Lu Xun's Quartet of Chinese Practice during the Late Qing Dynasty and the Early Republican Period

Abstract

Abstract: During the late Qing dynasty and the early Republican period, Lu Xun's Chinese practice could be depicted as a quartet. Lu Xun's pro-vernacular interpretative translation of Travel on the Moon and Travel Underground not only demonstrates his ability to use vernacular (baihua) but also exposes his entanglement among vernacular, classical Chinese (wenyan) and Europeanized Chinese. Lu Xun's idea of the unreliability of language was formed after he listened to Zhang Taiyan's exegesis of Explaining and Analyzing Characters (Shuowen Jiezi) and his explanation of translating foreign fictions into classical Chinese. Lu Xun's mastery of classical Chinese can be seen in the short story "Nostalgia" and other literary works, but seeds of vernacular also can be seen. Compiling and collating Chinese classics helped to sharpen Lu Xun's keen sense of the tenacity of Chinese characters, which had influenced the structure of his later textual topography. The paper concludes that these practices with Chinese language prepared Lu Xun for his vernacular writing.

Key words: Lu Xun, Chinese practice, classical Chinese (wenyan), pro-vernacular, the unreliability of language, compilation and collation

Wen Guiliang. Lu Xun's Quartet of Chinese Practice during the Late Qing Dynasty and the Early Republican Period[J]. Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 2015, 35(1): 17-25.

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