Gao Bo: I admire Lu Xun, but don't be one-sided

Source: Global Times

This year marks the 140th anniversary of Lu Xun's birth. Lu Xun is undoubtedly a writer and thinker with a huge and far-reaching influence in modern China, but objectively speaking, there is also a one-sidedness in him that cannot be ignored. Under the historical conditions at that time, Lu Xun made an extreme denial of traditional Chinese culture, and in "Diary of a Madman" he metaphorically described the entire Chinese cultural tradition as "eating people", and he advised young people to "not read Chinese books" and so on. In the past hundred years, Lu Xun's one-sidedness has often been one-sidedly praised in reality. Although Lu Xun said, "Since ancient times, we have had people who have buried their heads in hard work, people who have worked hard, people who have asked for the people's lives, and people who have sacrificed their lives to seek the law, and this is the backbone of China." But in reality, many people more admire his criticism of the "inferiority of the people" represented by the "A-Q spirit".

Statue of Lu Xun

The one-sided admiration of Lu Xun's one-sidedness has led some people to be obsessed with "critical realism", thinking that literature is to "expose the root of the disease and attract the attention of healing", preferring the creation of "exposing the dark side" and "criticizing reality". In the past hundred years, the actual struggle and spiritual struggle on the road to the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, those heroic stories and great achievements that can be sung and wept, have been blocked from their literary attention. The one-sided admiration of Lu Xun has led some people to think that the mission of intellectuals is to "enlighten" the masses and point out the way forward for people. I really don't know where they got this confidence. On the road to the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, they are not integrated into it with one heart, but self-righteously stand on a "high place" or point from the side. The one-sided denial of traditional culture and the criticism of the "inferiority of the people" have caused some people to lose cultural self-confidence and national self-confidence, and their deviation from reality is particularly evident today.

In the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the Chinese Volunteer Army displayed its heroic spirit of overpowering all enemies; relying on decades of struggle, Chinese the people to create a human miracle of comprehensively extricating themselves from poverty and building a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way; "Chinese has always cherished the feeling of home and country, advocated the world as a public servant, refraining from self-denial, believing in the rise and fall of the world, and having the responsibility of the people, emphasizing solidarity with each other and sharing the same boat through thick and thin, advocating watching out for each other, respecting the elderly and loving the young, stressing the unity of freedom and self-discipline, and unifying rights and responsibilities. In this fight against the epidemic, 1.4 billion Chinese people have shown a high sense of responsibility, self-discipline, dedication and fraternity, and have forged a strong spiritual defense line of unity and unity of purpose. It is the actual struggle of the Chinese people and their great achievements, and the cultural spirit displayed by the Chinese people in the actual struggle, which makes some of the so-called "profound" things in the past show its one-sidedness.

Lu Xun does have his profound and unique features, and indeed has places worthy of admiration, but for decades, due to education and public opinion and other reasons, Lu Xun's one-sidedness has been obscured. Among some intellectuals, especially liberal arts intellectuals, Lu Xun is a model, an idol, and even a knowledge garden that they "are good at" and a "guy who eats." For them, reflecting on Lu Xun's one-sidedness and no longer one-sidedly admiring Lu Xun requires getting out of the shackles of emotions, knowledge and interests, which is the "second emancipation of the mind." Whether we love or worship Lu Xun, or even superstitiously believe or rely on Lu Xun for food, we should stand on the position of promoting the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and strengthen the "four self-confidences", reflect on Lu Xun's one-sidedness, and no longer one-sidedly respect. (The writer is a professor at the College of Literature, Xinjiang University)