●Sales of Mo's works have increased at online bookstores this week. The writer's story collections are out of stock on Dangdang.com, the country's leading online book shop.

Spurred by Mo's prize, stocks of cultural and media industries rose across the board on the Shanghai bourse Friday, led by the Shanghai Xinhua Media Co., Ltd., which rose by daily limit of 10 percent to close at 6.23 yuan (0.98 US dollars) per share.

●Books of Chinese Nobel Prize winner Mo Yan would meet Russian readers next September, Alexander Shepetina, vice president of the Russian Union of Writers, said Friday.

●A Sichuan bookseller upped a business deal with newly minted Nobel laureate Mo Yan by offering 1.2 million yuan ($191,482) to Mo, to buy a telescript Mo originally wrote 10 years ago at their invitation for 200,000 yuan ($31,913,71), the Shandong-based Qilu Evening News reported on October 12 by citing an anonymous source.

 

The drama based on the 200,000-word telescript, which depicted local life in Sichuan, still hasn’t been shot, for unspecified reasons.

●China’s Language and Culture Press, an authoritative publisher in national Chinese language education under the Ministry of Education, confirmed on October 13 that they would add the works of Nobel Prize in Literature winner Mo Yan on the selected course list for China’s high and middle schools’ Chinese language teaching, the Beijing Times reported on October 14.

●The government in Gaomi, Shandong Province, where Mo was born, is reported to be rebuilding the Mo Yan Literature Hall as the previous one might be too small to receive the growing number of visitors after Mo won the Nobel Prize in Literature on October 11, according to Xinhua.

Nobel win sparks discussion over Chinese literature

The Xinhua News Agency opined in an opinion piece on October 14 that we need to bear a more mature mental attitude toward literature when celebrating Mo's success.

Southern Metropolis Daily carried a commentary on October 12, stating that the introduction of a swathe of Western academic and literary works to China in the 1980s enlightened China's modern and post-modern writers.

Separately, the Beijing Youth Daily held on October 14 that Mo's winning of Nobel Prize in Literature proved that the prize itself is fundamentally a literary prize rather than a "political" one.

'Mo-mania' undermines value of literature

A People's Daily opinion piece which ran on October 18 stated we should not consume Mo Yan's works in the name of literature.

"Chinese people are used to honoring those who have made great achievements, such as Olympic champions. After Olympic champions return home, they are showered with money, commercials and other benefits, leaving much of the public feeling disgusted. The reason is that such hyper-consumption damages their reputation and values," said the paper.

The Shenzhen Special Zone Daily commented on October 18 that there's nothing strange about buying Mo Yan's work, but something more valuable than money has to come out of the exchange.

Separately, a Beijing-based news portal China National Radio quoted their commentator Chen Jianli on October 18 as saying that Mo Yan's popularity provides a good opportunity for the development of China's cultural industry.

	Global Times carried an editorial that the attacks from Chinese dissidents mainly focused on Mo being a man "within the system" - he is a communist, and said to be cooperative toward the current political system in China. These dissidents apparently care about the Nobel Prize more than anyone else. They believe only a person who meets their approval deserves this accolade. 【more】
	Beijing Youth Daily held on October 14 that whether an author could take the prize mainly depends on his or her literary achievements rather than their political identity or tendency, said the report, adding that people could argue whether the laureate deserves the prize when it comes to his or her literary skills rather than his political identity or inclination, which is totally insignificant. 【more】
	The Xinhua News Agency opinioned that Mo's winning justifies years of effort from China's literary professionals, but China's literary development is not yet in its prime time, said the report, adding that we should neither underestimate ourselves nor magnify the achievements that China's modern literature has attained. 【more】
	Global Times carried an editorial on October 12 that the prize indeed carries some significance. Chinese are granted more awards in non-science fields. This reflects the greater attention the West is giving China. The Nobel Prize is closing the distance with China in its own way. 【more】
	Southern Metropolis Daily carried a commentary that these literal professionals overturned China's traditional literature that last for thousands of years by getting rid of the rigid logic of "writings for conveying reasons" or activating their passion for poems to express their ambition, said the report, adding that they also cared more about the individuals and the cogitation over the metaphysics. 【more】
	Global Times: Chinese writer Mo Yan is considered a plausible candidate for this year's Nobel Prize in Literature. His victory would be the first in literature for a Chinese citizen who is resident on the mainland. Some link the influence of Chinese writers with the country's rise. Is the argument justified? What's behind the enthusiasm for a Chinese mainland winner? The Global Times invited two academics to contribute their thoughts. 【more】

	Global Times carried a commentary on October 8 saying that non-scientific Nobel prizes, including the Nobel Prize in Literature, are permeated with Western values. The prize also reflects an occidental perception that China is not a mainstream force in the world, the report said. 【more】
	The Beijing Youth Daily opined that Mo is a writer who digs straight to the soul with deep and profound mediations on life and time. His work is characterized by erudite reflections on history, acute examinations of reality and penetrating depictions of human nature. 【more】
	The Sichuan-based Western Metropolis Daily criticized that the public has paid more attention to the possible nominations rather than the works themselves. Although some films adapted from previously awarded works have earned decent box office numbers, there are few books now that could really leave an indelible impression on generations to come. 【more】

@胡锡进: There are many reasons why Chinese writer Mo Yan is favored to win the 2012 Nobel Prize in literature. One of which is a Mo victory will attract more attention to the award than Murakami. The Prizes for literature and peace are more focused on making a statement than other categories, and Chinese merely need to consult their common sense to understand the process behind it. Many factors, such as politics, will influence the result. Therefore, if Mo wins, I congratulate him for this tremendous honor, but it doesn’t prove Chinese literature has made any breakthroughs.
@快乐的东西: The value of a writer should be reflected in the influence of his work. Lately, Mo Yan said Weibo has no meaning, a comment which was questioned by many netizens and ended with him clarifying his statement and making an apology to the public. Actually, Weibo is the one which really changes people's lives, but why is there no prize to award this innovation?
@杜岳刚: The Nobel Prize has a special rule: the list of nominees and candidates will be kept in secret for 50 years.  Except for the winners, names of all nominees and candidates are not to be allowed to be announced. So where did the media get the information that Mo Yan and Murakami are the two leading choices? If it came from the nomination institution or the Swedish Academy, that calls the seriousness of the Prize into question.
@十月蟋蟀入我家: Chinese have lost confidence in our literature, so we need to win a Noble Prize to prove how excellent we are. But even if Mo Yan wins, it doesn't prove that our current Chinese literature is excellent.
@霍艳: If Mo Yan wins, I just hope this prize can help improve literature here as a whole, such as help critics tell the truth, encourage people to read, get publishers to stop looking out only for themselves and provide young talent with a chance in the literary world. Am I asking too much?                                                           Click to view more

Wa （Frog） First published in Chinese in 2009 Story: A "story about China's one-child policy", this novel is more of a family tapestry centered around the narrator's aunt, a character loosely based on Mo Yan's own aunt. A worker in a rural health clinic, the aunt is first renowned as a miraculously skilled midwife, but later, as she is required to enforce China's new family planning laws, she is reviled and demonized, bearing the brunt of rural society's resentment of interference in its ancient ways. Told in the form of four letters and a play, Frog is a departure from Mo Yan's previous florid prose style in its simplicity and directness. (source: paper-republic.org)