The Untold Story of Wang Xiaobo: China’s Early Programmer and Literary Genius

Wang Xiaobo, widely known as one of China’s most creative novelists, was also an early Chinese programmer who, in the early 1990s, taught himself assembly and C to create a Chinese text editor and an input method—projects that were rare for hobbyists at the time.

His programming activities began after he returned from studying economics in the United States, where he realized the scarcity of software for statistical work and decided to write his own tools. He learned FORTRAN, assembly, and C, and studied data structures, algorithms, and compiler theory to support his work.

Wang’s enthusiasm for software waned once his own editor and input method met his needs, but he continued to experiment, buying a 286 computer in 1993 and optimizing his programs for virtual protected mode and expanded memory.

Below is a chronological collection of letters between Wang and his friends that document his software development efforts, hardware upgrades, and the difficulties of obtaining and running software in China during that period.

December 1988 – Wang asks a colleague to send copies of APL and other statistical software for IBM PCs, noting the lack of suitable tools in China.

January 1990 – He requests a copy of the S language to aid his statistical work, mentioning his limited access to FORTRAN and SPSS.

May 1990 – Wang discusses the advantages of IBM‑PC compatibles over Apple machines and outlines a theoretical statistical model involving dummy variables.

February 1991 – He comments on the incompatibility of IBM Chinese software and mentions the limited availability of Mac machines in China.

March 1991 – Wang receives a software package (Yanshi 2.0A) but prefers his own B‑tree based word‑group tool, praising its phonetic input features.

May 1991 – He reports that a floating‑point processor is required for a newly received program.

May 1991 – Wang invents a method to generate Chinese characters using a font‑adjustment generator, enabling Chinese windows on Western software.

September 1991 – He receives damaged floppy disks but manages to recreate a Chinese software clone in C, earning some money from it.

September 1991 – He declares he has lost interest in microcomputers because novel writing can also be profitable.

January 1992 – Wang shares the source and object files of a Chinese editor written in C and assembly, describing compilation commands and hardware requirements.

July 1992 – He plans to upgrade his old PC/XT to a 286 and continues to refactor his software for virtual addressing.

September 1992 – He notes that a three‑inch floppy is unusable in China, but he has become proficient in C and is now focusing on software for writing novels.

September 1992 – He explains recursion in C and the need for protected mode to access memory beyond 640 KB.

October 1992 – Wang describes repairing computers by replacing boards and the cost of parts, reflecting on the difficulty of maintaining hardware.

October 1992 – He acquires Turbo C++ and continues to develop software on a 286, postponing the purchase of a 486.

November 1992 – He mentions a damaged floppy received from a friend and his ongoing work on small programs.

March 1993 – Wang finally purchases a 286, completes a virtual‑protected‑mode editor capable of handling 400 KB files, and reflects on the machine’s limitations.

Undated – He comments on the lack of Internet access in China, the need for official registration, and the high monthly fees, choosing to continue writing letters instead.

Wang Xiaobo’s life blended literature, economics, and programming, illustrating a rare convergence of creative writing and technical ingenuity in early‑era China.