THE TRUE STORY OF AH Q - LU XUN

My Chinese friend said they still studied this in China, so my source is my someone who left the Chinese education system ten years ago!

The True Story of Ah Q, in my opinion, is a study of class divides and the disdain that the bourgeois class has for the working class. There are obviously other themes investigated in this book including; the havoc of vice, the treatment of outcasts and the indomitable human spirit.

The True Story of Ah Q follows our protagonist Ah Q as he tries to slalom his way through life as a pauper trying to make a living but trying to attain a higher place in life in rural China. Admittedly many of the issues he faces are brought upon him by himself and his actions. Some of which can be attributed to the socioeconomic position rural 1911 China has put him in, but also some are due to his own patriarchal world view, namely his lust over the maidservant Amah Wu, which he perceives as him trying to make her his wife.

Despite many set backs, brought upon him by society and himself, including unemployment and public humiliation Ah Q never gives up and always has a positive outlook throughout the novella. According to 吕 周 聚 of Quingdao University "Ah Q is intricately portrayed as an everyman, his character a canvas reflecting the psychological state and social dynamics of a China transitioning from feudalism to a new socio-political order. His 'spiritual victories' serve as a coping mechanism for personal and societal failures, an embodiment of the self-deception and rationalization that Lu Xun saw as a hindrance to progress". Xun's embodiment of the Chinese population through his protagonist accurately reflects the mood of the time of 1920s China and the uneasy at the general apathy shown by the political elites in regards to the outcomes of WW1, especially Japan's hold over China after Versailles. Xun uses his character to challenge the attitudes of the Chinese population blind acceptance and positivity was merely a coping mechanism that would lead to life only getting worse for the people.

Xun does not only critique Chinese society but also investigates the nature of change and the process of modernisation. Through Ah Q he questions the influences of western nations through the  character referred to as "Imitation Foreign Devil" and his role in maintaining the oppressive structure that our protagonist finds himself in. He questions if the modernisation brought by the foreigner will only be more of the same. Not only that but Xun also interrogates the role of the revolutionaries who are presented as an ambivalent group, easily imitated by others. This particular critique is interesting to study as the revolutionaries who eventually gave rise to the PRC in the 1940s are in direct contrast to the revolutionaries in Xun's novella. It almost seems as if Xun was outlining the type of revolutionary movement to avoid if change were to come to China.

I highly recommend you real The True Story of Ah Q, not only because it is a compelling and breezy story, but also because it is an incredible study of China in the wake of WW1 and a key insight as to the mind set of the intelligentsia and shifting political climate leading to the rise of Mao and the PRC.

You can pick up The True Story of Ah Q from Bookshop or Waterstones from the links attached!