"Back to the Past: Recommended Extracurricular Reading List for Junior High School Chinese Language Curriculum by the Ministry of Education. Junior High School Section."

Author: Lu Xun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2000-07-01
Features: Selected Prose from My Youth collects 10 pieces of Lu Xun's recollections of his past, originally published in Myriad Origins (later changed to a bi-monthly), a journal Lu Xun himself edited. These writings were composed between 1926, when Lu Xun was 45 years old. Although this is not an age particularly prone to indulging in nostalgia or getting lost in memories, for Lu Xun, who was then struggling with adversity and displacement, recollections of his family, old neighbors, and friends were undoubtedly a source of comfort, a profound yet distant solace, or even a refreshing new way to express himself. In the Preface, Lu Xun acknowledges that the significance and function of his memories align with these qualities: "Recollection, though it may bring joy, often also brings loneliness, as the threads of the spirit remain tied to the lonely past. The joy stems from the comfort felt, while the loneliness is sought in the solace it provides. The past touches upon present emotions, and the spirit finds a new path of extension. Perhaps when Lu Xun wrote these recollections, the sense of comfort was not yet so profound, but when compiling them, his heart was clearly filled with solace. He changed the plain title 'Old Stories Revisited' to the poetic 'Evening Blossoms Plucked at Dawn,' and in his Brief Introduction, he wrote a series of images related to spiritual comfort, which serves as clear evidence. Lu Xun compiled this prose collection with the hope of finding 'a touch of tranquility amidst the chaos.' Although he sorrowfully felt that 'when one is left with only memories, life must be rather dull,' he also found peace and emotional comfort in these recollections. Just as 'a tree immersed in water becomes lush and lovely,' a life filled with chaos and dryness can also bloom with tranquility when immersed in the waters of memory. And what kind of waters of memory are these? Like the water chestnuts, loquats, water bamboo, and fragrant melons he ate in his childhood, they were 'extremely delicious and refreshing,' along with the 'endless interest' of the Baicao Garden, and the 'faint glow of the rapeseed oil lamps' in the old house. Whenever he wrote about these, Lu Xun's straightforward and vivid prose often turned into rich and colorful descriptions, as if the warm and tranquil waters of memory truly nourished his dry brush. In From Baicao Garden to Sanwei Study, Lu Xun allows us to witness a Baicao Garden that, though dilapidated and desolate, was also exquisitely rich. There were emerald vegetable beds, smooth stone railings, tall soap trees, and creatures like cicadas and wasps, with grasshoppers darting into the sky from the grass. At the base of the mud walls, the chirping of oil crickets and the strumming of crickets could be heard, along with the intertwined roots of Polygonum multiflorum and the woodbine vine. The tangy and sweet mulberries and mulberries were described in such detail and vividness, painted so brightly and richly, that they seemed to reveal Lu Xun's infinite joy and even the nourishment of life in his nostalgic recollections. For many adults, the past is not only a time that can never return but also a story that can never be repeated, often densely wrapped in emotions unique to one person. Those who enjoy reminiscing, especially those who write about such memories, often experience these emotions even more intensely. Recalling and writing about memories becomes a deep need to this emotion. Selected Prose from My Youth vividly reflects Lu Xun's such need. Lu Xun's childhood clearly experienced much love, from his kind nurse, Grandma Long, and his stern yet scholarly father. However, as is often the case, the feelings of love at the time may not have been particularly strong or even entirely clear, only becoming vivid and intense once they became permanent memories. The faint and hazy experience of love in the past, contrasted with the vivid and intense memories later, creates an emotional gap. Recollection then serves as a means to compensate for this emotional disparity. The recollections in Selected Prose from My Youth, especially in pieces like Grandma Long and the Myriad Mountains and Seas, The Five Fierce Festivals, and Father's Illness, can be understood as such emotional compensation. In these essays, Lu Xun genuinely reflects on his childhood experiences of love, but they are merely faint traces in his heart, with lingering shadows of dissatisfaction at the edges. For example, the young Lu Xun was often dissatisfied with Grandma Long, even changing her name from "Mom" to "Grandma Long," and harbored many grievances against his stern father. Yet when he revisited these experiences in memory, they evolved into a deep psychological attachment, even becoming a bright landscape in his heart. From Father's Illness, we can see Lu Xun's profound sense of repentance toward his father, including his in traditional Chinese medicine that worsened his condition and his belief in rumors that disturbed his father's peace during his final moments. Such sentiments also in his Preface to A Call to Arms. Grandma Long indeed formed an indelible image in Lu Xun's memory. Many pieces in Selected Prose from My Youth reveal her "fat and short" figure, and among the many characters in Lu Xun's family, this kind and gentle nurse stands out as particularly clear and familiar. Lu Xun rarely used overly sentimental phrasing to express his emotions, yet in the conclusion of his essay on Grandma Long, he wrote with deep affection: "Oh, dark and benevolent Mother Earth, may her soul find eternal peace in your embrace!"