英语 STUDY, STUDIES，

，RESEARCH 的含义
和用法与“
和用法与“鲁（迅）学” 、“鲁迅研究”
鲁迅研究” 、
“鲁迅研究中心”
鲁迅研究中心”的英译之浅见
的英译之浅见

张过大卫

第一次在《鲁迅研究月刊》2005 年第一期见到英译名 Lu Xun Research Monthly 时，笔

者发现它与我熟悉的 Newtonian Studies (牛顿研究，或译作牛顿学) 用词不同。为了解作为
“人物研究”的“研究”一词的英语惯用法，笔者带着这个问题在万维网作了搜索，同时查
询了 studies/study 与 research 的相关词义。笔者深知，举凡代表事物的名称，在任何语言中，
约定俗成较之判定用词是否准确更为重要，因此笔者对此问题解决，重点放在调查“人物研
究” 在英语中常见词语，而不是 studies/study 与 research 的词义差异。

笔者认为，鲁迅研究作为一门学问已成为显学，称之为“鲁迅学”或“鲁学”是很恰当
的，一如孔学。频频出现在国外英文研究鲁迅的论著中的 Lu Xun Studies 既表明是人文科学
的一门独立、专门的分支学科，与 Confucius Studies，Newtonian Studies 一样，准确的中译
是“鲁迅学”，若译作“鲁迅研究”则失之于宽泛而欠准确。进而言之，对鲁迅学的研究可
称之为“鲁迅学研究” ，类似于“物理学研究” 。笔者猜测《鲁迅研究月刊》的命名或许
本应理解为“鲁迅学研究月刊” ，然而，鉴于实际情况，亦即此刊视野较宽，登载的文章
不限于狭义的鲁迅学，不能说此刊名不妥。但是，其英文名还是以英语常用搭配 Lu Xun
Studies 为好，只要刊出的文章与鲁迅学相关。

（1） Denton, Kirk A. and Sieg, Jeremy. “Lu Xun Studies”；scholars of Lu Xun studies
from all around the world
（2） In China, studies of Lu Xun have flourished into a special academic field which
holds such a position that it can be paralleled to that of the Dream of the Red
Mansion which is one of the four classical literature masterpieces in China
（3） Reference Materials Collections of Studies on Lu Xun
（4） Lu Xun research. Monthly；China sets up first Lu Xun research center
（5） Chen Jingan. Lu Xun yanjiu de lishi yu xianzhuang (The history and current state of
Lu Xun studies). Nanjing: Jiangsu jiaoyu, 1986.
（6） Cheung C[hiu].Y[ee] . "The Nietzsche of Chinese Lu Xun Studies: A Zigzag Road
of the Reception of the 'Gentle' Nietzsche."
（7） In order to broaden the public's knowledge of Lu Xun, one of the famous historic
figures of modern China, and acquire more information about contemporary
scholars' much-discussed questions of Lu Xun Studies, the UM and Shanghai Lu
Xun Museum jointly organized the Exhibition of Prints from Shanghai Lu Xun
Museum's collection, where about 60 pieces of valuable prints were on display.
（8） During the festival, the city's 50-year-old Lu Xun Museum will hold a symposium
and has invited scholars of Lu Xun studies 鲁学家/鲁迅学学者 from all around the
world.
 （9） A history of Lu Xun's study in Japan
（10） research of Lu Xun
（11） articles on Lu Xun
（12） Studies on Lu Xun

（13）

人物研究

Newtonia n Studies in the new Millennium

The studies into Newton’s unpublished papers mentioned above

Newton studies

双月刊 孔子研究 Confucius Studies

The Conflict Studies Research Centre
studies 论文 of Lu Xun
双月刊 孔子研究 Confucius Studies
studies on Confucius and Mencius
the studies of Confucius works
the American Studies Research Portal 入口/津梁
the Women's Studies Research Center, Brandeis University
the Center for Shakespeare Studies
the European Studies Research Institute at the University of Salford
孔学
易学
道学
儒学
新学
西学
汉学/中国学
钱学
金学
鲁学与红学
鲁学研究
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
studies
Country ~
American Studies
Asian Studies

Center For Strategic & International Studies

Center for Buddhist Studies, National Taiwan University

U of Pennsylvania, African Studies Center | African Studies WWW

Biblical Studies Foundation

National Council for the Social Studies | socialstudies.org

Center for Immigration Studies

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

DEFINITION FOUND FOR STUDIES

3. Any particular branch of learning that is studied; any
object of attentive consideration.
[1913 Webster]

• survey: a detailed critical inspection

• applying the mind to learning and understanding a subject (especially by reading); "mastering
a second language requires a lot of work"; "no schools offer graduate study in interior design"

• report: a written document describing the findings of some individual or group; "this accords
with the recent study by Hill and Dale"

• a state of deep mental absorption; "she is in a deep study"

• a room used for reading and writing and studying; "he knocked lightly on the closed door of
the study"

• analyze: consider in detail and subject to an analysis in order to discover essential features or
meaning; "analyze a sonnet by Shakespeare"; "analyze the evidence in a criminal trial";
"analyze your real motives"

• 学科/课程 discipline: a branch of knowledge; "in what discipline is his doctorate?"; "teachers
should be well trained in their subject"; "anthropology is the study of human beings"

• be a student; follow a course of study; be enrolled at an institute of learning

• sketch: preliminary drawing for later elaboration; "he made several studies before starting to
paint"

• give careful consideration to; "consider the possibility of moving"

• cogitation: attentive consideration and meditation; "after much cogitation he rejected the
offer"

• learn: be a student of a certain subject; "She is reading for the bar exam"
• someone who memorizes quickly and easily (as the lines for a part in a play); "he is a quick
study"

• learn by reading books; "He is studying geology in his room"; "I have an exam next week; I
must hit the books now"

• a composition intended to develop one aspect of the performer's technique; "a study in
spiccato bowing"

• think intently and at length, as for spiritual purposes; "He is meditating in his study"
www.cogsci.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/webwn

• An endgame study, or just study, is a composed chess position that is, one that has been made
up rather than one from an actual game presented as a sort of puzzle, in which the aim of the
solver is to find a way for White, moving first, to win or draw, as stipulated, against any
moves that Black plays.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Study_(chess)

• 书房 A study is a room in a house which is used for paperwork, computer work, or reading.
People who operate a home business often do so from a study. A typical study contains a desk,
chair, computer, book shelves or bookcase, and other furniture. A spare bedroom is often
utilized as a study, however many modern homes have rooms specifically designated as
studies. These are usually located in a convenient area on the main floor of the house and may
be referred to as a den or library.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Study_(room)

• (Syn: masked study): A study in which observer(s) and/or subjects are kept ignorant of the
group to which the subjects are assigned, as in an experimental study, or of the population
from which the subjects come, as in a nonexperimental or observational study. Where both
observer and subjects are kept ignorant, the study is termed a double-blind study. If the
statistical analysis is also done in ignorance of the group to which subjects belong, the study is
sometimes described as triple blind. The purpose of "blinding" is to eliminate sources of bias.
(Diagnosis, Harm, Therapy)
www.med.ualberta.ca/ebm/define.htm

• a study that does not generateprimary data but that involves the qualitative or quantitative
consolidationof findings from multiple primary studies. Examples are literature
review,meta-analysis, decision analysis, and consensus development. (Contrast withprimary
study.)
www.sbu.se/Filer/Content0/publikationer/1/literaturesearching_1993/glossary.html

• An EP study is a test that evaluates the electrical activity within your heart. This test is used to
help your doctor find out the cause of your rhythm disturbance and the best treatment for you.
During the test, your doctor may safely reproduce your abnormal heart rhythm, then give you
medications to see which one controls it best.
aolsvc.health.webmd.aol.com/content/pages/9/1675_57847
• An activity, program or project that is funded through the Transportation Pooled Fund
Program. The duration of a study may be fixed or indefinite.
www.pooledfund.org/help/glossary/

• geleza (Is) Hands held up in front of the speaker with palms facing towards the face as if
holding a book.
www.aaanet.org/sla/jla/brookes_dictionary/r_to_s.htm

• NYSTA's comprehensive study of transportation needs and mobility within the Thruway's
Buffalo Corridor. This study is being undertaken in order to develop alternatives to address the
future structural and other identified needs of the Corridor.
www.thruway.state.ny.us/studies/buffalo/glossary.html

• An evaluation of the hearts conduction (electrical) system in a medically supervised setting.

www.columbia-stmarys.org/body.cfm

• remained his term of choice for most of the remainder of the interview. However, at the point
when he described a negative experience resulting in his withdrawal from the research, he
became agitated and switched to the seemingly negative word procedure: 10
muse.jhu.edu/journals/american_speech/v075/75.2butters.html

• To apply one's mind to a subject in order to acquire knowledge and skill.

www.geocities.com/clearbirds/study/glosstudy.htm

• A detailed drawing or painting made of one or more parts of a final composition, but not of the
whole.
208.147.72.17/~christina/artterms.html

• Set audire, Latin, means 'to hear Set'. Studium is zeal. Concentration would be needed to hear
faint electrical sounds, such as sparks, from the ark, hence the priest's call for silence. thigh
The constellation of the Great Bear was named by the Egyptians 'The Thigh'. It was described
as being in the northern heaven in the Great Lake. It was also named Mesekhti, and was
described as having a bull's head. The Book of the Dead [Tr. Budge, Arkana p. 409] refers to
the water flood which is over the thigh of the goddess Nut at the staircase of the
www.quantavolution.org/vol_13/firenotblown_27.htm

• An investigation of the health and/or economic impact of one or more therapies in humans
which may or may not involve a randomisation step. If a randomisation step is involved, the
preferred term is trial.
www7.health.gov.au/pbs/pharm/pubs/pharmpac/glossary/glosss.htm

