Why did Mr. Lu Xun give up medicine and go to literature is a commonplace topic. The main reason for Lu Xun's "abandoning medicine to follow literature" is the slide show that makes Chinese people insensitive. In the slide, the Japanese shouted "Long live", while the students in China were indifferent to the massacre of their compatriots. This undoubtedly strongly touched the most fragile string in Lu Xun's heart. Lu Xun profoundly realized that medical treatment can save the lives of dozens and hundreds of people, but it cannot cure the mental trauma of 40 million people. As Lu Xun later wrote in Mr. Fujino:
I don't think medicine is an urgent matter. No matter how healthy and strong the weak citizens are, they can only do meaningless propaganda materials and spectators, and there is no need to think that they died unfortunately. So our first task is to change their spirit.
To awaken the people's spirit, literature and art are the first. If Lu Xun wants to save the people from fire and water and help the building collapse, he must use words as a weapon. This is people's consistent view of Lu Xun's abandonment of medicine and his pursuit of literature. Perhaps this is the main reason, but it also contains some little-known factors.
Lu Xun was inextricably linked with medicine in his early years.
Lu Xun wrote in "Scream, Preface":
I still remember the doctor's comments and prescriptions in the past. Compared with what I know now, I gradually realize that Chinese medicine is just a liar intentionally or unintentionally.
When Lu Xun was writing a novel, it reminded me of the terrible past in his early years, including the tragic fate of his intersection with Chinese medicine. Lu Xun was born in a wealthy bureaucratic family, but he didn't want his grandfather to be jailed for cheating in the imperial examination, and then his family came down. Then Lu Xun tasted the warmth and coldness of the world.
Medicine, a movie of the same name adapted from Lu Xun's novel.
My father is seriously ill all the year round. At that time, a famous doctor in Lu Xun's hometown had treated his father for two years. Quack doctors made a lot of money, but Lu Xun's father's condition did not improve. After the quack made a lot of money in Lu Xun's family, he began to worry that Lu Xun's father's illness would implicate his reputation, so he closed the land and introduced a Chinese medicine practitioner to Lu Xun. However, these two people are actually birds of a feather under the guise of "saving the world." My father is dying under the treatment of these two quacks. Lu Xun completely lost his confidence in Chinese medicine at this time. When his father was dying, a friend introduced some traditional Chinese medicine remedies to Lu Xun. Lu Xun not only refused, but even thought that his father's departure would make him suffer less from illness.
From 65438 to 0898, Lu Xun studied in Jiangnan Naval Academy, and then transferred to Mining Railway Academy. Lu Xun was only 17 years old. At this time, he probably didn't know much about western medicine. However, in that era of great admiration for western scientific thought, Lu Xun gradually realized that western medicine might be different from traditional Chinese medicine, which deceives the world and steals fame.
Lu Xun in his youth
Lu Xun was later sent to Japan to study with excellent results. But what is the purpose of studying abroad? Lu Xun himself didn't know at that time. Lu Xun first went to Tokyo, where he studied Japanese and visited guilds and academies. It was under the influence of these books that Lu Xun gradually realized the importance of western medicine. For example, he wrote that most of the reforms in Japan originated from Western medicine. In view of the painful experience brought by Chinese medicine to Lu Xun, he vaguely felt that perhaps western medicine was the effective way to save the nation from extinction.
China people have great respect for doctors in their bones. Doctors and teachers are considered the noblest professions. The former saves lives, while the latter teaches and educates people. Even if doctors and teachers have retired for many years, when someone sees them in the street, they will still bow their heads and be commensurate with "Teacher X" and "Doctor X". Perhaps it is because of this traditional thought of China people that Lu Xun also intends to make achievements in the medical field.
Lu Xun's masterpiece "Flowers at Morning"
Average grades, language barrier.
Lu Xun arrived in Tokyo, Japan on 1902, and was transferred to Sendai Medical College on 1904. He was the only overseas student from China in Sendai Medical College at that time. Why did Lu Xun choose to come to Sendai? He also wrote in Mr. Fujino:
There is a big braid overhead, which stands high on the top of students' hats, forming a Mount Fuji. Other braids are dissolved and the board is flat. Except for the hat, it is shiny and visible, just like a little girl's bun, and her neck is twisted. It's really beautiful.
