WRITER

Shan Sa

1972 - Today

Photo of Shan Sa

Icon of person Shan Sa

Shan Sa is the pseudonym of Yan Ni (born October 26, 1972, in Beijing, China), a French author and painter. The Girl Who Played Go was the first of her novels to be published outside France, and won the Prix Goncourt des Lycéens (a prize voted by secondary school students). Her second novel to appear in English translation was Empress (2006). Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Shan Sa has received more than 45,336 page views. Her biography is available in 20 different languages on Wikipedia. Shan Sa is the 6,364th most popular writer (down from 5,894th in 2019), the 1,040th most popular biography from China (down from 952nd in 2019) and the 120th most popular Chinese Writer.

Memorability Metrics

  • 45k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 41.57

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 20

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 7.78

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 1.69

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Notable Works

Joueuse de go
Go (Game), Fiction, Go (Game) players
2002
Impératrice
Empresses, History, Fiction
2003
Porte de la paix céleste
Fiction
1997
Alexander and Alestria
Fiction, Historical Fiction, Romance
Re-creating the lives of two of the most intriguing rulers in history, Shan Sa brings us a novel filled with the sound of hooves, the whistle of arrows, blood, passion, and betrayal. The familiar figure of Alexander the Great comes to new life in this richly imagined tale, which entwines his historical legacy with a fantastic love affair set in a wartime between Western and Eastern civilizations.Abused by his father, King Philip, who loved and hated his beauty; shadowed by his mother, the mystical and overbearing Queen Olympias; educated by Aristotle who wanted him to be a wise philosopher of Macedonia, Alexander develops a complex character. He becomes a brutal warrior, a pitiless strategist, and a poet longing for the world's wonders. Meanwhile, in the remote steppes of Siberia, an abandoned girl grows up among the wild mares, then adopted by the queen of the Amazons—the tribe of female warriors who dominates a wild world of snow and volcano. As a future queen, the young girl is trained to hate men and to fight against all invaders.In the course of his great conquest of Asia, Alexander first meets the stunning Alestria on the battlefield. Surprised to find that his adversary is a woman, he is instantly smitten by the fierce queen. Dazzled by his strength, she decides to kidnap him and make him her "wife." At last, this legendary king—renowned for his beauty and love of men—has found his equal. And at last, this indomitable young woman has found a reason to leave her tribe. Their love, deeply passionate and problematic, evolves against an exotic backdrop of warfare and political turmoil, sweeps from antique Greece to Egypt, across the ancient Iraq and Iran, unto the mysterious kingdoms of India.
2008
Empress
Literature, Fiction, Empresses
Such is the voice of Shan Sa's unforgettable heroine in her latest literary masterpiece, Empress. Empress Wu, one of China's most controversial figures, was its first and only female emperor, who emerged in the seventh century during the great Tang Dynasty and ushered in a golden age. Throughout history, her name has been defamed and her story distorted by those taking vengeance on a woman who dared to become emperor. But now, for the first time in thirteen centuries, Empress Wu (or Heavenlight, as we come to know her) flings open the gates of the Forbidden City and tells her own astonishing tale—revealing a fascinating, complex figure who in many ways remains modern to this day.Writing with epic assurance, poetry, and vivid historic detail, Shan Sa plumbs the psychological and philosophical depths of what it means to be a striving mortal in a tumultuous, power-hungry world. Empress is a great literary feat and a revelation for the ages.
2006
The Girl Who Played Go (Vintage East)
2006
La Joueuse de go
China, fiction, Fiction, historical, Fiction, historical, general
