An Introduction to Lu Xun
Born with the name Zhou Shuren in 1881 to a family of
scholars and officials, Lu Xun (a pen name) studied to become
a doctor in order to help the Chinese people fight foreign
domination, corruption and crushing feudalism. After two years
of medical school, however, he realized that to reform society,
a fit body is useless if the spirit is weak and apathetic. Thus
he decided to become an author rather than a physician, and went
on to lead a new literary movement that would take China by storm.
In 1918 Lu Xun published his first story, A Madman's Diary, a
powerful protest against the feudal system that forces people
to consume and undermine one another. He worked as a teacher,
lecturer and editor, created woodcuts, and helped young writers
establish several literary organizations. He translated many
significant works, particularly from Russia. He is known as the
father of modern Chinese literature for writing in the vernacular
rather than the traditional "literary style."
In 1927 Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist Goumindang Government
betrayed the Chinese Communist Party with a coup d'etat, and in
the next period slaughtered over 100,000 progressives and
revolutionaries. In 1930 Lu Xun, with 30 others, formed the League
of Left-Wing Writers to attack the Goumindang government and promote
progressive literature.
Forced to lead a semi-clandestine life in this atmosphere of
repression, Lu Xun organized resistance and wrote hundreds of
essays that used biting satire to expose reaction, and promoted
hope for social change. He died of tuberculosis in 1936, thirteen
years before the victory of the Chinese revolution.
Following are some essays and stories by Lu Xun:
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