Writer Tong Yan (Baidu Encyclopedia entry)

Tong Yan’s writing process

Basic overview

Tong Yan, a famous Chinese child Literary writer, novelist, film and television producer, screenwriter. A famous Chinese teacher, vice chairman of the Chinese Writers Association, and a contracted writer for "Reader" and "Chinese Weekly". He is the author of the novels "Lyrebird", "Three Wishes of an Oriole", fairy tale collection "Little Jujube Tree and Grandpa", popular science picture book series "Little Duli's Autumn", "White Flower Tree and Pink Flower Tree", etc. The works have been translated into more than 20 languages ??and published in many countries and regions including Russia, South Korea, Japan, Indonesia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Greece, and Denmark, and has won the Bing Xin Children's Literature Award and the People's Literature Award Award, French International Courier Prize for Foreign Fiction, Italian Grinzana Carver Literary Award, etc. Tong Yan is known as "the most talented popular writer" and "the most influential writer in China".

Character Profile

Tong Yan, a well-known Chinese children's literature writer and novelist, is known as the three major fairy tale writers in China together with Sun Youjun and Bingbo. Film and television producer and screenwriter. In 2013, he published his masterpiece "Lyrebird", which shocked the literary world. In 2014, he became familiar to the public for participating in Tianjin Satellite TV's "It's You" program. In 2023, he was ranked 9th on the odds list for the Nobel Prize in Literature, attracting attention. A special teacher in Hangzhou and a contracted writer for "Reader" and "Chinese Weekly".

Tong Yan was born in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, and his ancestral home is Shijiazhuang, Hebei. He was born in the 1990s and his real name is Zhang Yufei. His main works include the novels "Lyrebird", "Three Wishes of an Oriole", "White Phoenix", fairy tale collection "Little Jujube Tree and Grandpa", popular science picture book series "Autumn of Little Duli", "White Flower Tree and Pink Flower Tree", etc. The American "Publishers Weekly" praised "Tong Yan as an internationally renowned writer" and was hailed as "China's Hans Christian Andersen".

Tong Yan has been passionate about literature since he was a child. Since he published his first article in "Boyhood" when he was 10 years old, he has published articles in "Youth Literature and Art", "Chinese Campus Literature", "Boyhood", "Primary School World" and " A series of authoritative publications such as "Children's Story Newspaper", "Children's Literature", "Novel Circle", "Contemporary Novel", "People's Literature", "Jiangnan", and "Times" have published more than a thousand fairy tales, novels, essays, fables and other works. He insisted on keeping diaries since he was a child. From the third grade of elementary school to college, he wrote more than 20 diaries with one million words. He has won the Bing Xin Children's Literature Award, the People's Literature Award, the "Jinghua Cup" National College Student Fable Grand Prix Excellence Award, the French International Courier Foreign Novel Award, and the Italian Grinzana Carver Literary Award.

The full-length masterpiece "Lyrebird" set a precedent for "Little Cherry" magazine to serialize original bird stories, and became the most watched and popular full-length fairy tale in 2013.

His works not only bring a wealth of reading materials to the publishing industry, but also provide wonderful themes for the film and television industry. Fairy tales such as "The Blue Bird" and "The Legend of the Jiaomuqin" have been adapted into movies one after another.

Most of Tong Yan’s works have wonderful imaginations, numerous characters, diverse genres, and distinctive personalities. The language style is often fresh, beautiful, simple and natural, with high literary and artistic qualities. It is pure children’s literature. It has established a new height for Chinese fairy tales.

Tong Yan is known as "the most talented popular writer" and "the most influential writer in China".

Personal profile

Pen name: Tong Yan

Chinese original name: Zhang Yufei

English name: Jesse

Nationality : China

Nationality: Han

Height: 178cm

Weight: 70kg

Birthplace: Hangzhou, Zhejiang

Ancestral home: Shijiazhuang, Hebei

Family status: parents, younger sister

Creative characteristics

Tong Yan is a realist writer whose works are full of life or warmth Whether sad, romantic or nostalgic, they are always filled with the flavor of mountains, rivers and pastoral, and are very spiritual and aesthetic. The pictures they create often linger in the minds of readers.

Representative images in the pen: Qin Ming, Song Xiao, Little White Feather, Hua Niao, A Hua, Feng Yu, Golden Eagle, Snake Eagle, Lele (the little boy’s name), Yellow Warbler, White-legged Falcon , blue and green magpie, red bird.