• means any experiment at one or more test sites, in which a test substance is studied in a test
system under laboratory conditions or in the environment to determine or help predict its
effects, metabolism, environmental and chemical fate, persistence, or other characteristics in
humans, other living organisms, or media. The term "study" does not include basic
exploratory studies carried out to determine whether a test substance or a test method has any
potential utility.
www.setonresourcecenter.com/cfr/40CFR/P792_004.HTM
• Vocabularies used when studying especially some language
www.zerodelta.net/dizionario/index.php

• a subset of Measurement System Analysis. Gauge repeatability is the response variation when
a single operator utilizes a single Measurement System to measure the same characteristic of a
single part multiple times. Gauge reproducibility is the response variation due to several
operators using a single Measurement System to measure the same characteristic of a single
part.
www.gpsqtc.com/library/ghijkl.shtml

• A careful detailing of a subject image, used primarily as an instructive excercise for the artist.
(See Sketch)
www.darvillsrareprints.com/glossaryRS.htm

• observation of a chosen theme and attempt to reproduce this theme in a drawing or painting or
through photography, etc.
www.ceja.educagri.fr/en/agriculture/lexiq/lex.htm

• is a musical form also used to practise or demonstrate a subject or technique; see study
(music).
encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Juku

• REsearch is a United States magazine and book publisher, based in San Francisco, founded
and edited by V.Vale in 1980. It was the successor to Vale's earlier punk rock fanzine Search &
Destroy (1977–1979).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/REsearch

• Research is an active, diligent and systematic process of inquiry in order to discover, interpret
or revise facts, events, behaviors, or theories, or to make practical applications with the help of
such facts, laws or theories. The term "research" is also used to describe the collection of
information about a particular subject.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research

• means a systematic investigation, including research development, testing and evaluation,

designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge. Activities which meet this
definition constitute research for purposes of this policy, whether or not they are conducted or
supported under a program which is considered research for other purposes. For example,
some demonstration and service programs may include research activities.
www.research.psu.edu/orp/HUM/train/definitions.html

• is systematic study directed toward more complete scientific knowledge or understanding of

the subject studied. The federal government classifies research as either basic or applied
according to the objective of the sponsoring agency.
www.aaas.org/spp/rd/ca02app2.htm
• Systematic, intensive, patient study and investigation in some field of knowledge, usually
employing the techniques of hypothesis and experiment, whose purpose is to reveal new facts,
theories, or principles. Asterisk: Definition is quoted from ODLIS
faculty.valencia.cc.fl.us/jdelisle/lis2004/glossary.htm

• A systematic investigation, including research development, testing, and evaluation, designed

to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge.
research.louisville.edu/UHSC/HIPAA/Glossary/glossary.htm

• Diligent and thorough inquiry and investigation into a topic. This includes using all
appropriate print and electronic sources, asking the reference librarian for help, and making
use of bibliographies given by other authors.
lib.nmsu.edu/instruction/healthsci/vocab.html

• Fabrication, falsification or plagiarism in proposing, performing, or reviewing research results

(Steneck, Zinn, 2003).
ori.dhhs.gov/education/products/n_illinois_u/data_management/datamanagement/dmglossary.
html

• means investigation or experimentation aimed at the discovery of new theories or laws and the
discovery and interpretation of facts or revision of accepted theories or laws in the light of
new facts.
www.setonresourcecenter.com/49CFR/Docs/wcd00008/wcd008aa.asp

• Scientific study to find out facts, test models and develop theories about the natural world.
www.reefed.edu.au/glossary/r.html

• the process of collecting information and data about a topic being studied
education.jlab.org/beamsactivity/6thgrade/vocabulary/

• Research programs of study are postgraduate programs of study which involve a student
independently researching a specific topic under the guidance of a supervisor and producing a
thesis or report. Some research programs do involve a course-work component.
www.handbook.unsw.edu.au/glossary.html

• Inquiry into a topic to discover or revise facts or add to knowledge about the topic. (Unit 2>
Starting Your Search)
www.usg.edu/galileo/skills/ollc_glossary.html

• When an activity involving a patient is undertaken with the prime purpose of testing a
hypothesis and permitting conclusions to be drawn with the intention of contributing to
medical knowledge, it becomes research.
www.mrc.ac.za/ethics/definitions.htm

• Research is responsible for analysing the economic, political and technical factors influencing
the markets, supporting both the salespeople and traders, as well as their own direct client
relationships.
www.barcap.com/campusrecruitment/glossary/
• ninemsn can conduct research on your behalf with tools such as random pop-up survey boxes.
This allows clients to gather valuable information from targeted prospects.
mediacentre.ninemsn.com.au/mediacentre/how_to_buy/glossary.aspx

• A systematic investigation designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge.

Retrospective study Research conducted by reviewing records from the past or by obtaining
information about past events elicited through interviews or surveys.
www.virginia.edu/vprgs/irbsbsterminology.html

• Terminology on the Web

www.surrey.ac.uk/lcts/terminology/

• all research activity organized to produce research outcomes. Currently, all scholarly activities
at UVSC are classified as Academic Support/faculty development.
www.uvsc.edu/budget/budgetterms.html

• of the historical advancement of geochemical knowledge and environmental regulations is

summarized in Advancement of Environmental Geochemistry, a paper presented by Dr.
Johnson at the 1997 ACS National Meeting.
www.johnsonenviro.com/

• n. 1. Scholarly or scientific investigation or inquiry. [synonyms sv inquiry:] inquiry, inquest,

inquisition, investigation, probe, research. The central meaning shared by these nouns is "a
quest for knowledge, data, or truth." 2. Close, careful study. v. . . . --tr. To study (something)
thoroughly so as to present in a detailed, accurate manner.
muse.jhu.edu/journals/american_speech/v075/75.2butters.html

• (see Operation Code)

www.eh.doe.gov/cairs/cairs/glossary.htm

• A systematic investigation, including research development, testing and evaluation, designed

to develop or contribute to generalized knowledge. Required by Law: A duty or responsibility
that federal or state law specifies that a person or entity must perform or exercise. Required by
law includes but is not limited to, court orders and court-ordered warrants; subpoenas or
summons issued by a court, grand jury, a governmental or tribal inspector general, or an
administrative body authorized to require the production of information; a civil or an
authorized investigative demand; Medicare conditions of participation with respect to health
care providers participating in the
www.dhs.state.or.us/policy/admin/security/glossary.htm

• Physical assets to support research. This includes facilities such as libraries, laboratories,
computing centres and equipment. Non-physical items such as salaries of research support
staff are also classified as expenditure on Research Infrastructure.
www.innovation.sa.gov.au/sti/a8_publish/modules/publish/content.asp

• (re-serch) Research means the systematic investigation into or analysis of a particular issue,
matter or idea.
learnline.cdu.edu.au/studyskills/gloss/qr.htm
 • Use for person(s) involved in analytical and exhaustive investigation to determine and
authenticate subject matter, objects, costumes, music, and events used in a production; also, in
the case of compilation films or programs, those involved in investigating moving and still
picture and sound archives to isolate appropriate segments of existing pictures and sound for
inclusion into the compilation production.
www.cinema.ucla.edu/CPM%20Voyager/relatorterms.html

• investigation and experimentation aimed at discovery, interpretations, and application of

scientific data
pharmacy.ucsf.edu/students/glossary/r/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1 definition found for studies

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

Study \Stud"y\, n.; pl. Studies. [OE. studie, L. studium, akin

to studere to study; possibly akin to Gr. ? haste, zeal, ? to
hasten; cf. OF. estudie, estude, F. ['e]tude. Cf. Etude,
Student, Studio, Study, v. i.]
1. A setting of the mind or thoughts upon a subject; hence,
application of mind to books, arts, or science, or to any
subject, for the purpose of acquiring knowledge.
[1913 Webster]

Hammond . . . spent thirteen hours of the day in

study. --Bp. Fell.
[1913 Webster]

Study gives strength to the mind; conversation,

grace. --Sir W.
Temple.
[1913 Webster]

2. Mental occupation; absorbed or thoughtful attention;

meditation; contemplation.
[1913 Webster]

Just men they seemed, and all their study bent

To worship God aright, and know his works. --Milton.
[1913 Webster]

3. Any particular branch of learning that is studied; any

object of attentive consideration.
 [1913 Webster]

The Holy Scriptures, especially the New Testament,

are her daily study. --Law.
[1913 Webster]

The proper study of mankind is man. --Pope.

[1913 Webster]

4. A building or apartment devoted to study or to literary

work. "His cheery little study." --Hawthorne.
[1913 Webster]

5. (Fine Arts) A representation or rendering of any object or

scene intended, not for exhibition as an original work of
art, but for the information, instruction, or assistance
of the maker; as, a study of heads or of hands for a
figure picture.
[1913 Webster]

6. (Mus.) A piece for special practice. See Etude.

[1913 Webster]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Reference Materials Collections of Studies on Lu Xun, Research
Materials of Lu Xun

in the field of Lu Xun studies

Denton, Kirk A. and Sieg, Jeremy. “Lu Xun Studies.” MCLC Resource Center, Dept. East Asian
Languages and Literature, Ohio State University. Internet. 10 Oct. 1998. Available:
http://deall.ohio-state.edu/denton.2/lxbib.htm.

In China, studies of Lu Xun have flourished into a special academic field which holds such a
position that it can be paralleled to that of the Dream of the Red Mansion which is one of the four
classical literature masterpieces in China.

scholars of Lu Xun studies from all around the world.

Research is defined to include systematic and rigorous investigation directed to the discovery of
hitherto unknown facts; the construction of explanatory theory; and, the construction of original
works of significant artistic merit; scholarship is defined as an activity directed to the construction
of an analysis or interpretation of existing human products of human, scientific, literary and
artistic activity aimed at increasing the accuracy and depth of human understanding. Both should
result in tangible output.

This may include editorship or editorial board memberships, refereeing, contributions to

conferences. Contributions to text books and scholarly articles on various aspects of teaching and
learning are also relevant.

Since its founding in 1986, the Center for Shakespeare Studies has connected the realms of
Shakespeare performance, teaching, and scholarship.

