Liu Jingyun

(a.k.a. Jing Yun)

b. 1938, Hebei

Spoken-drama playwright, theatre director and administrator

Liu Jingyun was one of the most influential playwrights in China during the 1980s. He was educated at Peking University in the Chinese Department. After 1963, he became a high school teacher and local official in the suburbs of Beijing and he continued to write until 1982, when he entered the Beijing People’s Art Theatre as a professional playwright. Uncle Doggie’s Nirvan (Gou’er ye niepan, 1986) is his representative work, sketching the many transitions arising in China’s rural villages, and is considered one of the ‘great harvests’ of contemporary Huaju (spoken drama).

Liu excels at combining historical context and modern theatrical narration, making his plays both educational and entertaining. His other celebrated works, Ruan Lingyu and Boundless Love (Fonyue wobian) are contemporary takes on the true stories of two great Chinese artists—Ruan Lingyuan (1910–35) and Li Yu (1610–80). Liu was nominated for the vice presidency of the Beijing People’s Art Theatre in 1992 and led the reform of its artistic guiding principles, which were now to publicize the main themes of art and advocate variety and innovation. In Liu’s term of office, the policy was confirmed that the Beijing People’s Art Theatre should perform not only famous classics but also experimental plays. Liu’s other well-known play is entitled The Man Who Carries a Stele on His Back (Beibei ren). Liu is currently the president of the Beijing People’s Art Theatre.

LI JIWEN