Lu Xun
Lu Xun (1881-1936) was born Zhou Shuren. Lu Xun was one of his pen names, the best known, that is. His family lived in a residence in Duchangfang in the city proper of Shaoxing. His grandfather was a scholar of the Qing imperial academy. His father was a scholar who passed the imperial examination at the county level and failed several times in higher-level examinations. His mother was Lu Rui, from Anqiaotou village, Sunduan Town, Shaoxing County. Lu Xun had two younger brothers, Zhou Zuoren being his first younger brother and the other being Zhou Jianren.
In May of the 24th year (1897AD) of the Guangxu Period of the Qing Dynasty, Lu Xun went to study at Jiangnan Naval Academy in Nanjing. The next year saw him enter Railroad and Mines school affiliated to Jiangnan Land Academy. He graduated in 1901. In February 1902, he went to study in Japan at public expenses. In Japan, Lu Xun took active part in revolutionary activities organized by Doctor Sun Yat-sen after class.
In September 1904, Lu Xun went to study in Sendai Provincial Medical School. Tortured by the thought that medicine was not enough to change the national spirit, Lu Xun gave up his medical pursuit and turned his attention to literature. He returned to China in the summer of 1909 and taught at Zhejiang Teachers’ College in Hangzhou. In July 1910 he went back to Shaoxing, his hometown, and taught at Shaoxing Prefecture Middle School as a teacher of natural sciences. After the success of the Revolution 1911, he took the post of president of Shanhui Junior Middle School. In May of 1912, he moved to Beijing together as a clerk at the Ministry of Education and served as director of the first section in Social Education Department of the Education Ministry. In august he was appointed as a supervisor at the Ministry of Education. In January 1918, he joined the New Youth as an editor. In April 1918, he published his first short story written in vernacular Chinese named A Mad Man’s Diary. He used Lu Xun as the name of the writer, the first use of the pseudonym well known in later days. Lu taught respectively in Beijing University, Beijing Teachers’ University and Beijing Women Teachers’ University. By playing an active part in organizing progressive literary groups such as Yusi Association and Moming Association, Lu Xun helped young writers grow and promoted the new culture.
Source: travelchinaguide.com
Editor: Wang Moyan
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