Newton 2000: Newtonian Studies in the new Millennium

Since its founding in 1986, the Center for Shakespeare Studies has connected the realms of
Shakespeare performance, teaching, and scholarship.

Newton 2000: Newtonian Studies in the new Millennium

Lu Xun research. Monthly
迄今为止，有关“鲁学”的资料工具书蔚为壮观，如中科院鲁研所[？]编的《鲁迅研究学术
论著资料汇编》含索引六大册；山东师院聊城分院编的《鲁迅史料丛刊》12 册；北京鲁迅
博物馆鲁研所编的《鲁迅研究资料》 ，显示出鲁学作为一个学术门类的严谨、厚实。

China sets up first Lu Xun research center

the New Confucius Studies: an interview with
Professor Liu Qiliang.
studies on Confucius and Mencius

the studies of Confucius works

作为一门学科或学问，应作 Confucius Studies，studies on/of/in = research on

the American Studies Research Portal 入口/津梁

the Women's Studies Research Center, Brandeis University 比较: 鲁迅研究中心/Lu Xun
Research Center,宜为 Lu Xun Studies Research Center,

Lu Xun Studies <-- Shakespeare Studies, Newton（ian） Studies 相当于“鲁迅研究”/“鲁[迅]

学”
the European Studies Research Institute at the University of Salford

The Conflict Studies Research Centre Document Actions The Centre is the The Centre is the
only part of the Defence Academy whose primary task is research. Its remit covers Central,
Southern and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, including the Caucasus and Central
Asia. Its team of experts analyses:( http://www.da.mod.uk/CSRC)

http://mclc.osu.edu/rc/lxbib.htm
LU XUN STUDIES

Chen Jingan. Lu Xun yanjiu de lishi yu xianzhuang (The history and current state of Lu Xun
studies). Nanjing: Jiangsu jiaoyu, 1986.

Cheng Ma. Lu Xun liuxue Riben shi (A history of Lu Xun's study in Japan 留日). Xian: Shanxi
renmin, 1985.

外 Cheung C[hiu].Y[ee] . "The Nietzsche of Chinese Lu Xun Studies: A Zigzag Road of the
Reception of the 'Gentle' Nietzsche." In Ricardo K. S. Mak and Danny S. L. Paau, eds.,
Sino-German Relations since 1800: Multidisciplinary Explorations. Frankfurt am Main: Peter
Lang, 2000, 167-85.

Exhibition of Prints from Shanghai Lu Xun Museum in Library

澳门大学 In order to broaden the public's knowledge of Lu Xun, one of the famous historic
figures of modern China, and acquire more information about contemporary scholars'
much-discussed questions of Lu Xun Studies, the UM and Shanghai Lu Xun Museum jointly
organized the Exhibition of Prints from Shanghai Lu Xun Museum's collection, where about 60
pieces of valuable prints were on display.

*************

First Lu Xun Festival Planned

The first Lu Xun Culture and Arts Festival will be held October 16-22 in Shaoxing, Zhejiang
Province.

Meanwhile, the Shaoxing Cinema City, covering 24,000 square meters, will screen a week of
films adapted from Lu's novels.

During the festival, the city's 50-year-old Lu Xun Museum will hold a symposium and has invited
scholars of Lu Xun studies 鲁学家/鲁迅学学者 from all around the world.

(Eastday.com July 31, 2003)

*********

Leigh Denault

History 101 (3)

October 20, 1998

Lu Xun: Waking up Stones

“As long as there shall be stones, the seeds of fire will not die.” (p. 7, Seeds of Fire: Chinese
Voices of Conscience. Lu Xun as quoted by Simon Leys in The Burning Forest)

Lu Xun, China’s most eloquent voice amid the governmental chaos of the civil wars, was from
childhood deeply aware of the difference between traditional and modern, East and West. Lu Xun
was born in Shaoxing, Zhejiang province in 1881 to a family he characterized as “middle class” (p.
289, “Willing in the Face of Necessity: Lu Xun, Brecht, and Sartre.” In the preface to Two Hearts,
Lu Xun writes: “At times, when I used to speak about myself, about how I used to keep “knocking
my head against the wall,” about how I acted like a snail, with the weight of the world’s suffering
on my back … this was nothing but the flawed character of the middle class intellectual. At first, I
simply hated the class I knew best …”) – actually country gentry well on the way to poverty. (p. 4,
Voices from the Iron House) Spending his time between the Zhou family home and his dying
father, the pawnbrokers and the medicine shop, Lu Xun received an early education in social
hierarchy: “I believe those who sink from prosperity to poverty will probably come … to
understand what the world is really like.” (p. 1, Selected Short Stories of Lu Hsun. From the
preface of Call to Arms.) More than any other writer, he embodied and expressed the problem of
the intellectual in nineteenth century China.

In 1898, after years of classical education, Lu Xun decided to leave parochial Shaoxing for the
Kiangan Naval Academy in Nanking – “perhaps because I was in search of a change of scene and
faces. There was nothing for my mother to do but to raise the eight dollars for my traveling
expenses.” (p. 9, Voices from the Iron House, pp. 1, 9, Selected Short Stories of Lu Hsun.
Economic concerns may have dictated the shift more than ideological ones – Lu Xun transferred
from an expensive examination preparatory course to a free university.) In Nanking he
rediscovered the fiction and folktales that had most attracted him in his classical studies, and
encountered Western-style science and the new ideas of intellectuals like Kang Youwei and Liang
Qichao. (p. 95, The Gate of Heavenly Peace) When Lu Xun graduated from the Nanking School
of Mines and Railroads in 1902, the Boxer Rebellion had weakened the traditional educational
institutions, and the Russo-Japanese war (1904-1905) would soon finish off the examination
system. (p. 14, The Lyrical Lu Xun) Lu Xun, the individualist from Shaoxing, became a pioneer –
a new intellectual. Attracted by the sciences, and by the success of the Meiji Restoration, he left
China to pursue a medical career in Japan. Lu Xun cut off his queue during his first year overseas,
an action that symbolized the catalytic effect of his exposure to “modern” learning.

Here, his love of Western science fiction and its modernizing role led him to a serious study of the
social implications of literature in general. He enrolled in the Sendai Provincial Medical Academy
in 1904, hoping to become a Western-style doctor, unlike the “unwitting or deliberate charlatans”
who had treated his father so ineffectually for so many years. (p. 2, Selected Short Stories of Lu
Hsun. In an irony worthy of Lu Xun, he and his father both died of tuberculosis.) In Japan, Lu
Xun felt himself distanced from China and his identity as a Chinese intellectual. During the
Russo-Japanese War, a series of slides featuring the execution of a Chinese spy were shown at the
end of a microbiology lecture. Surrounded by Japanese students jeering at the “apathetic” Chinese
spectators, Lu Xun’s strong passion for China crystallized into a single vocational ambition:

After this film I felt that medical science was not so important after all. The people of a weak and
backward country, however strong and healthy they may be, can only serve to be made examples
of, or to witness such futile spectacles … The most important thing, therefore, was to change their
spirit, and since at that time I felt that literature was the best means to this end, I determined to
promote a literary movement. (p. 3, Selected Short Stories of Lu Hsun)

Filled with spirit and hope, Lu Xun left Japan and rushed into a new project, a literary magazine
called “New Life.” The magazine fell through, and a growing sense of the impossibility of helping
China began to overwhelm him:

Only later did I feel the futility of it all … Later I felt if a man’s proposals met with approval, it
should encourage him; if they met with opposition, it should make him fight back; but the real
tragedy for him was to lift up his voice among the living and meet with no response. (p. 3,
Selected Short Stories of Lu Xun)

And so Lu Xun entered the discourse of the modern intellectual: the “iron house” as reality
precluded hope, but life without hope was an empty impossibility. (p. 5, Selected Short Stories of
Lu Xun: “Imagine an iron house without windows, absolutely indestructible, with many people
fast asleep inside who will soon die of suffocation. But you know since they will die in their sleep,
they will not feel the pain of death. Now if you cry aloud to waken a few of the lighter sleepers,
making those unfortunate few suffer the agony of irrevocable death, do you think you are doing
them a good turn?” The modern house is a metaphor for China, and the sleepers are the “Chinese
people” Lu Xun hopes will someday rouse to strength and self-determination.)

Lu Xun’s variegated education provides some insight into the breadth of the “new” Chinese
intellectual. His family had a history of scholarship, and under the patient instruction of his
grandfather he began a somewhat unorthodox tour of the classics at the age of six, reading novels
like Journey to the West and Chinese folklore in addition to the traditional Confucian classics. (p.
4, Voices from the Iron House) Lu Xun read widely in both Chinese and in Western literature. In
addition to his love of Western science-fiction writers like Jules Verne, he read Arthur
Conan-Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes series, Rider Haggard, and Alexander Dumas. Thomas Huxley’s
Evolution and Ethics had a profound impact on him as a young man: “Ah! The world once
produced a man like Huxley, who sat in his study and thought such refreshing thoughts. Thus I
read on breathlessly, ‘survival of the fittest,’ ‘natural selection,’ Socrates, Plato and the Stoics all
appeared one by one.” (p. 95, The Gates of Heavenly Peace, and p. 11, Voices from the Iron
House)

Western philosophy, in part, shaped his perception of nineteenth century social trends. He saw
writers like Nietzsche, Ibsen, Schopenhauer, Kierkegaard, and Stirner as examples of a radically
new movement in culture and society. An activist during the May Fourth Movement, Lu Xun later
pulled away from politics to assume the role of caustic observer. He considered the interaction of
his political and literary life problematic:

I have always felt that literature and politics are often in mutual conflict … The purpose of politics
is to maintain the status quo, and naturally it points in a direction different from literature, which
is not satisfied with the status quo … Politics seeks to maintain the status quo in order to
consolidate it, whereas literature prompts society to progress and gradually detaches it [from
politics]. (p. 278, “Literature on the Eve of Revolution”)

Lu Xun came to focus on literature as a tool for social change, reading Tolstoy, Gogol, and Gorky,
among many others – he became a major force in the translation of Russian and Western literature
into Chinese.

