Lu Xun

Paper Summary:

This paper provides a biography of Lu Xun, a Chinese poet born in 1881. It explains how he was heavily influenced by the Chinese culture and the politics of the day and how these effected his writings and poems. The paper concentrates on his classic work "Diary of a Madman" which was heavily influenced by Confucianism.

From the Paper:

"Lu Xun did not set out to be a writer, however. His first interest was in the direction of medicine, which was influenced by the illness and eventual death of his father. By experiencing the frail Chinese medical system first hand, Lu Xun decided he wanted to practice medicine in hopes to improve China's medical field. As he pursued his education in medicine, he still maintained an interest in Chinese literature but it always seemed to be in second place in relation to medicine. However, this mindset was dramatically changed when Lu Xun saw a documentary that exposed a Chinese spy being executed by the Japanese for working for the Russian government. He was moved to become a writer after witnessing the "cold indifference of Chinese onlookers during the execution of a Chinese prisoner during the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905). Reform, he wrote, was impossible without changing the mentality of the people" (china.org)."

More papers on Lu Xun:

• Essay # 34062 : "Lu Xun"
• Book Review # 91341 : "Literary Works of Swift, Nobuo and Xun"
• Book Review # 129911 : "The True Story of Ah Q - a Chinese Everyman"

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