Resident magazines and newspapers

"Youth Literature", "People's Literature", "Writers", "Chinese Campus Literature",

"Beijing Literature", "Years", "Selected Prose", "Prose",

"Children's Literature", "Fairy Tale World", "October", "Yellow River Literature"

"Reading and Writing World" ", "Yanzhao Evening News", "Honglei Story Treasure House", "Literature and Life"

"Youth", "Wangyuan", "Poetry Magazine", "Jiangnan", "Contemporary Novels", "Little Novels"

"Primary School Students' Reading Newspaper", "China Youth Newspaper", "China Children's Newspaper", "Selected Little Novels",

"Oriental Youth", "Little Stream" ", "Yanhe",

"Chinese and Foreign Fairy Tales Illustrated Magazine", "Primary School Student Guide" (Hunan), "Little Sunflower",

"Happy School Composition" (Qingdao, Shandong Province) ), "Youth World" (Linyi, Shandong)

"Youth Quality Education News" (Shijiazhuang), "Youth Intellectual Development News", "Chinese Weekly",

"Little Andersen" , "Children's Big World" (Hebei),

"Primary School Pinyin Newspaper·Stupid Cat", "Primary School Students",

"Red Scarf", "Red Dragonfly", "Youth Encyclopedia" Knowledge News",

"Boyhood" (Sichuan), "Composition Base Camp",

"Snowflakes", "Children of the World" (Pinyin version),

"Young Pioneer Newspaper" (Chongqing), "Shenzhen Youth Newspaper·Enlightenment Weekly",

"Special Economic Zone Education", "Mangrove", "Indus Flower"

"Primary School Students" "Friends", "Happy Chinese", "Chinese World"

"New Chinese Learning", "Colorful Chinese", "Students·Parents·Society"

"Fairy Tale Kingdom", " "Red Scarf Newspaper",

"Northern Youth Newspaper" (Inner Mongolia), "Youth World",

"Literary Youth" (Liaoning), "Student World",

"Story Composition" (Gansu), "Chinese Learning Newspaper",

"Campus Songs" (Guizhou), "Rural Children Newspaper",

"Children's Painting King" , "Anhui Youth Daily·Primary School Students Weekly",

"Extracurricular Life", "Doll Paradise" (Anhui),

"Reading, Writing and Arithmetic", "Primary School Students World", "Primary School Students" "World",

"Future Writers", "Youth Literature" (Jiangsu), "Children",

"Academy Creation" (Guangxi), "Selected Compositions for Primary School Students", "Primary School Students" Study Newspaper",

"Composition Guidance Newspaper", "Children's Intellectual Development Pictorial" (Henan),

"Smart Spring" (Jiangxi), "Little Writers Newspaper·Education", "Chinese and Foreign Fairy Tales", "Love Learning Every Day",

"Counselor", "Mandarin Daily" (Taiwan), "Reading Friends", etc.

Character Experience

Tong Yan was born in a scholarly family and was well-educated in literature and art since childhood. His grandfather is the deputy secretary of the Hebei Provincial Party Committee, his grandmother is a director of the China Film and Music Society, his father is a professor at the School of History at Zhejiang University, and his cousin Tiening is the chairman of the Chinese Writers Association. His sister Ye Zi is a female pop singer and host in mainland China, and her brother-in-law Xu Yao is the son of Zhejiang businessman Xu Guanju.

Tong Yan has been culturally influenced and encouraged by his parents since he was a child. He reads poetry and books and studies hard. He has been in the habit of keeping a diary since he was a child. "At first, I wrote a diary just to cope with the diary homework assigned by the teacher, but writing it became a channel for me to vent my emotions and talk about my joys and sorrows, and I have stuck to it ever since." Since the third grade of elementary school, he has written more than 20 diaries with up to one million words.

The accumulation of literary skills is not limited to writing diaries, but also extensive reading. When he was a child, his family subscribed to a newspaper. Tong Yan would cut out the readable articles in the newspaper, put them into a special book, and read them over and over in his spare time. After entering the university, the rich collection of the school's Shaw Library provided him with good conditions for reading. "My bookshelf is in the library." Every time he goes to the library to borrow books, he will borrow up to the limit of the library card. Tong Yan also made a list of college reading books for himself, covering literature, philosophy, economics, clinical medicine, animals and plants, etc. "Reading can expand people's knowledge and broaden their horizons, thereby improving their cultivation, cultivating their character, and is beneficial to improving their ability to analyze and solve problems," he said.

