Xu Huaizhong

Xu Huaizhong (; born 29 September 1929) is a Chinese novelist. He is best known for his novel "Qianfengji" which won the 10th Mao Dun Literature Prize (2019), one of most prestigious literature prizes in China.
Biography.
Xu was born Xu Huaizhong () in Handan, Hebei, on September 29, 1929. At the age of 12, he went to school in the counter-Japanese base area of Taihang Mountains. After high school in 1945, he joined the People's Liberation Army, where he was in charge of art and propaganda. He joined the Communist Party of China in the following year. In 1950 he was researcher at the Cultural Work Corps of Political Department of Southwest Military Region. He started to publish works in 1954, when he published his first novella "The Rainbow on the Earth". He worked as an assistant in the Cultural Department of the Political Department of Kunming Army in 1955. In 1956, his first novel, "We Sow Love", was published. In 1958, he served as editor of the supplement of "PLA Daily". In 1973 he was promoted to deputy director of the Department of Culture of Kunming Military District. After the Cultural Revolution in 1978, he became a screenwriter at the August First Film Studio and subsequently as director of the Department of Literature of People's Liberation Army Academy of Art and director of the Department of Culture of People's Liberation Army General Political Department. He was awarded the rank of Major General (Shaojiang) in 1988.