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This week we’re discussing one of my favourite topics: Lu Xun 鲁迅.
Lu Xun is China’s most influential writer of the 20th century. His short stories are a critique on the corruption, waste, and excess in the dying days of the Qing empire.
His writing is relatively accessible for the language learner. So through his short essays you can get a glimpse into what was life was like in China at the turn of last century.
The sound on the page of a Lu Xun essay is unique.
It doesn't sing. It yells.
The language and imagery in his stories, like Diary of a Madman (狂人日记), Medicine (药), and Kong Yiji (孔乙己) is raw, dark, disgusting, elegant, beautiful, humorous and entertaining all at once.
Although more than a century old, Lu Xun’s words still resonate in China today.
Long-time readers of RealTime Mandarin have met him several times over the last few years:
When protesters in Beijing criticised the government's zero covid policies for "eating people" (吃人).
Or when graduates unable to find work are unwilling to "take off the long gown of Kong Yiji" (脱下孔乙己的长衫).
And how young people in Shanghai's Halloween gathering in 2023 held banners saying: "Medicine will not save the Chinese people" (学医救不了中国人).
Lu Xun occupies a unique place in modern China.
Because his criticisms of the corrupt Qing empire are aligned with the narrative of the Communist Party as the liberator of China from feudalism and imperialism. Even today, school kids in China are still required to memorise his works.
And yet the same words from the same stories are also used to criticise the government and the problems in modern Chinese society.
Many of the issues Lu Xun condemned in imperial China still persist today. Such as corruption, abuse of power, and social inequality.
This means people’s lived experiences of what Lu Xun means to them as they progress through school and enter society, changes over time:
Students all know he's important, but none of them like him.
Only after entering society and experiencing life do people begin to resonate with Mr. Lu Xun.
When they are unable to swallow their pride during job hunting, they think of "Kong Yiji". When former friends drift apart, they think of "My Old Home".
学生们都知道他很重要，但是都不喜欢他。直到进入社会，经历了人生，才开始对鲁迅先生产生了共鸣。找工作抹不开面子时，想起了《孔乙己》；曾经的朋友渐行渐远，想到了《故乡》。
Related
Lu Xun was a trending topic on social media in the last week.
This unlikely social media storm started with a mural at the Lu Xun Memorial Museum in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, where he was born.
A huge wall painting of Lu Xun smoking, the mural is a must-go photo spot (打卡点) for tourists visiting the museum. Every day hundreds of people pose in front of his iconic image lighting cigarettes, or taking perspective shots that look like they're "lighting a cigarette for the master" (为鲁迅先生点烟).
On August 22, a tourist named Sun (孙) complained about the smoking imagery.
The self-described "anti-smoking volunteer" (控烟志愿者) posted her complaint on social media and filed it with the local government. She argued the mural encouraged children to smoke. While tourists taking smoking selfies at the site exposed others to second-hand smoke.
She suggested the hand holding the cigarette should be replaced with a clenched fist.
By the following Monday, after that post gained significant traction online and been reported in the media, hundreds of people had contacted the museum to urge officials to preserve the artwork.
Online, the discussion intensified when internet users discovered Ms Sun may have had other motives with her high-profile complaint. Some reports alleged she promoted nicotine pouches through her social media account, which was filled with images of the products. Nicotine pouches (尼古丁袋) are smokeless tobacco alternatives which look a bit like chewing gum. They are legal in places like the U.S. and the UK, but are banned in China.
The irony was not lost on people following the story.
Here was someone claiming to protect children from smoking imagery while allegedly promoting illegal tobacco products. She was attacking Lu Xun, a writer whose entire body of work was dedicated to saving the younger generation, and exposing exactly this kind of performative hypocrisy.
One popular article captured the absurdity, suggesting Lu Xun himself would be shocked at his newfound influence over youngsters:
Lu Xun could never have imagined that his writings dissecting the Chinese national psyche… and his calls to "save the children"…
…Which failed to correctly guide young people.
