Although Mr. Lu Xun did not meet Mao Zedong, he admired Mao Zedong very much.
In October 1931, Lu Xun inquired from Feng Xuefeng, secretary of the Left League Literary Committee, and Mao Dun about the Central Soviet Region and Mao Zedong, and greatly admired Zhu Mao's achievements in the second anti-"encirclement and suppression" struggle, because they "frightened" the arrogant Kuomintang reactionaries. Lu Xun greatly admired the Red Army that fought bravely.
In the autumn of 1932, Chen Geng, who had been wounded in battle, came to Shanghai from the Eyu-Anhui Red Fourth Front to recuperate, and accompanied by Feng Xuefeng and others, Lu Xun met Chen Geng twice at home.
Chen Geng's story of the heroic battle of the Red Army and many heroic stories that can be sung and wept left a deep impression on Lu Xun. Lu Xun attached great importance to this conversation, and mentioned it again and again in the future, believing that it was indeed more moving than what was written in "Iron Flow" and "Destruction". He once wanted to write a novel reflecting the theme of the Red Army's war in the Soviet Union, but in the end he did not write because he had no actual life experience.
At the beginning of 1933, the provisional central government moved from Shanghai to Ruijin, Jiangxi, the capital of the Central Soviet District. Bogu and others of the Provisional Central Committee proposed that Lu Xun be made the People's Commissar of Education (Minister of Education) of the Central Government of the Chinese Soviet Republic and preside over the education work in the Central Soviet Region.
Feng Xuefeng, a liaison officer sent by the CPC Central Committee to Lu Xun's side, disagreed with Bogu's opinion, believing that Bogu did not understand Lu Xun and underestimated Lu Xun's important role in the cultural work in the white areas, and proposed that it would be better to let Qu Qiubai preside over the education work.
In January 1934, because Feng Xuefeng's safety in Shanghai was difficult to guarantee, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China transferred him to Ruijin and served as vice president of the Central Party School.
At this time, Mao Zedong was "ruthlessly attacked" by Bogu, Li De and others, deprived of leadership over the Red Army, and expelled from the core leadership. Mao Zedong, who was in a difficult situation, heard that Feng Xuefeng had come to Ruijin, so he paid a special visit to him. Mao Zedong said with great regret:
"During the May Fourth period in Beijing, I had seen Li Dazhao, Chen Duxiu, Hu Shi, and Zhou Zuoren in new literature, but I had never seen Lu Xun."
Feng Xuefeng briefed Mao Zedong on the work in Shanghai and the activities of the left-wing literary and art camp, and gave a particularly detailed account of Lu Xun's situation. Mao Zedong was particularly interested in What Feng Xuefeng told about Lu Xun.
Feng Xuefeng told Mao Zedong that a Japanese once said that only two and a half people in all of China understand China: one is Chiang Kai-shek, one is Lu Xun, and half is Mao Zedong.
Mao Zedong laughed after hearing this, and after a moment of deep groaning, he said: "This Japanese is not simple, he thinks Lu Xun understands China, which is right." ”
Feng Xuefeng also told Mao Zedong that Lu Xun had read the poems written by Mao Zedong during the struggle at Jinggangshan and thought that he had the spirit of "king of the mountains". Mao Zedong was very happy to hear this.
"King of the Mountains" is, of course, just an image statement. The dominant aspect of Mao's personality was "tiger spirit": defiance of power and resistance to the existing order. In Mao Zedong's poems, there is a special love for "mountains". His original theory of "arming the workers and peasants to divide the territory, establishing a rural revolutionary base area, and encircling the cities with the countryside" is a creative development of Marxism. The Chinese revolution cannot be separated from mountains. Lu Xun's comments on the works of this revolutionary poet with the spirit of "Mountain King" are indeed unique and insightful. So When Mao Zedong heard Feng Xuefeng's paraphrase, he laughed heartily.
Mao Zedong also had a more direct identification with the evaluation of the "Mountain King". In May 1973, Chairman Mao summoned Wang Hongwen and asked him about his age, and Wang replied that he was 38 years old. Chairman Mao said:
"You're much better than me, and when I was as old as you, I still drank pumpkin soup in Jinggangshan."
Wang Hongwen immediately praised "the chairman was already a great revolutionary leader at that time." Chairman Mao laughed and said:
"No, it is the king of the mountains, who falls into the grass and kills the rich to help the poor."
One night, Mao Zedong met Feng Xuefeng again. His interest was very high: "Tonight there are three chapters of the law: first, we will not talk about red rice and pumpkins, and second, we will not talk about landlords and bullies, and we will not talk about anything else, only about Lu Xun." He went on to say:
"I read Lu Xun's works very early on, and I have read "Diary of a Madman" and "The True Biography of Ah Q". A Q was a backward peasant with many shortcomings, but he demanded revolution. It is a mistake not to see or to ignore this request. Lu Xun had underestimated the strength of the masses, but he saw the peasants' demands, mercilessly criticized Ah Q's weaknesses, and enthusiastically wrote out Ah Q's revolutionary demands. We Communists and Red Army cadres, many of whom do not see, ignore the demands of the masses and do not support them. You should read "The True Biography of Ah Q". ”
Mao Zedong also said to Feng Xuefeng: "I also want to re-read it, but unfortunately I can't find this book locally." ”
Mao Zedong asked Lu Xun what he had written in recent years, and Feng Xuefeng briefly introduced the articles that Lu Xun had written after arriving in Shanghai, especially those in several controversies.
