Five years ago, in early December, I had the privilege of visiting Sendai. By the time I arrived at Sendai Station by train from Tokyo, it was getting dark, the temperature had dropped significantly, and the fiery red maple leaves in front of the platform were shining in the twilight. The next day I made a special visit, and the maple tree was brighter and brighter under the blue sky and white clouds. Now when I think of Sendai, I think of the maple leaves. Of course, what I miss most is Mr. Lu Xun's former residence and Lu Xun's "generation-skipping" deceased.
Lu Xun's former residence in Sendai (Photos in this article are provided by the author)
Every Chinese who visits Sendai will remember Mr. Lu Xun's former residence, and I am no exception, and I deliberately set aside half an afternoon to visit Lu Xun's former residence and monument in the company of Mr. Asuka Jusen. Asuka is a Japanese-Chinese, and I heard that his uncle had some publishing relationships with Mr. Lu Xun in his early years, so his feelings for Mr. Lu Xun were not ordinary. Mr. Lu Xun's former residence was a cottage that Mr. Lu Xun had rented next to the school, a simple Japanese two-story wooden house, the first floor was almost sunken underground, and Mr. Lu Xun lived on the second floor. The wooden house is in a state of relict and independent, and the surrounding houses have been renovated, from the material to the style, but this one is different. There is a slender stone stele in front of the door, engraved with the words "Lu Xun's Former Residence", which is said to be the handwriting of Mr. Guo Moruo. The trunks of the trees in early winter are handsome, and the remaining yellow maple leaves are half-wrapped around the old board house, cold and lonely. We stood in silence for a while.
Then, Asuka walked us into the leafy Northeastern University. The university's historical museum has a special "Lu Xun Memorial Exhibition Room", but unfortunately it is too late to enter. Not far away, on the grass there is a bust of Mr. Gentleman — his trademark upright hair, his beard and his gaze staring into the distance. There is also a stone stele next to it that reads "Sendai Medical College".
In the evening, I went to Mr. Asuka's house as a guest, saw the "Mr. Wu Langxi Memorial Collection" compiled by the Shanghai Lu Xun Memorial Hall on the shelves, and then chatted with him and his friends for an evening in Chinese, English and Japanese, and finally gained an in-depth understanding of the story of Mr. Asuka's father- and Mr. Lu Xun really has a relationship.
Mr. Wu Langxi (also known as Wu Wenlin, 1904-1992) is a famous editor, publisher and translator in China, and is the uncle of Mr. Asuka. Mr. Wu studied in Japan in his early years, and after "9/18", he resolutely returned to China, first as an editor, and in 1935, he founded the Cultural Life Publishing House (hereinafter referred to as "Bunseisha"), serving as its president, and Mr. Ba Jin as the editor-in-chief. This small nascent publishing house became the most trusted publishing house in The later period of Mr. Lu Xun, and the two also established an extraordinary friendship. In fact, Mr. Wu appeared in Mr. Lu Xun's diary in October 1934, and the matchmaker was Mao Dun: "Wu Langxi invited him to drink in Liang Garden, and went with Zhongfang (Note: that is, Mao Dun) in the evening, and sat with ten people." The person who officially introduced Mr. Lu Xun's books published in The Wensheng Society was Mr. Lu Xun's assistant Mr. Huang Yuan (also known as Huang Heqing), who had known Mr. Wu since he was in Japan. As a result, Mr. Lu Xun's translation of "Russian Fairy Tales" (original Gorky) was issued by The Wensheng Society in September 1935, becoming the third book published by the company. Later, the "Translation Series" proposed by Huang Yuan suffered twists and turns in the originally agreed Life Bookstore Publishing House, and was simply transferred to Wensheng Society, and the first work of this series of books was Mr. Lu Xun's translation of "Dead Souls" (original Gogol), which was published in November of the same year. Thus Mr. Wu, Wenshengshe and Mr. Lu Xun were directly linked.
