ADMIRING MO'S BOOKS: A reader looks into a display case of Mo's books in Wangfujing Bookstore in Beijing on October 14 (XINHUA)

'Don't speak'

Mo first captured the attention of the literary world with his novella Transparent Red Radish published in 1985. The "red radish" is symbolic of both sex and food, and hunger inspired Mo to write. As a kid, he knew he wanted to be a writer because a writer could eat three meals of dumplings a day, he was told. As a child, Mo suffered through the 1960s' famine, during which time the village children ate whatever they could get their hands on, including tree leaves, insects, mud and coal.

Red Sorghum expresses his thoughts on history and love, and The Republic of Wine embodies his regrets for the degeneration of mankind and his hatred for corrupt officials. Although the novels are quite different in content, they both reflect a hungry child's longing for a good life.

Mo was born in the 1950s in a small village in Gaomi, a county with a history of more than 2,200 years and well known for its traditional folk arts and its production of many celebrities. Often returning home to write, Mo sets most of his novels in his home village.

Mo dropped out of school during the "cultural revolution" (1966-76) and worked on a farm, where the cows became his friends. "I understood more about cows than human beings. I knew what they were thinking."

During that time he developed the habit of talking to himself. His mother thought he was mentally ill when one day she found he was mumbling in front of a tree. With his garrulousness causing his family much trouble, his mother begged him to stop talking in public. That is why he gave himself the pseudonym "Mo Yan," meaning "don't speak" in Chinese, when he began writing.