--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When I completed writing 'Soul Mountain,'…" description: "\"When I completed writing 'Soul Mountain,' I more or less closed the accounts with China for myself. I was 50 years old when I left, so China is already..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b0/gao-xingjian-6987_mountain_when-i-completed-writing-soul-mountain-i_203845.jpg" --- # When I completed writing 'Soul Mountain,' I more or less… ![“When I completed writing 'Soul Mountain,' I more or less closed the accounts with China for myself. I was 50 years old when I left, so China is already within me.” quote by Gao Xingjian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b0/gao-xingjian-6987_mountain_when-i-completed-writing-soul-mountain-i_203845.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b0/gao-xingjian-6987_mountain_when-i-completed-writing-soul-mountain-i_203845.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b0/gao-xingjian-6987_mountain_when-i-completed-writing-soul-mountain-i_203845.jpg) > “When I completed writing 'Soul Mountain,' I more or less closed the accounts with China for myself. I was 50 years old when I left, so China is already within me.” [Gao Xingjian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gao-xingjian/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author reflects on ending his financial ties with China after a lifetime, feeling China remains part of him. **In simple terms:** He cut financial ties but feels China stays within. Key Takeaway Recognize that cultural identity persists beyond business. Themes identity culture detachment Mood reflective poignant Type memoir philosophical When to use this quote - career transition - financial independence - cultural belonging Key Concepts personal narrative politics self‑reflection Questions to Reflect On - How do you separate identity from economic ties? - Can one truly detach from a nation’s influence? A Different Perspective Even after severing ties, emotional connections may linger. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul/) [Spirituality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirituality/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Soul Mountain, the story of one man’s quest for inner peace and freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gao-xingjian/soul-mountain-the-story-of-one-man-s-quest-for-inner-peace-and-freedom/) [Gao Xingjian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gao-xingjian/) > [There's huge potential in China. They have about 50,000 screens and they need content, which we produce a lot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boney-kapoor/there-s-huge-potential-in-china-they-have-about-50-000-screens-and/) [Boney Kapoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boney-kapoor/) > [“Auntie An-mei had cried before she left for China, thinking she would make her brother very rich and happy by communist standards. But when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/auntie-an-mei-had-cried-before-she-left-for-china-thinking-she-would/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [In December of 1990, just before my eighth birthday, I left China for the United States. My father was a political dissident, and after…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leana-s-wen/in-december-of-1990-just-before-my-eighth-birthday-i-left-china-for/) [Leana S. Wen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leana-s-wen/) > [“Writing is your soul on paper”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabelle-crane/writing-is-your-soul-on-paper/) Isabelle Crane > [Today’s events are tomorrow’s history, yet events seen by the naked eye lack the depth and breadth of human struggles, triumphs and suffering. Writing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epifanio-de-los-santos/today-s-events-are-tomorrow-s-history-yet-events-seen-by-the-naked/) [Epifanio de los Santos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epifanio-de-los-santos/) > [“Because they drive on the left in China,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-nesb/because-they-drive-on-the-left-in-china/) [Jo Nesbø](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-nesb/) > [“Writing is my soul food, sometimes I eat alone, sometimes I share the bread.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-h-curran/writing-is-my-soul-food-sometimes-i-eat-alone-sometimes-i-share-the/) Marie H. Curran > [If you ask me why I left China, it's just that I went for a stroll and strolled too far away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mu-xin/if-you-ask-me-why-i-left-china-it-s-just-that-i-went-for-a-stroll-and/) [Mu Xin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mu-xin/) > [In Japan people drive on the left. In China people drive on the right. In Vietnam it doesn't matter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/in-japan-people-drive-on-the-left-in-china-people-drive-on-the-right/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [“No, writing has not changed me for the better at all; I have merely used up part of my restless, conscienceless youth. What value…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/no-writing-has-not-changed-me-for-the-better-at-all-i-have-merely/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [Writing was the soul of everything else ... Wanting to be a writer was wanting to be a person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-hampl/writing-was-the-soul-of-everything-else-wanting-to-be-a-writer-was/) [Patricia Hampl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-hampl/) > [There is nothing to do, just be. Do nothing. Be. No climbing mountains and sitting in caves. 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Sure, it may feel like you can't get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-asher/then-come-to-realize-that-you-re-making-mountains-out-of-molehills/) [Jay Asher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-asher/) ## More by Gao Xingjian > [“When a man gets to middle age shouldn’t he look for a peaceful and stable existence, find a not-too-demanding sort of a job, stay…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gao-xingjian/when-a-man-gets-to-middle-age-shouldn-t-he-look-for-a-peaceful-and/) [Gao Xingjian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gao-xingjian/) > [Literature transcends national boundaries, racial boundaries. It goes deep into the issues that concern all human beings. That is why, when people read Greek…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gao-xingjian/literature-transcends-national-boundaries-racial-boundaries-it-goes/) [Gao Xingjian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gao-xingjian/) > [I hadn't originally intended to do any reading, what if I did read one book more or one book less, whether I read or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gao-xingjian/i-hadn-t-originally-intended-to-do-any-reading-what-if-i-did-read-one/) [Gao Xingjian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gao-xingjian/) > [If you're not perfectly conscious of yourself, that self can be tyrannical; in relationship to others, anyone can become a tyrant. That's why no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gao-xingjian/if-you-re-not-perfectly-conscious-of-yourself-that-self-can-be/) [Gao Xingjian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gao-xingjian/) > [Since childhood, I'd dreamed of making a film, but producers in France and Germany wanted to make commercial films with chinoiserie. I refused.