Insanity: A Diagnosis of China

Starting with the Opium Wars (1839-1860) and continuing through the Boxer Rebellion (1891-1901) and the aftermath of World War I (1918-1919), China's Qing rulers and numerous warlords were made again and again to suffer the injustices of foreign incursions and reperations. As an ancient civilization firmly rooted in its traditional forms of science and government, China was unfit and unable to match the diplomatic, militaristic and economical forces of the West and the nearby, modern upstart Japan. As a result, under this cloud of foreign repression a fleet of leaders and intellectuals rushed to modernize China materially and culturally in the opening decades of the twentieth century.

Lu Xun, a leader in this cultural force to modernize, led a life that would serve as a template for a generation of young authors seeking to make their mark on a new Chinese literature. Lu Xun was born in 1881 at the end of the decaying Qing dynasty (1644-1912) into an important family, the Zhous. As a young man, he, along with his siblings, aspired to positions of high repute in government and society. Because conditions in China did not offer good prospects for education, Lu Xun studied abroad. In 1904, Lu Xun enrolled in Japan's Sendai Medical Academy where he hoped to learn the science of medicine and bring much needed reform to the backwards practice of traditional Chinese medicine. While in Japan, though, he became disillusioned with the power of the sciences to heal his peoples' ills. He tells the story of how he converted to pursuing the arts as a young man witnessing the humiliation of his people:

"I do not know what advanced methods are now used to reach microbiology, but at that time lantern slides were used to show the microbes; and if the lecture ended early, the instructor might show slides of natural scenery or news to fill up the time. This was during the Russo-Japanese War, so there were many war films, and I had to join in the clapping and cheering in the lecture hall along with the other students. It was a long time since I had seen any compatriots, but one day I saw a film showing some Chinese, one of whom was bound, while many others stood around him. They were all strong fellows but appeared completely apathetic. According to the commentary, the one with his hands bound was a spy working for the Russians, who was to have his head cut off by the Japanese military as a warning to others, while the Chinese beside him had come to enjoy the spectacle. Before the term was over I had left for Tokyo, because after this film I felt that medical science was not so important after all. The people of a weak and backward country, however strong and healthy they may be, can only serve to be made examples of, or to witness such futile spectacles; and it doesn't really matter how many of them die of illness. The most important thing, therefore, was to change their spirit, and since at that time I felt that literature was the best means to this end, I determined to promote a literary movement" ("Preface," Call to Arms)

Because all matter of cures and technologies could not reform the spirit of the Chinese, Lu Xun decided to effect change via the arts. The rest of his life would be spent teaching at a number of universities, heading up and editing fledgling literary journals and institutions and writing a mass of influential short stories and essays. Two of his most famous short stories appearing in the collection a Call to Arms (1922) exaggerate and satirize the plight of a modern China in tension with its traditional past.

Readings:
Diary of a Madman
The True Story of Ah Q

Questions:

(1) In what ways is the figure of Ah Q a pun on the unreformed, pre-modern Chinese spirit?
(2) How are the men who escape their cultural pasts depicted in both stories?
(3) What effect do frames/introductions by secondary narrators add to the tales?

Links:
* Ah Q
* 阿Q 外传
* Insanity and Criminality in Contemporary China

Secondary references:
* Michel Foucault. Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason. New York: Vintage Press, 1988.
*Zhang Jingyuan. Psychoanalysis in China: Literary Transformations, 1919-1949. Ithaca: Cornel UP, 1992.