Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Gao Xingjian (born January 4, 1940) is a Chinese-born novelist, playwright, critic, and painter. An migr to France since 1987, Gao was granted French citizenship in 1997. The recipient of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Literature, he is also a noted translator (particularly of Samuel Beckett and Eug ne Ionesco), screenwriter, stage director, and a celebrated painter.