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Lu Xun

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Author

The Resume

    (September 25, 1881-October 19, 1936)
    Born in Shaoxing, Zhejiang, China
    Birth name was Zhou Zhangshou
    Courtesy name was Yushan, then later changed to Yucai
    Renamed himself Zhou Shuren
    One of the main figures of the New Culture Movement, a literary movement that opposed Confucianism in favor of western values
    Taught at Beijing University, Beijing Gurls' Normal College, Xiamen University, and Sun Yat Sen University
    Wrote the novella 'The True Story of Ah-Q' (1921)
    Wrote the short story collections 'Call to Arms' (1922), 'Wandering' (1924), and 'Old Tales Retold' (1935)
    Wrote the poetry collection 'Wild Grass' (1927)
    Died in Shanghai

Why he might be annoying:

    He was a heavy drinker.
    He was a heavy smoker, which contributed to lung diseases like tuberculosis and bronchitic asthma.
    His decision to study in a military school specializing in Western education caused his family to look down on him, and he was forced to change his name to avoid disgrace.
    He left his first wife and went to Japan with his brother several days after marrying her. (1906)
    His second wife was a student of his at the Beijing Women's College.
    He often ridiculed Confucius in his diaries.
    He had a falling out with his brother Zuoren, whose wife accused him of making sexual advances towards her. (1923)
    He once condemned nearly all modern Chinese literature in a lecture at Yanjing University.
    His legacy was misused by Mao Zedong, an avid fan of his works, to further his own agendas.
    His works were banned in Taiwan until the late 1980s because of his leftist leanings and contributions to the People's Republic of China's rise.

Why he might not be annoying:

    During his childhood, his family's financial situation and social standing deteriorated when his father was discovered attempting to bribe an examination official and his grandfather was implicated in the scandal.
    He made good use of irony and satire in his writings.
    His works quickly gained popularity because he wrote in vernacular Chinese, which was easier for the masses to understand, rather than Classical Chinese, which Chinese authors were hitherto expected to write in.
    Despite his leftist leanings, he never joined the Communist Party.
    He lost his front teeth in a rickshaw accident. (1923)
    Two of his students at the Beijing Women's College were killed in the March 8 Massacre, and he fled from the authorities for supporting the protesters. (1926)
    Mao Zedong admitted that he wouldn't fare better under the communists than the Kuomintang had he survived to the 1950s because his own writing style was suppressed.
    Kenzaburō Ōe called him the 'greatest writer Asia produced in the 20th Century'.
    Frederic Jameson called one of his most famous short stories, 'Diary of a Madman', the 'best example of national allegory that influences Third World literature'. (1986)
    A crater on Mercury is named after him.

Credit: Big Lenny


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 10 Votes: 70.0% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 12 Votes: 50.0% Annoying