Why Chinese author compared to Jin Yong and one of China’s hottest listens to people argue on the subway
- Ma Boyong came to prominence in 2012 with The Deception of Antiques before his 2016 book The Longest Day in Chang’an was turned into a major TV series
- He says everyday life is now one of his biggest inspirations and he likes to think about the stories behind, and repercussions of, what he sees all around him
The Beijing audience whooped at the end of the premiere of stage play Goodfellas in 15 Days in October when director Clifton Ko Chi-sum announced that Ma Boyong, the author of the novel from which the play was adapted, was in the audience.
The thunderous response to Ma, who jumped on stage at the Tianqiao Theatre to greet the audience, underscored the cult status he enjoys in China: his bestselling novels have been adapted into TV dramas and movies, and he has won some of the country’s top literary awards.
Brushing off the comparison as hyperbole, the soft-spoken Ma says that his works cannot hold a candle to those of Cha. But he adds: “I learned how to mix history and fiction from him.”
Born in Inner Mongolia, Ma graduated from the Shanghai International Studies University with a marketing degree. The 40-year-old first gained widespread popularity in 2012 with the release of The Deception of Antiques, which resulted in three sequels. The franchise’s huge success spawned three TV series, the most recent of which was broadcast this year. A movie based on the series, Schemes in Antiques, will be released in China on December 3.
The Deception of Antiques revolves around the adventures of an owner of a small antiques shop embroiled in a series of intrigues and conspiracies. It brims with technical information about antique authentication and archaeology.
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“I did research by reading dissertations and talking to antiques experts,” Ma says. “The plot is fictitious but the details, like how to authenticate antiques and important historical events and people, are necessarily real. When visiting museums, my readers can find the same things portrayed in my novels. That’s what I strive to do.”
Set during emperor Tang Xuanzong’s rule (713-756), the story, which unfolds over a single day, portrays how a condemned prisoner saves the country’s then capital, Chang’an, from a major rebellion.
Creative sparks don’t come out of the blue. They come from accumulation of knowledge from extensive reading
Before becoming a full-time writer in 2015, Ma worked at French energy company Schneider Electric as a marketing executive for a decade, during which he published 20 books. He continued his prolific output after going full-time, writing 14 novels and five non-fiction books, including history book The Ming Dynasty Under the Microscope (2019). But historical novels are his greatest joy.
“There’s much material to work on from China’s long history,” he says. “I particularly like The Three Kingdoms period as I liked to play video games and read comics based on that period during childhood.”
Goodfellas in 15 Days portrays a Ming dynasty prince who flees for his life along the Grand Canal from Hangzhou to Beijing. When he witnesses first-hand the populace’s plight alongside the waterway, he vows one day to improve commoners’ lives.
Ma says he visited multiple cities along the route for research. “In Nanjing, I found a warehouse by Xuanwu Lake that boasts archives of the dynasty’s 300-plus-year history. I didn’t realise that such a rich collection of records from the Ming dynasty existed. They provided great material for my novel.”
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Ma had a peripatetic childhood – he studied at 13 schools – because his airport engineer parents kept relocating to Chinese cities in which new airports were being built. The frequent uprooting, he says, made him more tolerant of opposing views and lifestyles.
These days, he adds, books and everyday life are his inspiration. “Creative sparks don’t come out of the blue. They come from accumulation of knowledge from extensive reading,” he says. “I also do mind-workout exercises regularly. For example, when I see a saying on an advertising billboard, I will think about the possible stories behind it. When I hear passengers bicker on the subway, I will think about what caused them to fight, and its repercussions.”
He tells of a commute from work one day, during which his train came out of a dark tunnel and hissed to a stop. It made him think of dragons, with the subways as their lair. The Dragon and The Underground was published in 2016.
Not surprisingly, the coronavirus pandemic has provided a wealth of content for a new novel. Based on Shanghai’s former Huashan Hospital, which opened in 1909, it tells of the many public health crises the institution witnessed.
Ma attended courses on infectious diseases for the book. “I am also a person who likes to discard the old for the new,” he says. “After writing novels on the Tang and Ming dynasties, it’s time for me to write about the contemporary age.”
