Central News Agency, TAIPEI – According to Ta Kung Pao, a Hong Kong based newspaper, a young girl set up a stall near the subway exit at the Shenzhen Conference and Exhibition Center, attempting to sell the manuscript of the book she has written. Behind her, a banner read, “Ten-year-old Zhou Yang, Selling Five Manuscripts for Three Million Yuan (US$ 400,000)”.
Zhou Yang is from Zhong Shan City, currently in the fifth grade of primary school. Her five manuscripts were written within the last two years, including two novels and three anthologies, containing about one million words. Thick stacks of manuscript papers impressed many passerby.
According to the report, one of Zhou Yang’s anthologies, “Chasing Dreams”, consists of diary entries and short articles she wrote in the past year, many of which are full of the wild imaginations of a child. The thickest manuscript among the five was the novel “Scared in an Ancient Tomb”. Zhou said the inspiration for this novel came from archeology shows on TV.
Zhou Yang is very fond of Jin Yong’s [1] novels, but she said her idol was Lu Xun [2]. She told the reporter that it was her who decided on the the price of her beloved manuscripts. When mentioning cartoons popular among other kids, she disparaged in a low voice, “Those are too naïve.” Zhou Yang’s father said that compared to other children of the same age, Zhou Yang was not extremely clever, but she does have a gift for languages. So although he is a music teacher, he always tries to motivate her reading.
Regarding her daughter’s five manuscripts, he said, that the only thing he had helped with was correcting of a few grammatical errors. He said they came to Shenzhen City to attend a book manuscript auction, but the auction was put off. That’s why they came up with the idea of trying their luck on the street, hoping to meet some keen investors.
Notes:
[1] Jin Yong is a famous novelist in Hong Kong. His characters are mainly Kung Fu heroes. [2] Lu Xun (1881-1936) was a left-wing writer. He was against the corruption of the National Party during the Civil War between 1945 and 1949. He is highly praised by the Chinese Communist Party.
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