The letter from Lu Xun to his mother mainly reports on the growth of his son Hai Ying, and is full of deep love. This is a letter from Lu Xun to his mother on August 31, 1935: "Mother, my dear. August. On the 10th, I have already received it. The letter to Hai Ying has also been received. The weather in Shanghai is getting colder, and the quilt can be covered at night. The male prickly heat has healed and he is still busy, but he is still in good health. , Please help me. Hai Ying is also good, but he has become thin and long. Since the 20th, he has been sent to the kindergarten, the address is very close, and he is shut down for half a day every day to make the home a little quieter. Until. Now, he is willing to go every day, and he hasn't yet to study. Just this Buda, please Jin An." (This picture is provided by the interviewee)
Read a warm Lu Xun in books at home
Dialogue with Huang Qiaosheng, Executive Deputy Director of Beijing Lu Xun Museum
Reading Lu Xun’s family book helps to better understand Lu Xun’s image
Reporter: This year is the 140th anniversary of Lu Xun’s birth. Some commemorative works have been published, including the "Luxun Family Letter" you wrote. Please give a brief introduction to the spread and existence of Lu Xun’s family letter.
Huang Qiaosheng: There are 50 letters from Lu Xun to his mother Lu Rui, 19 letters to his younger brother Zhou Zuoren, 78 letters to Xu Guangping, and 3 letters to his family or his cousin and nephew, totaling 150 letters.
Lu Xun left home to study at the age of 18. He had a lot of correspondence with his mother, but unfortunately most of them were lost. The earliest surviving letter was written in 1932, and the total number is not as many as to Xu Guangping.
The only existing letters from Lu Xun to his younger brother are 18 to his second younger brother Zhou Zuoren-written during the two periods when Zhou Zuoren was visiting relatives in Japan and recovering from illness in Xishan, Beijing-plus Lu Xun's publication of poems to mourn Fan Ainong during his stay in Beijing. Half-covered (including poems).
Lu Xun and Xu Guangping lived in two separate places when they were in love. At that time, only letters were used to convey information and reveal their affection.
The correspondence between Lu Xun and Xu Guangping recorded the love process of confiding in each other's hearts and talking about world affairs.
They later revised these letters in the order of year and month, and compiled some paragraphs and sentences into the "Book of Two Places."
The "Luxun Family Letter" that I edited is included in their correspondence, based on the original letter, which can be read in comparison with "Book of Two Places".
In addition, "Lu Xun's Family Letter" also contains a letter each from Lu Xun to Zhou Xinmei, Li Licheng and Ruan Shanxian.
Lu Xun has many relatives, but he has few correspondences.
Does this mean that Lu Xun is not close to his relatives?
To say the least, there are not many relatives who share his interests.
Reporter: Literary research focuses on knowing people and the world. Lu Xun’s biographical materials have too much rather than too little feeling. What value does Lu Xun’s family letter have in Lu Xun’s research?
Huang Qiaosheng: For studying writers and works, of course, the richer the historical data, the better, but the most fundamental thing is that the more accurate the historical data, the better.
The so-called "too many" impressions of Lu Xun's biographical materials are formed because there are too many materials but inaccuracies, and some of them contradict each other, leaving readers clueless.
Sorting out the existing data can be roughly divided into the following types, one is Lu Xun's self-report; the other is the memories of Lu Xun by his contemporaries; the other is the views of Lu Xun by later researchers.
In Lu Xun's self-reported text, I think family letters are particularly worthy of attention.
When writing a family letter, you don’t think about the impact as you do when you write an article, because the family letter is private and was not intended to be published publicly. The author’s thoughts and emotions are more authentic.
In family trivial matters, it can reveal a person's true temperament.
Reading Lu Xun's family letter helps us to better understand Lu Xun's image, or it helps us to find a balance between the already recognized image of Lu Xun's fighters and literati.
The fighters in people's minds always go to bed and forget about food and do their best. Lu Xun does have such a character.
From Lu Xun's book, we can also see his sense of responsibility for the family and his interest in life.
Lu Xun's book also tells about his life track, but it is not systematic and comprehensive, which needs to be sorted out when editing the book.
