吶喊吶喊nà hǎn — 1. shout 2. rallying cry 3. cheering 4. to shout (HSK 7-9) · 呐喊

What’s in it

吶喊 (Call to Arms) is Lu Xun's first story collection, gathering fourteen pieces written between 1918 and 1922 that together launched vernacular Chinese fiction as a serious literary form. It opens with 狂人日記 (Diary of a Madman), usually credited as the first modern short story written in colloquial Chinese: a paranoid narrator comes to believe the people around him are cannibals, and the story reads as an allegory for a Confucian social order that Lu Xun saw as quietly consuming the people trapped inside it. 孔乙己 follows a threadbare, failed examination candidate who clings to the vocabulary and manners of the scholar class even as the tavern crowd mocks him for it, and 藥 (Medicine) follows a couple who buy a steamed bun dipped in an executed revolutionary's blood, believing it will cure their son's tuberculosis.

The collection's best-known piece, 阿Q正傳 (The True Story of Ah Q), follows a penniless, friendless villager who turns every humiliation into an imagined victory rather than face it honestly — a coping mechanism Lu Xun meant as a diagnosis of the whole nation's habits of self-deception in the years after the fall of the Qing dynasty. Quieter stories like 故鄉 (My Old Home) and 社戲 (Village Opera) turn to Lu Xun's own memories of the Shaoxing countryside, giving the collection a range from savage satire to plain nostalgia.

Literary forms

• Chinese Short Stories

Key words 关键字

• 阿QĀ Q阿QĀ Q — Ah Q, antihero of Lu Xun's influential 1921 novella "The True Story of Ah Q" 阿Q正傳[A1 Q Zheng4 zhuan4] ("Q" here is typically pronounced as (kiū) or (qiū))
• 着zhāoHSK 1着zhāo — a move in chess (Taiwan pr. (zhuó)) · trick; tactic · (dialect) okay; all right · (dialect) to put in; to add (HSK 1)
• 麽mó麽mó — tiny · insignificant
• 喫chīHSK 1喫chī — variant of 吃 (chī) (HSK 1)
• 栓shuān栓shuān — bottle stopper · plug · (gun) bolt · (grenade) pin
• 法人fǎ rén法人fǎ rén — legal person · corporation · see also 自然人 (zì rán rén)
• 爲wéiHSK 2爲wéi — variant of 為 (wéi) (HSK 2)
• 孔乙己Kǒng Yǐ jǐ孔乙己Kǒng Yǐ jǐ — Kong Yiji, protagonist of a short story of the same name by Lu Xun 魯迅 (Lǔ Xùn) depicting the life of a poor, unsuccessful scholar who clings to his Confucian ideals despite his dismal circumstances
• 趙zhào趙zhào — to surpass (old)
• 鲁迅Lǔ Xùn鲁迅Lǔ Xùn — Lu Xun (1881-1936), one of the earliest and best-known modern Chinese writers
• 什shén什shén — what
• 假洋鬼子jiǎ yáng guǐ zi假洋鬼子jiǎ yáng guǐ zi — (derog.) wannabe foreigner, a Chinese person who apes the ways of foreigners
• 创作chuàng zuòHSK 3创作chuàng zuò — to create; to produce; to write · a creative work; a creation (HSK 3)
• 太爺tài yé太爺tài yé — (respectful for) one's grandfather · sb's father · older people · the head of the house (used by servants) · a district magistrate
• 閏rùn閏rùn — intercalary · an extra day or month inserted into the lunar or solar calendar (such as February 29)
• 纔cáiHSK 2纔cái — (variant of 才 (cái)) just now · (variant of 才 (cái)) (before an expression of quantity) only (HSK 2)
• 土穀祠tǔ gǔ cí土穀祠tǔ gǔ cí — temple dedicated to the local tutelary god 土地神 (tǔ dì shén) and the god of cereals
• 革命gé mìngHSK 7-9革命gé mìng — to withdraw the mandate of heaven (and transition to a new dynasty) (original meaning) · revolution · revolutionary · to revolt (against sb or sth) · to revolutionize (sth) · (separable verb sometimes used in the pattern 革noun的命) · classifier: 次 (cì) (HSK 7-9)
• 鄒Zōu鄒Zōu — surname Zou · vassal state during the Zhou Dynasty (1046–256 BC) in the southeast of Shandong
• 辮子biàn ziHSK 7-9辮子biàn zi — plait · braid · pigtail · a mistake or shortcoming that may be exploited by an opponent · handle · classifier: 根 (gēn), 條 (tiáo) (HSK 7-9)
• 鬍hú鬍hú — beard · mustache · whiskers
• 伊yī伊yī — (old) third person singular pronoun ("he" or "she") · second person singular pronoun ("you") · (May 4th period) third person singular feminine pronoun ("she") · (Classical Chinese) introductory particle with no specific meaning · (preceding a noun) that · (bound form) Iraq (abbr. for 伊拉克 (Yī lā kè)) · (bound form) Iran (abbr. for 伊朗 (Yī lǎng))
• 靑qīng靑qīng — variant of 青 (qīng)
• 怎麽zěn meHSK 1怎麽zěn me — variant of 怎麼 (zěn me) (HSK 1)

