Have you ever wondered how your favourite Chinese novelists look like? I have decided to become a private detective like Sherlock Holmes for a few days to research and dig out their photos for you. I have tried my best but I cannot guarantee all those pictures are real. Some authors have many pictures available online and I have chosen those which look the most natural and clear. Curiosity kills the cat so you’ve been warned:P
Do your favourite authors look like your imaginations? Are you shocked or surprised by their photos? There are more to come so stay tune for Part 2 if you are curious to know how Feng Nong who is the author of A Lonesome Fragrance Waiting to be Appreciated and Fresh Gor Gor who is the author of Hua Qian Gu plus many others look like.
Name: Fei Wo Si Cun
Novels: Too Late To Say I Love You, Eastern Palace, Cold Moon-Like Frost, Starry Sky, Romantic holidays like dreams, etc
Comment: I will start off with the most popular and one of Lidge’s favourite author. I think she published the most novels and has the most drama adaptations aka the Qiong Yao of China. Some of you may have seen her photo before and there is even a glamorous one but I have chosen the most casual one.
Name: 玄隐 (Xuán Yǐn)
Novels: Li Chuan’s Past (Remembering Li Chuan), 彩虹的重力, 结爱·异客逢欢
Comment: Surprise, surprise that she is already a mother and I don’t even know when this photo was taken. I read that she also has many academic qualifications and all her novels will be adapted into dramas.
Name: Vivien Tang Qi Gong Zi
Novels: Three Lives Three Worlds, Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms, Twice Blooming Flower (Double Life), Hua Xu Yin, Three Lifes, Three Worlds, The Pillow Book, Three Lifes, Three Worlds The Pillow Book Final Chapter
Comment: Some Chinese blog said the picture is Tang Qi but other blogs said she is Mi Bao, the author mentioned below. Who can verify if this is really Tang Qi? If that is not her then, there is no picture of her online.
Name: 靡宝 (Mí Bǎo)
Novels: Song in the Peach Blossoms, 无明夜, 星恋, 流金岁月, 可曾记得爱, 流年·爱, 爱如指间沙
Comment: This is the official picture of this author in baidu. Does this picture look like Tang Qi’s picture with sunglasses?
Name: Gu Man
Novels: Silent Separation (He Yi Sheng Zhao Mo), Just One Smile is Very Alluring (Wei Wei Yi Xiao Hen Qing Cheng), Come & Eat, Shan Shan, Blazing Sunlight
Comment: Only one blog said this is the picture of Gu Man so I am doubtful as Gu Man has never attended any book signing event. She said she feels when reading a book, it is best to forget the presence of the author so the reader can become more involved in the story.
Why all my favourite authors are so secretive of their looks? According to Gu Man’s Q&A session, she said she is 170cm, 133 pounds, has straight black hair, eyes not too big or too small with one on each side (lol) and average skin condition with occasional acne outbreak. Does the picture correlate with the information?
Name: Ming Xiao Xi
Novels: The Flame’s Daughter, Summer of Bubbles (Summer’s Desire/ Show Princess), There Will be an Angel to Love You Instead of Me, Ming Ruo Xiao Xi, Afternoon Lavendar, 旋风少女, 第一夜的蔷薇
Comment: She looks quite pretty, like the female lead in her manga style novel. I wonder if this is truly her as I read somewhere that she is a teacher and does not want her collegues and students to recognise her as Ming Xiao Xi.
Name: Qiong Yao
Novels: Princess Returning Pearl, Romance in the Rain, Plum Blossom Twist Trilogy, Flowers in Fog, etc
Comment: No novelist pictorials will be complete without aunty Qiong Yao who is such a prolific author as well as screenwriter. Her work as well as herself have aged so I doubt I am going to re-watch her drama adaptations except maybe Princess Returning Pearl.
Name: Tong Hua
Novels: Bu Bu Jing Xin, Ballad of the Desert, Song in the Clouds, Secrets Hidden in Time (Best Times), Time Will Never Go Back, Once Promised, Eternally Yearning For You (Lost You Forever)
Comment: She needs no introduction as I am sure most of you know who she is. There are a few of her photos online and they look a bit different, probably because of the different angle and time they were taken. The drama based on her book Best Times is currently being shown on China tv.
Name: Xin Yi Wu
Novels: You are Still Here (Original), Evening Twilight, To Our Eventually Lost Youth (So Young), The Moon Doesn’t Understand my Heart, Let me Look at You, I am Waiting for You in Memories, Mirage, Eclipse Heart
Comment: There are also many of her pictures online and I believe some are even photoshopped. It is like she is a celebrity writer especially when her Lost Youth novel was filmed into a successful movie by Vicky Zhao.