During the latter half of Lu Xun’s life, Marxist theory – especially the works of Trotsky – had a
profound impact on his personal philosophy. He vacillated between two relevationary world
pictures: his understanding of literature as awakening, as in the metaphor of the iron house, and
his concept of writing as “paper noise”:

When writing meets with persecution,

And protest at the world only annoys,

Enough abuse will pulverize the bones,

And leave behind a pointless, paper noise. (p. 69, Lu Xun Selected Poems)

Much as he wanted to believe in the transformative power of literature, Lu Xun understood the
fundamental problem of Chinese traditionalism as being almost insurmountable. Lu Xun himself
expressed most clearly the process of his maturation as a writer: “my attempt to deaden my senses
was not unsuccessful – I had lost the enthusiasm and fervor of my youth.” (p. 4, Selected Short
Stories of Lu Hsun) Without the laudanum of cynicism, it would have been impossible for him to
survive. His writing is indeed the “diary of a madman” – the modern intellectual’s commentary on
the absurdity of his fellow men.

Bibliography

Barme, Geremie and Minford, John. Seeds of Fire: Chinese Voices of Conscience. New York: The
Noonday Press, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1989.
外 Denton, Kirk A. and Sieg, Jeremy. “Lu Xun Studies.” MCLC Resource Center, Dept. East
Asian Languages and Literature, Ohio State University. Internet. 10 Oct. 1998. Available:
http://deall.ohio-state.edu/denton.2/lxbib.htm.

Kowallis, Jon Eugene. The Lyrical Lu Xun: A Study of His Classical-Style Verse. Honolulu:
University of Hawaii Press, 1996.

Lee, Leo Ou-fan. “Literature on the Eve of Revolution: Reflections on Lu Xun’s Leftist Years,
1927-1936.” Modern China 2, 3 (1976): 277-236.

Lee, Leo Ou-fan. Voices from the Iron House: A Study of Lu Xun. Bloomington: Indiana
University Press, 1987.

Lu Hsun. Selected Stories of Lu Hsun. Trans. Yang Hsien-yi and Gladys Yang. Boston: Cheng and
Tsui Company.

Lu Xun. Selected Poems. Trans. W. J. F. Jenner. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1986.

Pickowicz, Paul. “Lu Xun Through the Eyes of Qu Qubai.” Modern China 2, 3 (July 1976):
327-68.

Schwarcz, Vera. “Writing in the Face of Necessity: Lu Xun, Brecht, and Sartre.” Modern China 7,
3 (July 1981): 289-316.

Spence, Jonathan D. The Gate of Heavenly Peace: The Chinese and Their Revolution 1895-1980.
New York: Penguin Books, 1982.

*****
Life

Lu Xun Remembered as A Global Literature Icon

Despite his death 65 years ago, Lu Xun's literature and thought still receives great attention and
his popularity appears unlikely to die out.

"His works do not merely belong to one nation, but are of global value," Feng Tie, a scholar of
Chinese nationality now at Germany 旅德中国学者 said at a recently held international academic
symposium entitled The World of Lu Xun and the Lu Xun of the World.

Lu Xun, born in Shaoxing County of east China's Zhejiang Province on September 25, 1881 and
died on October 9, 1936, was China's greatest thinkers and man of letter in the 20th century.

Lu wrote a number of literary classics including "The True Story of Ah Q", "A Madman's Diary",
"Kong Yiji" and "Medicine" which exposed the ugly side of human nature and emancipated
people 's minds.

When he was still alive, his works stood out like a lighthouse providing a guiding light for
perplexed Chinese youths who were passionate about China's future.

After he passed away, Japanese found out from his works the strength to rejuvenate their country
which was shattered during World War II.

In the early 20th century, Lu Xun was named a Nobel nominee, but he refused to accept the glory.

The country celebrated his 120th birthday this week.

Over the past decades, ten thousands of experts and scholars across the world have engaged in the
studies, from almost every possible angle such as culture, psychology, arts, linguistics, the outlook
of love and the attitude toward life, on the kernel of Lu Xun's works and thoughts.

In 1909, a brief article recording the literary works of Lu Xun and his brother, Zhou Jianren,
written while they were in Japan, was published. Since then, the adoration of Lu Xun in literary
circle of the world has never slackened.

In China, studies of Lu Xun have flourished into a special academic field which holds such a
position that it can be paralleled to that of the Dream of the Red Mansion which is one of the four
classical literature masterpieces in China.

In Japan, dozens of societies and research institutes study the literary history of modern times
started with the study of Lu Xun. Many postgraduates working on either master degrees or
doctorates in South Korea prefer to choose works of Lu Xun as their subjects for graduation
dissertations.
"No other writers in China have been so involved in the development of Chinese history, literature
and culture," said Agnes Smedley, a famous American journalist and author, in her book On Lu
Xun.

According to Kitaoka Masako, initiator of the Ya Sou, Japan's largest research institute on Chinese
literature in modern times, most contemporary foreign scholars gained their first insight on China
through the works of Lu Xun.

"Without a thorough understanding of Lu Xun, it's impossible to know about China," said Masako.

Lu Xun's influence has spread fast as his works have been translated into various foreign
languages like English, Russian, German, and Korean and distributed throughout the world.

To date, Lu Xun's works have been published in more than 30 countries in about 50 languages.

Yoko Kishi, a law professor at the Waseda University in his senior years, said that he is still
fascinated by Lu Xun's works and quotes his lines from time to time.

Many experts believe that Lu Xun's thoughts are still valuable in the 21st century, an era that is
filled with material and money but lacks real wisdom.

"The works of Lu Xun and the spirit they carried have transcended every impediment on ideology
and last far beyond his age," Maruyama Noboru, professor of Japanese Oumeirin University, said.

日"The study of Lu Xun that has drawn people together and broken through national boundaries,"
he said.
******

Lu Xun [both: lOO'shün']

Pronunciation Key

Lu Xun or Lu Hsün , 1881–1936, Chinese writer, pen name of Chou Shu-jen. In 1902, he traveled
to Japan on a government scholarship, eventually enrolling at Sendai Medical School. Troubled by
what he saw as China's spiritual malaise, he soon abandoned medicine to pursue literature. He
returned to China, where he published translations of Western works and held a post in the
ministry of education. During the period 1918–26, he wrote 25 highly influential stories in
vernacular Chinese. His works include “The Diary of a Madman” (1918), written in the voice of a
man believing he is held captive by cannibals; “The True Story of Ah Q” (1921–22), the chronicle
of a peasant who views personal failure as success even up to his execution, exposing the elitism
of the 1911 republican revolution and a tendency to ignore grim realities; and “The New Year's
Sacrifice” (1924), which portrays oppression of women. From 1926, Lu wrote satirical essays and
served as head of the League of Leftwing Writers.
See translations by G. and H. Yang (4 vol., 1956–60) and W. A. Lyell (1990); studies 论文 by T. A.
Hsia (1968), W. A. Lyell (1976), V. I. Semanov (1980), and L. O. Lee (1987).

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2005, Columbia University Press.
All rights reserved.

Lu Xun
b. 1881 d. 1936
Click on either image for a large size jpeg of the picture (each ~ 70 K)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I much love literature and to find out about a literary giant that I'd never heard of was like finding
lost gold. Lu Xun's writings aren't readily available in English, no major American or British
publishing house distributes them, but I am lucky to live in the San Gabriel Valley of California
and I found a good bookstore that had an English section. They had the True Story of Ah Q and
other works by Lu Xun. I know that reading Lu Xun in English translation is like looking at a bit
mapped black and white image of a great painting, but still I am able to tell that Lu Xun produced
great literature.
Lu Xun (or Lu Hsün) is called the father of modern Chinese literature. His first story "A
Madman's Diary" is considered the first story written in Modern Chinese. The classic Chinese
literature by Lao Zi (or Lao Tze) and Confucius for example were written in literary Chinese
which is different than the language spoken by everyday folks. Any scholar worth his salt would
have written in this literary style. Lu Xun chose to begin writing the way people talk. At the same
time though, he was well educated and learned and, I am told, used the language very colorfully
and had a large vocabulary. In no way can what he did be considered "a dumbing down".

Lu Xun is a pen name. His real name was Zhou Shuren. Lu Xun wrote stories, poetry, essays,
literary criticism and literary history. His stories were published in literary journals of the time and
were then collected and published as books. He has three volumes of short stories.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Photo of Lu Xun and Drawing of Ah Q

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
His first set of stories was published as the book "Call to Arms" or Na Han. Na Han could also
be translated "Cry Out". This collection included arguably his most famous story "The True Story
of Ah Q". These were written between 1918 and 1922. In his preface to Call to Arms he told
where the stories came from:
When I was young I, too, had many dreams. Most of them I later forgot, but I see nothing in this
to regret. For although recalling the past may bring happiness, at times it cannot but bring
loneliness, and what is the point of clinging in spirit to lonely bygone days? However, my trouble
is that I cannot forget completely, and these stories stem from those things which I have been
unable to forget.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Wandering" or Pang Huang was his second collection of stories. These stories were written in
1924 and 1925. The name of this second collection, Pang Huang, is puzzling to me in a way as it
is translated as "Wandering" when literally pang huang seems to mean unsettled agitated. I think
of wandering as meaning travelling around looking at things. But in Chinese, idiomatic
expressions are found in different areas and in this case the unsettled and agitated must mean
wandering about. I think maybe in English we might use the term rambling rather than wandering
to imply the itchy feet agitated and unsettled feeling that leads to the rambling life.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
His third collection of short stories was called "Old Tales Retold" or Gu Shi Xin Bian and is
what it sounds like. He retold old Chinese stories from his own perspective. This collection was
published in 1935 and included stories that were written over a thirteen year period in the 1920's
and thirties. In the introduction to the eight stories included in "Old Tales Retold" Lu Xun wrote:
In some places the narrative is based on passages in old books, elsewhere I gave free rein to my
imagination. And having less respect for the ancients than for my contemporaries, I have not
always been able to avoid facetiousness.
The free rein Lu Xun gave his imagination and his unavoidance of facetiousness made for some
funny stuff. The story "Leaving the Pass" about Lao Zi and Confucius (Kong Zi) made me
laugh aloud reading it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another major work by Lu Xun is Wild Grass or Ye Cao a collection of prose poems. These were
written in 1924 and 1926, roughly the same time period the stories of Wandering were being
written. Some might consider some of the poems in Wild Grass to be his most pessimistic or
macabre. I'd say "yes and no" to this. He writes in the introduction:
The fire under the Earth churns, quickly moving up; once the lava gushes forth, it will burn away
all the wild grass, as well as the deep-rooted plants, then there will be nothing left to rot.
Translated by Wang/Gallaher