In 2000, a fairy tale "Phoenix" written by Tong Yan was published in the "Yanzhao Evening News". This was the beginning of Tong Yan's creative journey. This fairy tale was adapted into a musical and performed on Children's Day, which won praise from teachers and students in the school.

When Tong Yan was in middle school from 2002 to 2005, he wrote a 100,000-word fairy tale "Clouds Floating Over Sun Moon Lake" during the winter and summer vacations. It was later serialized on Xiaohe Composition Network and began to attract attention. Attention of some domestic readers.

The first person to deeply explore Tong Yan in the editing and publishing industry was Fan Xu, the editor-in-chief of "Wuji Daily". He had long claimed that "Tong Yan is a very good literary seedling" and opened a large area of ????sections. , serialized a series of fairy tales written by this primary school student, causing quite a stir in the city. The newspaper ceased publication many years ago.

Tong Yan’s studies were not delayed because of creation. On the contrary, his grades were always among the best. During the high school entrance examination, he was admitted to the provincial key high school as the top scorer in the county high school entrance examination. Under the severe pressure of the college entrance examination, Tong Yan created less and only wrote some essays and diaries. However, he never forgot his dream of literature. After entering college, he restored his creative skills. On the premise of completing professional courses, he read widely and He persisted in writing and completed works such as "Lyre Bird", "Impression of Hebei" and "Colorful Starry Sky". The manuscript fee slips sent by magazines are often as numerous as snowflakes. Tong Yan said that he had never thought of making money from writing, but the unexpected manuscript fee covered all his living expenses.

From 2012 to 2013, Henan's "Little Cherry Good Boy" serialized Tong Yan's novel "The Lyre Bird" for the first time, which aroused widespread praise from readers and the sales of this magazine also increased.

Golden Shield Publishing House immediately signed a contract with Tong Yan and published the novel "Lyrebird". Within two months of its release, the first printing of 20,000 copies was sold out, and subsequent printings were reprinted many times.

Since then, many of Tong Yan’s works have been published:

In 2013, Hangzhou Wanyun Technology Co., Ltd. published the long fairy tale "Amu, Amu, please answer me";

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In 2014, Beijing Yutai Culture Communication Company published the diary written by Tong Yan during elementary school, named "Diary of a Good Child";

In 2015, Fujian People's Publishing House published a popular science fairy tale created by Tong Yan. Picture book series "Children's Popular Science Fairy Tales" (including "Colorful Starry Sky", "Autumn of Xiaodu Li", "White Flower Tree and Pink Flower Tree", "Crosstalking Sparrow's Meal" and "Crescent Bridge");

In 2016, Jilin Fine Arts Publishing House published Tong Yan's collection of short and medium-sized fairy tales "Little Jujube Tree and Grandpa"; White Feather".

In 2019, Jilin Fine Arts Publishing House published Tong Yan's fairy tale collection "The Willow Bagpipe" and "The Abandoned Child on Gemstone Mountain". In the same year, China Textile Publishing House published Tong Yan's collection of works "My Name is Light". In addition to many of Tong Yan's classic works, the book also included his writing experience talk series "My Writing Story".

The 2017 film adapted from Tong Yan's fairy tale "The Blue Bird" of the same name was filmed in Xiaoshan, Hangzhou.

Tong Yan’s creations not only brought a large number of excellent paper works to the publishing industry, but also provided beautiful and rich materials to the film and television industry. His series of works have been adapted by many comic companies, film and television companies, and promoted globally.

Introduction to the work

"The Lyre Bird" is a full-length fairy tale written by Tong Yan in 2012, when Tong Yan was only 22 years old.

"Lyrebird" is an animal adventure story. The novel tells the story of the Lyrebird and Little White Feather helping each other in getting along with various animals and humans, fighting against dangers, and benefiting mankind. It embodies the beautiful traditional integrity of the Chinese nation, encourages people to be brave and strive for success, emphasizes the importance of justice in real life, and at the same time conveys the concept of protecting nature and caring for small animals.

