A Madman's Diary

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"A Madman's Diary" (Chinese: 狂人日記; Pinyin: Kuángrén Rìjì) 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 and most influential modern 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 He uses an analogy of cannibalism to describe the way such outdated values eat away at the individual. The story would become 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.

[edit] Synopsis

The story is the transcript of the diary entries of a madman who, according to the preface delivered in Classical Chinese, has now been cured of his delusive paranoia. After extensively studying Chinese history as outlined in the four books and five classics of his culture, he began to see the words "Eat People!" written between the lines of the texts. Seeing the people in his village as potential man-eaters, he is gripped by the fear that everyone, including his brother, his venerable doctor and his neighbors are preparing to eat him. It is anti-traditional in the sense that the other characters are portrayed as heartless, bound to tradition, and cannibalistic. The insanity of the narrator is never proven, however, leading the reader to question the seemingly wholesome intentions of those who care for him. Despite the brother's apparent genuine concern, the narrator still regards him as a big of a threat as any stranger, expressing just how distrustful he has become.

Lu Xun seems to offer a sense of hope when he says in his last line "save the children," though he later revealed a colleague coaxed him into inserting the line to aid in the May 4th Movement. This seems to coincide with the idea of, "Convert the children, for they are our future."

The story shows Lu Xun's most notable motifs: the loner in the crowd, the questionable narrator, the conflict between tradition and modernity (with no clear winner), and the callousness of human beings.