[1][2][3][4][5] Liu was born in Huangpi District of Wuhan city, Hubei in November 1922.
[1][2][4] Liu graduated from Fudan University in 1944, where he majored in foreign languages.
[4] After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Liu worked as an editor in the CCP Propaganda Department.
[4] In 1955, Liu suffered political persecution in the counter-revolutionary case of Hu Feng (Chinese: 胡风反革命集团案), at the same time, he learned German language by himself.
[1][2][4][6] In 1962, Liu worked in the People's Literature Publishing House as an editor.