Ma Jian
Ma Jian
Ma Jianis a Chinese writer...
NationalityChinese
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth18 August 1953
CountryChina
believe china communist decide destinies hope leaders party power shared themselves view western whether
I believe that the Tibetans should have the right to control their own destinies and decide for themselves whether they want to be part of China or not. But this view isn't shared by most Chinese, or even the leaders of most Western democracies. As long as the Communist Party is in power, there is little hope for Tibet.
age art began born china classes loved might painter portraits sketching whatever
Whatever China I'd been born into, I would probably still have become a painter - I loved sketching portraits as a child, and began art classes at the age 7. But if China hadn't been under Maoist rule, I might never have become a writer.
apology media people
The Chinese people have been forced to forget the Tiananmen massacre. There has been no public debate about the event, no official apology. The media aren't allowed to mention it. Still today people are being persecuted and imprisoned for disseminating information about it.
character chinese revolution
The literal meaning of the Chinese characters for revolution is elimination of life
years beijing coma
Beijing Coma took me 10 years to finish.
believe fall hands
I meant that the Chinese people are not aware of their own entrapment. They believe they live in a free society, but don't realize how much they are being monitored and controlled, how much the information they receive is restricted and warped, until they step out of line, that is, and feel the heavy hand of the state fall on them.
people chinese crushed
I wanted to analyse and understand how the Chinese people could have their lives so crushed by fear.
luxury london cruise
Living in London is like being on a luxury cruise liner.
dust opening-up people
Red Dust was about the late 1980s; it was a time of burgeoning hopes and opening up and people searching for new ways.
world olympics confirmation
The Beijing Olympics represent China's grand entrance onto the world stage and confirmation of its new superpower status.
responsibility writing self
China is completely lacking in self-awareness and as someone who has stepped outside that society, I have a responsibility to write about it as I see it.
persistence squares two
In 1989, I was on Tiananmen Square with the students, living in their makeshift tents and joining their jubilant singing of the Internationale. In the two decades since, each time that I have gone back, visions from those days seem to return with increasing persistence.
book years squares
In February of this year I returned to China to research my next book. The authorities know about the novels of mine that have been published in the west, including the latest one, Beijing Coma, about a student shot in Tiananmen Square, but so far have allowed me to return.
writing important able
It is vitally important for me, both personally and for my writing, to be able to return to China freely, so being barred entry has caused me deep concern and distress.