Why Chinese History as a Cycle in Lu Xun's Writing Cycles Again and Again

I. The "cyclical view of history" that Lu Xun has been immersed in since his childhood

Since the pre-Qin era, there has been no substantial development or breakthrough in ancient cultural patterns and civilization, and the "cyclical view of history" has been the generally accepted view of history in the society. The origin of this view of history is known to Mencius, who said in "Mencius? He said in "Mengzi? Tengwengongxia", "The world has been born for a long time, with one rule and one chaos." His political advocacy and view of history was retro-retrogressive, taking the cycle of history as inevitable, and history became a game of ruin and build and build and ruin. [1] At the end of the Warring States period, Lu Buwei developed on the basis of Zou Yan's "five virtues" in the late Warring States period, making the "gold, wood, water, fire, earth" yin and yang structure of the five elements of self-movement, self-regulation, and became a complete system. At the same time when the Western Han formally established the "Five Virtues Cycle", Dong Zhongshu put forward the historical cycle theory of "Three Unities" and "Three Positions", and the idea of the historical cycle had two complete forms here. After Sima Qian, Ban Gu and other historians applied their theories to the practice of historiography, this traditional view of history as a cycle of history has continued. [2] In the first sentence of the victorious headline of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, "The world's situation is such that it will unite if it is divided for a long time, and it will divide if it is united for a long time." It is the continuation of this thought.

The Analects of Confucius, Mencius and other ancient classics were familiar to ancient literati from childhood and were recited day after day, and Lu Xun, who had passed the imperial examinations, was naturally familiar with them, and his acceptance of the cyclical view was also natural. Under the influence of this cyclical view of history, generations of intellectuals with innovative ideas were in a state of repression. Born in such a society, Lu Xun experienced his family's transition from prosperity to decline, and y appreciated the warmth and coldness of the world under this social system. The China in which he lived also experienced the fall from the dream of a heavenly kingdom to the humiliation of the Western powers. He was full of dissatisfaction with the reality, and he detested the reality, so the pessimism of this cyclical view of history exerted a heavy pressure on him. Wang has a keen understanding of Lu Xun's oppression by the cyclical view of history. He believes that the cyclical view of history and the notion of "the present is not as good as the past" attached to it prevent Lu Xun from envisioning an ideal world, and that this pessimistic cyclical view tells Lu Xun that the future, which is his spiritual support, is not the real future. This pessimistic cyclical view tells Lu Xun that his spiritual support - the future is not really the future, but the past, and that changing the status quo requires resurrecting the past, but the existing forces of reality are closer to the past than he is, and that pessimism will lure him to the brink of disillusionment. [

II. Acceptance of the Theory of Evolution: The Ecstasy of Breaking the Cyclical View of History

While studying at the Nanjing Mining and Railway School, Lu Xun began to come into contact with the New Party under the influence of the General Office of the New Party. Under the influence of the General Office of the New Party, Lu Xun began to come into contact with new books, and he recalled the process of his initial contact with the theory of evolution in Chaohua Xiushuzhi. He ignored the newspapers that his elders gave him to refer to Kang Youwei's change of law, and read the Theory of the Evolution of Heaven whenever he had time. So far, he searched for Yan Fu's books everywhere, and in Yan Fu ji, volume 1, he wrote, "I have said that the most different and incompatible things between China and the West is that people in China are fond of the past but neglect the present, and people in the West are better at the present than at the past. Chinese people to a rule and a chaos, a bloom and a decline for the natural nature of human affairs, and Western people to the day into the boundless, both the flourishing can not be recurrence of decline, both the rule can not be recurrence of chaos, for the academic government and the ultimate rule." [4] This questioning of traditional Chinese culture's view of the cycle of history has not failed to make his blood boil in the heart of his patriotic youth.

In 1902, after Lu Xun went to Japan, he came into contact with Zhang Taiyan's theory of clubbed evolution, and in 1907 in Japan he put together his dissertation "The History of Man," a compilation of the evolutionary views of Thales, Hegel, Huxley, and Paulsen that he later studied, and made a transcendence of Yen-Fu's Theory of Divine Evolution. His early theses, The History of Science, The Theory of Cultural Paranoia, and The Sermon on the Poetry of Moro, all have a clear thread, that is, to establish a human being and a nation, and through the Nietzschean Enlightenment of the Superhuman, to make every person have his own independent voice, and to build up a real "human" nation.

