Zhao Yanian Woodblock Illustrations of Wild Grass (Zhao Yanian Woodblock Illustrations of Wild Grass)

Author: Lu Xun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-03-01
Features: This book includes 23 prose poems written by Lu Xun from September 1924 to April 1926, all composed during the Beiping Warlord Government's rule in Beijing. Wild Grass is marked by serious self-examination and relentless intellectual exploration, with distinct artistic characteristics. It employs symbolic and metaphorical language, rich imagination, and unique composition. In 1932, the author recalled: "Later, the group of New Youth disbanded. Some rose, some retired, some moved forward, and I once again experienced how companions in the same battle line would change so drastically, leaving me with the title of 'writer.' I continued wandering in the desert but could no longer escape contributing to scattered publications, calling it casual talks. Wild Grass is fundamentally shallow, its flowers and leaves not beautiful, yet it absorbs dew, water, and the blood and flesh of the dead, each vying for survival. When alive, it still faces trampling and cutting, until death and decay. But I remain unyielding and joyful. I will laugh, I will sing. I love my Wild Grass, but I detest the ground decorated with it. The underground fire rumbles, surging, and when the lava erupts, it will burn all the Wild Grass, as well as the tall trees, leaving nothing uncorrupted. But I remain unyielding and joyful. I will laugh, I will sing. The heavens and earth are so still, that I cannot laugh or sing. Even if the heavens and earth are not so still, I may still be unable. With this bunch of Wild Grass, I present it to friends and foes, humans and beasts, lovers and haters, at the intersection of light and darkness, life and death, past and future.