2004
Impératrice
Literature, Fiction, Empresses
Such is the voice of Shan Sa's unforgettable heroine in her latest literary masterpiece, Empress. Empress Wu, one of China's most controversial figures, was its first and only female emperor, who emerged in the seventh century during the great Tang Dynasty and ushered in a golden age. Throughout history, her name has been defamed and her story distorted by those taking vengeance on a woman who dared to become emperor. But now, for the first time in thirteen centuries, Empress Wu (or Heavenlight, as we come to know her) flings open the gates of the Forbidden City and tells her own astonishing tale—revealing a fascinating, complex figure who in many ways remains modern to this day.Writing with epic assurance, poetry, and vivid historic detail, Shan Sa plumbs the psychological and philosophical depths of what it means to be a striving mortal in a tumultuous, power-hungry world. Empress is a great literary feat and a revelation for the ages.
2006
La Joueuse de go
Go (Game), Fiction, Go (Game) players
In a remote Manchurian town in the 1930s, a sixteen-year-old girl is more concerned with intimations of her own womanhood than the escalating hostilities between her countrymen and their Japanese occupiers. While still a schoolgirl in braids, she takes her first lover, a dissident student. The more she understands of adult life, however, the more disdainful she is of its deceptions, and the more she loses herself in her one true passion: the ancient game of go. Incredibly for a teenager-and a girl at that-she dominates the games in her town. No opponent interests her until she is challenged by a stranger, who reveals himself to us as a Japanese soldier in disguise. They begin a game and continue it for days, rarely speaking but deeply moved by each other's strategies. As the clash of their peoples becomes ever more desperate and inescapable, and as each one's untold life begins to veer wildly off course, the girl and the soldier are absorbed by only one thing-the progress of their game, each move of which brings them closer to their shocking fate. In The Girl Who Played Go, Shan Sa has distilled the piercing emotions of adolescence into an engrossing, austerely beautiful story of love, cruelty and loss of innocence.
2002
Impératrice
2008
Impératrice
Empresses, History, Fiction
2003
Alexandre et Alestria
Fiction, Historical Fiction, Romance
Re-creating the lives of two of the most intriguing rulers in history, Shan Sa brings us a novel filled with the sound of hooves, the whistle of arrows, blood, passion, and betrayal. The familiar figure of Alexander the Great comes to new life in this richly imagined tale, which entwines his historical legacy with a fantastic love affair set in a wartime between Western and Eastern civilizations.Abused by his father, King Philip, who loved and hated his beauty; shadowed by his mother, the mystical and overbearing Queen Olympias; educated by Aristotle who wanted him to be a wise philosopher of Macedonia, Alexander develops a complex character. He becomes a brutal warrior, a pitiless strategist, and a poet longing for the world's wonders. Meanwhile, in the remote steppes of Siberia, an abandoned girl grows up among the wild mares, then adopted by the queen of the Amazons—the tribe of female warriors who dominates a wild world of snow and volcano. As a future queen, the young girl is trained to hate men and to fight against all invaders.In the course of his great conquest of Asia, Alexander first meets the stunning Alestria on the battlefield. Surprised to find that his adversary is a woman, he is instantly smitten by the fierce queen. Dazzled by his strength, she decides to kidnap him and make him her "wife." At last, this legendary king—renowned for his beauty and love of men—has found his equal. And at last, this indomitable young woman has found a reason to leave her tribe. Their love, deeply passionate and problematic, evolves against an exotic backdrop of warfare and political turmoil, sweeps from antique Greece to Egypt, across the ancient Iraq and Iran, unto the mysterious kingdoms of India.
2008