Wild Grass is a work of dreams, including nightmares. Dogs speak, insects buzz and the sky
tries to hide itself from us, the onlookers.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Works by Lu Xun that are available in English are:

Call To Arms (Short Story collection)
Wandering (Short Story collection)
Old Tales Retold (Short Story collection)
The True Story of Ah Q. (Novella included in Call to Arms).
Wild Grass (Collection of Prose Poems)
Dawn Blossoms Plucked at Dusk (Collection of Essays about Lu Xun's Youth)
A Brief History of Chinese Fiction (Large study of pre-modern Chinese literature)
Selected Stories of Lu Xun (From Call to Arms, Wandering and Old Tales Retold) This book is
now on the web in English!!
Diary of a Madman and Other Stories (Translated by William Lyell)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Obtaining the Books

I say these books are available in English, but good luck finding them in English language
bookstores. And good luck finding them in Chinese bookstores in English. Like I said earlier, I
don't think any major publishing house distributes them. Why a publisher like Penguin doesn't
distribute Lu Xun is beyond me. So I will give you the reader information to maybe be able to get
ahold of Lu Xun's works in English. The address I have for the publisher and distributor of the
books mentioned above are:
Publisher: Foreign Languages Press, Beijing, China
Distributor: Guoji Shudian, PO Box 399, Beijing, China.

An American publisher does publish "Selected Stories of Lu Hsün." This is probably your best bet
for getting some of Lu Xun's stories. It is conveivable that you might even find this book in a
bookstore. They also sell a video of the "New Year's Sacrifice" from Wandering, "The True story
of Ah Q" as its own book and a 4 volume set called "The Selected Works of Lu Xun" for only
$29.95. And they have a website--click on the link below to go there. The pertinent info for this
company is:

China Books and Periodicals

2929 Twenty-Fourth St.
San Francisco, CA 94110
Tel: 415-282-2994
Fax: 415-282-0994

They have a great web site. They are great. Support them.

I bought my copies at Sup Books in Monterey Park which is in a shopping center at the north-west
corner of Garvey and Atlantic. The address is

Sup Bookstore
111 N. Atlantic Blvd. Suite 228
Monterey Park, CA 91754
Tel: 818-293-3386 or 293-3387
Fax: 818-293-3385

(BTW I am not afiliated with any of these places. This is not an advertisement for any of them. I'm
just trying to make it possible for people who might want to read Lu Xun to find the books).
Another book that is available was translated by Fang ZhiHua. It is entitled Chinese Short Stories
of the Twentieth Century. It contains "The Diary of a Madman," "New Year's Sacrifice," "Kong Yi
Ji" (all three by Lu Xun), "Spring Peach" by Xu Dishan, "The Class Teacher" by Liu Xinwu, "Li
Shunda Builds a House" by Gao Xiaosheng, "Ah, Xiangxue!" by Tie Ning, and "Buddhist
Initiation" by Wang Zengqi.

You can get Chinese Short Stories of the Twentieth Century by calling Garland Publishing in CT
(their warehouse) at 1-800-627-6273 and asking for "Chinese Short Stories of the Twentieth
Century" under the name Zhihua Fang. The ISBN number is 0-8153-0532-X. Their mailing
address is Garland Publishing, Inc., 1000A Sherman Avenue, Hamden, CT 06514.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A Note on the translation and footnotes

The translators of the books by Lu Xun mentioned here are Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang. They
seem to have done a good job. The book also contains numerous footnotes that are helpful to
understand the references made in the stories, but also contain some of the silliest
communist-tinged drivel you'll ever hear as well.
I talked to a true scholar/translator in this field about the Yang and Yang translations. I asked about
the integrity of their translation and recieved this answer:

Regarding your question about the translations of Lu Xun's works, I would like to say that the
older translations are fluent but not faithful, since those translators aimed to make the reading easy.
There are many instances in their translations when wrong words are used, phrases omitted, and
sections taken out. Still, the existing translations are acceptable. My collection contains three of
Lu Xun's stories, i.e. "The Diary of a Mad Man," "New Year's Sacrifice," and "Kong Yi Ji." My
translations are much more faithful, so much so that I think they may seem hard to read, but
without being faithful it is almost impossible to convey the tone and style of his writing. Some
people have read my translations and have really enjoyed the distinct styles and tones in the
stories.
This was from Fang ZhiHua. Thanks for the input. Fang has translated a number of Chinese
stories including some of Lu Xun's. For info on Fang's book see the above section.

Alternative Opinion
I received mail from Feng Xu concerning this Lu Xun site. Included was a comment on the above
paragraph by Fang ZhiHua. It read:
The translators are Yang Xianyi and his wife Gladys Yang. In addition to Lu Xun, they have
translated into English the Dreams of Red Mansions, the best of the best Chinese classic literary
works, and many other Chinese classics such as Selected Plays of Guan HangQin, Shui Hu. Based
on what I have read and remembered, their translations are not only faithful, but also fluent and
elegant. By any measure their work should be considered as a landmark and the best
representative of Chinese translation art. Their extraordinary talents are manifested in the English
translation of the Dreams of Red Mansions, which are filled with translators nightmares: puns,
poems, proses...(You may have been aware of the rich associations, colorful symbolic language
used in classic Chinese poetry, hence the difficulty of translation).
My point here is that I don't agree with the 'true scholar' on that Yang's translation is only on the
'acceptable' level, as quoted in your homepage. And we should bear in mind that Lu Xun's works,
like many Chinese literture masterpieces, have many different versions, which could give rise to
some discrepancies in translated versions....

And I have received yet another opinion. This one from Lin Dai-yu.

I feel it proper to point you in your studies of Lu Xun to the more classical antecedent of his work,
the "Hong Lou Meng" of Cao Xueqin. Xueqin's work was the true origin of the vernacular style,
and much, if not all of Lu Xun's work bears a direct debt to The Dream of the Red Chamber. I
would strongly suggest obtaining the huge, but beautiful translation of David Hawkes and John
Minford (Penguin: 5 vols.). It is most faithful, while not sacrificing the poetry of either language.
As regards the Yang Xianyi / Gladys Yang duo, I would only say that I can second your opinion,
and make it a bit more severe. Their translation of "The Dream of the Red Chamber" was
particularly disappointing, and goes to show you how much more important it is to be a native
speaker of the language that you are translating a work into. In fact, the translations coming out of
Beijing are of such a uniformly low quality that I wished there were more translations of books I
need outside of that agency -- the only thing impelling me to buy their books is the fact that I can't
find them anywhere else.

Alas!

I thank these three people for commenting. Translation is a tricky thing, especially with a writer of
the caliber of Lu Xun so its not unexpected to get differing ideas and opinions.

If anyone else wants to comment please do so.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lu Xun stories in simplified chinese

You can get stories from Na Han and the complete YeCao from this ftp site.
This site also has a number of Lu Xun works in simplified characters (.gb format).

If you get these files you will see they are in .gb format. If you want to read the files you need to
have a Chinese system with the proper programs or have some programs that can read the files
without a Chinese system.

You also may not like the simplified .gb files as well as the traditional characters (.bg5). Here is a
link to a site where you can get readers and gb to big5 converters. Follow the directories to the
platform you use. The link is to the site maintained by the IFCSS. The ftp site is
ftp.ifcss.org/pub/software.

For the Mac you want Hanzi Converter to convert the .gb files to big5. Appropriately this is in the
convert directory as HC-1.5.hqx in the mac section of the ftp site.

To read you want a program called MacHanzi. MacHanzi reads simplified (.gb) and traditional
(.bg5 or .b5) character files. MacHanzi is in this directory at the site. If you have the Chinese
Language Kit you don't need any of these viewer programs (but you knew that all ready).

For dos a program called dingdang is great for reading the files. But this program reads only
simplified character (.gb) files. Ding Dang is in this directory at the IFCSS software site. It's called
dddos13.zip. There is also a windows version at that site.

For converters look in the convert directories for whatever platform you use.

But the best way to read Lu Xun or other Chinese text on the web is to download Chinese viewing
systems that work with browsers. Chinese Yahoo has a page that links to most of these programs
here

And this great site can show you how to make your own viewer for Chinese using Explorer or
Netscape with fonts that are available.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This Lu Xun page is not yet finished. I plan to add some more, but when I cannot say for sure.
Maybe sooner than later--at least I hope.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This Lu Xun page is my newest addition to my web site. Please let me know what you think, if
you like Lu Xun, if you heard of something new etc...I always appreciate feedback.
gallaher@hsc.usc.edu

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You are the visiter since Dec. 21, 1995. Thanks for coming

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back to Gallaher Home Page.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sept. 21, 1998

In the early 20th century, Lu Xun was named a Nobel nominee, but he refused to accept the glory.

