No.10  Cultural stars falling from the sky

A chain of cultural masters died over the past 12 months. They are like shining stars falling from the sky, leaving a beautiful glow in people's memories. Nobel Prize winner Gabriel Garcia Marquez passed away on April 17 at the age of 87. As one of the most prestigious writers of the 20th century, his magic realism and his monumental work One Hundred Years of Solitude were an essential influence on Chinese contemporary literature.

Famous Japanese love-story novelist Junichirou Watanabe died at the age of 80 at the end of April, with his most well-known work, The Lost Paradise, remembered by the world. Celebrated Chinese philosopher and educator Tang Yijie passed away at 87 in September, leaving outstanding contributions on Chinese culture studies. Famed Chinese writer Zhang Xianliang followed Tang the same month and left the world at the age of 78. Zhang was the representative master of "Trauma litgerature" (literature about the suffering of the cultural revolution) and his popular works, such as My Bodhi Tree and Half of Man is Woman, were highly positioned in contemporary Chinese literary circles.

Famous writer Zhang Xianliang passed away in September. [Photo/People.com.cn]