Modern Chinese Literature : Lu Xun - Book Report/Review Example

Name Tutor Course Date Modern Chinese Literature Sem 1 Essay on a Chinese author: Lu Xun The background and history Lu Xun (1881-1936) was a Chinese writer and elite who was highly regarded as the father of modern Chinese literature and a representative writer of socialist realism (Anderson 77). Lu Xun was from an educated though unfortunate Chinese family. He pursued medicine but later he abandoned this profession and took a writing career. His decision to be a writer was highly motivated by his experiences when he witnessed execution of a Chinese prisoner and noticed the indifference of the crowd of Chinese onlookers. The writer’s call for justice is seen in his novella The True Story of Ah Q where he narrates the execution of Ah Q for a minor crime at the end of the novella and the scene is presented in a dramatic way as the victim is led to a shooting field. During this execution the indifference of the mass is profound as he writes “most people were dissatisfied because a shooting was not as spectacular as a decapitation” (112). This paper is concerned with analysis of his three works: What Happens after Nora Leaves Home, New Year's Sacrifice and the True Story of Ah Q. In his writing Lu Xun was concerned with modernization of china, seeking liberation of china from foreign imperialism, the cry of the oppressed, issues of social justice, the repercussions of war, violence and exploitation all which were referring to his experiences in his life in a poor underprivileged family. He educated Chinese society on the need to abandon oppressive and superstitious traditions as illustrated in The New Year’s Sacrifice. Lu Xun contributed significantly to modern literary medium using a lucid clear style that influenced many generations of writers which came after him. Lu Xun had two short story collections, Nohan (A Call to Arms or Outcry) and Panghuang (Wandering) both of which are highly regarded for setting pace in modern Chinese literature recognized as canonical works. As an influential writer Lu Xun was associated with the May Fourth Movement which severely criticized social problems of china. What happened after Nora leaves home? This work was delivered in its original form as a speech at Beijin University in December 1928. In the speech, Lu Xun uses a metaphor which he adopts from the play A Dolls House by Henric Ibsen (1828-1906) which portrayed a character called Nora as a puppet of her husband and children. The play by Henric Ibsen ends after Nora realized that she has been used as a puppet and in what can be said to be a sign of liberation she left home (Ibsen 87). In this story Lu Xun uses Nora as a metaphor with regard to Chinese society and what happened after the 1911 Chinese revolution. This metaphor is a literary technique which he uses in this story. The writer says “another title for Nora is Ein Puppenheim translated in Chinese as a puppet’s house… [Puppets] also includes people whose actions are controlled by others” (148). Before the revolution of 1911, the society was not free but after the Chinese revolution, the Chinese society (Nora) was liberated but what happened after was the question Lu Xun asked; can she survive? The writer tries to shade some light to this question when he writes “…Departing from this life [of being colonized] presents no problem and no solution either…dreamers are fortunate people” (149). For this case Lu Xun saw liberation and freedom as a ‘dream’ and ability to ‘survive’ after that liberation as reality (149). Therefore Lu Xun held a pessimistic view of Chinese society if she is liberated and then denied economic and psychological support, just like if Nora would be liberated and then denied economic power. In addition to this evident theme he analyses that liberated but economic poor china is like a caged bird which is released from the cage to the outside environment full of hawks, cats and other hunting enemies that threaten its existence (149). The work also tries to illustrate social injustices and discrimination against women in the wake of 20th century in china. Lu Xun tries to address the themes of exploitation, male domination, economic power, abuse and capitalism in this story delivered as a speech. New Year’s Sacrifice The story traces a tale of Xiang Lin’s wife whose life is so tragic and forces her into being mistreated by her society. In the year before the 1911 Chinese revolution, an impoverish woman is sold off as a child bride but her husband dies unexpectedly. After this event, her cruel mother in-law enslaves her and sells her to an educated family. She is later kidnapped and forced to remarry a peasant who then dies before two years after their marriage and the misfortunes also snatches her only child when he is eaten by a wolf. Xiang Lin’s wife goes through misfortunes in her life and illustrates her perpetual fear that the kind of life she faces on earth might be repeated in her second life when she dies. When misfortunes plagues her villagers start avoiding her and this affects her as she feels secluded and refused by her society. As she