The Silent Majority

Since we came of age, everything we've seen has been topsy-turvy. Beneath a noisy circle of discourse, there has always been a silent majority.

Wang Xiaobo's essays are worth and can withstand repeated close readings. There are not many who can truly think, and even fewer who can derive joy from thinking. Wang Xiaobo was one of them. These essays navigate the multiple tensions between the individual and humanity, outwardness and introspection, humor and seriousness, emotion and reason, common sense and philosophy, logic and paradox, forming his uniquely styled "Xiaobo-esque prose."

Among contemporary Chinese writers, no one has ever received countless accolades and fanatical admiration like him, nor has anyone ever had so many young people willingly become his "disciples." He even became a literary mentor and spiritual leader for many, and his advocacy against "ignorance" and "dullness" has become a life creed for countless young people.