Abstract: China’s Fourth “National Awards for Chinese-Language Biography (2007-2012), reflects the new development of Chinese life writing in the latest five years. It gives testament to the fact that the prize winning biographies adhere to the literary spirit of the present age. The multi-dimensioned life-consciousness and literary consciousness manifest the essence and aura of contemporary Chinese biographical literature and display many new possibilities in fostering the arts of biographical literature as well as encouraging different varieties of biography.

Key words: China’s biography; the Fourth “National Awards for Chinese-Language Biography (2007-2012, China)”; taste and aura

Quan Zhan (1956 - ) is Professor of Chinese Literature at Jingchu University of Technology. He serves as a council member in the Biography Society of China. His major works on biography are A Survey of China’s Contemporary Life writingandLife writing: Interpretation and Criticism.