中国文联出版社
... Ever since its foundation in 1983, CFLACPC has published authoritative large
series including Reference Materials Collections of Studies 论文 on Lu Xun, Research
Materials of Lu Xun, Catalogue Abstract of Chinese Popular Fictions; ...
www.cflacp.com/introduce/about.asp - 25k - 网页快照 - 类似网页

Mysteries of Lu Xun

1. Background
Lun Xun, generally acknowledged as the greatest modern Chinese writer for
his socially incisive short stories and essays, was a native of Shaoxin in
Zejiang Province, famous for its rice wine and legal clerks (who prepare
documents and "do deals" for government officials). His family was formerly
prosperous, with a grandfather who was a retired court official, unfortunately
involved in an examination bribery scandal and under a suspended death sentence
that caused a severe depletion in the family fortune because of the need to
give regular bribes to "defer" actual execution until he eventually got a
pardon. When Lu Xun was still in his teens, his father died, still
in his thirties, after a prolonged illness (which appears from Lu Xun's
description to have started as stomach bleeding from a ruptured ulcer, but
eventually resulting in kidney failure from the herbal medicines he was made to
take, something that put Lu Xun off Chinese medicine for life). This further
improvished his family. The contrast between people's treatment of his family
before and after the misfortunes, developed in him a deep sense of cynicism,
besides exposing the dark side of traditional Chinese culture to a person
who would normally have enjoyed its benefits.
Despite the downfall, he was able to use family contacts to get admitted
to "western" schools in his region, and then to the medical faculty of Tohoku
University in Japan. However, he abandoned his studies after two years to
take lessons from the scholar-revolutionary Zhang Taiyan, whose speciality
was ancient text analysis and authentication, and who was then in exile in
Tokyo. He also attempted to publish a magazine of foreign short stories
translated into Chinese to promote literature education. Also during
this period, he entered into an arranged marriage, more to acquire a companion
for his mother than for himself, while his younger brother married a Japanese
wife whom he met after following Lu Xun to study in Tokyo.
 Even though he never completed any formal degrees, his foreign exposure
qualified him to be a science teacher in a government modern school back
home, shortly before the fall of the Manchu Government and the establishment
of the warlord republic, which created increased needs to replace imperial
officials with western educated new persons. He was briefly Principal of his
school as well as a director of a local newspaper, but found his situation
precarious because of the chaotic condition of the new local government.
Before serious crisis developed, however, he was invited to join the education
ministry in the capital Nanjing, and then moved to Beijing with the central
government when it relocated.
Because of low pay and frequent budget problems, officials were permitted
to moonlight, and Lu Xun both taught in Beijing universities and wrote
articles for publications edited by literary friends. His mother moved to
Beijing with his official wife to live with him, as did his brothers and their
dependents, all in one house in the patriarchal tradition. But then developed
the mysterious family crisis which will be addressed shortly. Two other crises,
one involving a group of his young followers, and one at Xiamen University,
will also be discussed.
Many biographies of Lu Xun exist, but most of these come from people
with an agenda. First are the family members, who were anxious to keep all
skeletons in the closet and present Lu Xun as "good person". Second are the
literary followers, who were anxious to present themselves as "good students".
Third are the propagandists, who want to present Lu Xun as "one of us".
Innocently or deliberately, they either ignore the mysteries or present a
picture convenient for their particular purpose without bothering to look
further into the situation behind the picture.
Despite all this, for the disinterested and impartial truth finder, enough
information can be extracted from the various sources to provide a reasonably
complete picture of each crisis. In particular, Lu Xun's own writings provide
quite reliable information: though at times he deliberately feigns ignorance
or failure to understand (e.g., his saying "I did not look into Yu Si affairs
and did not know who was editing it", to avoid mentioning that, as he knew
all too well, the magazine was edited by his estranged brother, and his
"it is ridiculous that I in Xiamen was being asked to solve a problem that
occurred in Beijing by someone in Shanghai", to avoid admitting that he was
siding with one group of his followers against another group over the magazine
Mang Yuan), and there can also be genuine errors and misunderstandings,
he was always careful not to write provable falsehoods. A whole picture
would frequently emerge by piecing together various items from different
sources.

2. Brotherly rupture
The communal home co-habited by the extended family of Lu Xun was purchased
using their share of cash from the sale of the ancestral home in Shaoxing that
used to house an even bigger extended family, and domestic expenses were also
pooled. Being the largest earner, the childless Lu Xun was subsidizing the
life style of his less well off brothers; this is what a traditional patriarch
is supposed to do, and he did it with no apparent signs of resentment; he was
known to be caring towards his nephews.
To point out the significant context: in the traditional system, a child-
less man would normally adopt a brother's son (or some other near male next
generation relative) as heir, who (and whose parents) would enjoy his property,
in return for keeping alight his "incense and candle" - it is believed that
without a male heir to perform ritual ceremonies, a soul would not be able to
rest. The result is somewhat like the Salic system with properties descending
to heirs male. Thus, Lu Xun would in effect see his nephews as his own sons,
as he had chosen not to consumate his own official marriage.
He was therefore rudely shocked when a quarrel arose between himself and
his sister in law, cumulating in his receiving a note from his brother "I just
discovered what a fool I have been; our past is merely pitiable; there is no
need for recrimination; just never come into my wing of the house again."
It is clear from the note that he was accused of having designs on
his sister in law. In fact, in view of the bitter attitude of the brother,
it seems likely that he suspected more than just immoral designs, but that a
past liaison had existed.
Lu Xun's response was extremely feeble (in terms of actions - his feelings
were certainly much harder and painful); he started taking his meals in his
own room instead of joining the family table, and then moved out altogether.
The brothers came to public blows a year later when Lu Xun went back to
retrieve some of his books and material, probably because of the brother's
idea that Lu Xun was spreading rumours about the sister in law's spending
habits, and a nasty article on the various southern names for hooligans
appeared not long after, presumably as a way to let off steam. On his side,
Lu Xun complained in a book preface of being robbed of his material. He was
also seriously sick after the event, and recovered only after several months.
Significantly, his mother sided with him, as well as another brother (who was
however to have his own marital problems, and his wife happened to be sister
of his brother's wife, so that there may be other factors in his choice), in
effect expressing doubts about the accusations, though some contact was
maintained. A few years later Lu Xun moved to Xiamen, Canton and then Shanghai
where he settled till his death, and no sibling reconciliation took place.
Posterity has been harsh to the brother, who had the misfortune of being
roped in to help the Japanese administration after Beijing fell during the War
- he had a Japanese wife and was a Japanese speaker - and so was branded a
traitor; his wife was said to be spoilt and extravagant (which is confirmed by
the financial problems they would constantly have, all the way even into the
Communist era when he eked out a living as a translator) and her accusation is
assumed to be just vengeful spleen upon being reprimanded by Lu Xun over her
shortcomings, convincing only to her henpecked husband. Another suggested
motive was the wish to take over the whole house, though a purely financial
reason is hard to believe as she would lose the benefit of Lu Xun's subsidy.
It is however difficult to account for Lu Xun's mild actions in response
if the accusations had been entirely groundless. Even out of concern for
family peace and reputation, welfare of the nephews, etc., one would not want
to simply let a ranting, vengeful woman triumphantly riding roughshod over
everyone else, since that could hardly be for anyone's long term good.
Yet, it seems highly unlikely that there was a sexual relation, because,
unlike many other artists and writers, Lu Xun does not appear to have been
a highly sexual person. Stuck with a wife he did not choose, he avoided
consumating the marriage altogether; he did not purchase himself a maid/
concubine, something that would be normal for a government official from a
traditional grand family (even one with an active sexual relation with his
wife) especially as he was childless. Several times female admirers came
close to him, but his reponse to them had been always hesitating - a prospect
of marriage with the sister of his friend Xu Qinwen lapsed, maybe because
she and her family were reluctant to accept the status of a junior wife, but
there was no story of him pushing hard for it, and his relation with the
woman who eventually became his common law wife in Shanghai, Xu Guang Ping,
was drawn out and very much on/off.
Again it is useful to put things into the particular cultural context:
For many Chinese and Japanese men of letters, sex would be the vulgar and
low class ending to a romance, and Red Chamber represents the pinnacle of
this mental romance ideology: females are made of water and clean; men are
made of earth and stinky. The unattainable object of distant admiration is
far better than just having someone to sleep with. If we view the quarrel
in this light, then the behaviour of the various parties involved becomes
much easier to understand.
For the husband, the mere existence of a mental romance between his wife
and brother would be a bitter blow, because to a literary man, this is as
bad as, maybe even worse than, just sex. Further, he had been accustomed
to enjoying the elder brother's protection and financial support on the
assumption of sibling love; that the benefit came from other motives
would come as a shattering awakening. While the bitterness looks incompreh-
ensible from the outside, the people involved in it knew better, hence the
tolerance and forebearance shown by Lu Xun.
But is there any evidence of such a mental romance? Lu Xun was certainly
protective and indulgent towards his sister in law, who was given charge of
the household finances rather than his mother or official wife, and who made
frequent demands on him including help for her family in Japan. Is there
something more than mere patriarchal possessiveness towards the women of the
tribe, in particular the mother of his future heir? Two curious pieces of
literary evidence seem relevant here.
 In 1924 Lu Xun wrote a comical poem about being disappointed in love, and
a minor literary storm arose: Sun Fu Yuan, then editor of the Beijing Morning
Press Literary Supplement, accepted it for publication, but was overruled by
the chief editor. Sun resigned over this, and started the Yu Si (Threads of
Speech) magazine which, supported by Lu Xun and other figures of the Beijing
literary circle, became something of a classic of modern Chinese publishing.
This was just a few months after he moved house, and it seems relevant to ask
if there was a connection. In a 1930 article about the history of Threads of
Speech, Lu Xun explained that he was making fun of then current romantic novels
but a careful reading of the poem gives one the feeling of good humoured
acceptance rather than hypobolic sarcasm, and the explanation does not quite
ring true.
Also in 1924, Lu Xun published a collection of articles Text from Ai Hall
Bricks under the pseudonym Yan-zhi-ao, a name also used by a fictional avenger
character in the story Forging the Swords of 1926, but nowhere else. Now Yan
means banquet, Ao is to roam, while Zhi is just a connector so Yan-zhi-ao means
Banquet Roamer, but the interesting thing about the Chinese character Yan
is that it contains the two characters Ri (sun, or the Ja/Ni of Japan/Nippon)
and Nu (female), under the partial character representing roof or home. In
other words, Yan-zhi-ao could also be read as "exile from the house of the
Japanese woman", an interpretation confirmed by his second wife Xu Guang Ping
(who may have deduced it herself, without or without hints from Lu Xun.)
Again, the indication is of humorous or at least resigned acceptance, this time
not of a broken heart, but a broken home.
So it seems that Lu Xun continued to show an indulgent attitude towards
his sister in law - women are made of water and are not to be held responsible
for their actions; but doesnt that take generosity too far, if she had been
such an ungrateful and nasty character making completely groundless accusations
against him? At the same time, it seems unlikely that they had an actual,
physical affair, since it would less likely end with such good humour. A
spiritual kind of romance would fit the bill much better.
Two authors have suggested something a step further: Su Xue Lin, a Taiwanese
authoress with deep hostility to Lu Xun as person, despite admiration for him
as writer, wrote in 1971 "Lu Xun's sister in law was his old paramore in Japan"
and Qian Jia Ju, writing in 1992 in Ming Bao Monthly, a Hong Kong magazine,
said that he heard a story, coming to him second or third hand but supposedly
originating from an old friend of Lu Xun, that "they lived together in Japan".
While these are unsubstantiated gossip - for about a year, she was a
maid in the lodging house he stayed in, so they were living "in the same house"
rather than "living together" - we must add it to the rush of Lu Xun's
family to get him married after hearing a rumour that he had taken a wife in
Japan.
Lu Xun's own explanation, that one day he was helping a Japanese woman
to carry a baby, and ran into a friend just then, might describe an actual
event, though it is a bit curious that this occurred in spring 1906 when he
ought to be in Sendai rather than in Kanda, Tokyo where the event was set.
In any case, it is unlikely that this alone would have caused the friend to
report back to his home of him having a family - there must have been other
gossip on top of that to lead to such a drastic step. However, it is safer
to discount an affair, since Lu Xun's stay in Tokyo, between quitting medical
school in Sendai in order to return to Tokyo to engage in literary work, and
getting married back home, is rather short. As he returned to Japan with
his brother after his wedding in 1906 and they worked closely together during
the three years till the 1909 marriage, it is also very unlikely for an affair
to have occurred secretly between 1906 and 1909 when he returned to China.
On the other hand, it is entirely possible that Lu Xun was the one who
knew the girl first, as he tended to look after business matters on behalf
of brother and friends, and they took to each other, but their relation did not
develop beyond a spiritual one as he was already or soon would be married.
Instead he fostered a relation between her and his brother to "keep her in the
family", with disastrous consequences for the family. It is relevant to
mention that, despite his extensive biographical writing, the brother never
discussed the circumstances of meeting and marrying his bride, other than that
they met in April 1908, just over a year before their marriage, briefly in a
diary entry after her death on the same day of the year. He did write about
falling in love with another Japanese girl, the young sister of his landlord,
shortly after arriving in Tokyo. Disappointed there, he seemed to have fallen
for his bride on the rebound, and married quickly before his family had time
to object or do anything to prevent it. Did Lu Xun play a part in this quick
romance (which seemed to have lasted though)? Most likely we shall never
get to know the events in full.

