The True Story of Ah Q · Forging Swords

Author: Lu Xun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-09-01
Features: Reading Lu Xun can almost serve as a compulsory course for generations of Chinese people to understand our nation, its culture, literature, and history, as well as to grasp the modern civilization process we have undergone and are currently part of. Even young singers with only basic education, who may feel flustered and embarrassed in front of comprehensive exam questions on television competitions, have at least read novels like (To My Old Home), (Kong Yiji), and (Blessing). I remember those years approaching the turn of the century when media outlets promoted various polls titled "Centennial" (e.g., "Top 100 Writers" or "Top 100 Works" of the century, even including both Chinese and foreign works). Even if debates erupted and opinions differed from the second-place onwards, the renowned writer and work were always Lu Xun and The True Story of Ah Q! We cannot find another person who could replace Lu Xun as a truly great century writer. He is the classic of classics. Has the era of "Ah Q" passed, and does the famous "spirit of victory" () still hold meaning today? Can the character of "Ah Q" fully capture the essence? Such questions have never ceased since Lu Xun, as a youthful, avant-garde radical, faced criticism or covert attacks from others during his lifetime. Today, some young writers and scholars, for various reasons, occasionally emerge to question Lu Xun, calling him "eager for revenge," "vicious in criticism," or "lacking great long-form works," among other things. These debates are naturally beyond the scope of this preface. Moreover, I believe that such doubts can only be resolved by young readers themselves reading Lu Xun and thinking critically for themselves, without anyone stepping in to meddle. With Lu Xun's works existing, they have endured through the ages—doesn't this alone speak volumes?