One of his works, Broken Golden Bowl, won the Mao Dun Literature Prize, a prestigious literature award in China.
[1] Xu was born in Shaoxing, Zhejiang in 1917.
[1] He graduated from Wuxi Academy of the Traditional Chinese Culture (无锡国学专修学校) in 1937.
[1][2] Xu started to publish works in 1980.
[1][2] Xu married Zhou Yunqin (周韵琴), her father was Zhou Zongliang (周宗良), a rich merchant in Shanghai.