Lu Xun was extremely disappointed by the subtle and artificial living conditions of China students in Tokyo. So Lu Xun held the idea that "scarcity is precious" and thought that there were no overseas students from China in Sendai. When you get there, many people will treat him as a treasure and will not be treated coldly by the Japanese. Lu Xun's younger brother Zhou Zuoren also said:
The only reason why Lu Xun went to Sendai may be because there were no China students there. However, the opposite is true.
After Lu Xun arrived in Sendai, he was engaged in the medicine of saving lives. Lu Xun came to a foreign country to study alone. Without friends, it was Mr. Fujino who gave him some warmth. The kindness of dripping water should be rewarded by the spring, and Mr. Fujino's help to Lu Xun's study and life has always been remembered by Lu Xun. However, this kind of care has made the Japanese people think that Lu Xun's grades can pass. This is what Lu Xun told us in Mr. Fujino. However, later information shows that Lu Xun's real achievements are slightly different from those described by Mr. Fujino.
Mr. Fujino
Lu Xun wrote in Mr. Fujino:
China is a weak country, so China people are of course imbeciles. If the score is above 60, it is not your own ability.
This sentence fully shows that Lu Xun's score at that time was more than 60 points. However, Lu Xun's classmate Xiaolin Maoxiong kept a transcript of that year. This report card shows that Lu Xun ranked 68th among 142 people at that time, which is not an excellent result. Anatomy taught by Mr. Fujino is actually the only subject that Lu Xun failed. Lu Xun scored 59.3 points at that time. Obviously, this report card is different from what Lu Xun said. However, this does not mean that Lu Xun is deceiving everyone. There may be two reasons for this:
1, Mr. Lu Xun's memory is biased. After all, Mr. Fujino was written by Lu Xun/KLOC-0 in 1926 when he was in Xiamen University. I'm afraid no one can completely and impartially restore the experience more than 20 years ago.
2. Xiao Lin Maoxiong's report card is only one of the achievements of Lu Xun during his medical study. Lu Xun's failure in anatomy on this report card does not represent Lu Xun's achievements in all anatomical examinations at that time.
Mr Fujino's help to Lu Xun.
However, it can also be seen that even under the vigorous training of Mr. Fujino, it is still very difficult for Lu Xun to study medicine. Mr. Fujino mentioned Lu Xun's learning situation at that time in the article "Memories of Lu Xun":
Although Zhou Jun takes notes carefully in class, judging from his inability to fully listen and speak Japanese when he entered school, his study is likely to be very difficult. So I stayed after class, looked at Zhou Jun's notes and corrected Zhou Jun's omissions and mistakes.
Here, Mr. Fujino bluntly said that Lu Xun had learning difficulties at that time. First of all, the language barrier makes Lu Xun's study extremely difficult. Although Lu Xun studied Japanese hard in Tokyo, he also translated works. However, as we know, proper nouns in the medical field are more complicated and cannot be completely mastered by simple study. For a simple example, we China people express medical terms in Chinese today, but the term "deoxyribonucleic acid" is still very confusing and difficult to remember. Secondly, Lu Xun may have no talent in the medical field, and talent is innate and cannot be forced. Even if Mr. Fujino helps Lu Xun again and again, it is difficult for him to make progress in the medical field.
The Sino-Russian War, the persecution of the Japanese.
Lu Xun was a middle school student at that time, so it was not difficult to get a diploma in Japan. But the arrogant Lu Xun was not only unwilling to be ordinary, but also the medical college exam at that time was not as simple as it seems now. Sendai medical college also has a clear stipulation: if you fail two subjects, you will be expelled. Seeing that he had reached the edge of the cliff, Lu Xun had to make a new plan for his future. For a clever and hard-working person, God will never give him a way out. Lu Xun decisively gave up medicine and left Sendai. However, in addition to the above reasons, Lu Xun left Sendai for other reasons.
