China celebrated another achievement last week, as Mo Yan became the first Chinese citizen to win a Nobel Prize for literature.
The selection of Mo was praised by a Chinese nationalist tabloid as a sign that mainstream China could "no longer be refused by the West for long."
Mo grew up in Shandong province in northeastern China, and during the Cultural Revolution, he left school to work in the fields, finishing his education in the army, according to The Guardian. The author draws upon his rural upbringing in his novels, mixing historical perspective with mythical elements.
His real name is Guan Moye, but he chose "Mo Yan" as a pen name meaning "don't speak," to reflect the culture in which he grew up.
The new Nobel laureate is of the same generation as the new leaders set to take over the Politburo Standing Committee next month after the convening of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.
This group of men (and one female contender) are "old enough to remember the suffering of the Cultural Revolution, but also young enough to fully experience how China has grown through Deng [Xiaoping]'s opening of the economy to market forces," says CLSA China Strategy research.
They've seen vast political reforms take place, transforming China "from a country ruled by the contradictory personal whims of Mao to one ruled through institutions and rules," says William H. Overholt in The Washington Quarterly.
During these decades, "freedoms blossomed, affecting everything from clothing to haircuts to job or marital choices to social and political speech," says Overholt.
As a result of these policies, they've been able to witness China's incredible growth, with GDP averaging 10 percent per year and more than 500 million people moving out of poverty over the past 30 years.