Introducing Chinese bestselling novelist Liu Zhenyun

Singing Grass is delighted to introduce Chinese bestselling author Liu Zhenyun and his latest novel Salty Jokes: Am I Supposed to Laugh? (English working title) .

Chinese bestselling author Liu Zhenyun

“…has the ability to employ the simplest methods to write about the most complicated things…”

Genevieve Imbot-Bichet

Satire, style and the spiritual esprit that underpins the human race, is examined in exquisite detail by the prize winning contemporary Chinese novelist, Liu Zhenyun whose novels embrace the absurdity of people while offering a philosophical slant on the who, what, when and why of what makes the humble human tick.

The reality of living in a social media age is employed ruthlessly across the pages of recent works, sitting alongside the homogenisation of rural village lives. Zhenyun delights in juxtaposing the classical, traditional – perhaps international cliché – image of a bucolic existence with the cutting-edge advances of AI and social media. 

Twelve books, translated into over 30 languages, and with an impressive 15 million copies to date sold in China, Zhenyun’s works have reached page, stage and screen with film adaptations of I Am Not Madame Bovary; Cell Phone; Back to 1942; Lost and Found; Someone to Talk To all of which have had international releases and recognition. 

Salty Jokes: Was I Supposed to Laugh?

Liu Zhenyun’s latest novel has taken China by storm. Salty Jokes sold out its 400,000-copy first print run within just one week.

His new novel, Salty Jokes: Was I Supposed to Laugh?, was published in December 2025 in Beijing and next year internationally. Writing about his latest novel, Liu comments:

‘It’s a black comedy triggered by a scandal. Due to some misunderstandings, a man and a woman enter into an inappropriate relationship. It starts as a private matter, but becomes a public spectacle through the internet. One person’s pain becomes everyone’s entertainment. A joke becomes more and more serious. The man tries to explain himself, but no one listens. Everyone is throwing stones at him, trying to destroy him—not for what happened, but for the sake of the spectacle. And the destruction becomes a celebration—that’s the biggest joke of all. In the end, the man experiences “social death”—his body lives, but his spirit has died. No one hears what he wanted to say, but his silence is deafening. That deafening silence is heard by the sun, moon, and stars.’

Thought-provoking and never afraid of probing complex, demanding themes – loneliness; social shame; social mobility; interpersonal relationships in a fast-changing society; hypocrisy; spirituality and retribution – Liu’s work is often referred to as neo-realist, employing the vernacular while using ordinary people to wrestle with  complex and contemporary philosophical challenges. Liu’s lens is forensic – his themes, while explored through meticulous observation and deadpan humour, allow little room for double standards and the universality of the subjects he examines allow even less room for complacency in society’s approach to the digital age. In tune with the zeitgeist, Liu lays out for all to see the realities of life lived through a screen.

Liu Zhenyun’s  latest novel《咸的玩笑》 Salty Jokes: Was I Supposed to Laugh? was published by People’s Literature Publishing House in Chinese in December 2025. 

“Liu Zhenyun’s works have achieved great success with the Chinese people. They have been translated into over 20 languages and enthusiastically received by audiences the world over. A pioneer in magical realism, Liu is also considered by many to be China’s greatest humorist.”

— Awards ceremony, Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters (France，2018)

Liu Zhenyun author’s website