Chapter 4 "Straw Shoes Feet"

In China, novels have never been regarded as literature.From a contemptuous point of view, since the end of the eighteenth century[2], there has not been any greater work produced.The intrusion of novelists into the literary world is only the beginning of the "Literary Revolution" movement [3], that is, since 1917.Naturally, on the one hand, it was due to the requirements of society, and on the other hand, it was influenced by Western literature. But the survival of this new novel is always in constant battle.In the beginning, the request of the literary revolutionaries was the liberation of human nature. They thought that as long as the old established laws were swept away, all that remained would be the original people and a good society, so they were oppressed and framed by conservatives.About ten years later, class consciousness was awakened, and progressive writers all became revolutionary writers, and the persecution became more severe, publishing was banned, books were burned, and writers were killed. Life was sacrificed for his work.

This book is an anthology of short stories written after the "Literary Revolution" in the past fifteen years.Because it is still a new attempt for us, it is naturally naive, but I am afraid that it can be seen that it is just like a plant under a boulder. Although it is not prosperous, it is growing in twists and turns. So far, Westerners have written about China more than Chinese people have written about themselves.However, these are always just the opinions of Westerners. There is an old Chinese proverb that says: "The heart can speak, but the face of a doctor is like dirt." [4] I think that if the heart can really speak, it may not be completely reliable. However, , there must be places that doctors can't diagnose, which are unexpected, but are actually very real.On March 23, 1934, Lu Xun recorded it in Shanghai.

CC [1] This article has not been published in newspapers before it was included in this book. Please refer to the "Additional Notes" of this book. "Straw Sandal Feet", a collection of modern Chinese short stories jointly edited by Lu Xun at the request of American Irson and Mao Dun, has a total of 26 works, which were translated into English by Irson and others. Edited, published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press in 1974. (2) Novel, written by Cao Xueqin in the Qing Dynasty.There are 120 chapters in circulation, and the last 40 chapters are generally considered to be continued by Gao E in the Qing Dynasty.

〔3〕The "Literary Revolution" movement refers to the movement against old literature and advocating new literature before and after the May Fourth Movement.In February 1917, Chen Duxiu published the article "On Literary Revolution" in Volume II, No. 6 of "New Youth", in which he put forward the slogan of literary revolution for the first time.Since May 1918, Lu Xun has successively published novels such as , , , , etc., which "demonstrate the actual achievements of the 'literary revolution'". ("Qijieting Essays Two Collections Preface to the Two Collections of Novels of "The Great Series of Chinese New Literature")

〔4〕"The lungs and the heart can speak, and the doctor's face is like dirt." See Fang Hui's "Shan Jing" quoted in the "Book of Xiangzhong" recorded in "Ancient and Modern Proverbs" edited by Yang Shen in the Ming Dynasty: "The mountains and rivers can speak, and the burial teacher has no food." So; the lungs and liver can speak, and the doctor looks like earth." The first volume of "The Source of Ancient Poems" edited by Shen Deqian in the Qing Dynasty also contained this poem, and "lungs and livers" were used as "lungs and organs".