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gao-xingjian/since-childhood-i-d-dreamed-of-making-a-film-but-producers-in-france/) [Gao Xingjian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gao-xingjian/) > [Literature hasn't come up with any new themes. The literature of all different times - it's still dealing with how one resolves issues of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gao-xingjian/literature-hasn-t-come-up-with-any-new-themes-the-literature-of-all/) [Gao Xingjian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gao-xingjian/) > [“Yours is much worse than Eastern! You’ve slapped together travel notes, moralistic ramblings, feelings, notes, jottings, untheoretical discussions, unfable-like fables, copied out some folk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gao-xingjian/yours-is-much-worse-than-eastern-you-ve-slapped-together-travel-notes/) [Gao Xingjian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gao-xingjian/) > [The enterprise of describing something in language that has never been described before is a very difficult thing to do. When you decide to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gao-xingjian/the-enterprise-of-describing-something-in-language-that-has-never/) [Gao Xingjian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gao-xingjian/) > [I want to write a novel so profound that it would suffocate a fly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gao-xingjian/i-want-to-write-a-novel-so-profound-that-it-would-suffocate-a-fly/) [Gao Xingjian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gao-xingjian/) > [Body odour (known also as scent of the immortals) is a disgusting condition with an awful, nauseating smell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gao-xingjian/body-odour-known-also-as-scent-of-the-immortals-is-a-disgusting/) [Gao Xingjian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gao-xingjian/) > [If, while observing the boundless universe, the writer is able to scrutinise his own self as well as others, the resulting incisiveness of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gao-xingjian/if-while-observing-the-boundless-universe-the-writer-is-able-to/) [Gao Xingjian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gao-xingjian/) > [When God talks to humans he doesn't want humans to hear his voice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gao-xingjian/when-god-talks-to-humans-he-doesn-t-want-humans-to-hear-his-voice/) [Gao Xingjian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gao-xingjian/) > [“At the height of the Cultural Revolution, rather than risk having to face dire consequences for his accumulated writings, he burned several kilos of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gao-xingjian/at-the-height-of-the-cultural-revolution-rather-than-risk-having-to/) [Gao Xingjian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gao-xingjian/) > [Language is inherently not concerned with logic. As an expression of the psychological activities of humankind, it simply follows a linear process as it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gao-xingjian/language-is-inherently-not-concerned-with-logic-as-an-expression-of/) [Gao Xingjian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gao-xingjian/) > [There are numerous layers to truth, and the simple and superficial statement of facts cannot satisfy the writer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gao-xingjian/there-are-numerous-layers-to-truth-and-the-simple-and-superficial/) [Gao Xingjian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gao-xingjian/) [Explore all 91 Gao Xingjian quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gao-xingjian/) ## More Mountain quotes > [Then come to realize that you're making mountains out of molehills. Realize how petty you've become. 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I'm going to send you up where the air is rare and the view is much more than fair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/climb-aboard-jonesy-i-m-going-to-send-you-up-where-the-air-is-rare/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [When everything feels like an uphill struggle, just think of the view from the top.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-everything-feels-like-an-uphill-struggle-just-think-of-the-view/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [So far as female beauty is concerned, the Circassian women have no superiors. They have preserved in their mountain home the purity of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bayard-taylor/so-far-as-female-beauty-is-concerned-the-circassian-women-have-no/) [Bayard Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bayard-taylor/) > [Sometimes you climb the mountain, and you fall and fail. Maybe there is a different path that will take you up. 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If you're not careful, it will take up your whole life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/success-is-like-a-mountain-in-front-of-you-that-keeps-growing-if-you/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [“Never measure the height of a mountain, until you have reached the top. Then you will see how low it was." Dag Hammarskj’ld”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/change-your-life-publishing/never-measure-the-height-of-a-mountain-until-you-have-reached-the-top/) [Change Your Life Publishing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/change-your-life-publishing/) > [“You are a lawmaker in your own right.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/you-are-a-lawmaker-in-your-own-right/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [Everest is how it is right now. We have to fix ropes up there; we have the commercial expeditions. If you don't like that,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ueli-steck/everest-is-how-it-is-right-now-we-have-to-fix-ropes-up-there-we-have/) [Ueli Steck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ueli-steck/) Browse all 4,697 Mountain quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When I completed writing 'Soul Mountain,' I more or less closed the accounts with China for myself. 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