Life
Liu Xinwu, pen-named Liu Liu and Zhao Zhuanghan, was born in 1942 in Chengdu of Southwest China’s Sichuan Province. He is a modern Chinese writer, and once was the editor-in-chief of the literature magazine People’s Literature. 
Liu graduated from the Beijing Normal Academy in 1961, and afterwards taught in a middle school for 15 years. In 1976, he became an editor for Beijing Publishing House in 1976. In the following year, his short story A Teacher in Charge of a Class, which was considered the start of the trauma literature, caused a big stir, and obtained the Excellent National Short Story Award.
Later he published a number of other novels like The Position of Love, Wake up, Younger Brother, and I Love Every Green Leaf, which also garnered the Excellent National Short Story Award.
His representative novella includes Ruyi, Cloverleaf Intersection, and A Small Block of Wood. The best-known full-length novels are Bell and Drum Towers, Four Decorated Archways, The Building that Rests the Phoenix, and Wind Passing through Ear.
In 1985, his documentary writings Long Camera Lens on May 19 and Bus Aria caused another sensation. He started a column called “personal album” in the magazine called Harvest, starting a new form of style in a literature magazine with both pictures and essays. In 1999, he presented his novel The Tree and Forrest are Together, with plenty of pictures.
After 1992, he produced a great number of informal essays, which later were collected and published in different volumes.
Liu began to publish essays on the studies of A Dream of Red Mansions in 1993. Later these study results were published in the forms of novels and monographs.
Liu made an attempt to comment on construction in 1995. In succession he published two books, Construction and Environment in My Eyes in 1998 and The Beauty of Material in 2004.
Collected Works of Liu Xinwu, in eight volumes, was published in 1993. As of the beginning of 2005, his diverse kinds of writings in different editions published both in China and overseas have surpassed 130.
Writer, as well as a jack-of-all-trades
Liu Xinwu is a writer with an amazing wide range of interests. Football, or soccer, has been a fervent hobby for him, while at the same time he once wrote Long Camera Lens on May 19. Liu, as one of the first writers to write on the computer, still does not understand why others hate writing on the computer so much. He likes drawing, and even once participated in a painting exhibition. Liu has also written two books on construction — both with good sales.
Nowadays people can usually find Liu Xinwu drawing in the brooks and fields. Liu cultivated an interest in painting from childhood, and his parents were very proud of him for his gift. When guests came to their house, his parents usually asked Liu to paint for them. There was one time he drew a painting for a guest, who patted his head and praised his work. But when the guest left, Liu watched through the window and saw the guest ball up the painting and throw it away. Although a big blow for the young heart, it did not alter his interest in painting.
At middle school, Liu liked to draw the Temple of Heaven and Beihai Park. Later he drew some ancient constructions like the Four Decorated Archways. Now, he prefers to paint in the fields on nice days, and also has begun to illustrate his own books.
However, Liu’s best-known “spare time hobby” is construction. Construction and Environment in My Eyes was very influential in the construction circle, and has been printed five times. The other book — The Beauty of Material –, which talks about the raw construction materials, has also sold well. In his novel Bell and Drum Towers, there is a 10-page description about the environment, shape, structure, and details of Beijing’s quadrangles. His scrutinized observations and nifty use of construction glossary are very impressive.
Liu has been living in Beijing since he was eight years old. In his more than half a century stay in Beijing, he has lived in ancient hutongs half the time. He has witnessed the dramatic changes of the city, including some of its destruction. As a resident of the ancient city, he once expected someone to stand out and raise the problems concerning the changing constructions and environment, but no one did. So Liu decided to say it himself, and for many years he has, with dignity and grace.
（Source: chinaculture.org）