In the few days that followed, Mr. Lu Xun published the last collection of works in Wensheng Society, "New Compilation of Stories", which was the first volume of the first series of "Literary Series" and published in January 1936, which undoubtedly laid a brilliant starting point for the series, and finally the "Literary Series" issued 10 series and 160 volumes, becoming the largest number of modern literary series in China's publishing history. What is even more rare is that the miniature version of the "Kollwy branch printmaking anthology" compiled and printed by Mr. Lu Xun was printed by the Wensheng Society three days before his death, and Mr. Lu Xun was very satisfied. This became the last book published by Mr. Lu Xun before his death. In addition, he was very sympathetic to the difficulties of the New Life Publishing House, and in May 1936, he published "Hundred Maps of Dead Souls" here at his own expense. It can be seen that in the last year, Mr. Wu's interaction with Mr. Lu Xun was very frequent.
Asuka said that there are many reasons why Mr. Lu Xun loves a new publishing house, one of which is Mr. Wu's learning and cultivation behavior. Mr. Wu majored in German and German literature at Sophia University in Tokyo, and has a special love for foreign prints and comics, which coincides with Mr. Lu Xun. Because of the operation of Mr. Wu and Mr. Ba Jin, Wensheng Society is full of humanistic flavor and transcends the natural attributes of commercial publishing houses, and Mr. Lu Xun is very relieved. The most important thing, according to Mr. Huang Yuan's words: "When Wu Langxi wrote a book to Lu Xun, it was not just for profit, but mainly to respect Lu Xun and respect Lu Xun... Wu Langxi and the Cultural Life Society are truly sincere in standing on the stand of cultural work and wholeheartedly serving and doing their best for Lu Xun. Wu Langxi is a cultural person, and the Cultural Life Society he founded, which together with Ba Jin to compile and print books, belongs to the progressive cultural camp and has played a great role in supporting the cause of cultural progress. "There is a Wu Langxi Book House in the Shanghai Lu Xun Memorial Hall, and you can have a deeper understanding of Mr. Wu through the exhibits.
In terms of the quality of editing and printing, Mr. Wu is also striving for excellence. After publishing the paperback edition of "Hundred Pictures of Dead Souls", Mr. Lu Xun pointed out the shortcomings. During the trial production of the sample edition of the Kollwitz Prints Anthology, Mr. Wu proposed a variety of plans to seek his opinion at any time, and finally presented the work perfectly. The day after getting the sample book, Mr. Lu Xun went out to give a friend, and suffered from the wind and cold and his asthma recurred. For this reason, Mr. Wu blamed himself and regretted it for the rest of his life. Judging from the "translation series" that have survived so far, most of the book designs of Wensheng Society are 29-folio, which are simple and elegant and square and cute, which is the favorite of many readers.
After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Wensheng Society moved to Chongqing and returned to Shanghai after the war. In 1954, Wensheng Society was merged into Shanghai New Literature and Art Publishing House, and Mr. Wu served as the deputy director of the foreign literature editorial office. Later, the New Literary and Art Publishing House developed into today's Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House.
Mr. Asuka is now a professor at Northeastern University, writing and writing, and meets the statue of Lu Xun every day. He said that he always felt that Mr. Lu Xun's eyes were alive, and whenever he was a little slack and lazy, Mr. Lu Xun's eyes would be very severe, as if he could see through his heart. Facing this gaze, Asuka always wanted to ask: Is it not Mr. Lu Xun that you also communicate with my uncle Wu Langxi with such a gaze? Can you tell me what kind of mood you had back then, and what kind of society you dreamed of?
Five years have passed, and the epidemic has cut me off from more communication with my friends. I always miss Mr. Lu Xun's former residence, statues and deceased people in Sendai, and I also feel Mr. Lu Xun's stern and calm gaze in the air.
Author: Xiao Hei
Editor: Wu Dongkun
Editor-in-Charge: Shu Ming
*Wenhui exclusive manuscript, please indicate the source when reprinting.