Qin Mu

Qin Mu was born in British Hong Kong, whose family line could be traced back to Dongli Town, Chenghai, Guangdong. He spent his childhood and youth in Malaysia and Singapore. He returned to China and pursued his studies in Chenghai, Shantou and Hong Kong. During the period of the Second Sino-Japanese War, he served as actor, worker in the battlefield, teacher, and editor. After the victory of the war, he led a literary life in Hong Kong for three years. After the foundation of People's Republic of China, he served as section chief of Education Department of Guangdong Province and editorial director of Zhonghua Book Company. He joined the Communist Party of China in 1963. He died in 1992.

His collection of essays Collecting Shells in the Sea of the Arts (藝海拾貝) was published in 1962. In 1966 when the Cultural Revolution broke out, he became one of the targets of criticism. The campaign against the collection began. Teachers and students who engaged in the campaign denounced the collection as "poisonous grass", even though they had no understanding of what the collection was about and what "poisonous grass" meant. Afterwards, it was revealed that Qin wrote an article on Mao Zedong's return to Shaoshan, giving an account of Mao's visiting ancestral graves and his remarks before the tombs. The campaign then levelled criticism at the capitalist-roaders within the Party and he drew no public attention any more.

Qin Mu (Chinese: 秦牧; 19 August 1919 – 14 October 1992), born Lin Ashu, also known as Lin Paiguang, Lin Juefu, and Lin Wanshi, was a Chinese educator and writer. He was best known for his essays, particularly Travels in Xinjiang which is included in high school textbooks. He also wrote novels, plays, poems and criticism. He was the vice editor-in-chief of Yangcheng Evening News and the head of Chinese at Jinan University. He said that in no way could a man of letters write any outstanding work if he was not dedicated to society and responsible for the people.