Lu Xun and Cai Yuanpei had a deep friendship, which can be illustrated by several short stories.
1. In the first year of the Republic of China (1912), the provisional government was established in Nanjing. At the invitation of Cai Yuanpei, the Minister of Education, he served as the chief of the first section of the Social Education Department of the Ministry of Education. In August, he was appointed by the President as the Minister of Education of the Beijing Government. From this year to 1917, he copied a large number of ancient steles, compiled inscriptions on epigraphs and stone tablets, and proofread ancient books. He also conducted certain research on Buddhist thought.
2. The school emblem of Peking University was designed by Lu Xun when Cai Yuanpei was the president of Peking University.
3. Cai Yuanpei has always believed in Lu Xun and helped Lu Xun all the way. When Lu Xun was in despair in his hometown, it was he who got Lu Xun to work as a civil servant in the Ministry of Education of the Republic of China government. The Ministry of Education moved from Nanjing to Beijing. The new minister couldn't stand Lu Xun's complaints and wanted to fire him. Cai Yuanpei saw Lu Xun on the layoff list and helped keep Lu Xun.
Later he became the president of Peking University and immediately asked Lu Xun to be a lecturer - lecturers were all part-time, but in fact the salary was similar to that of a professor. Later, when Lu Xun was unemployed and working as a freelance writer in Shanghai, Cai Yuanpei hired him as a special writer at the university, receiving a fixed monthly subsidy of 300 yuan.
4. During his four years as a special writer at the university, Lu Xun received a subsidy of 14,700 silver yuan. Guo Moruo said with some jealousy: "The person who had a profound influence on Lu Xun's life should be Cai Yuanpei, right? Lu Xun entered the Ministry of Education and even entered the education circle in Beijing because of Cai Yuanpei's reference. Until Lu Xun died of illness, Cai Yuanpei passed away. Everlasting friendship.” This statement is very insightful.
Lu Xun, Li Suizhi and Qian Junfu
Lu Xun and Qian Junfu, the famous modern medical scientist and founder of Zhejiang Medical University, were close friends. The three of them went to Japan to study together in 1902 and were in the same class and dormitory. Lu Xun's medical graduation thesis on genetics was written for him by Li Suizhi. Their names were also listed together in the "Who's Who in Japan and China" at that time.
Although Lu Xun, Li Suizhi and Qian Junfu later went to different schools, they still often got together to discuss the world and express their ambitions to save the country. After they returned to China, they still kept in touch with each other and their friendship remained the same.