A Madman's Diary

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A Madman's Diary (Chinese: 狂人日記, Kuangren Riji) was written by Lu Xun, a founder of baihua (白話, "vernacular") Chinese, in May 1918. This short story is considered to be one of the first works written in vernacular Chinese. A Madman's Diary is an attempt by Lu Xun to describe the effects of feudal values upon the Chinese people. He uses an analogy of cannibalism to describe the way such outdated values eat away at the individual. It became a cornerstone of the New Culture Movement.

It is the first story in the book Call to Arms, a collection of short stories by Lu Xun. Its title is influenced by Nikolai Gogol's short story Diary of a Madman.

The story is about a madman who thinks everyone is out to eat him. After he extensively studied history, he felt that an overarching theme is cannibalism. Lu Xun uses him to express his belief that the old Chinese history is always trying to prevent the new Chinese history from prospering. Nonetheless, Lu Xun offers a sense of hope when he said in his last line "save the children". It is his belief that someday one of the new generations would eventually lead China to prosperity.