1940
Born in Ganzhou, China
1949
Moved to Neijing
1952
Studied ink painting, oil painting and sculpturing from Yun Zongying
1962
Obtained degree from the Beijing Institute of Foreign Lanuage and became a French Translator
1970
Posted to work as rural labour in Cultural Revolution and came to study photography
1975
Returned to Beijing
1979
Visited France and Italy with writer Ba Jin, decided to abandon his oil painting and concentrate on ink painting
1981
Caused public furor with his A Preliminary Discussion of the Art of Modern Fiction
1983
Play Wild Man was banned from local theatre
Left Beijing and retreated to Yangtze region
1985
Travelled to Europe for eight months
Earned a big sum of 40,000 German mark from selling his work at his solo show
at Berliner Kunstlerhaus Bethanien, sponsored his literary writing
1986
Play The Other Shore was banned in Beijing
1987
Accepted invitation from the Moral Institut fur Kunstund Kunstwissechaft and the French Ministry of Culture and moved t o Paris
1989
Play Escape penned in response to the protests of Tiananmen Square resulted in a ban on all his works in China.
1990
Novel Soul Mountain was published
1992
Escape was translated and stages at the Kungliga Dramatiska Teatern in Stockholm
1998
Became French citizen
Novel One man’s bible was published
2000
Awarded the Nobel Prize
2003
Marseille hosted ‘The Year of Gao Xingjian’ (L'Année de Gao Xingjian) and held a series of activities concerning his artistic works

Major Exhibitions
1985
Collaborate exhibition with Ni Guangzhong at People’s Art Theatre,
his only show in China
First solo exhibition at the West held at Berliner Kunstlerhaus Bethanien, Germany
Municipal Office of Fine Arts and Culture, Wattrelos, France
1986
Figuration critique, Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, France
Östasiatiska Museet, Stockholm, Sweden
1987
Figuration critique, Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, France
Lumiére de Chine Cultural Center, Marseille, France
1993
Maison de le Culture , Bourges, France
1994
Teatr Polski, Poznan, Poland
1995
Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taiwan
1996
Palais de Justice, Luxembourg
1998
XIXth International Biennale of Antiquarians, Carrousel de Louvre, France
1999
Boulevard de Potes, Bordeaux, France
Bayonne National Stage, Baonne, France
2000
Asia Art Centre, Taipei
Library of the Sweden Academy, Stockholm, Sweden
Morat-Institut für Kunst und Kunstwissenschaft, Freiburg, Germany
Art Paris, Carrousel de Louvre, France
2001
Palais des Papes, Avignon, France
National Museum of History, Taipei, Taiwan
2002
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain
2003
Musée des Beaux arts de Mons, Beligium
Musée des Tapisseries, Aix-en-Provence, France
Musée des la Vieille Chanté, France
2004
Centre de Cultura Contemporiània de Barcelona, Spain
Foire internationale de l’art contemporain (FIAC), Paris, France
2005
Art Taipei, Taiwan
2007
iPreciation

Major Awards
1992
Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, France
2000
Nobel Prize in Literature, Sweden
2006
Lions Award, by the New York Public Library (NYPL) at Library Lions Benefit event