A Madman’s Diary, The True Story of Ah Q and The New Years Sacrifice Essay

I. IntroductionMuch of Lu Hsuns stories be recollections of his past struggles. He admits this in the preface of his collection of works entitled, Call to Arms. But as this collection was viewed by Lu Hsun himself as a way to encourage juvenility dreamers to pursue their aspirations and spare themselves of the agony of his youth, oft of it becomes a mirror as well of the Chinese culture and muniment. Hence, Lu Hsun is non only a school principal commander of mainland Chinas modern Cultural Revolution he is also the founder of modern Chinese literature.This root aims to make a meek critical analysis of Lu Hsuns work employ his send-off three short stories namely A Madmans Diary, The True paper of Ah Q and The New Years Sacrifice. These are chosen to identify patterns of themes, subjects and beliefs that are embodied in his writings. Also, we hope to be able to understand Chinese traditions and heritage using the same short stories. In the end we may find literature as a str ong method of making a noble portion to the world with its inherent power to opine, philosophize and influence.Let us begin with a brief telling of the stories plots and details. After which we enumerate the significance of each and at last to provide a general assessment of the storys lessons and socio-cultural and political implications. This last part of the analysis is relevant as we prolong had hints already of the intentions of the informant to provide an empowerment to the readers for the attainment of certain remnants. The paper will end in such a way that Lu Hsun is commended for his creativity in the chicanery to sop up shown harpency of his agenda as manifested in his literary machinery ergo, becomes successful and compatible endeavors of revolutionary and literary toils.II. A Madmans DiaryThe first story is a narration of Lu Hsuns reading of a diary of his old friend. The latter referred to as the harum-scarum, through his personal accounts induce expressed th e nature of his illness. He sees his own brother, relatives, neighbors and doctor as man-eaters. The content of the diary may seem weird and dreadful yet the author of the diary aerated of insanity has managed to think and speak of historical accounts to prove his case. For instance, he called a previous enemy, Ku Chiu which in translation means Ancient Times his doctor, Li Shih-chen who in history was a famous pharmacologist and authored the Materia Medica.Both usage have latent meanings and will be explained later. The madman also has cognition of several handed-down myths manage his mention of Yi Ya, who according to ancient records cooked his son as present to Duke Huan who was ruler since 685 to 643 B.C. of Chi he mentioned also Chieh and Chou who were known tyrants in history Hsu His Lin who during the end of Ching dynasty was a revolutionary executed in 1907 whose heart and liver were believed to have been eaten because of his assassination of a Ching official. Again, these historical descriptions have significance in the goal of the author of Madmans Diary.The context of the story may seem to its audience a basic case of mental illness but this is align unless proper decoding is employed. The story suggests that there is a past experience which the madman has underwent which we could think of as the cause of his psychosis. According to the author, the madman has suffered from persecution. The sentiment of the main(prenominal) char roleplayer at the time he was sick already against other people characterizes the same feelings he felt against them before this condition.Man-eating in the story symbolizes the feudal system in China. The oppression that the tenants suffer from their land lords has caused the madman to perhaps hate the former. The man-eaters in the story as observed by the madman consist of his neighbors, brother, doctor, etc. basically all those who are of the land-owning class. The conspirators making themselves man-eaters as well incl ude his own mother- this is imputable to the latters inability to reprimand his brother. To the madmans mind, those who support and those who are silenced by the oppression are a similar. This is why he refers to them as man-eaters as well they all look at him in the same way like fierce animals ready to eat him and his flesh. Everyday, the madman has to deal with the same looks and reactions.He thought he was doing a nigh job of having been able to decipher their true intentions of killing and eating him. In the end however it pained him to have known that his sister could have died in the same experience of being eaten by other people. It pained him that his own family has not done anything while his mothers weeping did not swap the fact of her daughters tragic death.The seemingly unjust treatment of the community against a madman like him is translated into the majoritys incapacity and overlook of buoyancy to uphold a revolution such as that which would overhaul feudalism and promote equality. Yet, the madman has seen that Mr Chao for instance did not look solely at him with anger but with fear as well. One is afraid to change the status quo where he/she is already benefiting. Just like Mr Ku Chiu who was displeased with his intervention on his account sheets twenty years ago. Ku Chiu meaning Ancient Times symbolizes the long history of feudal oppression in China.The madman might have do wild tilts in his diary but to a madman this signifies discontent, confusion, mixed emotions of fear and pain, none of which is equivalent to happiness and peace. He said he has not seen the moon for over thirty years. He must have been imprisoned or single out that long from the community, the people barely recognize him just like the dog which looked at him twice. In the new day or perhaps new circumstance he is into, he only remembers the feelings of annoyance against them. Yet he witnessed the children, lively as they may appear but the madman, reluctant about t heir purity thought they also had eyes that misinterpret him. When he said their parents could have told them about his story, he was referring to the possible transfer of the tradition of tyranny to the new generation and the hindrance to their quest for truth, justice and equality.The madman abhors the fact that the own victims of this scratchiness have not done anything to antagonize but why do they look at him like that? This is expressed in the part belowThose people, several(prenominal) of whom have been pilloried by the magistrate, slapped in the face by the local gentry, had their wives taken away by bailiffs, or their parents driven to suicide by creditors, never looked as frightened and as fierce then as they did yesterday (Lu Hsun, A Madmans Diary, April, 1918)He sees their laughers, discussions of him, teeth and speech as comprising their secret signs. in that location are statements in the story which the author has provided for us to understand further the nature of the norm in their history. Like when the madman