Name: 席绢 (Xi Juan)
Novels: 交錯時光的愛戀 (Jiao Cuo Shi Guang De Ai Lian), 戲點鴛鴦 (Xi Dian Yuan Yang), 珠玉在侧 – Ring Ring Bell, Wrong Carriage, Right Groom, etc
Comment: She is considered one of the most famous writer in Taiwan with her ‘ice-cream’ novels. Cuo Dian Yuan Yang is adapted from the first two novels mentioned above. Ring Ring Bell with Peter Ho and Janine is also adapted from her novel as well as an old drama called Wrong Carriage, Right Groom.
Name: Shun Jian Qing Cheng
Novels: Wei Yang.Chen Fu, 听说你爱我, When Cow meets Grass, Listen To My Heart, Luan Shi Jia Ren, Beauty at the Crossfires
Comment: This is another author with three drama adapations about beauties such as Yu Zheng’s Schemes of a Beauty, A Beauty in Troubled Times and Beauty at the Crossfires which will debut on 14th Dec with Shu Chang, Sammul Chan and Qiao Zhen Yu.
Name: 蓝白色 (Lan Bai Se – Blue White Color)
Novels: Happily Accept No Love (Unforgettable Love), 遗爱记, 步步错, 客官不可以, 半欢半爱, etc
Comment: With this picture, we can only see half of her face. Will she release the other half when the drama adaption of her book starring Jerry Yan and Tong Li Ya is broadcasted next year:P?
Name: 张小娴 (Amy Zhang Xiao Xian)
Novels: The Woman Above the Bread Tree, 荷包里的单人床, etc
Comment: This woman is one of the most famous romance author in Hong Kong and one of her books, The Woman Above the Bread Tree has been filmed into a drama starring TVB Bosco Wong and China Tiffany Tang Yan.
Name: 李歆 (Li Xin)
Novels: An Unrivaled World, Beautiful Country & Woman (Long Ballad), 凤栖梧, 询君意
Comment: Her book is frequently mentioned in the press lately as it is currently being filmed into a drama by Ruby Lin with Yuan Hong. No wonder she is smiling so happily, lol.
Name: 流潋紫 (Liu Lan Zi)
Novels: Hou Gong Zhen Huan Zhuan
Comment: This is another author who can smile all the way to the bank as her first and only book has been filmed into a blockbuster drama. I think she is writing the sequel now.
Name: 鲍鲸鲸 (Bao Jing Jing)
Novels: Love is not Blind
Comment: This novelist achieved even more with her first and only novel in that she won the best screenplay adaptation award in the 2012 Golden Horse Film Award in Taiwan. Due to it being a box-office hit, a television adaptation has also been filmed.
Name: 慕容湮儿 (Mu Rong Yan Er)
Novels: Qing Shi Huang Fei, 眸倾天下, 三生三世桃花依旧, Picturesque Empire
Comment: This is the author who managed to achieve fame by selling the drama right of Qing Shi Huang Fei to Ruby Lin inspite of its illogical plot.
Name: 安知晓 (Ān Zhī Xiǎo)
Novels:The Abandoned Consort: Desperate Love and Drunk on Liu Su During the Year of Jin, Hundreds Millions Wife Buy One Get One Free, 天才魔妃, 金牌王妃, 芙蓉王妃, 王牌宠妃
Comment: She specialises in writing addictive ‘gouxue’ books which mean long-winded, melodramatic and contrived. Yet, the copyright for Hundreds Millions Wife has been sold to be made into a drama. Of course, it will be edited and some characters will be excluded from the more than 1,000 chapters.
Name: 桩桩 (Zhuāng Zhuāng)
Novels: 微雨红尘, Man Man Qing Luo, 永夜, Give You Up, Next Lifetime!, etc
Comment: I think Yu Zheng bought the copyright for Man Man Qing Luo and it will be adapted into a drama with Chen Xiao & Zhao Li Ying in due course so just wait and see.
Name: 缪娟 (Claire Miao Juān)
Novels: The Translator, 堕落天使, 我的波塞冬, 丹尼海格, 智斗, The Last Prince (Destiny)
Comment: She was a translator and is married to a French man which explains why she can write her book The Translator so vividly. I think Yu Zheng mentioned that The Last Prince will be made into a drama starring Chen Xiao and Zhao Li Ying.
Name: 九夜茴 (Jiu Ye Hui)
Novels: Flowers Pinellia, That Year, Time Flew, 初恋爱
Comment: Beside Tong Hua, this author’s Flowers Pinellia novel has also been filmed and is currently being broadcasted on Hunan TV. That Year, Time Flew which is cloudandsea’s favourite book will also be adapted into a drama. She is the screenwriter for both.
