Lu Xun

1881–1936

A Madman's Diary reads a nation's classics and finds one word between the lines: cannibalism. Modern Chinese prose begins here.

AllegoryModernismSatireShort storyCannibalismCrueltyHumiliationMadnessNationReformSelf-deceptionShame

The writings

Novella

Novella · 1921

The True Story of Ah Q

Lu Xun

Aya Saleh · Ink & Ivy

The True Story of Ah Q

1921 · Satire · Modernism

A day-labourer who converts every defeat into a 'spiritual victory'.

Short story

Short story · 1918

A Madman's Diary

Lu Xun

Aya Saleh · Ink & Ivy

A Madman's Diary

1918 · Modernism · Allegory

A man reads 'eat people' between the lines of the classics.