1940 - Today
Gao Xingjian (高行健 in Chinese; born January 4, 1940) is a Chinese émigré and later French naturalized novelist, playwright, critic, painter, photographer, film director, and translator who in 2000 was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature "for an oeuvre of universal validity, bitter insights and linguistic ingenuity." He is also a noted translator (particularly of Samuel Beckett and Eugène Ionesco), screenwriter, stage director, and a celebrated painter. Gao's drama is considered to be fundamentally absurdist in nature and avant-garde in his native China. Absolute Signal (1982) was a breakthrough in Chinese experimental theatre. Read more on Wikipedia
Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Gao Xingjian has received more than 398,340 page views. His biography is available in 90 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 88 in 2019). Gao Xingjian is the 335th most popular writer (down from 299th in 2019), the 69th most popular biography from China (down from 57th in 2019) and the 3rd most popular Chinese Writer.
Gao Xingjian is most famous for his Nobel Prize winning novel, "Soul Mountain."
Page Views (PV)
Historical Popularity Index (HPI)
Languages Editions (L)
Effective Languages (L*)
Coefficient of Variation (CV)
Among writers, Gao Xingjian ranks 335 out of 5,755. Before him are Mikhail Lermontov, Ali-Shir Nava'i, Michael Ende, Pierre Beaumarchais, Louise Glück, and Gerhart Hauptmann. After him are Napoleon Hill, Philip Roth, Czesław Miłosz, Sayyid Qutb, Appian, and Friedrich Schlegel.
1814 - 1841
HPI: 69.16
Rank: 329
1441 - 1501
HPI: 69.15
Rank: 330
1929 - 1995
HPI: 69.14
Rank: 331
1732 - 1799
HPI: 69.13
Rank: 332
1943 - 2023
HPI: 69.11
Rank: 333
1862 - 1946
HPI: 69.09
Rank: 334
1940 - Present
HPI: 69.04
Rank: 335
1883 - 1970
HPI: 69.03
Rank: 336
1933 - 2018
HPI: 69.03
Rank: 337
1911 - 2004
HPI: 69.00
Rank: 338
1906 - 1966
HPI: 68.99
Rank: 339
95 - 165
HPI: 68.99
Rank: 340
1772 - 1829
HPI: 68.91
Rank: 341
Among people born in 1940, Gao Xingjian ranks 23. Before him are Qaboos bin Said al Said, Joachim Gauck, J. M. Coetzee, Wangari Maathai, Martin Sheen, and Julie Christie. After him are Pina Bausch, Zodiac Killer, Giorgio Moroder, Abbas Kiarostami, Brian De Palma, and J. M. G. Le Clézio.
1940 - 2020
HPI: 70.24
Rank: 17
1940 - Present
HPI: 70.12
Rank: 18
1940 - Present
HPI: 69.57
Rank: 19
1940 - 2011
HPI: 69.32
Rank: 20
1940 - Present
HPI: 69.27
Rank: 21
1940 - Present
HPI: 69.06
Rank: 22
1940 - Present
HPI: 69.04
Rank: 23
1940 - 2009
HPI: 68.76
Rank: 24
1940 - Present
HPI: 68.43
Rank: 25
1940 - Present
HPI: 68.42
Rank: 26
1940 - 2016
HPI: 68.36
Rank: 27
1940 - Present
HPI: 68.09
Rank: 28
1940 - Present
HPI: 68.05
Rank: 29
Among people born in China, Gao Xingjian ranks 69 out of 1,392. Before him are Jiaqing Emperor (1760), Li Si (-280), Xiang Yu (-232), Han Fei (-280), Xuande Emperor (1399), and Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (685). After him are Yu the Great (-2123), Chongzhen Emperor (1611), Jianwen Emperor (1377), Zhao Yun (168), Wang Mang (-45), and Jet Li (1963).
1760 - 1820
HPI: 69.40
Rank: 63
280 BC - 208 BC
HPI: 69.34
Rank: 64
232 BC - 202 BC
HPI: 69.33
Rank: 65
280 BC - 232 BC
HPI: 69.21
Rank: 66
1399 - 1435
HPI: 69.14
Rank: 67
685 - 762
HPI: 69.13
Rank: 68
1940 - Present
HPI: 69.04
Rank: 69
2123 BC - 2055 BC
HPI: 68.91
Rank: 70
1611 - 1644
HPI: 68.88
Rank: 71
1377 - 1402
HPI: 68.86
Rank: 72
168 - 229
HPI: 68.84
Rank: 73
45 BC - 23
HPI: 68.82
Rank: 74
1963 - Present
HPI: 68.77
Rank: 75
Among writers born in China, Gao Xingjian ranks 3. Before him are Du Fu (712) and Lu Xun (1881). After him are Qu Yuan (-343), Wu Cheng'en (1500), Luo Guanzhong (1330), Wang Wei (699), Faxian (340), Mo Yan (1955), Bai Juyi (772), Kumārajīva (343), and Jin Yong (1924).
712 - 770
HPI: 76.16
Rank: 1
1881 - 1936
HPI: 71.50
Rank: 2
1940 - Present
HPI: 69.04
Rank: 3
343 BC - 278 BC
HPI: 67.24
Rank: 4
1500 - 1582
HPI: 67.01
Rank: 5
1330 - 1400
HPI: 65.69
Rank: 6
699 - 759
HPI: 65.56
Rank: 7
340 - 418
HPI: 65.54
Rank: 8
1955 - Present
HPI: 65.40
Rank: 9
772 - 846
HPI: 64.77
Rank: 10
343 - 413
HPI: 64.20
Rank: 11
1924 - 2018
HPI: 63.65
Rank: 12