The Paper asked
How do we enter Lu Xun's literary world today? What kind of anecdotes are behind the birth of works such as "Diary of a Madman" and "The True Biography of Ah Q"?
In the face of the torrent of the times, the loneliness of studying abroad, and family trivia, what was Lu Xun's state of mind at that time?
In addition to being a fighter for "dagger throwing guns" in literature, a lover and advocate of the emerging woodblock printmaking art, Lu Xun is also a loving father of "how pitiful children are not husbands", and he is also a "dressing master" and "terrier king" among the modern young population. The surging question invited Chen Qingqing, translator of "Between Light and Darkness: A Biography of Lu Xun" and a teacher at the Chinese College of the University of International Business and Economics, to approach Lu Xun's life and his literary world together.
Why is Lu Xun's literature difficult to read
@ Code can not be understood no matter how you knock it: why is Lu Xun's literary achievements so high and he has not won the Nobel Prize?
Chen Qingqing: According to the rules of the Nobel Prize, the prize will not be awarded to the deceased. Lu Xun died in 1936, but his work was not translated into Czech until the late 1930s. There are many accomplished people in history, and they may not all have won the Nobel Prize, but this does not prevent them from making great contributions to world civilization.
When Lu Xun was alive, in 1927 to be exact, a Swedish scholar named Sven Hedin, who had discussed with the linguist Liu Bannong, planned to recommend Lu Xun as a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature. So Liu Bannong asked Lu Xun for his opinion through Tai Jingnong, but Lu Xun politely refused.
Lu Xun wrote in his reply:
"The letter was received on September 17. Please forward to Mr. Bannong, I thank him for his kindness, for me, for China. But I'm sorry, I don't want to.
Nobel bounty, Liang Qichao is not worthy, I am not worthy, to take this money, but also owe effort. There are no writers in the world who are better than me, and they don't get it. You see the little John I translated, I made it there, but the author didn't get it.
Or what I am cheap is that I am Chinese, relying on the word 'China', then, it is no different from Chen Huanzhang's ph.D. in the United States doing "Confucius Financial Management", and I also feel funny.
I think there is really no one in China who can get a Nobel prize, and Sweden had better ignore us and not give it to anyone. If because of the yellow-skinned people, the extra preferential treatment is lenient, but it is enough to Chinese vanity, thinking that it can really be compared with the great writers of other countries, the result will be very bad.
What I saw in front of my eyes was still dark, some tired, some decadent, and whether I could create it after that was still unknown. If this matter is successful and you never write again, I am sorry people; if you write again, you may have changed the Hanlin script, and there is nothing to be seen. It is better to remain poor without honor as usual. ”
@ is it really the first time I have heard of it: what "Lu Xun said" and "Lu Xun once said" are false?
Chen Qingqing: In addition to a lot of "Lu Xun has said", there are also many "Mo Yan has said" and "Lao She has said" on the Internet. Perhaps in order to increase the authority and dissemination of discourse with the help of the halo effect of celebrities, many celebrities in ancient and modern China and abroad have been born with many famous sayings that they have not said. Because no specific examples were provided in the question, I could not judge which words were not said by Lu Xun. However, you can check from the online search system for the construction of the Lu Xun Museum in Beijing, which contains all of Lu Xun's novels, essays, letters, speeches and other materials, which can be very convenient to verify the words that Lu Xun has written or spoken.
@Qixing: Why would anyone not understand Lu Xun's article?
Chen Qingqing: Lu Xun's works are actually not so easy to read, because Lu Xun's thought itself is more profound and complex, coupled with the difference between his era and today's historical context, his usual use of half-text and half-white language in his works, and his frequent and large quotations from others when writing essays, these objective factors may set some obstacles for today's readers to understand Lu Xun. Therefore, it is not so easy to read Lu Xun, or it is necessary to use some auxiliary means.
@Nanshanshu: In the Internet age, how do we read Lu Xun's articles?
Chen Qingqing: The overall change of the context of the times and the difference in personal taste will have an impact on the reader, thus generating different reading expectations. In terms of the context of the times, the old China in which Lu Xun lived faced two issues of the times, one was the transformation of the country from a feudal society to a modern society, and the other was a national crisis caused by the invasion of external imperialist powers. Therefore, Lu Xun's literature, which was born at this time, is naturally closely related to China's anti-imperialist and anti-feudal historical mission, and one of the purposes of Lu Xun's creation is to hope to save the spirit of the Chinese people through literature and art, and then achieve social change. In his essay "How I Started a Novel," Lu Xun said that his writing was "drawn from the unfortunate people of a sick society, meaning to expose the suffering of the disease and attract the attention of healing." At that time, a considerable part of the reading of Lu Xun's works focused on his national criticism and social revolution.
Today, in the 21st century, China has undergone earth-shaking changes. In addition to classroom teaching, people's reading of Lu Xun's works is more out of personal interest, and its focus is more diverse, perhaps in order to appreciate the classic characters of Lu Xun such as Kong Yiji and Ah Q, and learn Lu Xun's literary creation techniques from them; it may also be intended to perceive the historical details of the old era through Lu Xun's words; and may even want to use Lu Xun to create new Internet popular discourses to obtain higher attention. Today's Lu Xun research is not only concerned with the national criticism of Lu Xun literature, but also the narrative structure of Lu Xun literature, Lu Xun's complex and profound ideological system, and the dissemination and reception of Lu Xun literature overseas are all topics that scholars pay attention to.
