Liu Xinwu (; born June 1942) is a Chinese author, and one of the earliest proponents of the post-

Maoist Maoism, officially Mao Zedong Thought, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed while trying to realize a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic o ...

wave of Chinese literature.

Biography

Born in the province 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 ...

, his family moved to

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, a city that figures prominently in his work, in 1950. Liu spent most of his life in Beijing, except for a brief period during 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 ...

, when he was sent to work in rural China. His short story, "Class counsellor" (also translated as "The Class Teacher"; ) published in

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

was one of the earliest examples of prose condemning the excesses of the Chinese government during the Cultural Revolution. His work has sometimes been referred to as

scar literature Scar literature or literature of the wounded () is a genre of Chinese literature which emerged in the late 1970s during the ''Boluan Fanzheng,'' soon after the death of Mao Zedong, portraying the sufferings of cadres and intellectuals during t ...

, though this assessment is disputed. Liu filled editorial positions in a number of prominent government-sponsored publications throughout most of the 1980s. In 1987, however, he was removed as editor of the publication '' People's Literature'' after a story published failed to meet government approval. He left all his government positions after the

Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 The Tiananmen Square protests, known within China as the June Fourth Incident, were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, lasting from 15 April to 4 June 1989. After weeks of unsuccessful attempts between t ...

because of continual harassment from the government for his pro-demonstrator stance. Since then, he has devoted himself entirely to his writing. Liu's work, which includes novels, short stories, and children's literature, focuses on the common people of Beijing and people who live on the margins of society.

Redology

Since the early 1990s Liu has also been engaging in Redology, also known as studies of the famous 18th-century Chinese novel '' Dream of the Red Chamber''. Liu takes on the controversial stance that in studying this famous Qing novel, the researcher's point of departure should be the figure of Qin Keqing, thus authoring the branch of Qin studies () within redology. In 2006 Liu gave a talk at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

introducing this concept. Liu has also published on ''The Dream'' with the famous redologist

Zhou Ruchang Zhou Ruchang (; April 14, 1918 – May 31, 2012), was a Chinese writer noted for his study of the novel '' Dream of the Red Chamber'' by Cao Xueqin. He is regarded as among the most renowned and influential redologists of the 20th century. In ...

.Joel Martinsen
Conspiracy of the Red Mansions
danwei.org (Dec 8, 2006).

Translations

* ''Black Walls and Other Stories'' (ed. by Don J. Cohn, ) * ''Chinese short stories of the twentieth century: an anthology in English'' (ed. by Zhihua Fang, ) Includes "The Class Teacher". * ''Prize-winning Stories from China, 1978-1979'' (by Liu Xinwu, Wang Meng, and others). HC () PB () (Includes "The Teacher") Available to borrow at archive.or

* ''The Wedding Party'' (translated by Jeremy Tiang). HC () PB () * ''The Wounded: new stories of the Cultural Revolution, 77-78'' (ed, Hsin-hua Lu,

Geremie Barmé Geremie R. Barmé (born 1954) is an Australian sinologist and film-maker on modern and traditional China. He was formerly Director, Australian Centre on China in the World and Chair Professor of Chinese History at Australian National Universit ...

, Bennett Lee). HC () PB () Includes "Class counsellor".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liu, Xinwu 1942 births Living people Chinese male short story writers Writers from Chengdu Mao Dun Literature Prize laureates Chinese male novelists Chinese children's writers 20th-century Chinese short story writers 20th-century Chinese male writers Short story writers from Sichuan Redologists