Born in Wuzhen, Shen Dehong didn't quite finish his time at Peking University (Beijing University), but would go on to become one of China's most important modern writers, known by his pen name, Mao Dun (Máo Dùn, 矛盾). Beginning his journalistic, and later literary, career in post-Qing Dynasty China, Mao was involved in a number of political upheavals, a fact reflected in the style of his fiction: realism chronicling revolutions that was sympathetic to the working class. After losing faith in Chang Kai-Shek and the Nationalists following their break with the Communists, Mao joined up with the latter. He would go on to become the Minister of Culture, a position he then lost during the Cultural Revolution.

The Former Residence of Mao Dun (Máo Dùn Gùjū, 茅盾故居), built during the late Qing Dynasty, was brought into the family by Mao Dun's great grandfather. Today, the house features exhibits detailing the writer's life and work, though not many of the descriptions are in English.

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