remembers the time when he would be commended by his brother for his indifference vis a vis wrong doingsI remember when my elder brother taught me to write compositions, no matter how good a man was, if I produced arguments to the contrary he would mark that passage to show his approval while if I excused evil-doers, he would say Good for you, that shows originalityAt that time , it would have been better if you are blind and deaf and perhaps insane to resist the subjugation. This is also presented in the part where Mr. Ho, the doctor tells the madman preceptort let your imagination run away with you Rest quietly for a few days and you will be alright The madman sees this statement as a warning for his deed of courage and integrity. to be brave and righteous yield death of a man.Toward the end of the story, the madman asked a twenty year old lad if it was right to eat human beings and if such was an accepted act simply because it ha s always been like that. The author here is arriving at an assumption that a tradition of cruelty could have been regarded by most of them as justifiable by its permanence and embedded nature. But a argufy has been set forth in the end that is to become a real man. For the madman, real men dont eat human beings. Although as considered, native people have done so, he advised his brother that to remain like them is the same as reptiles and animals who eat flesh and must be sheepish of themselves.This is a way for the author to propose that to desist tradition (the four thousand years of eating flesh) is to put a halt to oppression this is the act of a real man. He calls on a change of spirit and ideas so he tells them in the story You should change at once, change from the stinkpot of your hearts You must know that in future there will be no place for man-eaters in the world . . . . His final words are equally challenging and meaningful. It was a call for change especially for t he youth Perhaps there are still children who have not eaten men? save the children. . .III. The True Story of Ah QThe second story is written in December, 1921. Ah Q is a worker in the Weichuang liquidation who has become a laughing stock and terminal figure of insult from amongst his fellow villagers. His death was a tragic one considering that while his origin has not been known to the author or to the village people in the story, the cause of his execution is also neither defined by him nor his fellowmen. It is in this cycle confusions and uncertainties that the story becomes a revelation of the situation of China during the early ordinal century.Lu Hsun has used characters in the story with meaningful roles in Chinas history. Mr. Chao and Mr. Chien are both influential and wealthy people in the village whose sons have given them pride by passing the examination and having been posted to high positions in the society Whiskers Wang and Young D who are servants like Ah Q had different perspectives and never united The Imitation Foreign Devil who studied in Japan and has returned to the village without any meaningful contribution the nun whom Ah Q have maltreated for his perceived false modesty of her the townspeople the military captain the successful provincial candidate the old man with a clean shaved head they all did not spare Ah Q a little.It appeared that Ah Q was fond of drinking wine, sleeping after a days job at the tutelary Gods Temple and imagining his own definition of victories. For Ah Q being beaten by a son is a victory and every time he is teased by the village folks for his scar that looked like ringworm on his head and crushed to the wall for his eccentricities, he considers them losers for they are his sons. This weird claim of Ah Q has made the people a lot more irritated of him.To him his only two defeats were namely his defeat by Whiskers Wang who he regard as his equal and by the Imitation Foreign Devil. He found dignity in hum iliating a small nun. When he lost his job due to an incident with a maidservant at the Chao family house, he headed to the other town where a stroke of luck provided him with goods enough to be sold and become a source of his new profit. Yet along with his return to the village and his renewed sense of respect for himself when the people started to talk about him and his fortune, a revolution occurred. Without much clarity, he was caught as suspect to a robbery by the revolutionaries at the Chao family.He told the captors that he might have approved of the revolution but he was not allowed to join because the Imitation Foreign Devil prohibited him. Uneducated, Ah Q was made to draw a circle as signature in a paper whose content was unknown to him and later that day, he was set as an example to the people and all other revolutionaries for death execution.One must have knowledge of Chinas history to be able to appreciate further Ah Qs story. The Qing dynasty with its long-lived rule and enormous failures has caused a deterioration of performance along traditional lines. The arrival of foreigners who were driven by the industrial revolution of the West had caused much indignation and loss of resources for the prideful denizens of China. With their superior weaponry and cultural transcendence might have brought Chinas independence they have nonetheless encountered opposition.This foreign presence has resulted to changed political demands among the revolutionaries. The Taiping Uprising for instance considered as the longest tiddler rebellion denounced Confucianism and found new aspirations in Christianity. The dynasty resorted to the Chinese provincial armies to suppress the Taipings.A lot has changed since the abolition of the civil service examination in China based on the Confucian classics. There has been a program of sending students to Japan for modern studies that brought radical ideas convinced of overthrowing the dynasty and revolutionizing China. This success of reformation however by Sun Yat Sen has not abandoned feudalism, and has worsened due to Chinas dependency in the new market economy and international trade, the condition of the peasants who were displaced and deprived. Warlordism and the insufficiency of nationalism have deepened the problem of China until the success of the CCP in the 1940s.These events took place prior and perhaps during the writing of Lu Hsuns Ah Q. Clearly, Ah Q represents the peasant revolution which has been isolated from the intellectuals endeavor. When Ah Q was denied participation by the Imitation Foreign Devil, the author has implied here that those who have attained education in Japan in the nineteenth century have not fulfilled the true essence of a revolution. They failed to establish unity among its people as superiority among the land owning class prevails. Thus, Ah Q might have precious to revolt for as he claimed in the story, revolution is good, but it was late for him to prove his str ength and capacity. He was executed in a discourtesy he has not committed. His lack of knowledge failed him to understand the situation this is more painful for him.