Lu Xun

鲁迅 (Lu Xun) – Life, Career, and Enduring Wisdom

Lu Xun (1881–1936), pen name of Zhou Shuren, is widely regarded as the founder of modern Chinese literature. His sharp criticism of tradition, powerful short stories, essays, and social commentary changed Chinese letters and shaped the intellectual trajectory of 20th-century China.

Introduction

Lu Xun, born 25 September 1881 and deceased 19 October 1936, stands as one of the most important writers in modern Chinese history.

Often called the “father of modern Chinese literature,” he used vernacular language (白话, bái huà) and incisive social critique to question cultural inertia, Confucian values, oppressive traditions, and the spiritual malaise of his age.

His works—especially short stories, essays, and sketches—continue to be required reading in Chinese curricula, and his figure has become a symbol of intellectual courage, cultural introspection, and social conscience.

In this article, we explore his life, work, legacy, and some of his most memorable quotes.

Early Life and Family

Lu Xun was born in Shaoxing (in Zhejiang province), into a once-prosperous family that had declined in fortune.

His grandfather, Zhou Fuqing, had been a jinshi (a successful candidate in the imperial examinations) and held a position in the Hanlin Academy.

His father, however, failed repeatedly in the provincial exams and the family’s finances weakened over time, which contributed to a sense of decline and disillusionment that colored Lu Xun’s later reflections.

In his youth, Lu Xun suffered personal tragedies and periods of illness in the family. His early environment exposed him both to classical learning and to the fragilities of social status.

Education and Turning Point

Early schooling and Western influence

Lu Xun’s formal schooling straddled both traditional and Western-style institutions. He enrolled in the Jiangnan Naval Academy (a tuition-free government military school) but left once he realized the role assigned would be too lowly.

Later he studied at the School of Mines and Railways, where he encountered Western ideas, science, philosophy, and foreign literature (English, German), which broadened his intellectual horizons.

In 1902, he went to Japan on a Qing government scholarship to pursue medicine, enrolling first in preparatory courses and then at the Sendai Medical Academy.

From medicine to literature

While in Japan, Lu Xun witnessed a stereopticon (magic-lantern) slide showing the execution of a Chinese prisoner. He recalled the crowd’s indifference, and this moment became a moral epiphany: he felt that curing physical illness was less urgent than awakening the souls of his people.

Disillusioned with medical training and its limitations, he abandoned his medical studies and turned to literature as his means of social engagement.

Back in China, he accepted teaching positions and government posts to support himself, but consistently wrote, translated, critiqued, and pushed for literary reform.

Literary Career & Major Works

New Culture Movement & May Fourth

In 1917, Lu Xun was invited to contribute to New Youth (《新青年》), a journal associated with cultural reform and the New Culture Movement.

In 1918 he published “Diary of a Madman”—often considered the first major modern Chinese short story in vernacular Chinese. It used allegory and critique to condemn the cannibalism of feudal culture.

Other famous works include “Kong Yiji”, “A Q Zhengzhuan” (“The True Story of Ah Q”), and various essays and sketches collected in volumes such as Call to Arms (《呐喊》) and Wandering (《彷徨》).

His style combined sharp irony, social satire, moral seriousness, and empathy for the oppressed. He often exposed hypocrisy, inertia, and spiritual emptiness.

Political engagement & later years

From the late 1920s onward, Lu Xun aligned increasingly with leftist intellectual currents. He was one of the cofounders of the League of Left-Wing Writers in Shanghai.

He faced political criticism, censorship, and ideological conflict, especially during the years of Nationalist (Kuomintang) suppression.

By the 1930s, ill health (especially tuberculosis) gradually limited his literary output. In 1936 he fell seriously ill and died in Shanghai on October 19.

Shortly before his death, Lu Xun wrote essays contemplating mortality, including “Death” and “This Too Is Life.”

In one of his final notes, he asked that no elaborate memorial ceremonies be staged—“Hold the funeral quickly… forget about me, and care about your own life.”

Legacy & Influence

• Lu Xun is regarded as the father of modern Chinese literature, credited with transforming literary language, introducing social realism, and inspiring generations of writers.

• His calls for cultural awakening and social critique influenced May Fourth thinkers, leftist literary movements, and intellectuals across the 20th century.

• The People’s Republic of China often appropriated Lu Xun’s legacy, portraying him as a model revolutionary writer—though many scholars argue that his spirit of intellectual independence resists such cooptation.

• His critical essays, literary criticisms, translations, and sketches remain studied not only in China but also by international scholars of literature, culture, and modernity.

• The Lu Xun Literary Prize, named in his honor, awards outstanding works in Chinese literature.

• His metaphors (such as the “iron house”) and imagery retain resonance in contemporary social and political discourse.

Personality, Style & Intellectual Stance

Lu Xun combined moral seriousness with biting irony. His voice could be sharp, sarcastic, skeptical—but also deeply compassionate toward the lowly and marginalized.

He believed in the power of literature to wake souls: one of his metaphors was an “iron house” without windows, with people asleep inside—his role as writer was to cry out and awaken them.

He also was critical of unreflective revolution and romanticism: he acknowledged the messiness, blood, and moral cost of social change.

His style often uses clear, direct language—but full of symbolic and emotional force. He used sketches, essays, short stories, and experiments in prose poetry to reach different registers.

In private letters and memoirs, he showed acuteness of self-reflection, internal tension, and sometimes despair, but also a commitment to cultural conscience.

Famous Quotes of Lu Xun

Below are several of Lu Xun’s memorable quotations (in translation):

“Hope is like a road in the countryside; there was never a road, but when many people walk on it, a road comes into existence.”

“Lies written in ink cannot disguise facts written in blood.”

“Imagine an iron house without windows, absolutely indestructible, with many people fast asleep inside … making those unfortunate few suffer the agony of irrevocable death, do you think you are doing them a good turn?”

“True, we must dare look things in the face before we dare think, speak, act … If we dare not even look, what else are we good for?”

“The ability to forget the past enables people to free themselves gradually from the pain they once suffered; but it also often makes them repeat the mistakes of their predecessors.”

“Revolution is a bitter thing, mixed with filth and blood … it is eminently down to earth … involving many humble, tiresome tasks … so it is easy for all who have romantic dreams about revolution to become disillusioned on closer acquaintance.”

These passages illustrate his blend of moral urgency, realism, and moral imagination.

Lessons from Lu Xun

• Awaken, don’t pacify. Lu Xun believed that social change must begin with consciousness and critique.

• Use clarity as strength. His writing is direct, yet laden with depth—showing that complexity need not demand obscurity.

• Face contradictions. He never presented his views as unambiguous dogmas; he allowed tension, conflict, and ambiguity to show.

• Literature and conscience should link. He insisted the writer must take responsibility, not hide behind aestheticism.

• Acknowledging failure is part of path. Lu Xun’s late writings show his awareness of disillusionment—but he did not abandon the struggle for intellectual integrity.

Conclusion

Lu Xun remains a towering figure in Chinese intellectual history—not merely a literary icon but a moral voice. His integration of social critique, literary innovation, and cultural self-examination continues to speak to readers grappling with tradition, inertia, and the challenges of modernity.