Chinese author Jiang Rong (
The US$100,000 literary award is newly established to recognize the region's best literature that has not yet been published in English.
Jiang's Wolf Totem, first published in Chinese, is about the struggle of life during the 1966 to 1967 Cultural Revolution and draws on Jiang's personal experience in the Mongolian grasslands.
The English edition of the book is scheduled for publication in March.
Jiang, born in Jiangsu in 1946, spent 11 years living with nomadic communities in the Chinese border grassland region.
The Beijing-based writer was not able to receive the award in person at a ceremony held in Hong Kong on Saturday night because of ill health. But in a statement, Jiang said he was thrilled and honored that his Chinese story caught the attention the judges.
The four other writers shortlisted for the prize were Xu Xi (
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