Chapter 10 Miracle and Tragedy in Modern Chinese Literature
In Honor of Lu Xun’s 120th Birthday
于Liu Zaifu: Selected Critical EssaysPurchase instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Abstract
Written in the 1980s, this chapter describes antinomies of Lu Xun: his iconoclastic aspiration and the intense pain and despair underlying his thought, his independent intellectual stance, and his being remolded and altered as a political icon. Liu emphasizes that we should put Lu Xun’s thought into historical context in order to understand his internal conflicts, self-inflicted pain, and unsettled paranoia. More importantly, he points out the spiritual characteristics of Lu Xun’s “transcending enlightenment,” which are not necessarily subject to cultural reform, but delve into existential thinking instead.