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A Thematic Study of Lh Xun's Prose P O E T R Y Collection

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A Thematic Study of Lh Xun's Prose P O E T R Y Collection A THEMATIC STUDY OF LH XUN'S PROSE POETRY COLLECTION WILD GRASS by TIANM1NG LI M.A., The University of Ilcnan, 1086 M.A., The University of British Columbia, 1994 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES Department of Asian Studies We accept this thesis as conforming to the rexiuired standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA September 1998 © Tianming Li, 1998 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the head of my department or by his or her representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department of The University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada DE-6 (2/88) tt Abstract This thesis is a comprehensive thematic study of the unique prose poetry collection Wild Grass by the famous modern Chinese writer Lu Xun. It provides a general survey of previous Wild Grass studies both in China and abroad in the past 70 years in Chapter 1. The survey clarifies the achievements and defects of those studies, and finds that they are still insufficient and can and should be further expanded. By employing a comprehensive methodology, including close reading, rhetorical analysis, intertextual interpretation, and some standard psychoanalytic insights, the thesis explores the themes of Wild Grass on three different levels. In Chapter 2, on the historical level, the thesis reveals the theme of social and political criticism of the dark reality of mid- 19208 China. In Chapter 3, some Wild Grass poems are interpreted on the philosophical level to show the theme of Lu Xun's meditations on the ego, will to life, and the meaning of human existence. In Chapter 4, the thesis examines some Wild Grass poems on the emotional level to display Lu Xun's dilemma of love and moral responsibilities at a crucial juncture of his life when he contemplated deserting his old-style wife and accepting a young lady's love. Some poems are informed by a strong awareness of repentance, which is essentially an embodiment of Lu Xun's sense of morality and responsibility. In its conclusion, the thesis summarizes the intellectual and artistic values of Wild Grass, deeming it a magnificent book marking a creative peak in Lu Xun's career and an achievement in modern Chinese literature of the twentieth century. Lu Xun's spirit of struggle, awareness of repentance, and subjective emotion and lyricism that are incorporated in Wild Grass have become an important legacy for Chinese literature and the Chinese people. The symbolic and surrealistic features, the expressionistic characterization, the structure of the logical dilemma, and elegant language make Wild Grass a great modern masterpiece. TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ii Table of Contents iii Acknowledgment v INTRODUCTION 1 Chapter 1, A Brief Survey of Wild Grass Studies 13 Wild Grass studies in mainland China 13 Wild Grass studies outside China 22 Chapter 2, Social and Political Criticism of a Dark Reality 28 "Autumn Night" 29 "Revenge" and "Revenge II" 35 "The Lost Good Hell" 39 "The Vibration of the Decrepit Line" 46 "Such a Fighter" 48 "Amid Pale Bloodstains" 50 "The Awakening" 52 Summary 53 Chapter 3, Philosophical Meditations on the Ego, Meaning of Life, and the World 56 "Shadow's Leave-Taking" 67 "The Beggars" 73 "Hope" 77 "The Kite" 80 "The Passerby" 85 "Dead Fire" 96 "The Dog's Retort" 98 "After Death" 100 Summary 103 Chapter 4, Emotional Dilemma of Love versus Moral Responsibility 108 "Autumn Night" 115 "Shadow's Leave-Taking" 120 "My Lost Love" 122 "Revenge" and "Revenge II" 127 "Hope" 133 "The Good Story" 136 "The Passerby" 140 "Dead Fire" 146 WILD GRASS, TABLE OF CONTENTS iv "Tombstone Inscriptions" 150 "Dry Leaf 156 Summary 160 CONCLUSION 169 Glossary 180 Bibliography 182 Appendix 191 Acknowledgments V. During the period of more than two years' writing of this doctoral dissertation, 1 have profited greatly from the academic guidance of my professors. I would like to express my profound gratitude to Professor Michael S. Duke, my supervisor, who encouraged me to begin this challenging topic and helped me to structure this work to be what it is today. I owe a particular debt to him for his critical reading of my drafts, patient correction of my expressions, inspiring comments and suggestions, and, in general, for the strict intellectual training that I received in the last six years. I am deeply grateful to Professor Jerry Schmidt for his generous encouragement. Even though he was as far away as China in the