As a boy, Liu loved reading Republican history, and as a student at Peking University was deeply influenced by university president Hu Shih, who advocated the development of biography as a literary form. Liu's interest in biography grew ever stronger, and over the years he collected books of biography and history.
劉氏幼年即嗜讀民國歷史，就讀北大期間，深受當時倡導傳記文學的北大校長胡適的影響，對於人物傳記的興趣日濃，更累年收藏有關傳記及歷史書籍。