Lu Xun: Revolutionary Literature Essay

Introduction

The Chinese writer Lu Xun (1881-1936) is known to have produced an enormous influence on the development of literature and political thought in China the first half of the 20th century and is considered to be the founder of modern Chinese literature overall. Xun’s literary legacy includes twenty volumes of works of fiction, research, criticism, journalism and translations covering the period from 1903 to 1936. Over these three and a half decades, China went through a complicated path of historical development: from feudal monarchy to the formation of vast liberated areas; from spontaneous popular uprisings and military conspiracіes to the democratic revolution led by the working class. Equally dramatic were the changes occurring in the spiritual life. Factually, the centuries-old culture Chinese culture faced European science, philosophy and literature only by the late 19th century, in times of crisis. The ideas drawn from the new worldview accelerated the lіberation of minds, and when the revolution associated with the powerful anti-feudal May Fourth Movement of 1919 marked the start of a new era, Lu Xin was one of its strongest spokesmen.

The denouncer of the outdated system of feudalism with all of its ignorance, intolerance and prejudice, he stood out as a fighter for the liberation of an individual. And yet, similarly to the Chinese history, Lu Xun’s creative way was a path of pursuit and internal strife full of contradictions. On the one hand, his truly revolutionizing work as a short story writer, poet, translator, literary critic, editor, and essayist was focused on enlightening goals; on the other – it was highly ideologized and even radicalized at various stages. At the same time, it is hard to deny that being ruled by the ideals of serving the people and its struggle for political and social progress, Lu Xin achieved considerable success in mastering the techniques of socialist realism in depicting the fate of his homeland. Further in this paper, we will focus on Lu Xin’s major accomplishments, innovations and contributions to the Chinese literature, as well as analyze their essential meaning.

Lu Xun’s place in the Chinese culture

As Shiqing’s (1984) biography runs, Lu Xun first got into literature in 1903 when he wrote an article for Zhejiang Tide magazine and translated novels by Jules Verne. In later years, he intensively studied Chinese hieroglyphics, conducted researches on the history of Chinese literature and performed translations from Western languages. In his early works, the writer opposes the feudal monarchy and the Manchu dynasty, passionately advocates scientific advances, and sets a goal to arouse the nation to fight for a better future (Shiqing’s, 1984; Pankaj, 1982; Pollard, 2003). Thus, for instance, in the preface to one of his first translations (“From the Earth to the Moon” by Jules Verne, 1904), Lu Xun says that he decided to take up the translation of science fiction novels following his desire to break the traditional superstitions, disseminate good ideas, and promote the progress of the Chinese people (Pollard, 2003, p.123). Overall, as a young man, he assumed that the easiest way to implement the tasks he took was through promoting novels that combine an interesting plot with an abundance of scientific data.

Above all, it should be marked that the ideas of evolutionism had a great and long-term influence on Lu Xun (Kowallis, 1996; Pankaj, 1982). In the understanding of Lu Xun, evolutionism did not reject the possibility and even the necessity of the revolutionary transformation of society, but he suggested that the driving force behind such revolutionary changes had to be not the class struggle but the eternal conflict between old and new generations, the pursuit of all things to perfection. This erroneous view was – as evidenced by the statements of the writer and his works – finally overcome by the end of the 1920s, when he took the position of Marxism, although the first signs of the revision of his beliefs could be traced to a much earlier time, as Davies (2013) found.

In particular, general recognition and subsequent international fame came to Lu Xun with his book “Call to Arms” (Nahan). It included works created by the writer in 1918-1922 – “A Madman’s Diary”, “The True Story of Ah Q”, “Kong Yiji”, “Medicine”, “My Old Home”, “An Incident”, “Village Opera” and others. Lu Xun was the discoverer of democratic and realistic literature in China, and already in 1927, the collection “Wild Grass” came out – social novels, prose poems, and masterfully sculpted fictional stories. In this works, Lu Xun ridiculed the outdated medieval traditions that become savage in the 20th century. Mocking traditionalism, misoneism and slavish obedience, at the same time, he is sympathetic to his characters – the common people, the peasants, proletarians, and urban intellectuals. Indeed, as the researcher of the Chinese art mark, Lu Xun’s themes and characters were not typical for the Chinese literature of the time (Pankaj, 1982; Pollard, 2003; Davies, 2013; Davies, 1992). The main characters come from the middle and lower strata of society; they are so non-unique and common with all the advantages and disadvantages of the most ordinary people. According to Kowallis (1996), although Lu Xun was not the first writer who introduced a common person into the Chinese literature, it was not the class affiliation of a little man that interested the writer, but the person as such, the people that make up the vast majority of the nation, their different characters, psychology and actions, reflecting the shape of the time. In a word, the very essence of human in a non-ideal society was the subject of study. In his stories, Lu Xun combined sympathy for the little man with criticism of one’s weaknesses. This type includes the heroes who manifest deceit, greed, laziness, and slavish philistine habits. They do not evoke sympathy in the reader, but antipathy and laughter. As Davies (1992, p.70) rightly puts it, in their portrayal, the ironic and critical approach of the author outweighed his compassion for them.