summer vacation of 1998, he kindly finished reading my dissertation and provided me by mail with new ideas, which inspired me to think more deeply about some of my arguments. I would also like to express my profound gratitude to Professor George McWhirter, who kindly and carefully read my work and helped me to improve the expression of my ideas. I benefited immeasurably from his suggestions and encouragement. My special gratitude is to Mrs. Vera Burnham, my English teacher, who kindly and generously proofread the second draft of my dissertation and corrected my grammatical and spelling mistakes. Sincere thanks are also due to Dr. Yang Chang, my friend, who read the whole of the first draft, and Mr. James Keefer, Ph. D. candidate and my classmate, who read part of the first draft. They also offered me valuable advice and warm support. I would like to express my particular thanks to Professor Yang Yonglong and Professor Jin Zhaoxia in the Art Faculty at Henan University in China, both of whom helped me to find and photocopy many necessary references, and mailed them to me from China. Without their help, my work would be impossible. I also owe especial appreciation to my wife Li Ning, who typed the whole of this dissertation and, more importantly, from beginning to end of my long period of studies, tenaciously and selflessly supported me and the family, even in the most difficult days. INTRODUCTION Wild Grass (Yecao, if ^) is a unique collection of prose poetry (sanwenshi, f^3ti^F) by the famous modern Chinese writer Lu Xun (H-ifi, 1881-1936). Prose poetry, as a subgenre similar to the short poetic essay, first emerged in 1920s China. In the 1930s it was formally called prose poetry. Lu Xun's Wild Grass contains twenty-three pieces of prose poetry. All were written during the period from 1924 to 1926 and published successively in the literary weekly Talking String (Yusi, In July 1927 after Lu Xun wrote an inscription to them, these prose poems were republished as a collection under the title Wild Grass. At present this collection is contained in volume two of the 1987 edition of The Complete Works of Lu Xun (Lu Xun quanji, #3S^:ft). Compared in size with other collections in Lu Xun's Complete Works, Wild Grass is a short book of only seventy pages. The length of each prose poem varies from three hundred to three thousand Chinese characters. However, owing to its admirable artistic distinction, stylistic originality, and the impressive thematic complexity, Wild Grass is very significant in Lu Xun's creative output as well as in the whole of modern Chinese literature. It has become an indispensable text in studies of Lu Xun and of modern Chinese literature as well. Lu Xun himself cherished a special fondness for Wild Grass. In its "Inscription" (Tici, MM), he declared: "I myself love my Wild Grass."1 In 1929 he expressed his sorrow to a friend for being unable to write prose poetry like Wild Grass any more.2 In 1931 Lu Xun 'Lu Xun, "Tici" JMS? (Inscription) to Wild Grass, Lit Xun Quanji #31^:11 (Complete works of Lu Xun), Beijing: Renmin wenxue chubanshe, 1987, vol. 2, p. 159. Hereafter LXQJ. In this dissertation, unless otherwise noted, English translations are my own. Others' translations may be slightly changed wherever I think it's necessary. 2Feng Xuefeng iSr=P$, Huiyi LuXun 0tZ,#ifi (Recollections of Lu Xun), Beijing: Renmin wenxue chubanshe, 1953, p. 23. WILD GRASS, INTRODUCTION 2 mentioned it again in his "Preface to the English Edition of Wild Grass" (Yecao yingwen yiben xu, m w$txi&*m? These twenty some short essays were all written in Beijing between 1924 and 1926, as indicated at the end of each piece, and published one after another in the periodical Yii- ssu. For the most part they are only small reflections of the moment. Since it was difficult to speak out directly at the time, occasionally the phrasing is very muddled. Now I would like to raise some examples. Because I was critical of the sentimental poetry then widely current, I wrote Wo-ti shih-lien f^ri^^^Jv (My lost love), because I hated the numerous sideline-observers of society, I wrote the first Fu-ch'ou M.W (Revenge); and because I was alarmed by the despair of youth, I wrote Hsi-wang ^"M (Hope). Che-yang ti chan-shih 3^#(r-J$<ldr (Such a fighter) was written because of a feeling that men of letters and scholars were assisting the warlords. La-yeh $§nf (The dry leaf) was composed for the person who loves me and wants to preserve me. After the Duan Qirui Government fired upon the unarmed populace I wrote T'an-t'an ti hsueh-hen chung t^i^fy^M.^ (Amid pale bloodstains), at which time I had already fled to other quarters.
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