Introduction: "The True Biography of Ah Q" is a novella written by Lu Xun and lu Xun in 1921, originally published in the Morning News Supplement in Beijing, and later included in "Scream".
"The True Biography of Ah Q" is about the longest gestation time in Lu Xun's novel.
After the defeat of the Xinhai Revolution and the darkening of social reality, Lu Xun experienced the pain of many disappointments, accumulated more profound national grievances, and his understanding of national issues developed profoundly, and "The True Biography of Ah Q" was born.
Mr. Lu Xun
Before figuring out Ah Q's profession, we must first know who his surname is, but even this information, Mr. Lu Xun did not give:
The general rule of the lichuan should probably begin with "so-and-so, word so-and-so, so-and-so people also", and I don't know what Ah Q's surname is. - "A Q Prologue"
This is a very strange setup.
The protagonist has no name, which brings ambiguity to people, but in that era, Lu Xun wanted to express more of a universal national nature! That's why I didn't give Aq a real name.
In addition, there is a saying that the English letter q symbolizes the braid of the Chinese, and A Q is the representative of the Chinese.
"The True Biography of Ah Q"
Although it was later rumored that Ah Q's surname was Zhao, this should be denied, because when Ah Q said that he was surnamed Zhao, Mrs. Zhao gave him a slap on the backhand: "Ah Q, you bastard! Do you say I'm your own family? ” Ah Q does not open his mouth. The more Grandpa Zhao looked, the more angry he became, and he took a few steps forward and said, "You dare to talk nonsense!" How could I have a ben like you? Is your last name Zhao? ” Ah Q did not open his mouth and wanted to retreat; Grandpa Zhao jumped over and gave him a mouth. "How can you be surnamed Zhao!" ——You have the surname Zhao there! ”
Ah Q lied that his surname was Zhao in order to look good on his face and make people look up to himself.
But Ah Q at the bottom was fiercely expelled by Old Mrs. Zhao, who was in the mainstream position. The negation of the mainstream is the trend of society, and it also means the negation of all people. Whether Ah Q is surnamed Zhao or not, in the place of "Weizhuang", no one will ever admit his surname to Zhao.
So, what does such a person who does not even deserve a name and can only be called "Aq" make a living? In other words, what exactly does he do?
Ah Q and Grandpa Zhao
First of all, he is not a farmer. Both self-employed and hired farmers have fixed land and a fixed dwelling, and are generally subordinate to a large landowner. But Ah Q is very special, he does not meet the above three conditions.
He has no house and no fixed residence:
Ah Q has no home, lives in the Tugu Ancestral Hall in Weizhuang; there is no fixed occupation, only to do short-term work for others, cutting wheat to cut wheat, scooping rice to scoop rice, and punching boats to punt boats. When the work was a little longer, he also lived in the temporary master's house, but left as soon as he was finished. - "The Tale of Ah Q: A Brief Introduction to The Winner"
He was the one who made him "cut the wheat and cut the wheat, scoop the rice and scoop the rice, and punch the boat to punch the boat", without a fixed livelihood, a bit like the current short-time worker.
But he is not a serious short-term worker, he will not save money, blindly squandered:
If he had money, he would go to bet on the card treasure, and a bunch of people were crouching on the ground, and Ah Q was sandwiched between them with sweat, and his voice was the loudest: "Four hundred green dragons!"
When you have money, you gamble, and when you don't have money, you dream about it, and even comfort yourself with the "spiritual victory method".
Such an analysis shows that Ah Q is not a farmer, not a serious temporary worker, nor a professional gambler.
However, everyone has a position in society, such as Mama Wu is a maid of the Zhao family, and Mrs. Zhao is a landlord, so what kind of position is Ah Q in this society?
It can only be said that Ah Q is a "homeless".
In China at that time, this was actually a very common phenomenon. After the Opium War, China's country was greatly opened, and the great powers dumped a large number of cheap commodities on the country and squeezed the domestic market. Take "foreign cloth" as an example, "foreign cloth" from abroad is cheap and easy to use, and is loved by the masses, while the "native cloth" originating in China is high in price because it takes a long time and is laborious. Comparing the two, everyone will naturally choose the "foreign cloth" with high quality and low price.
Bankrupt farmers
In this way, the self-sufficient small-scale peasant economy has been impacted, and countless peasants have gone bankrupt, they have lost their original occupations, they have no skills to make a living, and they have no fixed occupations. Either beg for a living, life and death are up to heaven, or like Ah Q, occasionally do hard work so that you don't starve to death.
Some of them went to the cities, some stayed in the countryside, forming a considerable group of "nomads".
Ah Q is the most ordinary and inconspicuous member of them.
First of all, does Ah Q support the revolution?
In the past, Ah Q was definitely against revolution, although he himself did not know what a "revolution" was.
In Ah Q's ears, he had heard the words of the revolutionary party earlier, and this year he had personally seen the killing of the revolutionary party. But he had an opinion that he did not know where it came from, that the revolutionary party was a rebellion, that rebellion was to embarrass him, and that he had always been "deeply resentful and bitter". - "A Q Zheng Biography Revolution"
Because he did not want to be destroyed by the revolution, Ah Q was very resistant to the revolution.
This also hints at the lifeless solidified social structure of China at that time, even if it is being squeezed, even if there is no way out, but as long as it has not been put on the neck with a knife, its own life has not been absolutely threatened, there is only one word - "forbearance"!
Between the lines, mr. Lu Xun's deep insight into the national nature.
However, things took a turn for the worse. Now he has changed his attitude in support of the revolution.
When he learned that the news that the revolutionary party was going to enter the city frightened the people and elders very much, and made the landlords of the Zhao and Qian families panic, Ah Q felt "happy" and "fascinated."
