The Wig | Han Dong | Granta Magazine

The Wig

Han Dong

Translated by Philip Hand

‘Hu Yanjun had got his hands on a wig, and was trying it on in front of the mirror when his friend Wang Xinghai came to see him.’

Han Dong

Han Dong was born in 1961 in Nanjing, and shortly afterwards he and his parents were banished to the countryside during the Cultural Revolution. He later studied Shandong University, graduating in 1982, and went on to teach philosophy in colleges in Xi’an and Nanjing. Han Dong began writing in 1980 and by the 1990s had became renowned as one of the finest poets of his generation. He has since become increasingly influential as an essayist, short story writer, blogger and novelist. His story ‘The Wig’ was the focus of the 2012 Harvill Secker Young Translators’ Prize.

More about the author →

Translated by Philip Hand

Philip Hand is a translator who lives and works in Xiamen, in the south east of China. He studied Chinese and linguistics at university in the UK, then went to China to teach English. He did a spell on a local English language newspaper, where he was forbidden from reporting on one of China’s few successful environmental protests.

More about the translator →