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Liao Yiwu

リャオ・イーウー

Liao Yiwu

Aliases: 老威
Pen Names: Lao Wei（Pen name used in poetry and reportage）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1958-06-16 （Yanting County, Sichuan, China）
Nationality
China, Germany
Languages
Chinese (Mandarin), German, English
Residence History
Chengdu, China → Lijiang, China → Dali, China → Germany (resident since 2011)

Career

Occupations
author, reporter, poet, musician
Active Years
1980-
Influenced By
John Keats, Charles Baudelaire

Awards

Hellman-Hammett Grant
2003
Organization: Human Rights Watch
Result: 受賞
Freedom to Write Award
2007
Organization: Independent Chinese PEN Center
Result: 受賞（出席不可）
Geschwister-Scholl-Preis
2011
Work: Für ein Lied und hundert Lieder (German translation)
Organization: Geschwister-Scholl-Preis committee
Result: 受賞
Ryszard Kapuściński Award
2012
Organization: Ryszard Kapuściński Award committee
Result: 受賞
Peace Prize of the German Book Trade
2012
Organization: German Book Trade (Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels)
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Interviews with the Lower Strata of Chinese Society / The Corpse Walker

2001 Non-fiction (interview collection) 336 pages

A collection of transcribed interviews with people living on the margins of Chinese society—hustlers, street performers, prisoners and others. Banned in mainland China but published in Taiwan, Hong Kong and translated in the West.

marginalizationhuman rightstestimonyrepression
Translations
  • English translation: The Corpse Walker (2008)
  • French translation (selected interviews, 2003)
  • German translation (2009)

Chronicles of the Big Earthquake

2009 Non-fiction (earthquake reportage)

Reporting from the 2008 Sichuan earthquake zone, collecting survivors' testimonies and documenting struggles with corrupt officials and the aftermath.

disasterdocumentationjustice
Translations
  • French translation: Quand la terre s’est ouverte au Sichuan (2010)

God is Red

2009 Non-fiction (accounts of persecution of Christians in China)

A collection of accounts documenting the persecution of Christians in China since 1949.

religious persecutionfaithrepression
Translations
  • English edition (HarperCollins, 2011)
  • French edition (2010)

The Fall of the Holy Temple

1998 Anthology (underground poetry)

An anthology of underground poems from the 1970s, mainly by Chinese dissidents; criticized by Chinese authorities.

underground cultureanti-establishment

For a Song and a Hundred Songs: A Poet's Journey Through a Chinese Prison

2013 Memoir / Poetry

A work combining memoir and poetry about his prison experiences and fellow prisoners' testimonies.

imprisonmentmemorymusic

Bibliography

  • The Fall of the Holy Temple (1998)
  • Interviews with the Lower Strata of Chinese Society (2001)
  • China's Unjust Court Cases (2003, 2005)
  • Chronicles of the Big Earthquake (2009)
  • God is Red (2009)
  • Für ein Lied und hundert Lieder (German translation, 2011)
  • For a Song and a Hundred Songs (2013)
  • Bullets and Opium: Stories of China after the Great Massacre (2019)

Translations of Works

  • Interviews with the Lower Strata of Chinese Society → translated into English (The Corpse Walker), French, German, Spanish, Polish, Czech
  • Chronicles of the Big Earthquake → French translation (Quand la terre s’est ouverte au Sichuan)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
documentary-style testimony and reportagerealistdirect and trenchant depiction
Recurring Motifs
prison and incarcerationvoices of the marginalizedmusic and songexile and surveillance

Health

  • edema (childhood)
    幼少期（大躍進期の飢饉時）
    Was near death but recovered
  • mental breakdowns and suicide attempts (during imprisonment)
    1990年代初頭（投獄期間）
    Sustained significant psychological impact due to torture and abuse

Legacy

A central figure in testimonial literature documenting the oppressed in China. While many of his works are banned in mainland China, they have been translated and published abroad and have earned international human rights and literary awards. Since 2011 he has lived in Germany and continued to speak out on human rights issues in China.

Archives

  • Materials in Laogai Research Foundation and other exile archives

In Popular Culture

  • Gained international attention through the worldwide reading in 2010 (e.g., Berlin International Literature Festival)

Quotes

  • “This empire must break apart.”
    Source: Peace Prize of the German Book Trade acceptance speech (2012)

Trivia

  • Pen name: Lao Wei.
  • Arrested in 1990 for anti-government writings and sentenced to four years in prison.
  • Suffered torture and mental breakdowns in prison; attempted suicide multiple times.
  • After release he lived as a street musician in Chengdu and collected people's stories.
  • Received Hellman-Hammett Grant (2003); Geschwister-Scholl-Preis (2011); Kapuściński Award and Peace Prize of the German Book Trade (2012).
  • Left China in 2011 by crossing the border via Vietnam and arrived in Germany.