Abstract:
As the greatest masterpiece of Lu Xun’s “self-examining” literature, The True Story of Ah Q is a Sphinx’s riddle to us Chinese ourselves. The spirit of Ah Q, that is, the so-called doctrine of spiritual triumph, is neither a common shortcoming of humanity nor a rotten and failing mood of exploiting rulers. It suggests the unhealthy psychology and habit of broad small producers with traditional peasants as the mainstay, which is deep rooted in broad masses in the long historical tradition of our country. Lu Xun, breaking away from the traditional ideology, traditional means and traditional aesthetic conception, portrayed the image of “my Ah Q”. With this literary image, Lu Xun “had intended” to make people have “self-examination”, encourage them to turn a new leaf, set free their minds and break the shackles of old ideology so as to realize modernization of men and carry out the great take-off of the Chinese nation.
