A memory copied from the past
Overview
Chinese Name: 朝花夕拾
English Name: Dawn Blossoms Plucked at Dusk
Other Name: Bring Up the Past
Author: Lu Xun 鲁迅
Originally Published: In 1928
Genre: Literature, Essay, Prose
Brief Introduction of Dawn Blossoms Plucked at Dusk
Dawn Blossoms Plucked at Dusk 朝花夕拾 is a collection of essays by Lu Xun 鲁迅, a modern Chinese writer. It includes 10 reminiscence essays written by Lu Xun in 1926. These essays were originally published in “Mang Yuan” 莽原 magazine, with the total title of “Bring Up the Past”, and were changed to “Dawn Blossoms Plucked at Dusk” when assembled into a book in 1927.
“Dawn Blossoms Plucked at Dusk” this collection of essays reflects the life of the author Lu Xun when he was young in many aspects, and also shows the formation of his personality and interests.
The first seven stories reflect his childhood and teenage life in the family and private school in Shao Xing 绍兴. Most of them satirize and attack the old forces and culture, but there are also innocent children’s fun.
The last three chapters respectively describe his experience of going from his hometown to Nan Jing 南京, studying in Japan and then returning to China to teach. It reveals all kinds of ugly and unreasonable phenomena in semi-feudal and semi-colonial society, and reflects the difficult course of aspiring young intellectuals in the vast dark night of old China in the face of hardships and dangers in search of light, and expresses the author’s yearning for his relatives and teachers in the past, with a strong lyric color.
At the same time, Dawn Blossoms Plucked at Dusk also shows the silhouette of the late Qing Dynasty 清朝 and the early Republic of China, such as the rise of new schools, the increasing influence of modern western scientific knowledge and ideas in the intellectual circle, the situation of students studying in Japan, the situation of local society after the Revolution 1911,辛亥革命 and the interesting narration of Shaoxing’s folk customs and culture.
Therefore, although ” Dawn Blossoms Plucked at Dusk” is only a thin volume, but it contains extremely rich content.It has a high value of artistic appreciation. It is also a classic of Chinese modern reminiscence prose, until today still exudes charm.
Author of Dawn Blossoms Plucked at Dusk
Lu Xun (1881-1936), Shaoxing , Zhejiang province 浙江省, formerly known as Zhou Zhangshou 周樟寿, later renamed Zhou Shuren 周树人, a famous writer, thinker, democracy fighters, important player in the May 4th New Culture Movement 五四新文化运动, the founder of Chinese modern literature, was famous for pen name “Lu Xun”. He was one of the worldwide influential cultural giant of the 20th century.
When Lu Xun was young, his father died of illness, and his family was ruined from then on. In 1902, Lu Xun went to Japan to study medicine at Sendai Medical School 仙台医学专门学校. He wanted to inspire the consciousness of the Chinese people through medicine, but after some experiences in school, he realized that mental numbness was more terrible than physical weakness. So he abandoned medicine and turned to literature.
Lu Xun often discussed with his friends about China’s national character: what is the most lacking in China’s national character? What is the cause of its illness? These thoughts made him connect his personal life experience with the destiny of the whole Chinese nation, and also laid the basic ideological foundation of his later life as a writer and thinker.
From the publication of his first article in 1907 until his death, Lu Xun left behind a large number of works, including novels, essays 散文, essays 杂文, modern prose poetry, foreign literature and academic translations. His classic articles had been selected into the middle school textbooks. “Dawn Blossoms Plucked at Dusk” had become one of the required reading books for Chinese middle school students, and his collection of stories “Call to Arms 呐喊” and “Hesitation 彷徨” had also become spiritual masterpieces for future generations.
Lu Xun died of tuberculosis in Shanghai 上海 in 1936 at the age of 55. Lu Xun’s works had exerted a profound influence not only on the younger writers, but also on the Chinese social thought after the May 4th Movement.
Excerpts From Dawn Blossoms Plucked at Dusk
油蛉在这里低唱，蟋蟀们在这里弹琴。
Where the oil flies sing, where the crickets play the piano.
一个人做到只剩了回忆的时候，生涯大概总要算是无聊了吧，但有时竟会连回忆也没有。
A person to do only memories of the time, life probably always be boring, but sometimes it can not even memories.
想到生的乐趣，生固可以留恋，但想到生的苦趣，无常也不一定是恶客。
Thinking of the fun of life, life can certainly miss, but thinking of the bitter fun of life, Wu Chang is not necessarily a evil guest.
Evaluation of Dawn Blossoms Plucked at Dusk
Lu Xun’s “Dawn Blossoms Plucked at Dusk”, is really a rare ancient and modern book. It feels surprised When we open to see it, because we have not had, until finished reading. We will feel sad, but unfortunately this is too little.
Zhou Zuoren 周作人
Lu Xun’s direction is the direction of the new culture of the Chinese nation.
In the reflection of love and death, not only filled with the spirit of love and emotional appeal, revealed the most gentle side of Lu Xun’s spiritual world, but also contained deep and profound sadness, which formed the special charm of “Dawn Blossoms Plucked at Dusk”.