Morning Glories Plucked at Dusk

Author: Lu Xun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-01-01
Features: This book is a collection of ten reminiscence essays written by Lu Xun in 1926. The first five were written in Beijing, and the last five in Xiamen. Initially, they were published in installments under the title Reminiscences of a School Days in the bimonthly journal Myriad Sources. In July 1927, Lu Xun revised and compiled them in Guangzhou, adding a preface and a postscript, and renamed the collection When I Was a Child. It was first published in September 1928 by Beijing's Unknown Press as part of Lu Xun's Unknown New Collection. These essays are "reminiscence narratives" [as described in the preface to Selected Works in Three Silences], providing a relatively complete record of Lu Xun's life and experiences from childhood to youth, vividly depicting the social scenes of the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China. They are important artistic documents for studying Lu Xun's early thought, life, and the society of that time. The essays are written with profound and enduring elegance, making them classic works of modern Chinese prose. When I Was a Child is distinguished by its clear love and hatred, the organic integration of narration and commentary, remembrance and reflection, lyricism and irony, as well as its fluent and natural, approachable style. This book is a fine edition with black-and-white illustrations. Several essays from the book, such as From the Baicao Garden to the Three Flavor Study, Mr., and Fan A'ning, have been selected for the required reading list in secondary school Chinese curricula.