ABSTRACT

When recounting Lu Hsun’s childhood experiences, critics usually stress the youth’s alienation from the social and cultural life of China at that time. But this alienation was only relative. The folklore of late nineteenth-century China, and particularly folk drama, which contributed to the spiritual moulding of other modern Chinese writers as well, left clear impressions on the young boy’s memory. The main significance of Lu Hsün’s first impressions and experiences lies in the fact that they encouraged him to become involved in the actual work of enlightenment. Almost ignorant of the language, Lu Hsün came to study in Japan in April 1902, and in July of the following year he had already published in the journal Che-kiang Tide works that were based on Japanese books and the press. After returning to Tokyo from Sendai Medical Institute Lu Hsün established closer ties with the revolutionaries.