Mo Yan, the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature (诺贝尔文学奖) in 2012, was born in the small town of Gaomi in Shandong Province. His parents were farmers. And as a young boy Mo took care of the family's goats (山羊). Each day he took the goats outside and watched over them when they ate grass.
It was a lonely job, but Mo was a smart boy. He enjoyed the green, open land of Shandong. He enjoyed looking up at the blue sky and the white clouds. To pass the time he talked to the goats. He told them his thoughts and some stories. It was the beginning of his life as a storyteller.
During the Cultural Revolution (文化大革命), Mo had to leave school and work for a company. This was difficult for Mo. because he loved books and he loved reading, Luckily, he found a friend who would lend him books. Later. Mo became a soldier and continued his education. In the end he graduated from Beijing Normal University (北师大). This was where he began to write. Although Mo had left Gaomi, Gaomi never left him. Many of his books talked about rural life and the people of Gaomi. For Mo, all human nature can be seen in the village life of Gaomi. Mo is famous now, but he remains a true son of soil (土地).
