"I have received a number of essays and materials. Some think that Cao wrote all 120 of the chapters, while others even hold the idea that there was no such person named Cao Xueqin. I am very pleased and willing to read their researches though I don't agree with them."

Liu further elaborated on his meaning: "Maybe someday I will think they are right, but now I don't. Nevertheless, disagreement does not mean disrespect. These ideas give me an impulse. It is very interesting that people can come to different conclusions according to different editions of the book. How wonderful it is that there are many different voices in the world!"

Life

Liu Xinwu, pen-named Liu Liu and Zhao Zhuanghan, was born in 1942 inChengduof Southwest China'sSichuan Province. He is a modern Chinese writer, and once was the editor-in-chief of the literature magazine People's Literature.

Liu graduated from theBeijingNormal 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 storyA 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 likeThe Position of Love, Wake up, Younger Brother, andI Love Every Green Leaf, which also garnered the Excellent National Short Story Award.

His representative novella includesRuyi, Cloverleaf Intersection, andA Small Block of Wood. The best-known full-length novels areBell andDrum Towers,Four Decorated Archways,The Building that Rests the Phoenix, andWind Passing through Ear.

In 1985, his documentary writingsLong Camera Lens on May 19andBus Ariacaused 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 novelThe 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 ofA Dream of Red Mansionsin 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 Eyesin 1998 andThe Beauty of Materialin 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 wroteLong 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.