一九四一年出生于福建南安劉林鄉。一九六三年畢業於廈門大學中文系。曾任中國社會科學院研究員，中國文學研究所所長，《文學評論》主編。曾在美國芝加哥大學、科羅拉多大學、瑞典斯德哥爾摩大學、加拿大卑詩大學、香港城市大學、台灣中央大學、東海大學等院校分別擔任過客座教授、講座教授、名譽教授與訪問學者。著有《性格組合論》、《魯迅美學思想論稿》、《文學的反思》、《論中國文學》、《放逐諸神》、《傳統與中國人》、《罪與文學》（與林崗合著）、《現代文學諸子論》、《高行健論》、《告別革命》（與李澤厚合著）、《共鑒“五四”》、《紅樓四書》（《紅樓夢悟》、《共悟紅樓》、《紅樓人三十種解讀》、《紅樓哲學筆記》）、《李澤厚美學概論》、《雙典批判》、《思想者十八題》、《文學十八題》、《讀滄海》、《太陽•土地•人》、《人間•慈母•愛》、《人論二十五種》、《漂流手記》十卷《師友紀事》、《人性諸相》等四十多部學術論著和散文集。作品已翻譯成英、日、韓、法等多種文字。

　　Liu Zaifu, a famous writer, critic, and scholar, who was born in Nanan county of Fujian province in 1941. He graduated from Chinese Department of Xiamen University in 1963. Before he immigrated to the U.S., he was the research fellow and the director of Literary Institute of Chinese Academy of Social Science and the Editor-in-chief of Literary Review. After he moved to the U.S. in 1989, he served as the visiting scholar and research fellow respectively at University of Chicago, University of Stockholm, University of Colorado at Boulder, City University of Hong Kong, Donghai University, and Zhongyang University. Currently he is the Honorary Professor at City University of Hong Kong and the Visiting Fellow at University of Colorado at Boulder. He has published 38 academic and literary books, such as The Theory of Aesthetic Thoughts on Lu Xun, On the Composite of Human Character, Tradition and Chinese, Theory of Chinese Literature, The Collection of Liu Zaifu’s Prose Poetry, On Twenty-Five Human Kinds, Farewell to the Gods, Farewell to Revolution, Sin and Literature, Theory of Famous Modern Chinese Literary Figures, Theory of Gao Xingjian, Comprehending Dreams of the Red Chamber, Notes of A Floating Life. He is currently a Senior Visiting Fellow of HKUST IAS.