Author of《
白鹿原》(White Deer Plain, 1993), a sweeping generational saga of two families in the Guanzhong plain of Shaanxi through the first half of the 20th century. The novel won the 4th Mao Dun Literature Prize in 1997 and is regarded as a cornerstone of the 'native soil' (
乡土文学) school, alongside works by
路遥 and
贾平凹.