Among WRITERS

Among writers, Shan Sa ranks 6,364 out of 7,302. Before her are Charles Lock Eastlake, Nabaneeta Dev Sen, Tom Wilson, Edward Everett Hale, Kaifi Azmi, and John P. Marquand. After her are Christian Prudhomme, Michael Rosen, Henry Green, Laurent Binet, S. E. Hinton, and Joel Osteen.

Most Popular Writers in Wikipedia

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1972, Shan Sa ranks 393. Before her are Darren Hayes, Sammi Cheng, Kalinikos Kreanga, Melissa Auf der Maur, Elyes Fakhfakh, and Alexander Borodai. After her are Jaouad Gharib, Guillaume Gallienne, Laurent Binet, Kai Wegner, Mart Poom, and Trentemøller.

Others Born in 1972

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In China

Among people born in China, Shan Sa ranks 1,040 out of 1,610. Before her are Chen Guangcheng (1971), Xu Rongmao (1950), Changpeng Zhao (1977), Jing Haipeng (1966), Tyrus Wong (1910), and Sun Zhengcai (1963). After her are Liu Boming (1966), Han Geng (1984), Zhang Jike (1988), Sun Li (1982), Zhang Yiming (1983), and Wei Wei (1963).

Others born in China

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  • Photo of Chen Guangcheng

    Chen Guangcheng

    SOCIAL ACTIVIST

    1971 - Present

    HPI: 41.82

    Rank: 1,034

  • Photo of Xu Rongmao

    Xu Rongmao

    BUSINESSPERSON

    1950 - Present

    HPI: 41.80

    Rank: 1,035

  • Photo of Changpeng Zhao

    Changpeng Zhao

    BUSINESSPERSON

    1977 - Present

    HPI: 41.66

    Rank: 1,036

  • Photo of Jing Haipeng

    Jing Haipeng

    ASTRONAUT

    1966 - Present

    HPI: 41.66

    Rank: 1,037

  • Photo of Tyrus Wong

    Tyrus Wong

    ARTIST

    1910 - 2016

    HPI: 41.63

    Rank: 1,038

  • Photo of Sun Zhengcai

    Sun Zhengcai

    POLITICIAN

    1963 - Present

    HPI: 41.59

    Rank: 1,039

  • Photo of Shan Sa

    Shan Sa

    WRITER

    1972 - Present

    HPI: 41.57

    Rank: 1,040

  • Photo of Liu Boming

    Liu Boming

    ASTRONAUT

    1966 - Present

    HPI: 41.56

    Rank: 1,041

  • Photo of Han Geng

    Han Geng

    SINGER

    1984 - Present

    HPI: 41.54

    Rank: 1,042

  • Photo of Zhang Jike

    Zhang Jike

    TABLE TENNIS PLAYER

    1988 - Present

    HPI: 41.51

    Rank: 1,043

  • Photo of Sun Li

    Sun Li

    ACTOR

    1982 - Present

    HPI: 41.40

    Rank: 1,044

  • Photo of Zhang Yiming

    Zhang Yiming

    BUSINESSPERSON

    1983 - Present

    HPI: 41.25

    Rank: 1,045

  • Photo of Wei Wei

    Wei Wei

    SINGER

    1963 - Present

    HPI: 41.23

    Rank: 1,046

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Among WRITERS In China

Among writers born in China, Shan Sa ranks 120. Before her are You Xie (1958), Ma Jian (1953), Liao Yiwu (1958), Su Tong (1963), Liu Xia (1961), and Chen Danqing (1953). After her are Ruth Graham (1920), Woeser (1966), Tie Ning (1957), Wei Hui (1973), Ken Liu (1976), and Yiyun Li (1972).

Chinese born Writers

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  • Photo of You Xie

    You Xie

    1958 - Present

    HPI: 45.38

    Rank: 114

  • Photo of Ma Jian

    Ma Jian

    1953 - Present

    HPI: 44.89

    Rank: 115

  • Photo of Liao Yiwu

    Liao Yiwu

    1958 - Present

    HPI: 44.00

    Rank: 116

  • Photo of Su Tong

    Su Tong

    1963 - Present

    HPI: 43.64

    Rank: 117

  • Photo of Liu Xia

    Liu Xia

    1961 - Present

    HPI: 43.14

    Rank: 118

  • Photo of Chen Danqing

    Chen Danqing

    1953 - Present

    HPI: 42.58

    Rank: 119

  • Photo of Shan Sa

    Shan Sa

    1972 - Present

    HPI: 41.57

    Rank: 120

  • Photo of Ruth Graham

    Ruth Graham

    1920 - 2007

    HPI: 41.13

    Rank: 121

  • Photo of Woeser

    Woeser

    1966 - Present

    HPI: 40.14

    Rank: 122

  • Photo of Tie Ning

    Tie Ning

    1957 - Present

    HPI: 38.95

    Rank: 123

  • Photo of Wei Hui

    Wei Hui

    1973 - Present

    HPI: 37.65

    Rank: 124

  • Photo of Ken Liu

    Ken Liu

    1976 - Present

    HPI: 37.51

    Rank: 125

  • Photo of Yiyun Li

    Yiyun Li

    1972 - Present

    HPI: 37.47

    Rank: 126

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