Born on October 30, 1900 in a poor family in Hang County (nowadays Hang Zhou), Zhejiang province, Xiayan was a famous writer, dramatist and literary critic in modern China. His original name was Shen Naixi, character Duanxian and his ancestral home was in Kaifeng, Henan Province. In 1920, he started his learning of Marxism in Japan and later joined in the Association of Left-wing writers. In 1924, introduced by Sun Yat-sen, he became a member of Kuomintang. 

After the first Kuomintang-CPC cooperation failed in 1927, Xiayan joined in CPC (Communist Party of China) and devoted himself to labour movement and translation works in Shanghai. In the same year, under the leadership of CPC, Xia established the first drama society in China----Shanghai Art Drama Society to advance the development of the revolutionary movement of drama. Later, he became a member in Shanghai culture committee and was ranked as one of the first trailblazers in the history of Chinese movie. 

When the Anti-Japanese War was round the corner in 1937, Xiayan wrote a new many-act play entitled “Under the Roofs of Shanghai”. In this play, Xia evaded direct disapproval for imperialism or any political events taking place at that time. On the contrary, he delivered a message that a new era is under way by depicting ordinary people’s lives in Shanghai. After the break-out of Sino-Japanese War, Xia took the lead in cultural movements, esp. in that of drama. As the chief editor in Jiuwang Daily, Xia kept on writing editorials and reviews to show his opposition to separatism and imperialism and to arouse people’s attention to this issue. In his well-known prose “the Weed” written during the War, Xia adopted symbolism to compare people to weeds, strong and insurmountable, so as to inspire Chinese people at that time.
 
After the founding of People’s Republic of China, Xiayan established the Research Institute of Film and Literature and was appointed as the vice minister in cultural ministry in 1954. After Cultural Revolution, he was elected as the chairman of China Film Association. In October, 1994, he was granted an award for outstanding achievement in film art.
 
On 2nd February, 1995, Xiayan died in Beijing. His bone ashes were scattered in Qiantang River in Hangzhou, where he spent unforgettable days in childhood. Nowadays, his original house in Hangzhou has become a popular tourist attraction and millions of people are visiting there every year to commemorate this great man.