Judging from Lu Xun’s diary, the relationship between Lu Xun and Hu Shi began in 1918, and the most frequent contacts were in 1923 and 1924. Before 1924, they became friends from acquaintance to friendship; after 1924, their political views were different, and because of Hu Shi's "high promotion", they became increasingly estranged and their relationship deteriorated day by day. Since then, Lu Xun criticized Hu Shi directly or indirectly from time to time. During Lu Xun's lifetime, Hu Shi always adopted the attitude of "the old monk turns a blind eye" and never openly challenged him.
Before the rise of the May 4th Movement, and after Hu Shi published "A Preliminary Discussion on Literary Reform" in the fifth issue of Volume 2 of "New Youth", Lu Xun and Hu Shi had relatively consistent ideological views and the same propositions, namely : Oppose classical Chinese and advocate vernacular; oppose old morality and ethics and advocate science and democracy. In addition, they also have many similarities and complementarities in literature and academic practice, and they are on the same page. In the process of opposing the old culture and advocating the new culture, they cooperated closely and echoed each other: either Hu Shi was the first to attack, and Lu Xun followed closely and elaborated further; provide an in-depth discussion of a certain issue.
The first concrete manifestation of the differences between Lu Xun and Hu Shi was their different views on the "Double Letter" in "New Youth". At that time, the "New Youth" colleagues "regret that they could not hear the rebellious remarks" (Liu Bannong said). Focusing on the struggle strategy, they directed a "double act", which angered the feudal apologists and advocates of the New Culture Movement. A close-to-hand struggle with the feudal conservative faction began. As one of the editors of "New Youth", Hu Shi was naturally aware of the inside story of the "Double Letter", but he did not take it seriously. He regarded it as a "frivolous" move and believed that "creating a Wang Jingxuan out of thin air" was not worth it. debate. But Lu Xun's attitude was the opposite. Lu Xun believed that this move was beyond reproach, because "it is not necessary to avoid overcorrection; as long as it can defeat the enemy, it can be laughed at and cursed." However, their differences were not made public, and there was no conflict. Each of them had his own opinion.
There is also a different view between Lu Xun and Hu Shi on "organizing the national heritage." In the "Publication Declaration" of Peking University's "Chinese Studies Quarterly" in 1923, Hu Shi more systematically promoted his idea of ??"organizing the national heritage." Hu Shi advised young people to "walk into the research room" and "organize the national heritage." By 1925, Hu Shi was on the opposite side of the patriotic students, using the excuse of "study" in the laboratory to oppose the student movement.
In May 1922, Puyi, the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty, summoned Hu Shi. When Puyi summoned Hu Shi, Lu Xun made no comment. By the end of 1931, when Chiang Kai-shek's summons to Hu Shi and others was reported in the press, Lu Xun brought up the old story again and ridiculed him.
An important part of Lu Xun's "scolding" Hu Shi was about his attitude towards the Japanese invasion. The so-called "conquering the heart of the Chinese nation" has always been a charge of Hu Shi's "selling himself out".
After that, Lu Xun used this as a basis to curse Hu Shi in many articles, saying that he provided advice to the Japanese invaders. For example, "The Secret of Selling Your Soul" was published in "Shenbao·Free Talk" on March 26, 1933 under the pseudonym "He Jiaqian" (this article was written by Qu Qiubai and published under the pseudonym of Lu Xun. Later Lu Xun included it in "Pseudo Freedom" "Book") said: "Dr. Hu Shi deserves to be the military advisor of Japanese imperialism. However, from the perspective of ordinary Chinese people, this is the only secret to selling their souls." In addition, in "Settlement of Accounts" in "Lace Literature" One article, "Two or Three Things About China" in "Qiejieting's Essays", and "Tian Jun's "Preface to "The Countryside in August"" in "Qiejieting's Essays Volume Two" all mentioned "the conquest of the Chinese nation". On the issue of "heart", Lu Xun gave merciless criticism.
On March 15, 1933, Lu Xun wrote the article "Where the Light Comes..." which was later included in the "Pseudo Freedom Book", criticizing Hu Shi's behavior of embellishing the Kuomintang prisons.
After Lu Xun’s death, Hu Shi talked about Lu Xun many times. These comments inevitably carry some kind of political bias, but even so, there is still some objective content.