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{{Short description|Chinese writer}}
{{Infobox writer <!-- see Template:Infobox writer -->
| image       = 
| image_size  = 250px
| caption     = 
| name        = Liu Xinwu
| native_name = 刘心武
| native_name_lang = zh
| pseudonym   = Liu Liu ({{lang|zh-hans|刘浏}})<br />Zhao Zhuanghan ({{lang|zh-hans|赵壮汉}})
| birth_name  = 
| birth_date  = {{Birth year and age|1942|6}} 
| birth_place = [[Chengdu]], [[Sichuan]], [[Republic of China (1912-1949)|China]]
| death_date  = <!-- {{death date and age|}} or {{Death year and age| }}-->
| death_place = 
| occupation = Novelist
| language   = [[Chinese language|Chinese]]
| education  = 
| alma_mater = 
| period     = 1977 - present
| genre      = [[Novel]]
| subject    = 
| movement   = [[Scar literature]]
| notableworks= ''The Wedding Party''
| spouse     = <!-- {{marriage||}} -->
| children   = 
| relatives  = 
| awards     = {{Awards|award=2nd [[Mao Dun Literary Prize]] |year=1985 |title=The Wedding Party}}
| website    = <!--  {{URL|website}} -->
| partner    = 
| signature   = 
}}
{{family name hatnote|[[Liu (surname)|Liu]]|lang=Chinese}}
{{Infobox Chinese||s=刘心武 |t=劉心武 |p=Liú Xīnwǔ }}

'''Liu Xinwu''' ({{zh|s=刘心武}}; born June 1942) is a Chinese author, and one of the earliest proponents of the post-[[Maoism|Maoist]] wave of Chinese literature.<ref name="fish" >{{cite web |url=http://people.chinese.cn/en/article/2009-11/02/content_76907.htm |title=Chinese Writer: Liu Xinwu |date=2009 |publisher= |work=people.cn |access-date=2014-03-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121211040501/http://people.chinese.cn/en/article/2009-11/02/content_76907.htm |archive-date=2012-12-11 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Biography==
Born in the province of [[Sichuan]], his family moved to [[Beijing]], 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]], when he was sent to work in rural China.

His short story, "Class counsellor" (also translated as "The Class Teacher"; {{zh|s=班主任|hp=bān zhǔrèn|links=no}}) published in [[1977 in literature|1977]] 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]], though this assessment is disputed.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Xie |first=Xinhua |journal=The Journal of the Teacher's College, Qingdao University |year=2000 |volume=17 |title=《班主任》不是伤痕文学 ("'The Class Teacher' is not scar literature") |url=http://www.wanfangdata.com.cn/qikan/periodical.articles/qddxsfxyxb/qddx2000/0001/000101.htm |issue=1 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930155633/http://www.wanfangdata.com.cn/qikan/periodical.articles/qddxsfxyxb/qddx2000/0001/000101.htm |archivedate=September 30, 2007 }}</ref>

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]] 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 ({{zh|s=秦學|hp=qínxué|links=no}}) within redology. In 2006 Liu gave a talk at [[Columbia University]] introducing this concept. Liu has also published on ''The Dream'' with the famous redologist [[Zhou Ruchang]].<ref>Joel Martinsen, [http://www.danwei.org/books/conspiracy_of_the_red_mansions.php Conspiracy of the Red Mansions] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160603001439/http://www.danwei.org/books/conspiracy_of_the_red_mansions.php |date=2016-06-03 }} danwei.org (Dec 8, 2006).</ref>

==Translations==
* ''Black Walls and Other Stories'' (ed. by Don J. Cohn, {{ISBN|962-7255-06-8}})
* ''Chinese short stories of the twentieth century: an anthology in English'' (ed. by Zhihua Fang, {{ISBN|0-8153-0532-X}}) Includes "The Class Teacher".
* ''Prize-winning Stories from China, 1978-1979'' (by Liu Xinwu, [[Wang Meng (author)|Wang Meng]], and others). HC ({{ISBN|0-253-34620-7}}) PB ({{ISBN|0-253-20292-2}}) (Includes "The Teacher") Available to borrow at archive.org [https://archive.org/details/prizewinningstor0000liux/page/n6/mode/1up]
* ''The Wedding Party'' (translated by [[Jeremy Tiang]]). HC ({{ISBN|1542031206}}) PB ({{ISBN|1542044790}})
* ''The Wounded: new stories of the Cultural Revolution, 77-78'' (ed, Hsin-hua Lu, [[Geremie Barmé]], Bennett Lee). HC ({{ISBN|962-04-0007-0}}) PB ({{ISBN|962-04-0008-9}}) Includes "Class counsellor".

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

{{Dream of the Red Chamber}}
{{Mao Dun Literature Prize}}
{{Authority control}}

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