Shout

Author: Lu Xun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-05-01
Features: To comprehensively improve the Chinese literacy of primary and secondary school students, enhance the modern awareness of Chinese teaching, and vigorously promote new learning methods, the Ministry of Education issued the "Full-time Compulsory Education Chinese Curriculum Standards" and the "General High School Chinese Curriculum Standards" as core content of the basic education curriculum reform in 2001 and 2003, respectively. The "Chinese Curriculum Standards" serve as the basis for teaching, assessment, and examination question-setting, as well as the foundation for national curriculum management and evaluation. They reflect the fundamental requirements of the state for students at different stages in terms of knowledge, skills, processes, and methods. Compared to the original "Chinese Teaching Syllabus" for primary and secondary schools, the "Chinese Curriculum Standards" have made significant revisions to the specific works of extracurricular reading prescribed in the original syllabus and have stipulated the total amount of reading required for students at different stages, urging primary and secondary school students to read widely. For this purpose, we have compiled and published this series of "New Curriculum Standards Chinese Reading Series," with all titles designated by the new standards. To assist students in reading, we have included an introductory essay before each classic work, providing an in-depth yet accessible introduction to the relevant information about the book.
The Nahan works were written during the transitional period between China's old and new literature, combining profound historical content with exceptional literary techniques to reach the peak of modern Chinese literature. Lu Xun once said that these works demonstrated the "achievements of the 'literary revolution'," and because of their "deep emotional expression and unique style," they "moved the hearts of young readers." The works reveal the essential meaning of life, with flexible sources and diverse expressive forms. The artistic characteristics of Lu Xun's novels lie primarily in their realism. Lu Xun advocated the use of "white portrayal" in literary creation—"to describe things as they are"—"to convey the true meaning without decoration, to minimize artificiality, and to avoid showing off." The scenes of life, water towns, folk customs, urban landscapes, and the words and deeds of characters in his works are as real and natural as life itself, as if the reader were witnessing it firsthand.