Feng Xuefeng went on to reveal that some people in the provisional central government advocated inviting Lu Xun to come to the Soviet area. Mao Zedong asked, "What?" Who advocates? Feng Xuefeng explained: "It is not a formal proposition, just a casual talk." ”
Mao Zedong sighed, "These people really don't know Lu Xun at all!" ”
Feng Xuefeng also told Mao Zedong in detail that Lu Xun did not want to leave Shanghai and refused to go to the Soviet Union, believing that in his post, he could always shoot one shot and two shots. Mao Zedong sighed:
"This is the actual Lu Xun!" When a person encounters a critical juncture, he or she dares to stand up and resolutely undertake arduous tasks at a critical juncture, which is the most precious character that conforms to the wishes of the people. Our nation has been on the verge of extinction many times for thousands of years, and it has finally been able to maintain itself without degeneration, precisely because the people have such a character, which is reflected in Lu Xun. ”
In October 1935, Mao Zedong and other CCP leaders led the Red Army to break through the encirclement and blockade of Chiang Kai-shek's hundreds of thousands of troops, and after a long march, triumphantly reached northern Shaanxi. Lu Xun was very happy to hear this news, and wrote the famous poem "The Occasional Works of the Late Autumn of the Year of The Sea", which included the sentence "Listen to the wild chickens and be lonely, and look at the stars and buckets are dry", which shows Lu Xun's infinite concern for the Red Army and Mao Zedong and other CPC leaders who are far away in northern Shaanxi.
On March 29, 1936, Lu Xun and Mao Dun sent a congratulatory letter to the Party Central Committee and Mao Zedong for the victory of the Red Army's Crusade:
"Heroic Red Army generals and soldiers, your heroic struggle, your great victory, is the most glorious page in the history of the liberation of the Chinese nation, the people of the whole country are looking forward to your greater victory, the people of the whole country are working hard, for your backing, for your solidarity, every step of your advance, will be met with warm welcome and support."
"In your body, we pin our hopes on the future of mankind and China."
From the Communist Party and the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army led by Mao Zedong, Lu Xun soberly saw the "future of mankind and China" and the infinite bright future of the Chinese revolution and the world revolution.
In April 1936, Feng Xuefeng left northern Shaanxi to Shanghai on the orders of the Party Central Committee to establish contacts with secret CCP organizations. Feng Xuefeng lived in Lu Xun's home in Shanghai and had more in-depth exchanges with Lu Xun. He told Lu Xun about the Red Army's Long March, the Zunyi Conference, and the party's policy of the anti-Japanese national united front.
Lu Xun listened quietly, and every time Feng Xuefeng mentioned Mao Zedong and mentioned the CCP leaders around Mao Zedong, Lu Xun always showed a kind and trusting expression. Lu Xun also entrusted Feng Xuefeng to give Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai his sick compilation of Qu Qiubai's "The Forest Above the Sea" and the ham he purchased.
In early 1936, the "Trotskyist" organization in Shanghai wrote a letter to Lu Xun attacking the national united front led by the CCP and the leaders headed by Mao Zedong in an attempt to provoke relations between Lu Xun and the CCP. On June 9, Lu Xun, who was already seriously ill, dictated a letter and severely refuted them:
"Your 'theory' is indeed much more advanced than that of Mr. Mao Zedong, but it is so much greater that it is in heaven and underground. But although it is admirable, it is unfortunate that this superbness is precisely welcomed by the Japanese aggressors... "To Mao Zedong, "I have to be called comrades, and I think I am glorious."
Lu Xun mentioned that Mao Zedong was one of the few people who saw the writing, which was a very rare one.
After Lu Xun's death in October 1936, according to Mao Zedong's proposal, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Government of the Chinese Soviet Republic jointly issued the "Letter to the Compatriots of the Whole Country and people all over the world in memory of Mr. Lu Xun", "Message to Ms. Xu Guangping", and "Telegram to the Kuomintang Committee of China and the Kuomintang Government in Nanjing for the Memorial and Commemoration of Mr. Lu Xun".
After Lu Xun's death, the CPC Central Committee entrusted Feng Xuefeng to preside over the funeral work. Feng Xuefeng also deliberately wrote Mao Zedong's name into the list of Lu Xun's funeral committee.
In January 1937, Feng Xuefeng returned to Yan'an to report on his work, and Mao Zedong repeatedly asked lu Xun about the situation before and after his death, expressing his deep nostalgia for Lu Xun.
In January 1940, Chairman Mao published the famous "On New Democracy" in the inaugural issue of the newly founded magazine "Chinese Culture" in Yan'an, and spoke highly of Lu Xun:
"Lu Xun was the main general of China's cultural revolution, he was not only a great writer, but also a great thinker and a great revolutionary. Lu Xun's bones are the hardest, and he does not have the slightest servility and charm, which is the most precious character of the colonial and semi-colonial people. ”
Chairman Mao mentioned Lu Xun in many speeches after the founding of New China, praising "Lu Xun as a true Marxist and a thorough materialist."