After drinking two bowls of empty stomach wine at noon, he became more and more drunk, and as he tried to go, he floated up again. Somehow, it suddenly seemed as if the revolutionary party was himself, but the Weizhuang people were all his captives. While he was proud, he couldn't help but shout loudly: "Rebellion! Rebellion! ”
He divided this society into two completely opposing sides according to his imagination: one that supported himself and the other that opposed him.
Ah Q was shot in a daze
It is this kind of "either me or the enemy" mentality that makes Ah Q naively think that the revolutionary party that can make himself unaccustomed to being afraid of the unsound people must be his own people!
But a closer analysis shows that it is not surprising that Ah Q's later attitude changed.
There is a saying called "barefoot is not afraid to wear shoes", that is, people who have nothing can be more open-minded than people who have everything.
Since Ah Q went to the city as a thief's subordinate, after returning to the village, he was looked down upon even more, and his life was more difficult, and if he did not take any measures, he would immediately starve to death! Therefore, it is better to pin one's hopes on a revolutionary party that does not know where it is coming from.
The change in Ah Q's attitude from front to back is the embodiment of the two extremes of "forbearance" and "open-mindedness" in the national nature, which is full of profound contradictions.
Ah Q is a vagabond who is always struggling with subsistence and is not satisfied materially; he is not sincere about the revolution, he does not have the lofty ambition to save the country and the people, and he is not satisfied spiritually. But why did he live so long? Does he also have any special "beliefs"?
That's right, that's the "Spiritual Victory Method" method that "belongs exclusively" to Ah Q.
The character of Ah Q, or the character of the whole nation, is the root of the formation of the "Spiritual Victory Law"!
First of all, Ah Q deceived himself and did not dare to face reality.
Ah Q can't face up to his current situation, lives in fantasy, and uses the self-deceptive way of daydreaming to achieve the purpose of spiritual comfort. When he gets into a verbal altercation, he will say, "We ——— much wider than you before!" You're something! ”
He also paid no attention to the people of Weizhuang, because he would comfort himself: "My son will be much wider!" In fact, no one knows what he was before, and as for his son, that is even more impossible, he does not even have a wife.
Ah Q and Wu Ma
This is Ah Q, he can't see reality clearly, he lives only in the past that never was and the future that is impossible to reach.
Ah Q squeezed his braid roots with both hands, tilted his head, and said, "Fight the worm, okay?" I'm a worm – don't you want to put it? ” But although it was a worm, the idle people did not let go, and still touched him five or six times in the nearest place, and only then did he leave satisfied with victory, and he thought that Ah Q could suffer from the plague this time. However, in less than ten seconds, Ah Q also left contentedly, he felt that he was the first person who could be self-contemptuous and self-deprecating, except for "self-contempt and self-inferiority", the rest was "the first". Isn't the yuan also the "first"? "What are you?"
He was proud of his ability to be self-effacing and self-deprecating, and even won by abusing himself to defeat.
Even at the moment of death, he still used the "Spiritual Victory Method" to comfort himself. Before his execution, Ah Q drew a pledge on the confession and tried to draw a circle, but he did not succeed. So I thought about it again, and Sun Tzu painted a very round and round one. I felt a lot more comfortable.
Ah Q never really won, but he always felt that he was victorious. He lives in fantasy like this.
Second, Ah Q is afraid of shortcomings and loves face.
The tragedy of Ah Q is that he cannot face up to his tragic fate. That is, he never realized that he was a tragic figure.
Ah Q is most afraid of others saying that his leper is very ridiculous, and sometimes he says that others are not worthy, as if the leper is a very glorious thing, not everyone has it. Everyone else knew that he had a spiritual method of victory, so when he beat him, he asked himself to say, "This is not a son beating Lao Tzu, it is a man beating a beast." ”
The more Ah Q loves face and can't put down his face, the more faceless and ridiculous he seems. Reading it today, there is a taste of comedy, but more, it is still sad.
Third, bullying the soft and fearing the hard, bullying the good and fearing the evil.
Transferring one's own pain and misfortune to others is Ah Q's usual means, and it is also the most sad and ridiculous place.
After being bullied, he did not go to take revenge on the people who bullied him, but transferred the pain to Wang Hu, Xiao D, Little Nun and others who were just as unfortunate as himself.
He greeted him and spat out a loud spit: "Cough, yuck!" The little nun ignored it, bowed her head and just walked. Ah Q approached Yi's side, suddenly reached out his hand to rub Yi Xin's shaved scalp, smiled stupidly, and said: "Bald! Go back, the monk is waiting for you..." "How do you move your hands and feet..." The nun said with a flushed face as she hurried away. - "The True Biography of Ah Q and the Continuation of the Victory"
Ah Q is such a submissive and good citizen, he is numb, and he is used to it.
This is the so-called "spiritual victory method," that is, in the position of defeat in real life, but dare not face reality squarely, with blind self-esteem and arrogance, self-contempt and self-contempt, bullying the weak and afraid of the strong, forgetfulness, taboo shortcomings, pride in ugliness, and other "magic methods" to masturbate themselves, and to revel in illusory spiritual victory.
If I can't beat you in reality, then I can still curse you in the imaginary world and seek comfort.
The "Spiritual Victory Method" is ah q's magic weapon to get spiritual satisfaction, and when he is bullied by others, he will come up with his own "spiritual victory dafa" and get psychological comfort from the nihilistic spiritual world.
Conclusion: Lu Xun's purpose in creating this novel is very clear, that is, to reveal and criticize the spiritual weaknesses of the Chinese people in order to transform them. Reading it today, you can still feel the strong emotion of Mr. Lu Xun's words crying blood.
Ah Q, who was more than a hundred years ago, is still familiar to read today, and I wonder if people a hundred years later will still have the feelings of today's people.