The family book records that his life has changed because of his family and relatives. For example, he went to a new school due to the fall of his family, interrupted his study abroad and returned to work because of family financial constraints, and determined to realize the big family reunion because he had to take care of the lives of his mother and younger brother. Brotherly disharmony has changed the state of life. Because of love, he left his work and living environment for many years. Because of his family's livelihood, he determined the content and method of work in his later years.
The home letter reflects that one of the most important things in Lu Xun's life is to change the family form, enter a new life, and realize the transformation of life. The impact is no less than that of his "ideological change."
What needs to be emphasized is that love and family life have changed Lu Xun, and at the same time he has fulfilled his "warrior" image, making this image more complete, plump and cordial.
Without the company of relatives and his wife, persuasion, encouragement, or even "interference", he can certainly continue to be a "warrior", but it may be difficult for a long time, and he may break prematurely and stop moving forward.
Lu Xun's letters around 1925 recorded a dangerous period in his life. If it were not for the care of family and the nourishment of love, he might have passed away at that time.
As he wrote in his prose poem "Dead Fire": "I will burn it out."
Although his never-ending fighting spirit and unforgiving loneliness will still burn him out in the future, fortunately, because he has a family and leads a relatively stable life, he creates more good works. work.
Lu Xun reports to his mother the child’s growth in his letter
Reporter: Lu Xun lived in an era of fierce criticism of traditional Chinese families. However, there are sometimes great discrepancies between ideological criticism and practice in life. So what is Lu Xun's family concept?
Huang Qiaosheng: Lu Xun is a critic of society, a reflector of history, and a pioneer of new literature. He has deep thinking and sharp writing. He also criticized the family and made fierce criticisms. This is the characteristic of that transitional era.
His own experience in the family is not always pleasant, and sometimes even painful.
He endured the pain of arranged marriages for many years, and he also experienced the break of his brothers.
Not only did he have such experiences and feelings, he also saw that this was a common problem at that time, and it needed to be fundamentally changed, and it needed to be changed from cultural traditions.
This was the consensus of many intellectuals of that era. When they expressed their reform proposals, they might have overstated it. This is unavoidable.
Remove the old and the new, and unless the old is removed, it will be difficult for the new to grow.
In "How Do We Be Fathers Now", Lu Xun proposed to cultivate a new type of father-son relationship, not a relationship between lending and collecting interest, but a natural evolution, a relationship between the two chains of life.
Our children’s education in the past had more constraints on children, but the new ethics required more space for their development and more freedom for them. In Lu Xun’s words: “Start with the awakened. They each liberated their children. Carrying the heavy burden of the attack, they shouldered the dark gate, and let them go to a wide and bright place. After that, they will live happily and be reasonable people.” This is similar to his literary work “Save and Save” The theme of "children" is the same.
Lu Xun’s description of love does not stop at Qingqing, I and I, crying and crying, but thinking deeper and farther, and more realistic.
"Sorrow for the Death" and "How After Nora Goes" are good works in this regard, which are related to his profound observation and careful thinking of social life.
But in actual family life, it is not so fierce and decisive.
This is a traditional force, the pressure of inertia, which cannot be changed temporarily, it takes time and patience.
For example, the concept of a big family must be accepted first, and in the process of accepting it must endure its inconvenience, and even endure the pain of separation and breakup.
From Shaoxing to Beijing, the three brothers of Lu Xun did not separate their families. Instead, they lived with their mother in a big house and lived a traditional life of several generations under one roof.
This kind of life cannot be sustained. The more it must be maintained, the more it cannot be maintained, which will eventually lead to division.
The family has an important influence on the formation of a person's character, self-cultivation, values and even political tendencies.
To study and study Lu Xun, one should fully understand his family environment and growth experience, his love, marriage and social contacts.
Reporter: "Luxun Family Letter" contains many letters written by Lu Xun to his mother. Ordinary readers are too unfamiliar with Lu Xun's mother. What is the relationship between Lu Xun and his mother?
Huang Qiaosheng: Lu Xun’s family was in decline in his youth, and he was hit by his grandfather’s imprisonment and his father’s death.
