Lao She (real name Shu Qingchun, 1899-1966), a native of Beijing, was a novelist and playwright. He went to America to teach and write after the Chinese people won the War of Resistance Against Japan in 1945, but was called back in 1949. His works are strongly influenced by his life in Beijing, and their language is familiar to Beijing.

Lao She was a member of cultural and education committee of the Government Administration Council and deputy to the National People' s Congress, and served as vice-chairman of China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, vice-chairman of the Chinese Writers' Association and chairman of the Beijing Federation of Literary and Art Circles.

His wife remembers how each time Lao She completed a play; he asked the director and actors over to listen to his new work. Discussion followed, in which everyone was invited to express his or her views. Many wonderful nights were spent in this way until the beloved playwright was tormented by Red Guards in the "cultural revolution." His body was found on the shore of Taiping Lake and his unfinished autobiographical novelette was still in his desk drawer in his home.