Sha Yexin
Chinese writer (1939-2018)
Sha Yexin or Sha Yeh-hsin (Chinese: 沙叶新; 13 July 1939 – 26 July 2018) was a Hui-Chinese playwright and short story writer. He is one of the top Chinese playwright of his time, best known for his outspoken stance towards political issues.
Sha's career was marked by both official recognition and controversy. Some of his works were praised and staged by state institutions, while others were criticized, restricted, or banned for their political implications. His 1979 play, If I Were for Real, drew particular attention for its public critique of bureaucratic privilege and corruption that emerged in Chinese society after the Cultural Revolution.
Beyond his literary work, Sha openly supported social and political movements. He marched with protesters during the 1989 demonstrations prior to the June Fourth Incident and was later one of the 303 original signatories of Charter 08, a manifesto calling for political reform and democracy in China. Although Sha held many official titles over the years, Sha consistently described himself as "just a playwright" and remained an influential writer.
Biography
Sha was born in 1939 into a Hui family in Nanjing, China. After he graduated from the East China Normal University, he published his first one-act play, One Cent, in 1965.
The public source identifies “Sha Yexin” as chinese writer (1939-2018). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Yexin, Chinese and writer.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 28, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6112681. VIAF identifies the subject as 77581213. The Library of Congress control number is n79009483. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1939, 2018, 1979 and 1989.
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This entry incorporates text from “Sha Yexin” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.