Introduction to Lu Xun

Lu Xun’s original name was Zhou Zhangshou, with the courtesy name Yushan. Later, he changed his name to Zhou Shuren, with the courtesy name Henecai. He was a native of Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province. When he was a boy, he studied poetry, calligraphy, classics and biographies at home, and loved unofficial histories and folk paintings. In 1898, he studied at the Jiangnan Naval Academy in Nanjing founded by the Westernization School. A few months later, he re-entered the Road and Mining School attached to the Jiangnan Continental Academy and began to be exposed to new learning. Went to Japan to study in 1902. He entered Hongbun College in April, graduated in April 1904, and entered Sendai Medical College in June. During this period, he began to participate in various national democratic revolutionary activities and extensively read Western modern science, literature and art books and periodicals. The first half of the earliest translation article "The Soul of Sparta" was published in the 5th issue of "Zhejiang Tide" published in Japan in June 1903 (the second half was published in the 9th issue); in the same year, the "Zhejiang Tide" was published in Tokyo. A translated science fiction novel "Journey to the Moon". In 1906, he abandoned medical literature and hoped to transform the national spirit with literature and art. He planned to launch the literary magazine "New Life" but failed. Instead, he published important papers such as "History of Man", "On the Power of Moro Poetry" and "On Cultural Emphasis" in "Henan" magazine. Co-translated the first volume of "Collection of Foreign Novels" with Zhou Zuoren, published in 1909. He returned to China in the summer of 1909 and taught successively at the Hangzhou-Zhejiang Normal School and Shaoxing Prefecture Middle School. After the Revolution of 1911, he served as the principal of Shaoxing Normal School. In 1911, he wrote his first novel "Nostalgia" in classical Chinese. Its ideological features and artistic style are the same as those of later novels. Czech scholar Pushik believes that it is "the forerunner of modern Chinese literature." In February 1912, at the invitation of Cai Yuanpei, he went to work in the Ministry of Education in Nanjing, and later moved to Beijing with the Ministry of Education. In May 1918, he began to publish the first modern vernacular novel "Diary of a Madman" in "New Youth" under the pen name "Lu Xun". In the next three years, he successively published more than 50 novels, new poems, essays, and translations in "New Youth" and participated in the editorial staff of "New Youth". In August 1920, he was hired as a lecturer in liberal arts at Peking University and Beijing Higher Normal School. From December 1921 to the beginning of the next year, the most important masterpiece "The True Story of Ah Q" was serialized in the "Morning Post Supplement". In 1923, the first short story collection "The Scream" was published. In 1926, "Fake Panic" was published. In addition to novels, Lu Xun also wrote many essays with a unique style, represented by "Reflections", which was published in "New Youth" starting in 1918. In 1925, he published the collection of essays "Hot Wind". Since then, a collection of miscellaneous feelings has been released almost every year.

In the mid-1920s, he participated in the founding of "Mang Yuan" weekly, "Yu Si" weekly and the literary society Suomingsha. In early 1927, he went to Guangzhou Sun Yat-sen University as the director of the Literature Department and the dean of academic affairs. In August 1927, he went to Xiamen University as a professor. He arrived in Shanghai in October of the same year and settled in Shanghai since then, specializing in writing. In 1928, he and Yu Dafu founded the magazine "Benliu". In 1930, the Chinese Left-wing Writers Alliance was established. He was one of the founders and the main leader. He was the editor-in-chief of important literary journals such as "Grudge", "Qinshao", "Shiyu Street", and "Translation".

He died in Shanghai in 1936 due to overwork and lung disease at the age of 55.