Interview with children’s book writer Yang Hongying

In September 2017, Yang Hongying and three other renowned Chinese writers visited Copenhagen, Denmark. Their visit was arranged by the Danish Cultural Institute in cooperation with the Chinese Embassy in Denmark. During her visit, Yang gave an interview to the Danish newspaper Information.

Yang Hongying is a best-selling Chinese writer of children’s books. She has published 211 titles and she sold more than one billion copies in 2016 alone. While she has been nicknamed “China’s J.K. Rowling,” she does not write young wizards and witches. “That Chinese children can get good reading experiences by reading Harry Potter and other Western books is a good thing, but I believe it is important that they are also able to choose books that are written for Chinese children and deal the society of which they are part,” Yang said.

The Chinese school system attaches great importance to performance and grades. Yang’s books are meant to offer children a free space where there is room for fun and games. They are written in a language which the children are able to read on their own and pinyin transcriptions are added to further improve the readability. “I believe that Chinese children live under a lot of pressure today. Both at home and in school. They have to be the very best. That is why they need books, like the ones I write. They need something that is pure entertainment,” Yang said. Her books focus on diversity, not performance.

The first six titles of her most popular book series about the troublemaker Ma Xiaotiao have been translated into English, but they have not gained the same popularity abroad like they have in China. Yang prefers to focus on the Chinese market and expand her target audience with small children.

You can read the full interview (in Danish) here.

Photo by Thomas Nielsen.