Meng

Mr. WANG Meng is a famous writer and an Honorary Vice Chairman of the Chinese Writers Association. He served as Minister of Culture of China, as Chairperson of the Committee for Learning and Cultural and Historical Data under the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, as President of the Chinese National Academy of Arts, and in other positions. During his more than 60 years of writing and research, Mr. Wang has created a large number of works, including dozens of novels like Long Live Youth and A Rockie Joined the Office. He has been a professor, a visiting professor, an honorary professor and an advisor at many universities. In recent years Mr. Wang has been actively engaged in literary and academic exchanges between mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.

A Citation for Honorary Fellow Mr. WANG Meng

Mr. Wang Meng is a prominent and highly influential contemporary Chinese writer. In the past, he has taken on the following critical roles: the Minister of Culture, the chief editor of People's Literature, and the President of the Chinese National Academy of Arts. Furthermore, Mr. Wang is a highly prolific writer. During his over 60 years of writing, he has composed a significant number of works, most notably the novels, Long Live Youth, The Season of Love, The Movable Parts, and Boredom with Madness. He has also published more than 20 short-story collections and novelettes, most notably In Ili and A Rookie Joined the Office. Additionally, he has published treatises on classical literature, including Reflections on the Story of the Stone and 18 Lectures on Laozi. He is also a productive critic, poet and prose writer, drawing inspiration from his life experience and contemplations to compose works like My Philosophy of Life and Wang Meng's Lecture Series.

Mr. Wang Meng is a book himself, a book shining with youth and colour. As a young man, he read Mao Zedong's Changsha - Tune: Spring in a Pleasure Garden and noted, “I didn't realise one's youth can be so powerful, talent so transformative, spirit so vigorous, ambition and aspiration so all-encompassing.” From that moment, he found the vitality of youth, and we can find its imprint on Mr. Wang's life and writings.

He joined the Peiping Underground Organization of the Chinese Communist Party in 1948 before reaching the age of 14. This event initiated his profound involvement with China's politics. He rose from a humble place as a cadre of the Communist Youth League, was wrongly labelled a rightist, became a university teacher, worked in the people's commune in Xinjiang, and eventually ascended to the esteemed position of the Minister of Culture. He faced each ordeal with a smile along this arduous path while remaining true to the ideals and beliefs of his youth.

“Youth” has remained a key touchstone in his writings, featuring with especial prominence in Long Live Youth, A Rookie Joined the Office, The Song of Spring, “Season Tetralogy”, and Boredom with Madness. Tong Qingbing, a well-known literary critic, remarks, “Wang Meng puts tremendous efforts into the development of Chinese literature. He dedicates himself with youthful enthusiasm as an outstanding literary innovator.”

Mr. Wang has exercised his youthful vigour to become extraordinarily active in cultural exchange programmes between China and other countries. In 1980, he flew to the US to join the “Sino-American Writers Scheme”. This was his first trip to a foreign country; since then, he continued to promote international academic exchanges, visiting more than 60 countries and has been a frequent invitee to international literary conferences and festivals. He has regularly been invited as a scholar to give guest lectures at universities globally. His works have been translated into more than 20 different languages, including English, French, German, Russian, Japanese and Korean. Mr. Wang has actively travelled in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, encouraging the literary and academic exchanges among scholars and writers.

Amazingly today, Mr. Wang still retains his youthful drive and his creativity, noting: “Youth and old age are not that far apart. For too many times, the young become old before their time whereas the old are able to rejuvenize their youthful energy and inspiration.” Having experienced fully the tribulations from an active life, Mr. Wang is thus able to walk with ease, composing songs of youth based on the wisdom of experience.

Mr. Chairman, in recognition of Mr. Wang Meng's outstanding contributions to the Chinese literature and society, it is my privilege and honour to present him to you for the award of Honorary Fellowship.