His mother was a young widow, and she worked hard to raise five children (one son and one daughter died when they were young, leaving behind three brothers, Shuren, Zhuren, and Jianren), and she was an admirable woman.
Lu Xun fully felt the warmth and power of maternal love.
The earliest surviving correspondence between Lu Xun and his mother was written in 1932, and many of them have not been preserved before.
One reason is loss.
In 1926, Lu Xun left Beijing to Xiamen and began to write letters to his mother, writing reports all the way to report his itinerary, so as not to worry about his mother and Zhu An.
Xu Xiansu, a fellow from Shaoxing who had written for his mother for several years, recalled: “In 1930, on the eve of leaving Mr. Lu Xun’s home for the fifth female teacher in Hebei, I bundled up Mr. Lu Xun’s letters into a package and gave it to the Zhu family. Just in case there is something to check. Later, I don’t know what to do with her.” Another reason is also very important, that is, his mother cannot write, and it is difficult to communicate with his son.
For the same reason, Lu Xun was unable to communicate with his wife Zhu An.
Therefore, Lu Xun’s early family letters were mostly written to two younger brothers, who acted as liaisons between him and his mother.
During Lu Xun's life, he fell in love in middle-aged age and had a son in old age, but finally led a smoky family life.
In the letter he wrote to his mother, the most important content is to report to the mother the growth of his son-this is also a manifestation of "filial piety."
Respect texts and historical facts when sorting out family books
Reporter: In recent years, there has been a "family calligraphy fever". Many family calligraphy have been sorted and published together. The sophisticated sorting needs to be based on precise textual research. What are your experiences in sorting out Lu Xun's family calligraphy?
Huang Qiaosheng: Indeed, we can see many books published now, which shows that readers like this type of text.
Regarding the sorting of family letters, I think we must respect the text, respect the historical facts, and respect the parties involved. They cannot be modified at will, and they cannot be selectively emphasized or ignored, but what they say.
The hidden content in the home book needs to be sorted out and introduced to readers by the editor.
In other words, the attitude of sorting out commentators should be correct.
It is quite difficult to comment on letters such as letters, because some historical facts are not easy to restore, and it is not easy to fully explain clearly, such as trivial housework or events that are familiar to both parties in the correspondence. It is very troublesome, and some people and things have to be paid temporarily, and further study is needed.
To explain the background of each letter clearly, you need to consult a lot of materials, and you need to understand the thoughts and emotions of both parties in the communication, which is a very demanding job.
Reporter: In the process of sorting out, was there a letter that moved you deeply?
Huang Qiaosheng: When I commented on a letter from Lu Xun to his mother, I realized that Lu Xun was in a state of involuntary and heavy work in his later years, and when I was doing this work was the new crown epidemic, and people were banned. At home, you can experience Lu Xun's situation at this time.
This letter was written on November 18, 1934. It contains a paragraph: "The man lay down for seven or eight days due to fever. The doctor did not see anything wrong. He is now better. It was probably due to fatigue, and he was in Beijing. It’s the same as Zhang Shizhao’s illness when he was in trouble. Selling essays for living is different from other occupations. You can’t always work every day when you’re free. You can’t sleep more at night when you’re busy, and you can’t even write. , I can’t help but think about it, I’m easy to get tired. From now on, I also want to do something less, but there is such a situation, I am afraid it is not easy to shrink, just like the Xintaimen Zhou family, it is the same as the empty scene. ." Putting your own situation vividly, sick and tired, but unable to rest, why is this?
In order to let his mother understand, he used Shaoxing's old family life scene as an analogy, that is, since it is an official family, he must hold the scene.
In Lu Xun's articles or in his letters to others, it is hard to use such a metaphor.
This short passage contains misery and helplessness, and it is touching and thoughtful to read.
(Guest Profile: Huang Qiaosheng, Executive Deputy Curator of Beijing Lu Xun Museum, participated in the planning of "Lu Xun Exhibition", "National 1919", "Old State and New Life-Centennial Commemoration of the New Cultural Movement", "Lu Xun's Art World" and other exhibitions, author "Destroyed Tribulation: Three Brothers of Zhou Family", "Badaowan No. 11", "Reading Lu Xun between the Lines", "My Country and My People 1919", etc.)