Liushahe (which means “the river of shifting sands” and is the penname Yu Xuntan), November 11, 1931 - November 23, 2019, was a poet, writer, and scholar. Liushahe was born into a landowning family; his father was a local cadre in the Nationalist government and was killed during the Land Reform Movement. Since high school, Liushahe aspired to become a writer and published poems and essays in local newspapers. In 1949, he was admitted to the Department of Agricultural Chemistry of Sichuan University, and left the university a few months later to work as an editor for the CCP-led Western Sichuan Peasant Daily newspaper, In 1952, Liushahe became a professional writer at the Sichuan Provincial Federation of Literature and Art Circles.
In 1957, in response to Mao Zedong's Hundred Flowers Campaign, Liushahe co-founded the monthly poetry magazine *Stars*, and published a poem series entitled "*Grass and Trees*" that were regarded as anti-party and anti-socialist, and were criticized by Mao. Liushahe was then labeled a Rightist, dismissed from his position, and subjected to supervised labor in his workplace. Many others associated with *Stars* and “*Grass and Trees*” also suffered persecution. When the Cultural Revolution broke out, Liushahe was exiled to work in a sawmill in his hometown of Jintang County, during which his home was raided 12 times.
After being rehabilitated, Liushahe went back to work at the Sichuan Provincial Federation of Literature and Art Circles as an editor of *Stars*. He also resumed writing and published a large number of works. On November 23, 2019, Liushahe died of throat cancer.
In 1957, in response to Mao Zedong's Hundred Flowers Campaign, Liushahe co-founded the monthly poetry magazine *Stars*, and published a poem series entitled "*Grass and Trees*" that were regarded as anti-party and anti-socialist, and were criticized by Mao. Liushahe was then labeled a Rightist, dismissed from his position, and subjected to supervised labor in his workplace. Many others associated with *Stars* and “*Grass and Trees*” also suffered persecution. When the Cultural Revolution broke out, Liushahe was exiled to work in a sawmill in his hometown of Jintang County, during which his home was raided 12 times.
After being rehabilitated, Liushahe went back to work at the Sichuan Provincial Federation of Literature and Art Circles as an editor of *Stars*. He also resumed writing and published a large number of works. On November 23, 2019, Liushahe died of throat cancer.
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