Selected Works of Lu Xun

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Features: Lu Xun is the main leader of the Cultural Revolution in China. He is not only a great writer but also a great thinker and a great revolutionary. Lu Xun has an unyielding spirit. He has no slavish tendencies, which is a precious quality for colonial people. Lu Xun is an unprecedented national hero who, on the cultural front, fights bravely and resolutely for the majority of the nation against the enemy. Lu Xun's direction is the direction of the new culture of the Chinese nation. — Mao Zedong

Commenting on Lu Xun, I dare say I am inappropriate for the task, but now I dare to speak frankly and openly against some slanderers with my intuitive views. Lu Xun is a masterpiece of our Chinese nation in modern times. — Guo Moruo

Great cultural warriors of all time have also been great humanists. In other words, they are the seekers, nurturers, and admirers of ideal humanity. Voltaire was such a person, Romain Rolland was such a person, Gorky was such a person, and great thinkers from all eras and nations who stood at the forefront of thought were all like this. Lu Xun was the same. Because they pursued and proclaimed ideal humanity, they had to criticize all artificial shackles that suppressed, poisoned, and stifled the development of ideal humanity—all unreasonable traditions, rituals, and cultural relics. — Mao Dun

He could manipulate simple words to create a rich variety of effects, keeping them fresh, clear, and tough yet sharp. With great power, he condensed emotions, thoughts, and words into just a few thousand characters, like a delicate, lean stone with the explosive power of a grenade. — Ba Jin, Commemorating the Second Anniversary of Lu Xun's Death

His observations are profound, his wit sharp, his writing concise, and his metaphors clever. Coupled with a touch of humorous atmosphere, it's no wonder readers feel a fierce, fearless spirit even when facing poison. — Yu Dafu, The Greatness of Lu Xun

Lu Xun is an unparalleled literary and intellectual figure in modern China who nurtured countless revolutionary youth. His works are unquestionably an encyclopedia of modern Chinese society. It can be said that without understanding Lu Xun, one cannot understand China. In China, only two prose works are worth rereading endlessly—Dream of the Red Chamber and Lu Xun's collected works. But their natures are entirely different. Dream of the Red Chamber is an elegy for the decline of feudal society, while Lu Xun's prose serves as a battle cry against it. — Li Zehou

The tone of Lu Xun's novels is somber. The characters are mostly spontaneous and even animalistic, lacking self-awareness. They suffer unconsciously, while Lu Xun suffers consciously alongside them. — Xiao Hong

He is not just a writer who appears in our language textbooks but also a thinker who stands across our nation's tragic history, marked by centuries of turmoil and transformation. His works offer us not just literary techniques but also spiritual and emotional nourishment. — Xiao Fengxiu

In the 20th century, no Chinese writer has had such a profound impact on later generations, leaving behind so many topics for discussion. His works continue to be widely read today. Lu Xun's rich thoughts reflect the purity and nobility of the soul. His ideas hold great value not just in China, in Asia, but in the entire world. Today, he is both a classic subject of study and a living, breathing figure in the ranks of contemporary thinkers—a model, a mentor. Whether in academia or among the general public, there are growing points of Lu Xun consciousness. In Lu Xun's literary career, the essay holds a pivotal position. It allowed him to unleash his talent more freely and thoroughly reflect the intertwined struggles and creative passions of modern Chinese souls. These essays are closely linked to the themes, intentions, and styles of his novels, poems, and dramas, forming a vast and rigorous body of work, with essays as its soul. Lu Xun's essays cover a wide range of issues, encompassing all aspects of modern Chinese life, with the core of exposing the pervasive servitude in real life and calling for the freedom and liberation of the human spirit. They achieve a high degree of artistic authenticity, and he himself was quite confident in saying, “The souls of the majority of Chinese people—now reflected in my essays.” This statement remains just as relevant today, six decades later.

Lu Xun's novels were limited to short stories, but their forms, themes, and spiritual depth far surpassed those of contemporary works of the same genre, laying a solid foundation for the development of modern Chinese fiction in both content and form. His novels rarely include background descriptions, and his characters are often just sketches. He always strove to be frugal, directly portraying the characteristics of the soul, encapsulating all the impressions he observed in ordinary Chinese people—both positive and negative. Yet, it is precisely these ordinary, everyday human affairs that contain all eternal sorrows. They are no longer the passionate emotions of youth but the sighs of a life weary of suffering. They are subtle yet profound. —

Essays are self-examinations of Lu Xun's soul. In his concise, symbolic statements, he infused his complex, profound thoughts and emotions, along with his entire spiritual strength. The contrast between the somber and rebellious tone of Wild Grass and the fresh, lively, and peaceful style of further reveals the author's forlorn and desolate feelings as he wavered between tradition and modernity. These are his authentic self-revelations; the anxiety of searching for life's meaning yet feeling the sorrow of death; the courage to confront the truth while fighting alone in the darkness; and the philosophy of life that resists despair by forging a path where none exists.