Look on coldly when you are helpless.
When Lu Xun came to Sendai, he just didn't want to go with China students in Tokyo. In addition, Tokyo at that time was full of strong militarism. In that era when information was blocked, Lu Xun thought that the militarism in Sendai might not be so strong. After arriving in Sendai, he realized that crows in Japan are generally black. At that time, militarism spread all over Japan, and the militarism in Sendai was no less than that in Tokyo. For example, the slide that Lu Xun saw at that time was a good proof that the Japanese army abused the people of China. Lu Xun wanted to find a quiet place in Sendai, but this silence finally tripped Lu Xun.
The statue of Lu Xun in Sendai Museum
Lu Xun's residence in Sendai is very close to the prison, so it is difficult to adapt to his diet and daily life. At that time, Lu Xun was the only China student in Sendai. Because of his language barrier and ideological opposition, it was difficult for him to integrate into the circle of Japanese students. Lu Xun lived alone and came to Sendai for peace, which backfired. When he was coldly discriminated against by Japanese students, there was no one around him to rely on. Perhaps discrimination can be tolerated overnight, but the strongest inner fortress will eventually be shattered after a long period of cold eyes. Lu Xun is really fed up with this life environment full of insults and discrimination. This is also an important reason why he left Sendai and abandoned medicine to join the literature. Lu Xun later said in a letter to a friend:
I came to live in Sendai, and after a full moon, I was bored without hanging a shadow.
Luxun's Wax Statue and His View of Traditional Chinese Medicine
Talent is the best capital.
Lu Xun can be said to be from a scholarly family. It is not difficult to see from the living environment described in his works that he was pampered at a young age. Before his grandfather's accident, Lu Xun was rich. Lu Xun has read many ancient documents since he was a child, which undoubtedly cultivated his literary accomplishment. Moreover, after arriving in Japan, Lu Xun did not give up the study of literature. For example, during his two years in Tokyo, he visited almost all clubs and bookstores and engaged in a lot of literary translation, which undoubtedly laid a solid foundation for his future development on the literary road. Perhaps Lu Xun has no medical talent, but his talent in literature is obvious. For Lu Xun, it is undoubtedly the best choice to abandon medicine and follow the literature and foster strengths and avoid weaknesses. But this choice is not only because of his enthusiasm to save the nation from fire and water, but also because of objective factors such as this achievement, loneliness and discrimination. It is precisely because of this series of external factors that a great revolutionary soldier was finally achieved.
Lu Xun's Literary City —— Complete Works of Lu Xun
After Lu Xun abandoned medicine and joined literature, he reached the peak of China's modern literary world. Through his writing style, he awakened a group of ambitious young people. However, all this is also the postscript of his abandoning medicine and joining the literature. It is impossible for Lu Xun to know that he can make such great achievements on the road of literature in the future when he is studying medicine. In fact, it is not only Lu Xun, Sun Yat-sen, Guo Moruo and others who gave up medicine in China's modern literary world, so does the medicine of saving lives really contribute to the survival of a country?
Dear medical staff
Can medicine really save the nation from extinction?
The contribution to the country can be divided into direct and indirect levels. The direct contribution is to heal the wounded and rescue the dying, go to the battlefield, set up industry and so on. The indirect contribution is to enlighten people's hearts and stimulate people's feelings from the fields of thought and literature. The former is tangible and the latter is intangible. What Lu Xun did was this transformation from tangible to intangible. Let's take a look at the current international situation: comparing 80,000 with 2 million, 4,000 with 65,438+10,000, we have to think that this is the prescient advocacy of medical scientists and the contribution of medical staff. Tang, the first virologist in China, developed smallpox vaccine during the war, which provided a solid guarantee for the rear medical security during the war in China. Therefore, medicine can not only treat dozens or hundreds of people, but also save thousands of people in times of crisis. Which is more important, saving people's lives or awakening people's minds? Maybe the answer should be the former. Because saving a life means saving a hope, and saving a life means saving a future. From this perspective, the potential contribution of medicine to the country is no less than literature.