Lu Xun
Lu Xun (鲁迅, pinyin: Lǔ Xùn) or Lu Hsün (September 25, 1881 - October 19, 1936), is often considered the founder of modern baihua (白話, "vernacular") Chinese literature. He was also a noted translator.
Born in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, Lu Xun was born Zhou Zhangshou and later changed his name to Zhōu Shùrén (周樹人). As a left-wing writer, Lu played an important role in the history of Chinese literature. His books greatly influenced many Chinese youths. Having returned to China from medical studies in Sendai, Japan in 1909, he became a lecturer in the Peking University and began writing.
In a widely known account, he explains why he gave up medicine for literature. After class, one of his Japanese instructors showed a lantern slide that depicted an imminent public execution of an alleged Chinese spy by Japanese soldiers. Lu Xun was shocked by the apathy of the Chinese audience and decided that it was more important to cure his compatriots' "souls" than their bodies.
In May 1918, he used his pen name for the first time and published the first major baihua short story ever, A Madman's Diary (狂人日記, Kuangren Riji). With its criticism of many old Chinese traditions and family rules, it became a cornerstone of the New Culture Movement. Another of his well-known longer stories, A True Story of Ah Q (阿Ｑ正傳, Ah Q Zhengzhuan), was published in the 1920s. Both these works were included in his short story collection Na Han (呐喊, Nahan, "Call to Arms", 1923). Between 1924 to 1926, Lu wrote his masterpiece of ironic reminiscences, 朝華夕拾 (Zhaohua Xishi, "Dawn Dew-light Collected at Dusk", published 1928), as well as the prose poem collection Yecao (野草, "Wild Grass", published 1927). Lu Xun also wrote some of the stories to be published in his second short story collection, 仿惶 (Panghuang, "Wandering", 1926). In 1930 Lu Xun published 中国小说略史 ("A Concise History of Chinese Fiction"), a comprehensive overview of Chinese fiction and one of the landmark pieces of twentieth-century Chinese literary criticism.
His other important works include volumes of translations -- notably from Russian -- discursive writings like Refeng (熱風, "Hot Wind"), and many other works such as prose essays, which number around 20 or more.
Lu was also the editor of several left-wing magazines such as New Youth and Mengya ("Germination"). He was the brother of another important Chinese writer, the essayist Zhōu Zuòrén (周作人). Though highly sympathetic of the Chinese Communist movement, Lu Xun never joined the Chinese Communist Party.
Lu Xun's style is wry, often sardonic but with a biting edge on societal issues. His mastery of the vernacular language, coupled with his expertise with tone -- often refusing to occupy any easy position, using linguistic virtuosity as his shield -- make some of his works (like "A True Story of Ah Q") virtually untranslatable. Lu's importance to modern Chinese literature lies in the fact that he contributed significantly to every modern literary genre except the novel during his lifetime.
Lu Xun is also another name of Lu Yi, a general of the Kingdom of Wu, during the Three Kingdoms period of China.
ja:魯迅 zh:鲁迅
Categories: 1881 births | 1936 deaths | Chinese writers