Xiao Jun (Hsiao-Chun) [real name Liu Honglin] 1907-1988

Born in Liaoning province, Xiao Jun joined the army when he was 18, becoming a junior officer in a unit stationed near the city of Shenyang. He began his writing career in Harbin in 1931, publishing a collection of prose and short stories co-written with Xiao Hong in 1933. After their move to Qingdao in 1934, Xiao Jun completed his novel Bayue de xiangcun [Village in August]. This was followed by three volumes of short stories. Xiao Jun went to Yenan in 1940, and he was one of the writers censured during the Yenan Forum on Arts and Literature. He was attacked again in the mid-1940s and sent to work in a coal-mine in northeast China. After his release in 1951, he was attacked again for a novel based on his mining experiences entitled Wuyue de kuangshan [Coal mines in May]. He was not rehabilitated until after the fall of the Gang of Four in 1978.

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