My so-called survival is not survival; The so-called food and clothing is not a luxury; The so-called development is not indulgence. - Lu Xun
If there is anyone who is indispensable in Chinese literature, then Lu Xun must be counted first.
Speaking of Lu Xun, probably every Chinese has heard his name, and he wrote all the sourness at the bottom with a pen and cut through the hypocritical interest groups.
Because of his existence, a light was lit up for those who were born in suffering at that time.
Of course, because Lu Xun revealed a strong atmosphere of compassion, many people think that Lu Xun is the image of a poor literati.
But in fact, Lu Xun has a public office, and although he has attacked the authorities countless times, he does have a solid job.
Therefore, he could shoulder the responsibilities of the family at that time, send money for his elderly mother in a distant country, and create a good living environment for his wife and children.
According to relevant sources, Lu Xun's salary at that time was not low, a full ocean of 360 yuan.
Although this 360 yuan seems to be worthless in today's environment, if you convert back to that era, maybe everyone will be shocked.
So, at what level was this 360 yuan, and what was its purchasing power at that time?
Lu Xun's working career
In 1906, Lu Xun studied in Japan, and he saw slides in his Japanese class.
Those slides deeply stung Lu Xun's heart, so he issued a deafening cry, he was 25 years old and chose to abandon medicine and follow the text.
But the time he made his big wish and the time he actually started writing were exactly 12 years apart.
In these 12 years, Lu Xun entered the political arena, and this was also the beginning of his monthly salary of 360 yuan.
After returning from Japan, Lu Xun, an intellectual, became the principal of a junior school.
However, within a few months of becoming the principal, he was invited by Mr. Cai Yuanpei to Nanjing to serve as a member of the Ministry of Education.
Faced with this good opportunity, Lu Xun naturally went gladly, and this was also the beginning of his political career.
At that time, Lu Xun was full of hope for his position, because he felt that he was doing something for China's future.
Therefore, although he is only a small officer, he still works very hard to do things.
In 1912, the then high-level officials decided to move from Nanjing to Beijing, and in this context, Lu Xun also followed the department to Beijing.
After arriving in Beijing, Lu Xun got a promotion opportunity in the ministry, and he quickly changed from a small staff member to a figure at the level of today's division chief.
At this time, Lu Xun was not promoted and complacent, and he was still contributing to national education.
He participated in the scheme of letter phonetics, and also personally designed the logo of Peking University, which is still in use today.
Objectively speaking, Lu Xun's starting point on the career path is very high, after all, after only half a year of employment, he can become the director of the department, and there is a group of staff under him.
But only three years later, in 1915, Lu Xun's career came to a static state.
Although he still did his duty, he also had the pride of a literati.
Therefore, after becoming the head of the department, he was no longer valued by his superiors, so he was an official for several years, and when he left, he was still just a "division chief".
At the age of 37, Lu Xun abandoned official writing and began his writing career.
Of course, because of the abandonment of the official, Lu Xun no longer has a monthly salary of 360 yuan.
But as an intellectual, he received another invitation to join Xiamen University, and this salary was higher, a full 400 yuan.
After returning from officialdom, although Lu Xun still had no worries about eating and wearing, he also really fell into the world.
The purchasing power of 360 yuan ocean
If we want to convert the 360 yuan at that time, then we need to know how much rice can be bought by a foreign dollar.
The reason why rice is used as a conversion is because the price of grain is generally the most reflective of the society at that time.
According to relevant information, in Beijing in 1913, rice only needed 3 cents per catty, while the market price of rice in 2023 was about 6.3 yuan.
According to Lu Xun's monthly salary of 360 yuan at that time, he could buy 12,000 kilograms of rice.
And using today's market price to convert, then, Lu Xun's monthly salary is equivalent to the current 60,000 or 70,000.
This kind of income is already equivalent to the middle and senior leaders of today's large enterprises.
Therefore, Lu Xun and his younger brother Zhou Zuocai were able to save 4,000 oceans together and buy the courtyard house in Beijing's third ring road.
Of course, these courtyards were quite luxurious at that time, with three in and three out, a total of 9 large rooms.
Although we all sound like Lu Xun's income is very high now, for the people at that time, Lu Xun's income was even more out of reach.
You know, the rickshaw driver at that time worked tirelessly for a month, and he could only earn 2 oceans, and these two oceans were also blackmailed by local hooligans.
From Lu Xun's article, we can also see that his life is very moist, everyone should know that Mr. Lu Xun likes sweets very much, even his favorite son "Sea Baby" can not grab his own dessert.
But what many people don't know is that Lu Xun has broken his teeth because of his love of sweets.
So he would go to the dentist, and after the visit, he would take a rickshaw to the dessert shop to buy sweets.
In buying sweets, Lu Xun often spends a lot of money, and even he once spent 10 oceans to buy a foreign cake.
Although this is an interesting thing, it can also be seen that Lu Xun belonged to the upper class life at that time.
Lu Xun's writing life
Although Lu Xun rarely mourned for food and clothing in his life, he never looked down on people from above, but fell into the world and empathized with the people at the bottom.
This can be glimpsed from Lu Xun's first article "Diary of a Madman".
In "Blessing", he used very gentle and painful strokes when describing Xianglin's sister-in-law, which is quite rare in his previous articles.
Lu Xun's "mourning his misfortune and anger" to Xianglin's sister-in-law is precisely Lu Xun's feelings for the Chinese people at that time, although he hates them numbness in his heart, but he can't help but pity.
It is this complex emotion that makes Lu Xun's attainment in literature very high.
During his lifetime, Lu Xun wrote 62 books, including countless articles that were not included in the anthology.
Following Lu Xun's pen, we can see the situation in China at that time and the sufferings of the world.
It is precisely because we can see this that we can inspire future generations to live the life in front of us.
The significance of Lu Xun to China does not lie in his monthly salary of 360 yuan, because he is a spirit of China and an eternal patriotic heart.