Rao Pingru (L) [Chinatoday.com.cn]
An elderly Chinese man who never took formal art classes has gained a worldwide reputation after the publication of his illustrated book filled with affectionate paintings and words that cherish the memory of his deceased wife.
Rao Pingru, 96, is a native of Nancheng County, Fuzhou, east China's Jiangxi province. He lived a happy life during his youth and later studied at a military academy.
He participated in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and later was sent to Anhui province, east China, to participate in the labor reform during the Cultural Revolution. During that time he was forced to separate with his wife Mao Meitang.
After 22 years apart, they reunited in 1979.
In the 2000s, however, Mao became severely sick and died soon after, even though Rao had been taking meticulous care of her.
After the death of Mao in 2008, Rao assembled all of their photos, letters and paintings into a collection of nearly 30 books. He named it Our Story: A Memoir of Life and Love in China.
Rao wrote with beautiful calligraphy in the introduction, and described his motivation: "When my wife passed away, I fell into deep sadness. I didn't know what to do to get rid of the sadness, since I didn't smoke or drink. So I thought about drawing our past lives. I didn't actively choose to do that, but I had to."
Rao wanted to share his memories with his grandchildren about what he and his wife had experienced. His granddaughter published the paintings on social media, and soon after they caught the attention of netizens and publishers.
Today, the book has proved a great success in overseas markets. In March, it was printed in Spanish and appeared in major bookstores in Spain.
In May, both UK and North American versions were published simultaneously.
Coupled with the French version published in 2017 and the upcoming Korean, Italian, and Dutch editions, the love story of Rao and Mao is being presented to readers of the world in many different languages.
At the 2017 Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany, the French edition of the book was named on a bestseller list by the publisher Le Seuil Press, one of the top five publishers in France.
Furthermore, it was the only one, among many recommended books, that was read by former French President François Hollande when he inspected the fair.
At the same spot, publication requests for the book came from five publishers: in Italy, Spain, France, the Netherlands, and South Korea.
Rao also received a letter from publishing company Random House, saying: "Our production and design team has decades of experience and especially admired its craft after reading the Chinese version of this book. We will try our best to make the English version equally good. I am greatly looking forward to the prospect of publishing, and working with you on a global scale to enable us to really launch this story in English and have more influence."
After short period of two months, the book became a bestseller in the "China" section on Amazon.fr, with the total sales volume of 26,000 copies.
Rao said it was beyond his expectation that the book could become so popular.
"I think it's because although the cultural backgrounds of different countries are different, humankind is full of good expectations for love and marriage. It is easy to cause spiritual resonance," Rao said.
"I hope foreign friends can know more about China though reading this book," said Rao.
Rao is currently living in Shanghai, and he has started his new creation The Book of Pingru, describing fragments from his childhood up till now.
A drawing from Rao's book [Cjn.cn]
A drawing from Rao's book [Cjn.cn]
