Wang Yuanyuan

    cheekywang@hotmail.com

    The works of Mo Yan, winner of this year’s Nobel Prize in Literature, will be included in high school Chinese textbooks.

    The Chinese Press, publisher of Chinese textbooks for middle schools, confirmed on Sunday that it had chosen Mo Yan’s short story, “Transparent Radish,” as an optional article for high school students and the new book will be in schools in spring 2013.

    “It is great that Mo Yan won this year’s Nobel Prize. Middle school students also need to know about his work and style. This short story is very suitable for that age group,” Zhang Xia, an editor of the group, said.

    However, many people thought the students might be too young to read Mo’s work. “Many of Mo Yan’s works contain adult themes and graphic content. I don’t think they can understand them because they are too young and lack experience of society,” said a netizen, only identified as “Wangshi.”

    Zhang thought it would not be a problem. “Mo Yan’s most controversial works are ones such as ‘Red Sorghum,’ but he has many other works which are quite different. ‘Transparent Radish’ is about childhood and has a child narrator,” Zhang said.

    Li Jingze, chief editor of People’s Literature magazine, agreed. “This work is very poetic and will help young people understand the beauty of our language,” Li said.