Those looking for China’s national spirit won’t find it in Xi Jinping’s writing. But the works of Lu Xun offer a homegrown example that contemporary Chinese can follow as the country writes a script for its next act.
Illustration by Luis Grañena
Listen to SupChina editor-at-large and Sinica podcast host Kaiser Kuo read this article.
On May 4, 1919, China’s first mass student demonstration took place in front of Tiananmen Gate in Beijing to protest a stinging humiliation: The Versailles Treaty, marking the end of World War I, had just decreed that China was to hand over German concessionary rights in Shandong Province to Imperial Japan even though China had supplied personnel to the Allied Forces in Europe. Furious, marching students sought to rescue China from both its weak and ineffectual warlord government and foreign exploitation, and their efforts ushered in a fresh sense of national purpose and optimism. Some looked to “save the nation” (救国) through “Mr. Science and Mr. Democracy” while others turned to the promise of Marxist revolution.
But, as most activists looked outward to reorder their society and government, Lu Xun — a 30-year-old writer — also looked inward, naming and shaming the
Exclusive longform investigative journalism, Q&As, news and analysis, and data on Chinese business elites and corporations. We publish China scoops you won't find anywhere else.
A weekly curated reading list on China from David Barboza, Pulitzer Prize-winning former Shanghai correspondent for The New York Times.
A daily roundup of China finance, business and economics headlines.
We offer discounts for groups, institutions and students. Go to our Subscriptions page for details.
A decade ago, China arrived on the global art scene with deep pockets and an abundance of swagger. Recently, however, China's economic downturn has caused a spate of museums to close and once prominent collectors to sell their collections. Can China ever achieve its dreams of "cultural self-confidence"?
The Harvard professor discusses the effects on Chinese society of the country's high-tech development, and how the pandemic may have shifted public attitudes.
The Global Intelligence Platform used by The Wire China
