Lu Xun

Lu Xun was a Chinese writer born in 1881 in Shaoxing, in the last decades of the Qing dynasty. He first trained in medicine in Japan, but turned to writing, convinced that China needed a change in thought and spirit more than in bodies. Under the pen name Lu Xun, he became one of the leading voices of modern Chinese literature. His short stories, written in plain vernacular Chinese rather than the classical language, looked unflinchingly at village life, old customs and the habits of mind that kept people powerless. He was also a prolific essayist, translator and editor, known for sharp, satirical commentary on the politics and society of his time. He taught and lived in several cities, ending his life in Shanghai, where he died in 1936. Readers still value him for his compassion, his irony and his refusal to flatter his own society.