Lu Xun

Lu Xun’s short story “Diary of a Madman” marks the birth of modernism in Chinese literature and is the earliest literature works written in modern vernacular Chinese during the May Fourth period. Modeled after Nikolay Gogol’s story with similar title, the story condemns the old traditional Confucian values that have long persisted in the Chinese society; portrayed by the madman in the story that sees it as a ‘man-eating’ society. Lu Xun despises the idea of a society who adheres to the tradition blindly and calls for a change of strengthening. Lu Xun is considered as China’s greatest modern writer and many of his works spurred his fellow intellectuals into shaping China during the revolutionary period. As such, Mao Zedong is a lifelong admirer of his works and called him ‘commander of China’s cultural revolution’. In his piece of work “Diary of a Madman”, it was a tour de force in the New Culture Movement in which its appeal has lasted till today. The story begins with a preface in classical Chinese by a narrator telling the discovery of the diary with explanatory remarks about the Madman’s illness and his eventual recovery. The use of classical Chinese here suggests a false, polite world in which ethics is no more than a façade maintained for social appearance. The story then proceeds to the content of the diary, which begins with ‘Tonight the moon is very bright. … I begin to realize that during the past thirty-odd years I have been in the dark.’ The moon represents his madness and is always present during his most paranoid thoughts. In another entry, which reads, ‘No moon at all tonight-something’s not quite right.’ Under the moonlight, he is able to see the ‘dirty looks’ that have been given by the people and even animals. The moon here intensifies his thoughts on cannibalism. The bright moon here represents Lu Xun’s frantic call for revolution in the society that

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conformed to cultures of thousands of years and in this period, realization kicks

Bibliography: Chinnery, John, ‘Lu Xun and Contemperory Chinese Literature’, The China Quarterly, No. 91 (September 1982), pp. 411-423 Chou, Ying-hsiung, ‘Identity, Gaze, and Homecoming’, The Humanities Bulletin 4 (1995): pp. 65-76. Fidel Fajardo-Acosta, ‘Diary of a Madman’, World Literature Website (2001, 2002), http://fajardo-acosta.com/worldlit/luxun/diary.htm (21st January 2011) Hanan, Patrick. “The Technique of Lu Hsun’s Fiction,” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 34 (1974): pp. 53-96. Lu Xun, The True Story of Ah Q, and Other Stories translated by Yang Hsien-yi and Gladys Yang, (Foreign Languages Press, Peking, 1960, 1972), http://www.coldbacon.com/writing/luxun-calltoarms.html#Madman (21st January 2011) Mei Sharon, ‘“A Madman” on Literature’, Duke East Asia Nexus, 18th September 2010, http://www.dukenexus.org/?p=395 (21ST January 2011) Xiaobing Tang, ‘Lu Xun 's "Diary of a Madman" and a Chinese Modernism’, PMLA, Vol. 107, No. 5 (Oct., 1992), pp. 1222-1232. Uberoi Patricia, ‘Dog, Wolf and Hyena: Reflections on ‘A Madman’s Diary’, China Report Vol. 18, no. 87 (1982), pp. 87-101.   8