3. Lu Xun's young followers

As a well known author successfully exposing the dark side of the old social
system and courageously introducing new, western ideas, Lu Xun attracted many
young followers, including his common law wife Xu Guang Ping who pursued him
with letters after taking lessons from him at Beijing Women's Normal College.
The student disturbances at that College, partly caused by the political and
diplomatic situation at the time, eventually resulting in violent suppression
and bloodshed, have been much reported on and, though not uncontroversial,
contain no mysteries for exploring. Here I will discuss the events related
to Wei Min (Unnamed, or more accurately, Not Yet Named) Society in Beijing
in the late 20s, and a quarrel with the left wing propaganda leaders in
Shanghai in the 30s shortly before his death.
Lu Xun often disclaimed any desire to lead movements, on the ground that
he lacked the cool ruthlessness needed to send followers into deadly struggles.
That may be so, and the bloody events he witnessed in Beijing and Canton
certainly shook him up. But he had no hesitation in engaging in literary
controversies and keeping arguments up both in duration and intensity, and his
high status as a socially relevant writer put him naturally at the head of
literary groups. What he disclaimed was the leadership of mass movements,
including even movements to push for particular mass literary trends.
His relationship with young followers may be described as mutually
beneficial or mutually exploitive, depending on one's level of cynicism.
While still contributing to Threads of Speech, then edited by his estranged
brother, he started another magazine Overgown Prairie (Mang Yuan) and a book
series under Wei Min Society, with the young members contributing material
and much of the editorial effort, mostly unpaid as the publications, like most
similar ventures, were hardly profitable businesses.
It is necessary to place this in the context of the traditional apprentice
system: a master craftsman or businessman, rather like a feudal lord accepting
homage, would "adopt" an apprendice in an official ceremony, with one side
swearing obedience and the other side offering protection and future prospects.
The apprentice lives in the master's house, initially not much more than an
indentured servant, but receiving training in the craft or trade, so that
with abilities and dedication, he could rise to be an important helper, ending
perhaps running part of the business or even as heir to the master if there
are no sons to take over. It was also not unusual for the master to set up
the apprentice in his own business with financial and other assistance in
competition to the master.
Hence, the young members of Wei Min Society would see themselves as
unofficial apprentices of Lu Xun in the craft of writing and publishing,
who could provide them with guidance as well as publishing contacts, and
saw the efforts they volunteered as part of the deal, even though there might
be complaints on either side on unmet expectations. A typical case of complaint
from Lu Xun's side: he was shown a set of short stories by Xu Qinwen, and
selected the better ones as suitable to publish; when the book turned out to
be very successful, the publisher encouraged Xu to produce another one, and
he responded by publishing the stories rejected by Lu Xun as inferior. This
upset Lu Xun as mercenary and he was less willing to spend time on Xu's
manuscripts subsequently.
Nevertheless, Wei Min Society ticked along from early 1925 to late 1926
peacefully enough, until Lu Xun left for Xiamen University and placed the
editorial control in the hands of one young member Wei Su Yuan, who proceeded
to reject (or to sit on) some manuscripts from members of a subgroup who were
then starting a separate venture Kuang Biao (Whirlwind). Their friend
Gao Chang Hong, who was editor of Kuang Biao, then made some ill tempered
complaints to Lu Xun, who did not respond, after which a series of articles
hostile to him appeared in Kuang Biao, basically saying that he had been
corrupted by his literary authority and influence, was intolerant of different
opinions, and obstructed new ideas.
The generally accepted story was that Gao was in love with Xu Guang Ping
and his hostility arose from disappointment and jealousy. The main evidence
was a poem published in Kuang Biao about Sun complaining that Night took away
Moon, and his frequent visits to Lu Xun's home during the period when Xu also
visited frequently. Both are inconclusive, since the former could mean many
things, and the latter was when he was actively helping with Wei Min Society
work. Xu herself had no idea of any romantic interest from Gao, who claimed
to have never conversed with her and seen her only once, though they had some
literary correspondence (exchanging nearly 10 letters over 2-3 months, which
Gao stopped after seeing Xu in Lu Xun's home and noticing her closeness to
Lu.) The first time Lu Xun discussed the idea was in a
letter to Xu "I heard from some people that Gao's attack on me was because
of a girl", going on to mention the poem and the many visits, and it appears
that the possibility had not occurred to either of them until then.
But even assuming that Gao was a disappointed secret admirer, there must
have been other, more work-related complaints since a whole group of the young
followers broke away from Lu Xun and showed varying levels of hostility that
lingered for some years. It seems the main cause of grievance was Lu Xun
selecting Wei Su Yuan as his "heir", rather than some other "apprentice" who
was more talented and who had made more contributions to Mang Yuan productions.
Wei's main literary work had been a translation of Gogol's short novel "The
Jacket", and being consumptive, was unable to take a high level of sustained
effort; the main reason he took control of the editorial work of Wei Min
Society was that his health prevented him from attending college like others,
and he was in effect the only full time worker. The analogy is perhaps the
faceless bureaucrat infuriating better qualified professionals by telling
them what to do.
A number of incidents indicate that Lu Xun tended to be hypersensitive to
implications of criticism from younger people. After the initial success of
Threads of Speech, Sun Fu Yuan made a somewhat insensitive remark about the
editorial managers of Beijing Morning Press "they didnt know they were stepping
on dynamite", and Lu Xun later wrote "I thought 'dynamite' referred to me, and
the remark bothered me for several days, but it did not stop me from continuing
to help...". He publicly lost his temper at Lin Yu Tang (see next section) at
a dinner when Lin made some careless remarks about Lu Xun's publisher giving
authors very late royalty payments - the man had earlier that day just paid
Lu Xun some money he owed, but blamed a rival publisher for stirring up trouble
between him and Lu Xun, and Lin was insensitive enough to talk about that guy,
giving the impression that this was being snidely referred to.
It would seem to be a quite tricky task for inexperienced young people
to offer different opinions to Lu Xun, and talking behind his back or talking
ambiguously with him would probably only make things worse by its appearance
of insincerity. While Lu Xun could openly and amicably disagree with his
own peers whose sincerity was not in doubt, he reacted sharply to any kind
of sneaky behaviour and snobbish attitudes, but unfortunately, keen but anxious
young people are all too likely to be just that way.
Several of his Wei Min followers mentioned that, after Xu Guang Ping started
visiting him regularly, some domestic rearrangement caused him to change from
meeting them in his private room/study to the outside living room, and they
jumped to the conclusion that she was staying there. While polygamy was common
among the older generations, it was seen as a feudal practice unacceptable to
the new generation. There could also have been some resentment that Lu Xun was
devoting too much energy to the causes Xu was associated with. A great deal of
gossip must have arisen, much to Lu Xun's annoyance. Hence, there were several
causes of friction on both sides, made worse by the sexual angle mixing in.
Whatever lessons Lu Xun learned from the Wei Min experience, 10 years later
another quarrel arose between his nonimal followers in Shanghai, this time
with politics playing a part. The city centre of Shanghai consisted of two
concession areas ceded to Britain and France, and was under international
rule. It provided a refuge for all kinds of people running away from the
government of China, and was a base for the Communist Party's united front
movement.
There was a Left Wing Writers' Union of which Lu Xun was a member. One day
he was warned by Zhou Yang, the Party propaganda chief, that a couple of
young journalist-authors associated with him, Hu Feng and Huang Yuan, were
government spies. When he ignored this, a follower of his who was a Party
member wrote him a letter which warned (though in very deferential terms)
him of coming under the sway of flatterers and conmen, which he proceeded
to publish with an angry reply rejecting slanders of his friends and judgement.
Before the quarrel blew up to anything big or long term, however, Lu Xun died.
Given the Communist Party's policy of united front and the Party being
anxious to claim him as "one of us", the incident was publicly forgotten, but
nearly twenty years later, when Shanghai was under Communist Party rule like
the rest of China, the "Hu Feng Faction" was given a public and sustained
purge from the literary circles, though this was soon forgotten too because a
much larger purge occurred shortly after with the Hundred Flowers movement.
Communists like to quote Sinclair "All writing is propaganda". Perhaps they
take it too literally; in so far as every writer's philosophy of life comes
through, all writing, including the most nihilist, has an ideological base, but
it does not follow "all writers are propagandists" who can be given marching
orders as part of a movement. While leaders of Left Wing Writers' Union were
sensible enough to defer to Lu Xun's statue, they could not quite accept
