ABSTRACT
Lu Xun (1881–1936), pen name of Zhou Shuren, is widely regarded as father of modern Chinese literature. Born in a declining scholar-official family, Lu Xun received a traditional education in his early life and laid a solid foundation of traditional Chinese scholarship. He even half-heartedly participated in the imperial examination. In his late teen years, he received a modern style education in Nanjing, where he passed a government examination for overseas studies in 1902 and won a government scholarship, which enabled him to study in Japan. Initially, he was studying medicine and planned to be a physician to save the physically sick like his father. But one incident changed his planned career. While studying in the Japanese medical school, he watched a documentary film about the Russo-Japanese War of 1905, fought in northeast China. In the film, a Chinese man alleged to be a Russian spy was captured and about to be beheaded by the Japanese military, while a large crowd of physically healthy Chinese watched the execution nonchalantly. This incident greatly shocked Lu Xun, who was compelled to reconsider his career objective: “Medicine is not that important. For, the citizens of a weak nation, even if they are strong and healthy, will only become meaningless materials for the pillory or on-lookers.” He stopped his pursuit of a medical career and became a writer, hoping to use his writings to enlighten his muddle-headed compatriots and to heal the spiritual sickness of the Chinese nation.
