The decline of Lu Xun's family

Author: Zhou Jianren, recorded by Zhou Ye
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2001-08-01
Features:
Lu Xun was born into a declining scholar-official family. His grandfather was imprisoned due to a imperial examination case, and his father fell ill for a long time. As the eldest son, Lu Xun often visited pawn shops and pharmacies to seek treatment for his father, enduring the cold stares of others. In his grandmother's rural home, he had the opportunity to interact with the rural society and closely associate with the children of farmers, from whom he experienced the hardships of farmers' lives and their hardworking and simple personalities. These experiences instilled in him a deep sympathy for the working people. This is reflected in Zhou Ye's article "My Uncle Lu Xun" through the incident of "Helping the Taxi Driver." Lu Xun passed away on October 19, 1936, in Shanghai. Upon the news, the masses, risking arrest by reactionary military and police, rushed to pay their respects to his remains, with tens of thousands of people voluntarily organizing his funeral. Zhou Ye described the scene in her article "My Uncle Lu Xun." On the 22nd, his remains were laid to rest at the International Cemetery, covered with the banner "National Soul" presented by the people of Shanghai. Throughout his life, Lu Xun wrote a vast amount of works, mercilessly exposing the crimes of the Guomindang reactionaries and the darkness of old China. The reactionaries were deeply afraid of his writings, prohibiting him from publishing and even attempting to arrest him, but he fought an unwavering struggle against the enemy. From the article "Talking About Bumping into Walls" in "My Uncle Lu Xun," we feel his tenacious spirit in saving the nation and its people, fearless of personal danger and the obstacles he faced. We also seem to see his heroic image of "facing thousands of critics with a cold glare." Lu Xun had three brothers: his second brother Zhou Zuoren and his third brother Zhou Jianren. Zhou Ye is the daughter of Zhou Jianren, which is why she referred to Lu Xun as her uncle. In his later years, Zhou Jianren published this book, "The Decline of Lu Xun's Family," with his daughter Zhou Ye writing down his spoken words. It should be said that this is a highly authoritative book on researching Lu Xun's family and the characters, backgrounds, and thoughts in his works.