The Change Mariner

Cyber Literarure Takes Off in China

People's Daily (China)

It was not until 1998 that online writing's popularity really skyrocketed. A modern love story entitled "First Close Touch" written by Taiwan writer Pizi Tsai got widely spread on the net. Its free writing style and modern language quickly attracted people. For most Chinese people, it was their first encounter with cyber-literature. The fever continued as the story was later published and adapted into a movie and stage drama.

From then on, more and more people started posting their stories, poems, articles and other works online, sharing them on various BBSs (Bulletin Board Systems) or literary websites. One of the sites that receives the most hits is rongshuxia.com, the world's largest aggregator and publisher of literature in the Chinese language. Set up seven years ago, Rongshuxia provides a platform for writers to show off their talents.

Lu Jinbo, chief editor of the website, is a famous online writer himself. He explains the development of this literary website. "In the beginning, we received two or three articles a day, but now, this number has surpassed 5,000. Over the past seven years, more than 100,000 people have had their articles published here."