I think writers write for their consciences, they write for their own true audiences, for their souls.

A writer should always bravely face life, risking death and mutilation in order to dethrone an emperor.

A writer should bury his thoughts deep and convey them through the characters in his novel.

I think that China has many outstanding authors, and their great works should also be recognised by the world.

When literature exists, perhaps we do not notice how important it is, but when it does not exist, our lives become coarsened and brutal. For this reason, I am proud of my profession, but also aware of its importance.

Possibly because I've lived so much of my life in difficult circumstances, I think I have a more profound understanding of life.

All kinds of mysterious phenomena exist in this world, but answers to most of them have come with advances in scientific knowledge. Love is the sole holdout-nothing can explain it. A Chinese writer by the name of Ah Cheng wrote that love is just a chemical reaction, an unconventional point of view that seemed quite fresh at the time. But if love can be controlled and initiated by means of chemistry, then novelists would be out of a job. So while he may have had his finger on the truth, I'll remain a member of the loyal opposition.