Qu Bo (novelist)

Qu Bo
Qu Bo
Born	Qu Qingtao (曲清涛) 1923 Longkou, Shandong, China
Died	2002 Beijing, China
Nationality	Chinese

Qu Bo (Chinese: 曲波; pinyin: Qǔ Bō; 1923–2002) was a Chinese novelist. His name was also translated as Chu Po. Qǔ (曲), the family name, has meanings of curve, melody and tune. Bō (波) stands for ripples and waves. His first book Tracks in the Snowy Forest () made him one of the most popular authors at the time.

Born in Zaolinzhuang Village (枣林庄; Zǎolín Zhuāng), Huang County (now Longkou), at the north-east coast of Shandong province, Qu Bo’s early education was through a private school where he started to gain his sound knowledge of Chinese classical literature and succinct language skills. His father, Qu Chunyang (曲春阳; Qǔ Chūnyáng) and mother, Qu Liushi (曲刘氏; Qǔ Liúshì) owned a small business of cotton dyeing, which failed when western textiles poured into China.

In 1938, at the age of 15, he left home and fought in the war against the Japanese invasion (Second Sino-Japanese War). His name was changed from his childhood name Qu Qingtao (曲清涛; Qǔ Qīngtāo) into Qu Bo by the officials of the Eighth Route Army. Qu Bo had further education at the Counter-Japanese Military and Political University in Shandong and became a journalist of an army newspaper, The Progress. The army turned into the People's Liberation Army after the Japanese surrendered, and Qu Bo continued to battle in the Chinese civil war in the northeast of China, protecting the regional civilians from robbery and killings by the regional bandits and brigands. In the army, he served as a young literacy teacher, a political commissar and finally a colonel. In 1946 he married Liu Bo (刘波; Liú Bō) who was a head nurse of a hospital at the same army regional headquarters.

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