Gaomi
Gaomi
The Nobel What?
The Nobel Prize made Mo Yan famous around the world, but Mo has in turn made the Nobel famous in his hometown.
Residents of Gaomi, a city in Shangdong Province that inspired the setting for many of his novels, are mostly unfamiliar with international literature, let alone its most prestigious award. That's partly because China was mostly closed off to foreign authors, until their work became available again three decades ago.
Many villagers from Mo's hometown have concluded that this prize is a major one mostly by observing the rush of reporters to Ping'an village, 30 kilometers outside Gaomi, where Mo was born.
Several employees who work at the Weekly supermarket in Gaomi told the Global Times that they didn't know who Mo was before he won the Nobel Prize in Literature last week. "Since he won the prize, people talked about him so much that we started to learn about him," one worker said.
Mo, 57, got famous internationally and domestically overnight last week. His town, the setting for many of his stories, also got famous. Suddenly, the name Mo Yan, and details of his life, like where he lives and details of his childhood, seem to have been seared into the memory of Gaomi residents.
When taking a taxi, you don't need to tell the driver the address. Just need say you want to go to Mo's home. They now know where it is.
A taxi driver surnamed Sun told the Global Times that the number of people visiting Gaomi has spiked during the past week.
"They are here for Mo Yan," he said, "and most of them are journalists."
Sun said that he learned about Mo when he was in middle school, but the writer did not have much of an impact on him. "Now I have a much deeper impression," he said.
Walking around Gaomi, you can see Mo's win has left its trace on every corner of the city, from train stations to taxis, from supermarkets to the Mo Yan Literature Museum.
One week after the Nobel news, the city is still celebrating, but in a low-key and composed way. Throughout Gaomi, in both the downtown area and the outskirts, hang red banners that read, "Congratulating Mo Yan on winning the 2012 Nobel Prize in Literature." Business at the Fengcheng Story Hotel is said to be booming, because Mo wrote a few lines in praise of it.
 |
| Mo Yan |
Literature museum
The Mo Yan Literature Museum has been a focus of the onslaught of attention from both inside and outside the city.
"The number of visitors is dozens of times greater that usual," notes Mao Weijie, the curator of the museum.
A friend of Mo for over 20 years, Mao told the Global Times that on the night of the announcement of Nobel Prize in literature, dozens of reporters gathered in the museum to wait for the news.
That night he called Mo and asked, "Have you won the prize?" "Yes," Mo said. "Are you sure?" Mao asked. "Yes," Mo replied.
"The museum immediately burst into jubilation," Mao recalls. "Some citizens took the initiative to setoff fireworks in celebration." But he adds, "Mo was calm before and after winning the prize."
According to Mao, while Mo is famous among most Gaomi citizens, now they want to know more about him by visiting the museum, so they can understand how the area produced such a great writer.
The museum is non-profit and supported by both the city government and private donors from intellectual circles.
The four-story building, opened to the public in 2009, is located inside the First Middle School of Gaomi in the downtown area. Only the first two stories are in use.
On the first floor of the museum are over 5,000 books Mo donated. On the second floor is an exhibition hall to introduce in detail Mo's literature over the past 30 years, his honors and achievements, and his growth from a rural boy to an international figure.
"We asked Mo for his input when establishing the association [that runs the museum], and he wrote us a letter, which said that he is just an ordinary man of words writing stories that happened in Gaomi," Mao said. "He said it is not a big deal, and he would treat the research about him as a reminder for him to write more and better works."
Exhibited history
The museum showcases the honors and prizes Mo has collected over the years, and describes how Mo stepped into the literary field, even though he dropped out before finishing his primary school education.
The exhibition goes through, with pictures and materials, Mo's confusing youth, his thirst for books, his early attempts at writing, and the years he spent in the army and then as a journalist before becoming a professional writer.
Mao said that he started to collect the exhibited materials in the 1990s, from Mo and his relatives.
The museum has seen over 10,000 visitors from both at home and abroad.
"Now we are considering updating and improving the museum to meet demand," he told Global Times.
"We are also designing the third and fourth floor to put them in use as planned, to provide more information about Mo. We have already got necessary materials ready."
It is difficult to find Mo Yan's books in bookstores. It's even more difficult to find Mo, particularly for journalists.
Du Qinlan, Mo's wife, would not tell the Global Times of her husband's whereabouts.
But she added that the family continues on as normal, without being derailed by the prize. "We eat and get dressed like before," she said. "Only the media are stirred up."
