Shen Congwen (December 28, 1902 – May 10, 1988), formerly romanized as Shen Ts'ung-wen, was one of the greatest modern Chinese writers, on par with Lu Xun. Regional culture and identity plays a much bigger role in his writing than that of other major early modern Chinese writers. He was known for combining the vernacular style with classical Chinese writing techniques. Shen is the most important of the "native soil" writers in modern Chinese literature.He was slated to win the 1988 Nobel Prize in Literature, but died before he could be awarded the prize.It is possible to visit his former residence in Fenghuang county, Hunan province.