The protagonist Qin Ming entered the wild animal world and the human world successively, witnessed all kinds of strange world scenery, and made friends with very different styles. In this process, the protagonist completed the growth of life.

In the book, children’s words give birds the emotions of truth, goodness, beauty, fakeness, ugliness and evil in the human world, showing thousands of species in the natural world. While telling children about growth and inspirational stories, it also serves as a popular science effect. Talking about the source of inspiration for the novel, Tong Yan said that it came from his usual extensive reading and his love for flowers, birds and vegetation. "Because I like flowers, trees, and small animals very much. My favorite among them is birds. The protagonist of "Lyrebird" is based on real birds. I read a lot about birds in the library. Encyclopedia books, looking at those beautiful pictures, I can make up a beautiful story."

"Actors must be involved in acting, and writing must also be involved in acting." For Tong Yan, if. The entire book took 100 hours to write, so it would take at least 300 hours to conceive. The roof of dormitory No. 8 in the school is his secret base. Because conceiving and writing requires a quiet environment, at 9 or 10 pm, he would pull out the plug-in board, connect his laptop, and write on the roof of the building, often for 2 or 3 hours at a time.

When he was coming up with ideas, he would pace up and down on the roof of the building. Tong Yan said that every character in the book is like his own child, and he is often involved in the drama: "Sometimes he is like a fool, bursting into tears when he thinks of sad plots, and laughing again when he thinks of interesting plots." These flowers, grass, and birds will form touching stories in his mind.

After reading "Lyrebird", you will understand that the dozens of birds in it seem to have become children with distinctive personalities, some are naughty and playful, some are smart and witty, and some are glib. Some are upright and awe-inspiring, some are low-key and humble, and some are fierce, but they also have a soft heart...

Success is no accident. In addition to reading a lot of books and writing wholeheartedly, Tong Yan said frankly that life It is the source of all creation. In order to accumulate more creative materials and write excellent children's literature, Tong Yan became the king of children. He patiently communicated with the children around him, told stories, played games, taught martial arts, and hoped to become friends with the children. He used winter and summer vacations to support teaching in remote areas and kept in touch with the children, hoping to enter the inner world of the children.

Tong Yan in creation is full of passion, while in life Tong Yan has a wide range of hobbies and a gentle personality.

Writing just for fun

Since the first article was published in 2000, Tong Yan has published more than a thousand fairy tales, novels, essays and other works in major publications,** *Total 1.5 million words. When a reporter asked him whether he would consider writing as a career to make a living, Tong Yan shook his head: "I just regard writing as my hobby. I would rather listen to my inner voice freely and write articles without any worries." , write something real that children can see and love.”

Tong Yan said: “Writing, for me, is just a need for spiritual expression and a kind of emotional catharsis. I don’t know. Whatever I will write in the future, I will just write based on my interests and my love for literature and art.”

Now, he has developed a habit of writing articles. Read it a few times to your children first to make sure they like it and understand it. When he was not writing for children, he played with them, taught them martial arts, and helped them revise their compositions. "Being with children is also my interest. Their innocence deeply touches me. It is a pleasure to write some words for them after work and study."

Society Reports

"Chinese Weekly" 2005, "In and Out of the Classroom" 2006, "Chinese World" 2006, "Youth Digest" 2007, "Shandong Youth" 2007, "Hebei Youth Daily" 2007, Zhejiang TV Station 2008.8, Jiangxi Radio Station 2009.9, Hebei Satellite TV 2009.12, "Yanzhao Evening News" 2007 and 2012, "People Weekly" 2008, "Times" 2010, "Southern Weekend" 2010, "Wenyuan" 2011, "Middle School Student Composition" Recommended by famous experts 2011, "Yanzhao Metropolis Daily" 2012, "It's You" 2014.11.16, "Colorful Chinese" 2015.11, "Chinese Weekly" 2016.3, "Humor Master" celebrity interviews 2017.5, "Primary School Student" magazine "Get Close to Famous Artists" 2017.11, "Children's Literature" in December 2018, "Boyhood" in November 2018, "Qianjiang Evening News" in May 2022, "People's Daily" in November 2023, "Youth Literature" in June 2024, "Celebrities" Interview" September 2025.

Character Evaluation

Tong Yan’s grades have been surprisingly good since he was a child. He has been ranked first in grade for almost six years of elementary school. Later, he went to a provincial key high school and participated in various English competitions and He won prizes in mathematics competitions and chemistry competitions, and his most outstanding performance was in literature.

