Lu Xun

Modern Chinese writer used by Yu Hua in China in Ten Words as a lens on China’s political and cultural zigzags. The book traces “the fate of Lu Xun in China — going from being an author to being a catchphrase and then back again,” arguing that this arc “reflects the fate of China itself,” letting one detect “the imprints of our social upheavals.” Yu Hua recounts how, during the Cultural Revolution, “Mr. Lu Xun says” became a rhetorical bludgeon — “really just a way of jumping on the bandwagon” — and tells of invoking a “fictitious Lu Xun” to demolish an opponent’s year-long argument about the distance between the sun and the earth. He also quotes Lu Xun’s acerbic line on money: that those who admit money is necessary yet still call it vulgar “still have some undigested fish or meat in their systems,” and would “sing a different tune” after a day’s hunger.

Context: Lu Xun (1881–1936) is widely regarded as the founder of modern Chinese literature, author of A Madman’s Diary and The True Story of Ah Q, and was posthumously elevated as a near-sacred cultural authority under Mao.

Where this appears

• China in Ten Words — Yu Hua makes Lu Xun’s journey “from author to catchphrase and back” a central motif for reading China’s social upheavals; quoted on money and weaponized as a Cultural Revolution slogan.