When I was young I, too, had many dreams. Most of them came to be forgotten, but I see nothing in this to regret. For although recalling the past may make you happy, it may sometimes also make you lonely, and there is no point in clinging in spirit to lonely bygone days. However, my trouble is that I cannot forget completely, and these stories have resulted from what I have been unable to erase from my memory. . . .
The eighteen stories collected in this volume showcase the simple eloquence of a spectacular literary talent. "The True Story of Ah Q" is considered a masterpiece of Chinese literature and a towering feat of sardonic wit and biting parody.
In the course of his studies overseas, Lu-shun attended a motion-picture performance and saw decapitated of a Chinese spy; the sightleft him that he wished to do something at once. He resolved to establish a school of modem literature in China. He gave up his studies and, ultimately, at the age of twenty-nine, he returned to China. In due course Mr. Ch'ien Hsuan-t'ung, asked Lu-shun to contribute to his magazine, the New Youth. Fifteen of the stories that Lu-shun published in New Youth were later collected and published as the now famous "Ne-han." (Jacketless library hardcover.)
Here at last is an accurate and enjoyable rendering of Lu Xun's fiction in an American English idiom that masterfully captures the sardonic wit, melancholy pathos, and ironic vision of China's first truly modern writer." -Michael S. Duke, University of British Columbia The inventor of the modern Chinese short story, Lu Xun is universally regarded as twentieth century China’s greatest writer. This long awaited volume presents new translations of all Lu Xun’s stories, including his first, “Remembrances of the Past,” written in classical Chinese. These new renderings faithfully convey both the brilliant style and the pungent expression for which Lu Xun is famous. Also included are a substantial introduction by the translator and sufficient annotation to make the stories fully accessible, enabling readers approaching Lu Xun for the first time to appreciate why these stories occupy a permanent place not only in Chinese literature but in world literature as well.
A collection of essays by Lu Xun, one of the most influential figures of modern Chinese literature. In this classic and beautiful collection, Lu Xun recounts the stories of his childhood and youth in Shaoxing, China. A revolutionary thinker and writer, and one of the architects of the May 4th Movement, his stories reveal the beauty, joy, and struggle of life in early twentieth-century China.
Selected Stories of Lu Hsun - The True Story of Ah Q is an episodic novella written by Lu Xun, first published as a serial between December 4, 1921 and February 12, 1922. It was later placed in his first short story collection Call to Arms in 1923 and is the longest of the stories in the collection. The piece is generally held to be a masterpiece of modern Chinese literature, since it is considered the first piece of work fully to use Vernacular Chinese after the 1919 May 4th Movement in China. Lu Xun or Lu Hsun (Wade-Giles), was the pen name of Zhou Shuren (September 25, 1881 – October 19, 1936), a leading figure of modern Chinese literature. Writing in Vernacular Chinese as well as Classical Chinese, Lu Xun was a novelist, editor, translator, literary critic, essayist, and poet. In the 1930s he became the titular head of the League of Left-Wing Writers in Shanghai. Lu Xun's works exerted a substantial influence after the May Fourth Movement that began around 1916. He was highly acclaimed by the Communist regime after 1949, and Mao Zedong himself was a lifelong admirer of Lu Xun's works. Though sympathetic to communist ideas, Lu Xun never actually joined the Chinese Communist Party. Like many leaders of the May Fourth Movement, he was primarily a leftist and liberal.
The Selected Essays of Master Lu Xun collects together his most influential and powerful essays and lectures. Critical of traditional Chinese culture, of the superstition and rigid social mores, and passionate in his argument for reform, his essays from the classic contemplation on Confusion patriarchy “What Is Required of Us as Fathers Today,” to his critique of Chinese identity politics “My Mustache” are exemplary of Chinese thought, society, and politics in a transitional historic period.
Some of these stories, I am sure, will be read as long as the Chinese language exists."—Ha Jin "When I was young I, too, had many dreams. Most of them came to be forgotten, but I see nothing in this to regret. For although recalling the past may make you happy, it may sometimes also make you lonely, and there is no point in clinging in spirit to lonely bygone days. However, my trouble is that I cannot forget completely, and these stories have resulted from what I have been unable to erase from memory."—Lu Hsun Living during a time of dramatic change in China, Lu Hsun had a career that was as varied as his writing. As a young man he studied medicine in Japan but left it for the life of an activist intellectual, eventually returning to China to teach. Though he supported the aims of the Communist revolution, he did not become a member of the party nor did he live to see the Communists take control of China. Ambitious to reach a large Chinese audience, Lu Hsun wrote his first published story, "A Madman's Diary," in the vernacular, a pioneering move in Chinese literature at the time. "The True Story of Ah Q," a biting portrait of feudal China, gained him popularity in the West. This collection of eighteen stories shows the variety of his style and subjects throughout his career. In a new introduction, Ha Jin, the author of Waiting (National Book Award winner), The Bridegroom, and other works, places Lu Hsun's life and work in the context of Chinese history and literature.
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