Liu Shahe
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Yu Xuntan (; 11 November 1931 – 23 November 2019), known by his
pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...
Liu Shahe (), was a Chinese writer and poet. The son of a
Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...
landowner who was executed in the Land Reform Movement, he began publishing in 1948 and became a professional writer in 1952. He co-founded the poetry magazine ''Stars'' in 1956, but was denounced as a "filial descendant of the landlord class" when the
Anti-Rightist Campaign The Anti-Rightist Campaign () in the People's Republic of China, which lasted from 1957 to roughly 1959, was a political campaign to purge alleged " Rightists" within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the country as a whole. The campaign w ...
began in 1957. For the next two decades he performed hard labour and was exiled to the countryside until the end of the
Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...
. He resumed publishing in 1978, and his collection, ''Poems of Liu Shahe'' (1982), won the National Prize for Poetry.


Biography

Yu Xuntan was born on 11 November 1931 in
Chengdu Chengdu; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ; Chinese postal romanization, previously Romanization of Chinese, romanized as Chengtu. is the capital city of the Chinese province of Sichuan. With a ...
, the capital of
Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...
province,
Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
. His parents were small landowners from Jintang County near Chengdu, and the family moved back to Jintang in 1935. His father worked for the
Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...
government, and for that reason was killed by the Communist Party during the Land Reform Movement. He entered Sichuan University in 1949, majoring in agricultural chemistry. He began writing in 1948, and served as an editor of a supplement to the newspaper ''Western Sichuan Peasant Daily''. He became a professional writer in 1952, and joined the predecessor of the
Communist Youth League of China The Communist Youth League of China (CYLC; also known as the Young Communist League of China or simply the Communist Youth League or CYL) is a people's organization of the People's Republic of China for youth between the ages of 14 and 28, r ...
that same year. In 1955, Liu published his first poem, which was well received by critics, and became a poet almost exclusively. The following year, he published ''The Country Nocturnes'', his first poetry collection, and was admitted to the Academy of Literature. Together with three other poets, he founded ''Stars'', a monthly poetry magazine, in 1956. He wrote the poem series entitled "Grass and Stars" for the inaugural issue of the magazine, but was criticized soon after its publication. When the
Anti-Rightist Campaign The Anti-Rightist Campaign () in the People's Republic of China, which lasted from 1957 to roughly 1959, was a political campaign to purge alleged " Rightists" within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the country as a whole. The campaign w ...
began in 1957, Liu was denounced as a "filial descendant of the landlord class" and forced to undergo reform through labour for the next eight years, working all sorts of jobs including labourer and librarian. During the subsequent
Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...
, he was exiled in Jintang without a job. He continued to compose poems in this period, but most of them were lost. After the end of the Cultural Revolution, Liu resumed publishing in 1978. His collection, ''Poems of Liu Shahe'' (1982), was awarded the National Prize for Poetry. Many of his poems expressed a sense of loss over his youth and sentimentality for the years he spent as a downtrodden labourer. Other poems, written in a serene tone, recorded the emotional solace he found in the difficult times. He wrote less poetry after the mid-1980s, and spent much time publishing and commenting on modern Taiwanese poetry. Liu was an outspoken critic of the simplification of Chinese characters. He wrote a dedicated column entitled "Simplified Characters are Unreasonable" (简化字不讲理/簡化字不講理)in the Chinese-language edition of the ''
Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...
''.


Selected books

*''The Country Nocturnes'' 农村夜曲 (1956) 村夜曲 first collection of poems *''Windows'' 窗 (1956) collection of short stories *''Farewell to Mars'' 告别火星 (1957) 別火星second collection of poems *''Poems of Liu Shahe'' 流沙河诗话 (1982) 沙河詩話 winner of the National Prize for Poetry *''Track of the Wanderer'' 游踪 (1983) collection of poems *''Goodbye, Hometown'' 故园别 (1983) 園別collection of poems *''Twelve Taiwan Poets'' 台湾诗人十二家 灣詩人十二家ommentary on Taiwanese poetry *''Talking of Poetry Across the Sea'' 隔海说诗 海說詩commentary on Taiwanese poetry Sources:


Personal life

Liu married in 1966. He had a daughter and a son, Yu Kun (). Liu died in Chengdu on 23 November 2019 from complications of
throat cancer Head and neck cancer is a general term encompassing multiple cancers that can develop in the head and neck region. These include cancers of the mouth, tongue, gums and lips ( oral cancer), voice box ( laryngeal), throat ( nasopharyngeal, orophar ...
, aged 88.


See also

* Tie Liu, a fellow Sichuanese writer denounced and imprisoned as a "rightist"


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liu, Shahe 1931 births 2019 deaths Writers from Chengdu Victims of the Anti-Rightist Campaign Poets from Sichuan Sichuan University alumni Chinese magazine publishers (people) 20th-century Chinese poets 21st-century Chinese poets Chinese literary critics Deaths from throat cancer Deaths from cancer in the People's Republic of China Victims of the Cultural Revolution