Novelist from rural Shaanxi who writes about village life in his home region. His 1993 novel 废都 was banned until 2009, and 秦腔 won the Mao Dun Literature Prize. His name is read Píngwā, not Píng'āo.
Ruined City is Jia Pingwa's most controversial work.
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His birth name 平娃 'ordinary child' was a fortune teller's suggestion after his parents' first child died. The pen name swaps 娃 'child' for 凹 'hollow', read wā in southern Shaanxi dialect, so 平 'flat' and 凹 'sunken' pun on the old name.