Name: Jin Yong (Louis Cha)
Novels: The Legend of the Condor Heroes, The Return of the Condor Heroes, Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, etc
Comment: How will I dare not to include Louise Cha’s (aka Lidge) adopted grandpa in this feature:P? I am sure he needs no introduction as nearly everyone who watch Chinese television know who he is!!! FYI, Aunty Qiong Yao is his distant relative so indeed it runs in the family:)
Name: Gu Long
Novels: Xiao Li Fei Dao series, Chu Liu Xiang Series, Lu Xiao Feng Series, The Legendary Twins, etc
Comment: Beside Jin Yong, I grew up watching Gu Long’s novels adapted dramas but they are not as popular or with as many remakes as Jin Yong’s ones. Gu Long’s life is complicated and tragic which explain why his novels are darker and bleaker.
Name: Guo Jing Ming
Novels: City of Fantasy, Never Flowers In Never Dream, Tiny Times, Cry Me a Sad River, Rush to the Dead Summer
Comment: I will end this feature with the so-called best-looking and most flamboyant writer. You can find many pictures of him online in various poses and hair colours just like a celebrity. There is even a naked one showing his biceps, lol. This is the most decent and down to earth photo I can find. I think he has a short stature. He is one of the richest writer in China because of his publishing business as well as adapting Tiny Times into movies.
Fanatical 
December 7, 2013 at 8:56 am
So, I take it that most of the novelists are women. O_O Although I suppose a lot of the books are romance genre so maybe that is why. I was wondering, are most of these novelists around the same age?
December 7, 2013 at 1:16 pm
Haha, actually there are many men novelists in China but they don’t look as good as the women:P and their novels are more realistic & serious, not romantic or funny. Jin Yong, Gu Long, Guo Jing Ming etc also wrote about love, but from the man’s perspective which is not romantic:P
Their age varied and you can kind of tell from the photos. Most of them did not disclose their birth years. Aunty Qiong Yao, Jin Yong, Gu Long are the oldest. I think the one in the 40s are Amy Zhang and Xi Juan. Whereas the one in the 30s are Fei Wo Si Cun, Xuan Yin, Gu Man, Tong Hua, Xin Yi Wu, Claire Miao and Guo Jing Ming. Others are in their 20s and some I am not sure.
December 7, 2013 at 4:39 pm
Oh ok. Because I thought they looked young-ish (meaning, maybe 20’s-40’s) but then again it’s kinda hard to tell with Asian aging LOL. So would the women novelists’ books tend to be more popular since they are more about romance?
December 11, 2013 at 7:19 am
Generally it is a man’s world:( Most of the top-selling authors are men who write thriller, ghost stories, historical, etc. Tong Hua and Fei Wo Si Cun are the most popular female authors who write more abt romance. There are other popular women novelists who I didn’t cover bcos of their book genre (too serious) and also they are not internet writer. Thus, women novelists’ books are only popular with those who like to read more about romance:)
December 11, 2013 at 12:18 pm
Oh ok. 😦 Do you think the internet authors are regarded as being on the same level as the published authors? I know a lot of the popular internet novels also released the hard copy book version..but was wondering if people view it more like a pop culture thing instead of ‘this is a very respected work of literature’. Sorry for all the questions it’s just that here we don’t really have popular internet novels and I can’t really find out a lot about the Chinese ones because..it’s all in Chinese……….T_T
December 11, 2013 at 12:52 pm
No worries, I am glad to share my limited knowledge. Hope I am not telling you the wrong thing:) I think nowadays it is hard to distingush them as you can get nearly all published authors’s work online with ebook & pirate site. I think most of the current writers started out writing online novel for a few popular site eg jjwx – Jinjiang Literature being the most popular and famous one. When your work get a lot of pageviews/votes/hits & fans, publisher will approach you. Then maybe you will modify/edit your story eg lengthen or shorten it or change the structure or storyline etc for publishing. Normally a book is quite cheap abt RMB25 so some fans will buy the published version to re-read or keep it if they’ve read part or all of the story online & like it.
When you become famous like Tong Hua, Fei Wo Si Cun etc, you don’t need to write your story online as publisher will always publish them. Thus online writing is a good platform for start-up writer to showcase their work & get some fans & responses. Even established writers also publish parts of their stories online to get feedback while writing the books.
Whether they are respected work of literature is rather subjective as different genre have their fans. I think nowadays success is measured by the amount of money you earned and how many people know you. Which is why if your novel is or will be adapted into a drama, you get money for the copyright as well as fame which can mean you are successful.
Some authors write long-running stories eg soap opera kind of story online for a living. They get paid for the amount of words they churn out so they are very vebose. Surprisingly, they do have their fans who are willing to pay to read their work. Only in very rare circumstances will these online novel get published. In Chinese we called it ‘gouxue’ (dog’s blood).
