Born in 1954, Lu Xinhua catapulted into the literary scene with the publication of his first short story, “Scar,” written in 1978 as a freshman studying Chinese literature at Fudan University, Shanghai. An examination of the personal traumas inflicted by the Cultural Revolution, “Scar” is considered the foundational entry in the deeply influential genre that came to be known as Scar Literature.

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His debut was met with immediate critical acclaim, notably for its candid exploration of individual suffering during the tumultuous Cultural Revolution era. At just twenty-four, Lu Xinhua became the youngest member of the Chinese Writers Association.

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After earning his Bachelor of Arts from Fudan University, Lu Xinhua received an offer from Hu Yaobang, the then-general secretary of the Communist Party, to serve in a significant governmental position. Well aware of the authoritarian nature of the political system, Lu Xinhua declined the offer to remain true to his literary aspirations, choosing instead a career as a reporter at Wen Hui, a newspaper in Shanghai. 

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Lu Xinhua later moved to the United States to pursue a master’s degree in East Asian Languages at UCLA. Afterward, he returned to China and cofounded the Forum for the Reconstruction of Chinese Culture at the University of Macau, where his influential article “The Urgency of Chinese Cultural Reconstruction and the Historical Responsibility of Intellectuals at Home and Abroad” resonated widely across academic circles.

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Lu Xinhua has published several novels, including The Forbidden Woman and The Wounded Soul, and the extended essay Wealth Is Like Water. He currently serves as the senior advisor to the Youcheng Entrepreneurs Poverty Alleviation Foundation, president of the International Chinese Writers Association for New Immigrants, and honorary chairman of the Australia-China Cultural Foundation.

Lu Xinhua lives in California with his wife.