Xiao Jun (, 3 July 1907 – 22 June 1988), born Liu Honglin (), was a Chinese author and intellectual from Linghai,

Liaoning ) , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = Clockwise: Mukden Palace in Shenyang, Xinghai Square in Dalian, Dalian coast, Yalu River at Dandong , image_map = Liaoning in China (+all claims hatched).svg , ...

, China. Of

Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic peoples, Tungusic East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized Ethnic minorities in China, ethnic minority in China and the people from wh ...

ethnicity, Xiao's most famous work in China is his 1934 novel ''Village in August'' () which gained both popular and critical praise as anti-Japanese literature. He, along with Xiao Hong, is considered one of the most representative authors of the

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

Northeast Authors Group (). The names Xiao Hong and Xiao Jun were chosen by each author so that when put together they would be ''xiao xiao hongjun'' (, tiny

red army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

Early career

In 1925, he entered the Northeast Military Academy () which was organized under Zhang Xueliang where he studied law and military affairs. He began writing novels sometime during his studies and in 1929 published the nove ''Nuo...'' (.../Coward...) which was highly critical of the warlords tearing apart China. He published several more novels, all of which appeared in the '' Shengjing Times'' ().

Work with Xiao Hong

In 1932, he left for

Harbin Harbin, ; zh, , s=哈尔滨, t=哈爾濱, p=Hā'ěrbīn; IPA: . is the capital of Heilongjiang, China. It is the largest city of Heilongjiang, as well as being the city with the second-largest urban area, urban population (after Shenyang, Lia ...

, where he began a literary career in earnest. In 1933, he met Xiao Hong with whom he co-authored ''Bashe'' (, An Arduous Journey) and both published for the first time under their Xiao pseudonyms. In 1934, Xiao Jun and Xiao Hong worked together in

Qingdao Qingdao, Mandarin: , (Qingdao Mandarin: t͡ɕʰiŋ˧˩ tɒ˥) is a prefecture-level city in the eastern Shandong Province of China. Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, Qingdao was long an important fortress. In 1897, the city was ceded to G ...

on the supplement to ''Qingdao Morning Post'' () and Xiao Jun finished his most well-known work ''Village in August''. In July 1937, he published the novel illegally and out of his own pocket, since the KMT held to a policy of non-resistance and did not want to incite the Japanese whom Chiang Kai-shek knew were superior militarily and could obliterate China if they wanted. The novel had an immediate impact and cemented his reputation among the literati of the time. This period saw the unleashing of Xiao's creativity with a number of short stories, novellas, essays, and the beginning of his second masterwork ''Di san dai'' (, Third Generation) which he wrote on and off for nearly twenty years. It depicts China's old feudal society, the era of bourgeois revolution, imperialism, the warlord era, and the realities of Northeastern Chinese society.

Yan'an and Harbin

He fled to

Yan'an Yan'an; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternatively spelled as Yenan is a prefecture-level city in the Shaanbei region of Shaanxi Province of China, province, China, bordering Shanxi to the east and Gansu to the west. It administers several c ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in June 1940, where he worked with many other famous writers and was active in Yan'an's cultural activities. On December 19, 1940, he began holding a ''Monthly Meeting of Arts and Literature '' () which eventually led to publishing the ''Arts and Literature Monthly'' () which he edited in conjunction with Ding Ling, Shu Qun, and Liu Xuewei. In 1942, motivated by a campaign to criticize sectarianism in the

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

, which encouraged party organs to listen to non-party members, Liberation Daily published his essay ''On 'Love' and 'Patience' towards Comraades'', which was revised by Mao. This same year, he was the first to speak at the Yan'an Forum after Mao's opening statement. He returned to Harbin in 1946, where he was chosen to edit and write for the ''Cultural Gazette'' (), a journal he started under party patronage in 1947 on the anniversary of the May Fourth Movement. His writings quickly drew the ire of many of the top level cadres at Yan'an whom he criticized for their pedantic treatment of the people, equating them one time to clowns who try to hypnotize their gullible audiences. His prestige however gained him a degree of immunity from punitive actions for over a year at which time a number of articles appeared attacking Xiao for his simplistic anti-Japanese nationalism and political immaturity for not engaging

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

class struggle. "Criticism meetings" soon followed, and the

Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, officially the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is the Central committee, highest organ when the National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, national congress is not ...

decided to send Xiao to work with coal miners in Fushun,

People's Republic era and death

He began writing again professionally in the 1950s in

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 ...

. His period of hardship in the mines inspired ''Wuyue de kuangshan'' (, Mine in May). He also published his letters between himself and Lu Xun and Xiao Hong and finished ''Di san dai''. His writing came to an end in 1957 when he was labeled a rightist. Under this campaign, his essay ''On 'Love' and 'Patience' towards Comrades, along with Wang Shiwei's ''Wild Lilies'' and Ding Ling's ''Thoughts on International Working Women's Day'', were republished in a ''Special Re-Criticism Issue'' as an example of the "great poisonous weeds" written by Rightists intellectuals. He was imprisoned 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 ...

, but rehabilitated in 1979 after which he became active again in literary circles until he died due to health complications in 1988.

Early career

Work with Xiao Hong

Yan'an and Harbin

People's Republic era and death

See also

References

Further reading