In addition, in the collections “Call to Arms” and “Wandering” Lu Xun’s skills of conveying innermost thoughts and experiences of the characters are the most clearly manifested in the stories of the middle class (Shiqing’s, 1984; Pankaj, 1982; Kowallis, 1996). As Pankaj (1982) notes, intellectual heroes are more reasonable, but they are overcome by a feeling of dismay and longing, which Lu Xun often explains as indifference, unconsciousness and even cold soul, which, taken together, objectively kill an individual – “people eat people”. Thus, whoever read Lu Xun’s stories, cannot help but feel the prevailing thought: the unfair feudal and capitalist society disfigures, empties the person, kills the best feelings and aspirations; it is impossible not to feel the overwhelming heavy feeling of indignation with the submissiveness of the heroes of his stories.

Furthermore, Lu Xun also differs from his predecessors in terms of typification principles. According to Davies (1992), in classical Chinese literature, a character, as a rule, represents a dominant trait or several ones close to each other: courage, loyalty, calm wisdom, etc. The image turned out to be bright, but “one-dimensional”. In contrast, Lu Xun’s stories do not glorify the protagonists and not judge antagonists. As Shiqing (1984) marks, the merit of the writer is that he tried to find in an individual the traces of influence of multilateral social reality, and reveal the significant problems of the real life as widely as possible through the complex nature of the character in order to give attach a universal social significance to his works. For example, hypocrisy and cowardly opportunism are disclosed in the psychology of the main characters in the story “Brothers” (Kowallis, 1996; Davies; 1992).

Here, Chinese literary criticism in various ways estimated Lu Xun. The most characteristic is the view of Sze (2010), who states that Xun’s works do not have a cinematic extraordinariness, as it does not exist in everyday life. Lu Xun speaks of simple, ordinary people, “he shows us what we blindly go by in life, he shows us ourselves”. Moreover, Lu Xun attacks the Chinese and ridicules them, but he is also a typical Chinese, and all his works are deeply national. At the same time, as Shiqing (1984) marks, Xun could be called the only portrayer of the true ordinary village life.

Lu Xun himself gave a very negative evaluation of all the existing literature of China. The writer believed that instead of educating the beautiful feelings in readers, poets praised rulers in the lifeless literature of the ruling classes (Sze, 2010; Davies, 2013). Therefore, he early turned to the attempts of adapting techniques and peculiarities of European literature, for instance, introduced the small forms into the Chinese literature (stories and essays), as well as first-person narrative, a new technique associated with the gradual awakening of the personality in the Chinese society (Pollard, 2003; Davies, 2013; Sze, 2010; Kowallis, 1996). Besides, he was the most consistent and successful fighter against medieval scholasticism and the dead literary language wenyan. His works are based on pure baihua. Thus, Lu Xun most clearly and freely applied vernacular, live, folk, and even lower-class language in monologues and dialogues. Here, as Goldman (1982) notes, the expression of speech became natural, free from the traditional ceremonies and code of honor even in cases where characters were portrayed in an atmosphere of ancient life. Thus, for instance, Sze (2010) and Lee (1976) believe that masterful skill of language allowed him to build a play on words and very ambiguous sentences extremely difficult to translate. In particular, Lu Xun experienced a vast influence of Russian satirists, including Gogol and Chekhov as he himself repeatedly mentioned in his writings (Pollard, 2003; Kowallis, 1996).

However, the works of the writer who got acquainted with European literature mainly through Japanese translations often contain inaccuracies, erroneous repetitions of the provisions of the European critics (Sze, 2010; Schwarcz, 1981; Pollard, 2003). Thus, for instance, disagreeing with the supporters of limited reforms asserting that creating industry and introducing a constitution are enough to return its former power to China, Lu Xun in the spirit of Marxism stated that neither railways nor parliament alone could save the country, since all the power and the right to vote were granted to sly and ambitious, rich, or clever hucksters monopolists instead of one tyrant (Lee, 1976). In his turn, Lu Xun was looking for ways to implement his humanist dream – to create the country of people, people in the highest sense of the word, free and well-rounded. Meanwhile, in those years, the proletariat in China has not yet emerged as an organized political force, and conscious revolutionary movement has not yet become widespread (Lee, 1976; Goldman, 1982). Not surprisingly, the writer for a certain period became interested in the idea of the solitary creators supposedly able to pave the way for the liberation of the individual: that’s how he saw Ibsen’s Dr. Stockman and Nietzsche’s Superman (Schwarcz, 1981). In this regards, Schwarcz (1981) has convincingly shown that Lu Xun’s “individualistic” views were basically the opposite of Nietzsche’s belief. The individualism was considered by Lu Xun as a weapon in the battle for the interests of people. It took the writer quite a long time to overcome this misconception, but for the most part, as Goldman (1982) sums up, Lu Xin stood on the positions of revolutionary democracy, which is evidenced by his active participation in the political struggle of overseаs Chinese in Japan, and his activity during the Xinhai Revolution, which overthrew the monarchy in China.