members who hid in his shadow and claimed to be doing things "his way" instead
of "our way".
Neither Hu Feng nor Huang Yuan amounted to a great deal creatively or
organizationally, but the mere fact that they were working with Lu Xun gave
them a weight that was greater than the sum of its parts. To be able to
to call oneself the heir of Lu Xun is a big deal, and perhaps he had not
been quite as vigilent to what his followers were thinking of in their minds.
4. Xiamen University
In 1921 a new university was started on the island of Xiamen off the coast
of Fujian with financial backing from overseas Chinese businessmen, mainly
based in Singapore. Because it offered generous salaries for prominent men
of letters in Beijing, just at the time when warlord oppression of dissidents
was increasing (Lu Xun was dismissed from his education ministry post following
student disturbances in 1925, and was nearly arrested in 1926. Later the
Beijing office of his book publisher and Wei Min Society were both forced to
close.) In 1926, it recruited a number of stars from Beijing to its Humanities
Faculty including Lin Yu Tang as Dean of Arts and Secretary General of Chinese
Literature Research Institute, Shen Jian Shi as Head of the Institute, Sun Fu
Yuan (the founder of Threads of Words, as Chief Editor) in addition to Lu Xun
(who had no administrative responsibilities).
Whereas most of China was then under warlord control, Fujian was an out of
way, not particularly wealthy province, not so interesting to fight over, and
the location of Xiamen detered any warlords from wanting to put their armies
there, since they could not easily retreat elsewhere. It was therefore left
to more or less to run itself. With many families having relatives in South
East Asia through past migration, Xiamen enjoyed particular commercial and
communication advantages. Things would seem to be promising, but they did not
turn out to be. Within half a year or so, all the literary stars were to
leave Xiamen, triggering off severe student disturbances that went on for
months.
Lu Xun left a number of descriptions of events at Xiamen in various writings
which however do not support the generally believed story of "reactionary
administration oppressing new ideas", though eventually the trouble did become
one of student-administration confrontation of young versus old. The actual
causes of the unhappiness of the Chinese writers, and Lu Xun's in particular,
were more complex and various. A simple counting of his literary output would
show that his few months in Xiamen were a highly productive period, and it was
certainly invalid to argue that he felt unable to do work because of adverse
conditions. Similarly, the view that the Xiamen University management wanted
Confucian studies rather than modern literature is hard to sustain, since
people like Lu Xun, Lin Yu Tang and Sun Fu Yuan were well known to be modern
writers. Why hire them at high salaries if one was looking for Confucian
scholars? Of course, how much discerning appreciation the management had for
modern literature is a separate question.
First Lu Xun made the complaint that the administration, dominated by the
Science Faculty, was interfering in and obstructing the affairs of the Arts
Faculty. This seems to be more of a locals versus outsider quarrel: most of
the Chinese Literature faculty were mandarin speakers (though Lin Yu Tang was
a Fujian native) who did not know the local dialect, and administation was
logically in the hands of locals who could communicate with the non-academic
staff and outside community. With its high salaried stars, the Chinese
Institute would be an expensive unit to run, and there was some anxiety
on the part of the administrators to ensure value for money. There need to
be nothing more sinister than that. While human envy and territorial ambition
must play a part, this would be no surprise to an experienced person like
Lu Xun and not unduly upsetting.
Second, he made the complaint "the university hires professors at
high salary, but expects us to show results single handed", citing as example
an exhibition where he had to put up his own old stone-tablet text-rubbings
for show. Now that is a common phenomenon at new universities, which do not
understand that the output of staff at established universities is highly
dependent on the infrastructure, not just facilities and bodies of staff,
but modes of operations, ways of thinking, skills and trusting contact that can
only come after years of practice. While this is irritating, and probably can
be damaging to the careers of less established professors, it was actually a
minor problem for Lu Xun, who could ignore expectations to put on good shows,
while his own work depended more on his existing publishing contacts elsewhere.
Third, he complained that he was treated as a celebrity, and people kept
wasting his time. That too was a real problem, but again a small one that
could be solved easily if he did not have to keep up appearance. There are
ways to keep people and social functions at arms length.
Fourth, and rather more serious, was his complaint that too many staff
of the wrong kind were being brought in from Beijing. To explain this, it is
necessary to remember the division in the Beijing literary community between
those who emphasized creativity and social relevance, and those who emphasized
scholarly research. The former often had no university degrees, and very few
had been overseas. They cared little about modern research methodology.
The latter group, typified and led by Columbia educated manuscript researcher
Hu Shi, were not only more "respectable" academically, they also tended
to have more official university positions, and better contact with government
officials and business leaders. In short, they tended to be "pro establishmet"
rather than "pro mass" figures. During student disturbances the two camps
were liable to be on opposing sides and Lu Xun had carried on long literary
feuds with some members of the other group. (Lu Xun's estranged brother shared
features with both sides and tended to be caught in between.)
Fifth, Lu Xun mentioned the incident of the chairs: he was given an
apartment to live in, supposedly the best furnished on the campus, but one
day an attendant came to remove his chairs, because the son of some VIP
was coming to visit and needed more furniture in his apartment. This trivial
incident upset Lu Xun very much because it reinforced his perception of the
power reality: for all the fuss made of him and the deferrence shown, he was
only a hired servant, whose priviliges, like the chairs, could be taken away
as quickly as they were given at the whim of some person or event.
What made things worse was the combination of the last two factors: When
his colleagues heard about the event, they were mocking rather than supportive
"here he goes again playing the prima donna"; and worse: his relation with Xu
Guang Ping was brought up in the gossip - "he is bad tempered because he misses
his girlfriend". Xu had left Beijing with him, but went to her hometown Canton
instead, because they agreed to have a period of separation to assess their
future relation, presumably to think over the question of whether both parties
were comfortable with what amounts to bigamy. With Lu Xun's already touchy
nature, the delicate situation about Xu, and the not so ideal work situation,
the malicious gossip (which presumably also dragged in his already married
status and the sister in law troubles) by colleagues he considered too inferior
to be there at all, would have really stung. He must have recalled the Chinese
proverb "The tiger that comes down to the plain gets bullied by dogs." In fact,
some subsequent articles he wrote about Gu Jie Gang, one of these colleagues
with whom he previously quarrelled in Beijing, led to threats of lawsuit; part
of the bad feeling arose from Lu Xun's impression that Gu was in league with
what he saw as the anti Lu Xun, reactionary faction, which turned out to be
incorrect because Gu himself left Xiamen not long after Lu Xun, and was making
complaints about the administration similar to Lu Xun's in letters to Beijing.
On top of the already precarious situation, the worsening financial postion
of the Singapore backers and the need to reduce subsidy to Xiamen gave added
stress. Given good will, such stringency can be survived and could even bring
people together, but in this case, rapport between administration and the
faculty, and between the arts and sciences sides, was lacking. Though the
initial move to reduce funding of the Chinese Insititute was reversed by the
president upon protest by Lu Xun, he saw the position as hopeless and left
for Canton in January 1927. Soon after, Lin Yu Tang and several others of the
Beijing staff followed suit because the student troubles that broke out with
Lu Xun's departure made peaceful work almost impossible. In Lin's particular
case, he was invited to join the new Nationalist Government established in
Wu Han after the successful Northern March against warlords, and saw the
prospect there to be more promising than trouble ridden Xiamen.
Instead of a simple "new versus old" struggle, it is better to see the
failure of Xiamen to maintain their impressive recruitment success as a case of
biting off more than could be chewed. Xiamen was (still is) an out of way city
isolated from the most exciting social and artistic developments of China,
and its catching so many stars of Beijing was an accident of history. It did
not have the knowledge and logistics to figure out what to do with them to
keep them happy and productive. More subtle minded and well informed management
might have succeeded; given what it had, failure would have been difficult to
sidestep.

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www.questia.com/library/literature/ literature-of-specific-countries/chinese-literature/lu-xun.jsp -
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Lu Xun :: Term Papers, Essays - Free Summary of Research Paper #29264 - [ 翻译此页 BETA ]
An analysis of the life and works of Lu Xun, who is considered by many of his
contemporaries to be the founder of modern Chinese literature.
www.academon.com/lib/paper/29264.html - 8k - 网页快照 - 类似网页