# Is "Red Sorghum" by Mo Yan a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Red Sorghum by Mo Yan (Jiefangjun Wenyi Chubanshe, 1987) is identified by: Chinese true first: Hong gaoliang jiazu (红高粱家族), Jiefangjun Wenyi Chubanshe (PLA Literature & Arts Publishing House), Beijing, 1987 (five parts serialized in magazines in 1986, then collected as a single novel in 1987). Chinese true first is Jiefangjun Wenyi Chubanshe (Beijing, 1987).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Chinese true first: Hong gaoliang jiazu (红高粱家族), Jiefangjun Wenyi Chubanshe (PLA Literature & Arts Publishing House), Beijing, 1987 (five parts serialized in magazines in 1986, then collected as a single novel in 1987)
- First English edition: Viking (Viking Penguin), New York, 1993, translated by Howard Goldblatt from the 1988 Taipei Hongfan text; bound in half white cloth over red paper boards, 359 pp., ISBN 0-670-84402-0, the first printing carrying a full number line
- A William Heinemann edition (London, 1993, reset, 378 pp., styled 'first edition thus') appeared the same year
- Publisher imprint reads Jiefangjun Wenyi Chubanshe
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Mo Yan |
| Publisher | Jiefangjun Wenyi Chubanshe |
| Year | 1987 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Chinese true first: Hong gaoliang jiazu (红高粱家族), Jiefangjun Wenyi Chubanshe (PLA Literature & Arts Publishing House), Beijing, 1987 (five… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Chinese true first: Hong gaoliang jiazu (红高粱家族), Jiefangjun Wenyi Chubanshe (PLA Literature & Arts Publishing House), Beijing, 1987 (five parts serialized in magazines in 1986, then collected as a single novel in 1987). First English edition: Viking (Viking Penguin), New York, 1993, translated by Howard Goldblatt from the 1988 Taipei Hongfan text; bound in half white cloth over red paper boards, 359 pp., ISBN 0-670-84402-0, the first printing carrying a full number line. A William Heinemann edition (London, 1993, reset, 378 pp., styled 'first edition thus') appeared the same year.

## Is this the true first?
Chinese true first is Jiefangjun Wenyi Chubanshe (Beijing, 1987). Both English editions are dated 1993 (Viking US; William Heinemann UK); month-level precedence between them is not firmly documented, but the Viking US edition (published April 1993, Mo Yan's first book in English) is the one generally collected as the first English-language edition. Nobel 2012 is the collecting driver.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition documented; later Penguin (US) and Arrow (UK) paperbacks are reprints.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Red Sorghum* by Mo Yan a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/red-sorghum
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.