Anecdotes about mr. Lu Xun's life
@frajka: Why is the Sanwei Book House where Lu Xun went to school not located in the Zhou family mansion? At that time, the Zhou family was also considered a famous and prestigious family.
Chen Qingqing: The Zhou family was originally a famous and prestigious family in Shaoxing. On the one hand, the Zhou clan has excellent economic conditions, not only in Shaoxing there are three large mansions in Shaoxing, Laotaimen, Xintaimen and Bridge Taimen, but also have dozens of acres of paddy fields. On the other hand, the Zhou family is a family of officials and eunuchs, and has a high social status. The aforementioned "Taimen" in Shaoxing refers to the residence of the scholar class. Lu Xun's grandfather, Zhou Jiefu, was born in the late Qing Dynasty Hanlin Academy, and later became a cabinet secretary and served as an official in Beijing for a long time.
When Lu Xun was a teenager, he was initially educated in the Zhou family's family school, and followed his uncle Zhou Yutian to read and write, and completed his enlightenment. Later, Lu Xun followed his father's instructions and went to the Sanwei Bookstore to study. Sanwei Bookstore was the most famous and strict private school in Shaoxing at that time, somewhat similar to today's key middle schools.
@Tan Qing: What is the fundamental reason why Lu Xun chose to abandon medicine and follow Literature? What kind of person is he outside of work?
Chen Qingqing: On your first question, I think the fundamental reason lies in Lu Xun's position on reform and enlightenment. In fact, before abandoning medicine and practicing literature, there was also a Lu Xun who "abandoned medicine and practiced medicine". Lu Xun was familiar with many classical novels from an early age and had a strong interest in literature and art. The reason why he chose to study medicine was for two reasons. Partly because his father died because of a delay in treatment by quacks. After entering the new school, he "realized that Chinese medicine is nothing more than a deliberate or unintentional liar", and hoped to avoid the recurrence of similar tragedies by studying modern medicine. On the other hand, in the history of the Japanese Restoration, Western medicine has played a great role in promoting it, so he also hopes to promote Chinese's faith in the reform of the Restoration. Therefore, he consciously suppressed his love for literature and art and chose to devote himself to the study of medicine. However, in the process of studying medicine, Lu Xun found that the root cause of the ills of old China lay in the lack of a sound spirit of the Chinese people, not in the weakness of the flesh, and the reform that really mattered was at the spiritual and ideological level. To achieve this, Lu Xun believed that literature and art should be used, so he had the choice of abandoning medicine and practicing literature.
On the second question, I think that before we regard Lu Xun as a great figure, we should realize that he is first and foremost an ordinary man with flesh and blood. In his life, Lu Xun had both the spirit of "horizontal eyebrows and cold fingers to a thousand husbands, and bowing down to be a widow and cow", but also the hesitation and self-denial of entering the "array of nothing"; he had not only managed dismally for the harmony of the family, compromised and tolerated, but also had the firm courage to desperately try to find love.
Lu Xun, Xu Guangping and their son Haiying took a group photo
@Benjamin: What are Lu Xun's descendants doing now? It seems that there are no more famous literati?
Chen Qingqing: Lu Xun and Xu Guangping have a son, Zhou Haiying, and Lu Xun loves his children very much, but does not require his children to inherit their father's business. More than a month before his death, Lu Xun had written an essay entitled "Death", in which he left a text similar to a will. Among them, regarding the instructions to future generations, he wrote in the text: "When a child grows up, if he has no talent, he can find some small things to live, and he must not become an empty writer or artist." ”
After zhou Hainian grew up, he followed his father's instructions and did not blindly pursue becoming an "empty writer", but chose the path of scientific research and became a famous radio scholar in China. Zhou Haiying's descendants are also shining in their respective fields.
@ Paper Bag Rose: Is there any story behind Lu Xun's design of Peking University's logo?
Chen Qingqing: Lu Xun is not only a famous literary artist, but also has a high degree of achievement in art design. Many of Lu Xun's works, such as the novel collection "Scream", the essay collection "Hot Wind", and the translation of "Art Theory", etc., the covers of these books are designed by himself. In addition, he was an advocate of the Chinese woodcut (printmaking) movement.
Because of Lu Xun's achievements in fine arts, when Lu Xun served as a minister in the Ministry of Education of the Republic of China government in 1912, cai Yuanpei, the then minister of education, invited him to serve as a lecturer at a lecture sponsored by the Ministry of Education to teach "Outline of Fine Arts". In December 1916, Cai Yuanpei became the president of Peking University, and the following year invited Lu Xun to design the emblem for Peking University. On August 7 of the same year, Lu Xun completed the design and wrote a letter to Cai Yuanpei. He wrote in his diary that day: "Send Mr. Cai's letter and the proposed university badge. The "badge" here is the design pattern of Peking University's logo. It is said that the design of this school emblem is inspired by the traditional Chinese wadang, and some people say that the design of this Peking University emblem resembles a human backbone, implying the expectation of Peking University students to become the backbone of the country. Lu Xun's good friend Liu Bannong also jokingly called it a "crying face school emblem". Lu Xun's school emblem design was quickly adopted by Peking University until 1949, when it was abandoned for some historical reasons, and was revived in the 1980s.
Editor-in-Charge: Ju Wentao
Proofreader: Yan Zhang