Whatever China I'd been born into, I would probably still have become a painter - I loved sketching portraits as a child, and began art classes at the age 7. But if China hadn't been under Maoist rule, I might… — Ma Jian Copy Share Image
Everything I was I carry with me, everything I will belies waiting on the road ahead. — Ma Jian Copy Share Image
I am trying to persuade my family to spend more time in China. It's no fun to be in exile. I can't even figure… — Ma Jian Copy Share Image
“I see my skeleton walking down the street now. I’m walking behind it. Our feet touch the ground at the same time. I am… — Ma Jian Copy Share Image
Red Dust was about the late 1980s; it was a time of burgeoning hopes and opening up and people searching for new ways. — Ma Jian Copy Share Image
I meant that the Chinese people are not aware of their own entrapment. They believe they live in a free society, but don't realize… — Ma Jian Copy Share Image
I am completely in favour of dialogue and engagement. But it must be a true, open dialogue. — Ma Jian Copy Share Image
I have to live within my memories, within my private universe, and continually return to China, the land where my thoughts are locked. This… — Ma Jian Copy Share Image
After the Tiananmen Massacre, I felt compelled not only to continue writing but to actively resist the restrictions placed on freedom of speech. I… — Ma Jian Copy Share Image
The Beijing Olympics represent China's grand entrance onto the world stage and confirmation of its new superpower status. — Ma Jian Copy Share Image
China is completely lacking in self-awareness and as someone who has stepped outside that society, I have a responsibility to write about it as… — Ma Jian Copy Share Image
“When our parents are alive, they stand in front of us, blocking our view of death. But once they’ve gone, we find ourselves at… — Ma Jian Copy Share Image
It is vitally important for me, both personally and for my writing, to be able to return to China freely, so being barred entry… — Ma Jian Copy Share Image
The literal meaning of the Chinese characters for revolution is elimination of life — Ma Jian Copy Share Image
“Before the sparrow arrived, you had almost stopped thinking about flight. Then, last winter, it soared through the sky and landed in front of… — Ma Jian Copy Share Image
In my 20s, when I was a photojournalist in Beijing. I joined an underground art group and put on clandestine exhibitions of my paintings. — Ma Jian Copy Share Image
