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Mao was born in Zhejiang province of China in 1896. Mao studied at the University of Beijing, although he did not graduate. By the age of 24 he has been recognised by many as a journalist for a Xuesheng Zazhi (Students' Magazine).
In 1920, Mao Dun and his friends took over the magazine Xiaoshuo Yuebao ("Fiction Monthly"), and started to publish famous Western literature, as well as introducing new literature theories and techniques, in the publication. In the next year, Mao joined the Communist Party of China. He was one of the earliest members of the party. He started to publish novels in 1927.
At the same time, Mao participated in Chiang Kai-shek's Northern Expedition (1926-1928), which main purpose is to unite the country. He quit, however, when the Kuomintang broke with the CPC. He then helped to found the League of Left-Wing Writers in 1930. His most famous and important novel, Ziye (Midnight), was published in 1933. When the new government was established by the CPC in 1949, Mao became the Minister of Culture. Mao was dismissed and cruelly treated in the Cultural Revolution. After the Cultural Revolution, he became an editor of a children's magazine, and died in 1981.