And yet, his smoking might actually mislead them. [2]
鲁迅应该万万没有想到，他的无数解剖国人心态、呼吁“救救孩子”的文字没有“正导”青少年，而他的抽烟倒可能“误导”青少年。[2]
Eventually the Lu Xun museum weighed in to the conversation with a statement published on their social media account.
They said the 22-year-old mural was integral to the site, it would stay, and…
"The fact that Mr. Lu Xun smoked is real and was part of his life.
Why should we change it?" [4]
“鲁迅先生抽烟是事实存在的，也是他生活中的一部分，为什么要去改变它呢？” [4]
So, that’s what we’re discussing this week!
Favourite Five
1. 荒诞 huāng dàn
absurd, ridiculous
这个荒诞的闹剧里，终于看到一点常识了 - In this absurd farce, I finally saw a bit of common sense. [1]
Related:
荒谬 huāng miù – absurd
荒唐 huāng táng – ridiculous
2. 难绷 nán bēng
hard to hold back, can't take it, ridiculous
禁烟禁到了鲁迅先生头上，确实让人难绷 - Lu Xun has become the target of the anti-smoking campaign - how ridiculous is that! [5]
3. 脑回路 nǎo huí lù
train of thought, way of thinking
有时候你真的很难理解有些人的脑回路 - Sometimes it’s really hard to understand what some people are thinking. [1]
Note: internet slang, negative.
4. 别有用心 bié yǒu yòng xīn
with ulterior motives, having an agenda
这还可能被别有用心的人利用起来，达到其不可告人的目的 - This might be exploited by those with ulterior motives to serve their hidden agendas. [5]
More: We explain the origins of this phrase more in the Sinica Phrase of the Week.
5. 欲盖弥彰 yù gài mí zhāng
the more one tries to hide, the more it is exposed
任何刻意的掩盖都显得欲盖弥彰 - Any deliberate cover-up only makes it more obvious. [5]
🎧RTM Podcast Preview
This week on the RTM Advanced podcast, we refresh you on some of Lu Xun’s best known phrases, and how they are used in the modern context:
“Eating people” (吃人)
“ Defy with hostility” (横眉冷对)
“Eating human blood soaked buns” (吃人血馒头)
“Take off the long gown of Kong Yiji" (脱下孔乙己的长衫),
We also explain the meaning of three common idioms which all include the character “fire” (火) — which has a different meaning in each.
Tune in at 7 minutes where we break down what they mean, how native speakers use them, and how you can use them in real conversations.
Consuming the Conversation
💡 Ready to get inspired to bridge the gap to real-world fluency? 💡
In every RTM Advanced post you unlock content and tools to inspire you, and help you get fluent.
This week we teach you essential phrases to say “anger”, “nitpicking”, and “nonsense” — including word list integrations with your favourite language learning apps.
So, ready to finally get started and wave good bye to that nagging rusty feeling?
Let’s jump in👇
Useful words
6. 预言 yù yán
prophecy, prediction
鲁迅的那些闪闪发光的论述，穿越时光，依然精准预言了我们的现在 - Lu Xun’s brilliant remarks in the past are still an accurate prophecy for the present. [1]
7. 暧昧 ài mèi
ambiguous, vague
有关方面的暧昧态度和消极行动，也让控烟群体和吸烟人士间的矛盾愈演愈烈 - The ambiguous attitude and inaction of the authorities only intensified the conflict between anti-smokers and smokers. [3]
Related:
彷徨 páng huáng - hesitant, uncertain
8. 倒错 dǎo cuò
inversion, reversal
这是两种价值观的分歧，这是两种不同身份的倒错 - This is a clash of two value systems, a reversal of two different roles. [1]
9. 欠妥 qiàn tuǒ
inappropriate, improper
墙绘中鲁迅抽烟的形象欠妥 - The image of Lu Xun smoking in the wall mural is inappropriate. [3]
Three-character phrases
10. 打卡墙 dǎ kǎ qiáng
photo spot wall, instagrammable wall