December 11, 2013 at 12:19 pm
And by the way I think it’s really cool how authors can write internet novels online! It kinda reminds me of the popular webtoons that Korean artists publish online.
December 7, 2013 at 11:32 am
Thanks for your hardwork. It’s a pity that Gu Man’s pic is not clear. I read somewhere that she lives in Su Zhou (where Blazing Sunlight takes place). My friend was there last year for a traineeship. It’s funny how she was born the same year and the same month than my sister.
I can’t wait for ‘The woman above the Bread tree’ Tang Yan is one my fav actresses even if some of her characters are very annoying, but I still like her.
Haha Are you teasing me ? To make me read ‘The last Prince’ and ‘Man Man Qing Luo’ ? XD
December 7, 2013 at 12:46 pm
No, she lives in Yixing, a small country town which is near Wuxi & Shanghai. Google for it:P She did a Q&A session recently and Lidge said it was translated to Viet so go & read it if you are a fan like us:) She is pretty funny and nice just like the characters in her book.
Don’t worry, Tang Yan got a lot of dramas out next year, at least 3 with Bosco, Ron Ng & Wallace Huo.
Haha, I’ll only do that to my enemy, not my friend:P The Last Prince is a good book but in the literary sense. It is just too heavy duty and I doubt you’ll enjoy it. I gave it up bcos the girl is annoying. Also, I don’t think there is a Viet version. Thus, you better wait for the drama to admire the couple, lol. As for Man Man Qing Luo, I also won’t recommend you bcos the girl is childish. If you really wanna read, only read the first half of the book as it is quite good but the 2nd half is a waste of time which I abandoned.
December 9, 2013 at 5:34 pm
haha, guess I didn’t read it properly. Are you talking about the Q&A when the reporter asked her if her male leads are playing mahjong, who’ll be the winner ? and she doesn’t know but for the girls, she knows that Wei Wei and another girl (Shan Shan’s best friend, if I’m not wrong) will be the winners, Shan Shan and Mo Sheng will lose etc..
I just finished reading 独家记忆, so to give you a quick review : I like the story. Nothing special, it’s just a story of a student who falls in love with her substitute professor (teaching russian). So it’s about meeting him, her university life, friendship.. I like the guy because he’s always here for her. He remembers everything about her, like what she wore in new year’s eve two years ago, when she cut her bangs… Their conversations are quite funny.
When I read this book, I thought a lot of the movie ‘So Young’ (I listened to the audio book of ‘To our eventually lost youth’) Guess I shouldn’t watch the movie, because I never imagined the dormitory to be like this. Now it doesn’t want to get out of my head. >.<
I read some comments and someone said that 3 of her (木浮生) male leads are disabled. The one in 独家记忆 too, when he'll get older. -__-'
December 11, 2013 at 7:03 am
No, it is not that Q&A. It is the one GM did at the end of Nov where she also mentioned abt the selling the copyright to SS. All her male leads are so intelligent, hard to pick a winner. As for the girls, I think Wei Wei will win bcos she can count & SS will lose bcos she is the slowest, haha….
Eeeeee, you know I am allergic to teacher & student r/s book, haha…..把爱错给了你 ~ Love Given to you by Mistake by Ye Luo Wu Xin is kind of similar. I heard the books by 木浮生 are good at the beginning but become twisted midway so I don’t dare to read her books. Maybe what they meant twisted is that the male leads become disabled.
I didn’t watch So Young but saw the trailer. It is so diff from what I imagine after listening to Lost Youth. Anyway I don’t like that book. The best Xin Yi Wu’s book for me is Let Me Look at You which you must read:)
December 12, 2013 at 8:37 am
Tong Hua looks very elegant and knowledgeable. That’s why she can write good books huh HAHA. Nah just joking but she looks quite good. 🙂
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February 3, 2014 at 4:37 pm
After stalking Vivien Tang Qi Gong Zi through the internet (yeah I know I’m sick xD ) I think that it isn’t her on the foto. According to the Vietnamese fans she is quite a beauty. There is another foto: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=484274075013402&set=a.295058683934943.65310.284980088276136&type=1
This foto is said to be in the second part of the Pillow Book. I wonder whether it’s true
But if that’s really Tang Qi Gong Zi then… WOW *__*
February 4, 2014 at 11:59 am
I’ve got PB one but not book 2. When I am free, I’ll ask hamster to verify and change the pic. Thanks for the info.
June 2, 2015 at 12:10 am
I’m pretty sure that picture you put on Tang Qi Gong Zi profile is of Mi Bao. This is how Tang Qi looks like: http://i.imgur.com/l6N9cZv.jpg?1 (she’s really pretty)