At the same time, when Xinhai Revolution did not bring “new life”,” Lu Xin’s criticism becomes the deepest in the Chinese literature (Davies, 2013; Lee, 1976; Goldman, 1982). Disappointed and disillusioned, he concluded that revolutionary literature was not enough for producing radical change. In 1920s, Lu Xun spoke from the standpoint of working people of China, especially the peasantry, and believed that revolutionary force should be used. Like most leaders May Fourth Movement, he acted radically and primarily against the official Confucian dogmas. Moreover, the most important concepts of Confucian ethics were determined by Lu Xun as cannibalism. As Davies (2013, p.159) marks, such boldness of criticism had not been witnessed before.

As a result, Lu Xun may be considered an influential leftist cultural leader. Moreover, even Mao Zedong labeled him as the “chief commаnder of the Cultural Revolution”, despite the fact the writer had not joined the party by that time (Lee, 1976). And yet, soon after the People’s Republic was proclaimed, different forms of intellectual freedom were suppressed, contrasting to how Lu Xun predicted communist future (Lee, 1976; Goldman, 1982). Eventually, the satirical tone of Lu Xun’s writing also became discouraged by the leading elites who previously praised it. Controversial as he was, Lu Xun is now the part of national heritage, and yet, some of his works are intentionally removed from school curriculum. As Davies (2013, p.231) suggests, this might be a part of the national strategy on discouraging modern youth from Lu Xun’s “inconveniently fault-finding habits.

Conclusion

Deep knowledge of the Chinese social reality, the skills of a political fighter, passionate love for the Chinese people and powerful hatred of everything that prevents them from happiness, as well as exceptional understanding of national and world cultures were the qualities that allowed the talent of Lu Xun to present the best samples of realistic art in literature. Opening a new stage in the development of the Chinese literature, Lu Xun’s works are revolutionary in both form and content.

Thus, on the one hand, the fate of the writer belongs to a relatively small number of artists-reformers who represent the turning points in the historical development. In an attempt to update the old literary system and being aware of his distinction from literary predecessors, Lu Xun was rigorously searching for new ways of expressing realism. Even his first works were clearly showing the ideological inclination of the author: Lu Xun came to literature with a lucid aim to educate people and transform their social life. True to his motto to write the truth, no matter how bitter it might be, Lu Xun was not afraid to demonstrate how the long centuries of oppression inеvitably lеft their mark on the psychology of the Chinese people.

On the other hand, Lu Xun’s innovations are not limited to the ideological orientation of his works, but cover practically all the aspects of the literаry process. Above all, Lu Xun’s fundamentally new method of creating artistic images and their typing should be noted, his depth of psychological analysis, skills of transmitting the innermost feelings and thoughts of characters, as well as the adaptation of the new standard of the literary language.

Still, it should also be remembered that Lu Xun was mainly treating literature as a tool of ideological influence. At different stages of his live and beliefs, he needed an instrument that was easy to use, and therefore he frequently violated the rules of the novеlistic genre in order to imbibe his views. Thus, Lu Xun’s works often present manifestations of outrageous non-fictional courses, politicized and continuously getting outdated as Lu Xun’s ideals got changed. At the same time, his overall influence on the development of the Chinese thought, philosophy, literature and culture is undeniable and should not be limited to his ideological position as an anti-imperialist activist.

References:

Davies, G. (1992). Chinese Literary Studies and Post-Structuralist Positions: What Next? The Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs, 28(28), pp. 67-86.

Davies, G. (2013). Lu Xun’s Revolution: Writing in a Time of Violence. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Goldman, M. (1982). The Political Use of Lu Xun. The China Quarterly, 91, pp. 446-457.

Kowallis, J. (1996). Interpreting Lu Xun. Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews, 18, pp. 153-164.

Lee, L.O. (1976). Literature on the Eve of Revolution: Reflections on Lu Xun’s Leftist Years, 1927-1936. Modern China, 2(3), pp. 277-326.

Pollard, D.E. (2003). The True Story of Lu Xun. Hong Kong: Chinese University Press.

Pankaj, N.M. (1982). Lu Xun: A Cultural Movement. China Report, 18(2-3), pp. 113-120.

Schwarcz, V. (1981). Willing in the Face of Necessity: Lu Xun, Brecht, and Sartre. Modern China, 7(3), pp. 289-316.

Shiqing, W. (1984). Lu Xun: A Biography. London: Foreign Languages Press.

Sze, A. (2010). Chinese Writers on Writing. Trinity University Press.

The terms offer and acceptance. (2016, May 17). Retrieved from

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[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]
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