Native name 古华 Period 1962 - present Occupation Novelist Name Gu Hua | Language Chinese Role Novelist Nationality Chinese Movies Hibiscus Town | |
Alma mater Chenzhou Institute of Agricultural Technology Books Small Town Called Hibiscus, Pagoda Ridge & Other Stories, Hibiscus: roman Similar People Xie Jin, Jiang Wen, Zhong Acheng, Shibin Zhu, Liu Xiaoqing | ||
Gu Hua (simplified Chinese: 古华; traditional Chinese: 古華; pinyin: Gǔ Huá; born June 20, 1942) is a Chinese novelist. His birth name is Luo Hongyu (羅鴻玉). His writings concern rural life in the mountainous area of southern Hunan of which he was familiar. In 1988 he emigrated to Canada.
Gu is best known for his 1981 novel Furong zhen (A Small Town Called Hibiscus) which won the inaugural Mao Dun Literature Prize (1982), one of the most prestigious literature prizes in China. It was the third top-selling novel to ever win that prize, selling over 850,000 copies. The novel was a rebuke of the Cultural Revolution. The novel was adapted to film in 1986 as Hibiscus Town, winning many awards including 'Best Film' of the 1987 Golden Rooster Awards.
In 1986, The New York Times reported that Gu has "risen to prominence in the last three years among some younger writers who seek to rediscover, if not necessarily to affirm, China's traditional life and values. In China he has been called the Shen Congwen of the 1980s and even the Thomas Hardy of Hunan," although Perry Link (professor of Chinese at the University of California) disagreed that Gu is comparable to those talents.
Gu's novel Virgin Widows (Chen Neu) deals with outmoded views of chastity and adultery.