faces resistance and discrimination from the people of her community the writer can not miss to trace her fears to some characters like Liu Ma who tells her of the Chinese belief that “…after living with your second husband for less than two years, you are guilty of a great crime” (141). Liu tells her that when she gets to the lower world the two men’s ghosts would compete over her and the king of hell would split her into two and give each man his share (141). This story is interpreted as critical of traditional ideals of Chinese society and the writer shows the problems of most societies of the world. The main themes in this story are traditional ideals, exploitation of women, social discrimination and the cost of beliefs on individuals like Xiang Lin’s wife and others. In this story, Lu Xun shows how tradition and religion can be used to cripple a society and limit the minds of the individual person. Although misfortune does exist the society ideals may act as a catalyst of such trepidations on a person. The misfortunes are seen when her both husbands die with the second one dying of typhoid fever and her only child eaten by a wolf (136). Whoever reads the story finds his or her conscience saying surely the treatment Xiang Lin’s wife faced from her people were not fair. The true story of Ah Q In this novella Lu Xun narrates a story of a homeless man in his late twenties who earns his life by working at various odd jobs in the village. The most striking character of Ah Q is metaphorical of the Chinese society and whenever he faces humiliation he always finds a way out of it and triumphs over his imagination as Lu Xun writes “…the precious ability to forget handed down by his ancestors stood him in good stead” (78). To the ordinary people in the society Ah Q is seen as a bully but he expresses respect and fear to those people who are above him in strength, rank and power. Although Ah Q is constantly oppressed he finds comfort in a thought that he is spiritually superior even if others triumph over him. At this point Lu Xun exposes the extreme faults as evident in the Chinese national character of his time and especially the poignant satirical ending when Ah Q is being taken for execution for a minor crime (112). The author also uses metaphor right from the beginning where he claims that he could not recall or verify Ah Q’s name correctly thereby giving the character a symbolic anonymity. Q is a short cut for Chinese Quei. The writer’s western influence, which can highly be attributed to the May Fourth Movement, is seen in the use of the western letter Q. the May Fourth Movement was known for its advocating for adoption of western ideals. Ah Q as a character is known for cheating himself that he is the winner whenever he loses a fight. For example when he is beaten and his silver stolen in one of such incidents, he slaps himself on the face and saw himself as a victor (74). In the characters deep-seated need to maintain victorious status the writer exposes the Chinese society’s obsession with maintaining good appearance to western people as ridiculous. China at the turn of 20th century faced a context between tradition and modern cultures defined by western countries. The ignorance of china is exposed as contributing to its backwardness and could not be changed by changing the government. The writer presents china’s common people as poor in both material and mentality and the outright reality faced by common people in the village. Conclusion Lu Xun works reveal a heavy dependence of metaphors to bring out his point. In the three stories, he exposes the ignorance of the masses, the social and economic oppression evident in the 20th century Chinese society and beyond. In the Ah Q he tries to create a symbol of Chinese society in the main character, which chooses not to face reality and deceives himself always that every failure is a psychological triumph. In the New Year sacrifice the society is shown to be deviant of reality and relies on traditional beliefs that only enslave them to the worst while What Happens after Nora Leaves Home expresses the kind of economic fall that even freed society can face if not empowered by the structures that hold economic power and resources. In all his works, Lu Xun relies on western literature writers like Henric Ibsen to shape his themes. His reliance on western literature and ideas is proved by his membership in the May Fourth Movement which borrowed a lot from western ideas and also the fact that his ideology was shaped by the Marxist view. Works cited Anderson, Marsten. "Lu Xun, Ye Shaojun, and the Moral Impediments to Realism." In Anderson, The Limits of Realism: Chinese Fiction in the Revolutionary Period. Berkeley: UCP, 1990, 76-118. Ibsen, Henrik. “A Doll’s House.” In Four Major Plays, translated by James McFarlane. Oxford: Oxford University Press,1998,1-88. Lu, Xun. “New Year's Sacrifice.” Translations by G. and H. Yang.4. (1956):125-143. Lu, Xun. “The True Story of Ah Q.” Translations by G. and H. Yang.4. (1956):74-112. Lu, Xun. “What Happens after Nora Leaves Home?” Translations by G. and H. Yang.4. (1956):139-154. Read More