Zhao Shuli (; 1906–1970) was a

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

and a leading figure of modern Chinese literature. He died in 1970, following persecutions during the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...

Biography

Born in 1906 in

Qinshui County Qinshui County () is a county in the southeast of Shanxi province, China. It is under the administration of Jincheng City, and is both its northernmost and westernmost county-level division The administrative divisions of China have consiste ...

Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...

Province, he was originally called 趙樹禮, which, in

Mandarin Chinese Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language of ...

, was a

homophone A homophone () is a word that is pronounced the same (to varying extent) as another word but differs in meaning. A ''homophone'' may also differ in spelling. The two words may be spelled the same, for example ''rose'' (flower) and ''rose'' (p ...

of the name he later adopted in his adult career. Zhao's major fictional works include 小二黑結婚 ''Xiao Erhei jiehun'', "Little Erhei's Marriage"; 李有才板話 ''Li Youcai banhua'', "The Rhymes of Li Youcai"; 李家莊的變遷 ''Li jiazhuang de bianqian'', "Change Comes to Li Family Village"; and 三里灣 ''Sanliwan'', "Sanliwan Village". The action of Zhao's novels typically takes place in the countryside of

Northern China Northern China () and Southern China () are two approximate regions within China. The exact boundary between these two regions is not precisely defined and only serve to depict where there appears to be regional differences between the climate ...

. In this setting, Zhao explores the dilemmas and conflicts of villagers who are facing growing social upheaval. Zhao was renowned for achieving nuanced portrayals of the diverse cast of human characters which were to be found in provincial life. Zhao became known as a leader of the Shanyaodan (White Potato) rural realists (), one of the most influential literary movements in mid-20th century China. Zhao was a member of the executive committee of the Chinese Writers Union and also served as the director of the Society of Chinese Authors, the president of the Society of Chinese Poets, and an editor of the journals 曲藝 ''

Quyi ''Quyi'' ("melodious art") and ''shuochang yishu'' ("speaking and singing art") are umbrella terms for over 300 regional genres of traditional Chinese oral performing arts. ''Quyi'' is distinguished from ''xiqu'' (Chinese opera) by its emphasis o ...

'' (Performing Arts) and 人民文學 ''Renmin Wenxue'' (People's Literature). He was also appointed a representative to the Eighth

National Congress of the Communist Party of China The National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (; literally: Chinese Communist Party National Representatives Congress) is a party congress that is held every five years. The National Congress is theoretically the highest body within th ...

, and a deputy in the first, second, and third sessions of the

National People's Congress The National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (NPC; ), or simply the National People's Congress, is constitutionally the supreme state authority and the national legislature of the People's Republic of China. With 2, ...

. He died in 1970, having fallen victim to the persecutions that were launched against intellectuals, artists, and other "undesirables" during the

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Zhao, Shuli 1906 births 1970 deaths Delegates to the 3rd National People's Congress Delegates to the 2nd National People's Congress Delegates to the 1st National People's Congress Politicians from Jincheng People persecuted to death during the Cultural Revolution 20th-century Chinese novelists Chinese male novelists Chinese male short story writers 20th-century Chinese short story writers Republic of China short story writers Republic of China novelists People's Republic of China politicians from Shanxi Chinese Communist Party politicians from Shanxi Short story writers from Shanxi