The first person to discover Tong Yan was Fan Xu, the former editor-in-chief of Wuji Daily. He once commented on Tong Yan: Tong Yan is the smartest and most talented child I have seen in many years. From the first manuscript he submitted to me when he was in fourth grade, to the manuscripts he wrote when he went to study abroad after the high school entrance examination, I can see that he is a person who is extremely talented and full of ideas in literature. A rare young talent in the field of literature, he will definitely make a splash in the contemporary literary world in the future.

Evaluation from Tan Xudong, winner of the Lu Xun Literature Prize and doctor of children's literature: Tong Yan is a great writer with extraordinary creativity and has brought a breath of fresh air to literature. Nowadays, the number of children's literature creators is increasing day by day, and many authors have joined this team, but there are not many talented and diligent authors like Tong Yan.

Reader comments: Tong Yan’s works are like a piece of delicious pastry, which makes people feel less and less satisfied as they eat it. A beautiful fairy tale makes people always want to read it in one sitting.

Netizen comments: His fairy tales are very beautiful. I come back and read them again every year. They are really beautiful!

Classmate comments: Tong Yan is a legendary figure. His endurance and perseverance are impressive. He can sit on a stool for hours writing and reading motionless, completely forgetting everything outside. Every time he handed in an assignment, he was the one who did the best; every time he memorized the text, he was the one who recited it loudest; every time he wrote an article, he was always included in the article the teacher read to the whole class; every day after school , he was the last person to leave; in every exam, he also got the highest score.

Elementary school teacher Yuan Mingyue’s comment: I can’t imagine how a ten-year-old child could write that diary. He writes every day, every day, without a break for several years, and All the handwriting is so neat and beautiful, which is surprising.

University teacher He Shuying’s evaluation: Tong Yan is a down-to-earth child, which means he has goals. He knows what he should do, he knows what he wants to do, and he works harder than ordinary people in literary creation. There are also relatively many.

Cai Hua, a famous director and winner of the Best Director at the San Diego International Children's Film Festival in the United States: The businesses Tongyan does are very pure and they are all real children's industries. He writes books, creates children's literature, writes children's scripts, and makes children's movies, which are among the best children's works in China.

Teacher Cao Jing from Guizhou Primary School: He is a person with great love.

Famous host Tu Lei: From his book, I can see that he is a very loving person at heart... I have read his book, and the writing is really good.

Du Zijian, a famous entrepreneur and founder of Huayi Media: As I approach the age of 50 and look back at my past, I find that the most missing quality in ourselves is childlike innocence. Childlike innocence is the most important thing. The most beautiful and pure thing, but we live too worldly. Tong Yan, you keep it, you leave this precious quality in you. No matter what you do in the future, wherever you go, don't throw away this good thing, it is pure, keep it.

Mainland Chinese host Tu Lei: What is the most difficult literary genre in the world to write about? It's a fairy tale! He needs the heart of a child, the brain of an adult, vicissitudes of experience and an optimistic spirit. So don’t think that children’s education is very simple. How about coaxing children? Isn’t that easy? wrong! More difficult than adult education. Tong Yan, your clerical skills are really good, but they still need some experience to refine them. I wish you better and better!

Representative works

Children's Prose "Xiaguang" (11 years old)

The rays of light tonight are so beautiful!

The setting sun fell halfway up the mountain, and the rich sunset glow burned the western sky red, casting wisps of red light, which was intoxicating.

This light shines on the green willow tips, filled with bursts of fairy spirit, making the willow leaves appear red. A slight breeze blew by, the leaves rustled, and the glow shone along with the fluttering wickers, scattering into a patchwork of stars. The willows in the glow are wonderful and peaceful.

The rays of sunlight shine on the tall buildings on the roadside, sending a bright, shining, bright light, like the waves under a lighthouse. The white walls turned red, the gray walls turned red, and the orange walls turned red. How beautiful! The buildings in Xiaguangli are tranquil and harmonious.

The rays of sunshine shine on every corner and on everyone, and everything changes. Everything is intoxicated.

The sunset slowly sank, the red clouds withdrew their soft light, Liu also fell asleep, the building became quiet, and there were only a few pedestrians on the road. The hazy Milky Way is getting deeper and deeper, and the noisy day has become silent.