Cao Wenxuan

To me, writing well for children is one of the hardest crafts there is, and Cao Wenxuan has mastered it. A professor and doctoral tutor at Peking University, he could easily have hidden behind academic prestige, yet he chose to write stories that reach young readers. The fact that his work has been translated into English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, and Serbian tells me his sensibility crosses borders effortlessly. What I find moving is the humility required to kneel down to a child's eye level and speak plainly. That blend of scholarly depth and tender simplicity earns my genuine respect; it is a rarer gift than most acknowledge.

Cao Wenxuan (simplified Chinese: 曹文轩; traditional Chinese: 曹文軒; pinyin: Cáo Wénxuān; born January 1954) is a Chinese novelist, best known for his works of children's literature. Cao is the vice president of the Beijing Writers Association. He is also a professor and doctoral tutor at Peking University. His novels have been translated into English, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, and Serbian.

Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Name (English)

Cao Wenxuan

Name (Japanese)

曹文軒

Reading

そう・ぶんけん

Born

January 9, 1954 (age 72)

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Capricorn / Horse

Origin

Yancheng, People's Republic of China

Blood type

Private

Height

Private

Agency

Private

Occupation

novelist / children's writer / writer

Elementary school

Private

Junior high

Private

High school

Private

University

Peking University

Spouse

Private

Children

Private

Parents

Private

Siblings

Private

Motto

Private

• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%9B%B9%E6%96%87%E8%BB%92

Tags

• novelist
• children's writer
• writer

Last updated

2026-06-02

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.