Liu Zaifu

Liu Zaifu (; 10 October 1941 – 24 May 2026) was a Chinese author, poet, and academic who was a professor in literature and the liberal arts. Liu is particularly well known for his work "Reflections on Dream of the Red Chamber", which analyzes the Chinese classic "Dream of the Red Chamber", but with Liu's personal viewpoints and philosophy. He lectured at the University of Chicago, University of Colorado, Stockholm University, and the City University of Hong Kong, where he served as an honorary professor in 2004.

Life and career Liu was born into a peasant family in southern Fujian in 1941.

He studied Chinese literature at Xiamen University. He was given protection by future President Hu Jintao.

Towards the end of the Cultural Revolution, Liu traveled abroad, going to Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the United States among other places, which would end up influencing his works, along with spreading his literature abroad outside of China.

In 1979, Liu joined the Communist Party and assisted senior literary leaders and writers with their manuscripts and speeches.

Thought Liu's 1986 monograph On the Composition of Human Character is one of his most acclaimed but also most criticized texts.

Liu and Li Zehou wrote A Farewell to Revolution in 1995. The book, which criticised Mao-era radicalism and mass uprising as violent and called to "bid farewell to revolution" in favor of incremental reform and the development of democratic temperament, became a major text for those who continued to advocate the New Enlightenment ideals.