He believed in the evolution of human nature and believed that youth would prevail over old age, focusing on the guidance and cultivation of young people's thinking. In How Can We Be Fathers Now, he fundamentally rejected the "cyclical view of history" of "seeking peace" without thinking of "nourishment" and "preservation". In his article, he fundamentally rejected the "historical cycle view" of "seeking security" without thinking of "nourishment" and "protection". In the face of the impact of China's old morality, he straightly occupies the high ground of "the disciples of the saints" to publicize his new idea of how to be a father, which is to ask traditional people to make a thorough break with tradition, to cultivate the next generation with sincerity and love, so that they can be liberated from the darkness of the old world, and that "those who have been awakened. In order to follow the elders and liberate the young, they must on the one hand settle old scores and on the other open up new paths." "Carrying the burden of karma on their own backs, they shoulder the floodgates of darkness and release them to the wide and bright; thereafter live happily and behave reasonably." [5]

Lu Xun also criticized China's traditional corrupt ideas, he criticized the so-called "national essence", he criticized the inferiority of the nation's mentality from the back of the language and the writing, he fiercely attacked the complicated and difficult literary characters which were not easy to popularize, and he made a thorough revelation of Confucianism which ruled China: "Confucius in China is held up by the powerful, the saints of those who are powerful or want to be powerful, and has nothing to do with the general public." [6] In his view, Confucius thought and Confucianism are "soft knives" that kill people[7]

Three, the annihilation of the theory of evolution -- the struggle to fall into the cycle of history

The skepticism of a theory comes from frustration in practice, and the skepticism of a theory that has produced a great creation

The skepticism of a theory that has produced a great creation is not a theory. Doubt about a theory comes from frustration in practice, and doubt about a theory produces a great sense of trauma because of excessive belief in and esteem for the theory. After accepting the theory of evolution and examining it, Lu Xun established his new beliefs and could not wait to put them into practice, to be an enlightened man of the new China. However, the magazine "New Life" was aborted after a clamor. Scream<Preface>" records this experience, but also records Lu Xun's mind, he used all kinds of methods to anesthetize his soul, but also wanted to "sink into the nation", "back to the ancient times", into the old "cycle of history", the old "cycle of history". The old system of "the cycle of history". [8]

While he was in mental distress and struggling for his livelihood, the Xinhai Revolution broke out, and his old acquaintance from the Restoration Society became the governor of the Shaoxing military government, and he was appointed as the principal of the Shaoxing Normal School. His inner enthusiasm was quickly rekindled, and everything seemed to be "evolving" in the way he had once dreamed. He encouraged his students to found the "Yedo Daily News", which restored his enthusiasm for the "New Life". However, reality soon disappointed him. Wang Jinfa not only stopped defending the revolutionary program, but also colluded with the original bureaucrats to destroy the editorial board of the Yue Duo Daily. He accepted Cai Yuanpei's invitation to become a member of the Ministry of Education of the National Government, but under the oppression of Yuan Shikai, who had imperial ambitions, he lived a life of copying ancient monuments to avoid the scourge of literature. [9]

"Try to remember the Five Dynasties, the Southern Song Dynasty, the end of the Ming Dynasty, and the present situation, and a comparison, when the alarming in how similar it is, as if the passage of time, the only China has nothing to do with us. Now the "Republic of China" is still the Five Dynasties, the end of the Song Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty." In this article, Lu Xun first exposes the people who are completely controlled by the traditional culture. Instead of rising up for the sake of themselves and their country, they follow the traditional and fixed thinking, which hinders the progress of history. Lu Xun indignantly and painfully questioned "'The land is vast and populous', and with all these many good materials, can it withstand nothing more than the same old trick of playing a round of reincarnation?" [10]

Lu Xun's vision of the "Republic of China" evaporated, and after the Xinhai Revolution, he realized that China's modern revolution was nothing more than a kind of peasant revolt, and he said that revolt was the most advantageous business in China. His evolutionary ideology of "youth must triumph over old age" was dismantled at the same time as he was hurt by the polemics with the Creation Society and the Sun Society. He found that there still existed revolutionary speculative ideas among the youth such as Cheng Fangwu, which was fundamentally no different from the original small peasant rebellion, and in A Glimpse of Shanghai Literature and Art, he warned once again that "so far the revolution of the ruling class is nothing but a scramble for an old chair. When they go to push it, it seems as if the chair is hateful, but once they get it, they think it is a treasure, and at the same time they realize that they are with this 'old one'. The 'lackey' has become the master, is by no means willing to abolish the 'master' name, his pose, I am afraid than his master is still full, also ridiculous." [11] With the disintegration of Lu Xun's theory of evolution, before he had accepted the theory of class, he could not help jumping into the confusion of the cycle of history, in which he struggled with grief.

Fourth, the cyclical pessimistic life consciousness in Lu Xun's novels

Lu Xun desperately wanted to get rid of the pessimistic theory of the cycle of history, and even repudiated all the traditional cultures in China, but it is this determined rebellious attitude resulting from the constant struggle that rather illustrates the depth of the cyclical consciousness that has infiltrated his life. As a concept rooted in Lu Xun's consciousness at an early age, this cyclical pessimism unconsciously grows into the background of his consciousness, and even if it is forgotten for a while, it unknowingly pervades his life when he faces himself alone in a certain situation. Lu Xun's novels reveal this cyclical sense of pessimism from time to time.