魯迅 Lu Xun

Lu Xun (魯迅, 1881–1936), born Zhou Shuren, first trained as a doctor in Japan before abandoning medicine for writing after a widely told turning point: a slide shown in one of his classes, of a Chinese man about to be executed by Japanese soldiers while a crowd of Chinese bystanders looked on with indifference, convinced him that his countrymen's sickness was one of spirit rather than body, and that literature, not surgery, was the cure he could offer. He is generally regarded as the founding figure of modern Chinese literature and one of the first major writers to work in baihua (vernacular Chinese) rather than the classical wenyan of the old scholar-official tradition. The collection's title — 吶喊, an outcry or a call to arms — states his purpose plainly: to wake a country he feared was sleepwalking toward its own destruction.

More by Lu Xun 同作者

• 彷徨Wandering
• 朝花夕拾Dawn Blossoms Plucked at Dusk
• 野草Wild Grass
• 故事新編 · 故事新编Old Tales Retold

Key vocabulary 词汇

• 一手交錢，一手交貨一手交錢，一手交貨yī shǒu jiāo qián , yī shǒu jiāo huò — lit. one hand exchanges the cash, the other the goods (idiom) · fig. to pay for what you want in cash · simple and direct transaction
• 一擁而入一擁而入yī yōng ér rù — to swarm in (of people etc) (idiom)
• 一瘸一拐一瘸一拐yī qué yī guǎi — to limp · to hobble
• 一發而不可收一發而不可收yī fā ér bù kě shōu — to be impossible to stop once started
• 一眨眼一眨眼yī zhǎ yǎn — in a wink
• 一筆勾銷一筆勾銷yī bǐ gōu xiāo — to write off at one stroke
• 丁字街丁字街dīng zì jiē — T-junction
• 七手八脚七手八脚qī shǒu bā jiǎo — (idiom) with everyone lending a hand (eagerly but somewhat chaotically)
• 丈八蛇矛丈八蛇矛zhàng bā shé máo — ancient spear-like weapon 18 Chinese feet 尺 (chǐ) in length, with a wavy spearhead like a snake's body
• 三國志三國志Sān guó zhì — History of the Three Kingdoms, fourth of the 24 dynastic histories 二十四史 (Èr shí sì Shǐ), composed by Chen Shou 陳壽 (Chén Shòu) in 289 during Jin Dynasty 晉朝 (Jìn cháo), 65 scrolls
• 三教九流三教九流sān jiào jiǔ liú — the Three Religions (Daoism, Confucianism, Buddhism) and Nine Schools (Confucians, Daoists, Yin-Yang, Legalists, Logicians, Mohists, Political Strategists, Eclectics, Agriculturists) · fig. people from all trades (often derog.)
• 上刑上刑shàng xíng — severe punishment · worst punishment · to torture
• 下箸下箸xià zhù — (literary) to eat
• 不下于不下于bù xià yú — as many as; no less than · not inferior to; as good as; on a par with
• 不值一笑不值一笑bù zhí yī xiào — of no value · worthless
• 不名一錢不名一錢bù míng yī qián — to be penniless
• 不恤不恤bù xù — not to worry · not to show concern
• 不憚不憚bù dàn — (literary) unafraid
• 不足齒數不足齒數bù zú chǐ shù — not worth mentioning · not worth considering
• 不適不適bù shì — unwell · indisposed · out of sorts (HSK 7-9)
• 与与yǔ — (formal) and; together with (linking parallel nouns, verbs, or phrases) · (formal) with; from (marking the other participant in an interaction, comparison, or contrast, e.g. 與他握手 (yǔ tā wò shǒu) "shake hands with him", 與去年不同 (yǔ qù nián bù tóng) "different from last year") · (literary) to give; to grant; to bestow (HSK 6)
• 东方东方Dōng fāng — the East; the Orient · two-character surname Dongfang (HSK 2)
• 並不在乎並不在乎bìng bù zài hu — really does not care
• 中华人民共和国中华人民共和国Zhōng huá Rén mín Gòng hé guó — People's Republic of China
• 中焦中焦zhōng jiāo — (TCM) middle burner, the part of the body within the abdominal cavity (between the diaphragm and the navel, including the spleen and stomach)
• 中興中興zhōng xīng — resurgence · recovery · restoration
• 主將主將zhǔ jiàng — commander-in-chief (military) · star player (sports) · key figure (in an organization)
• 之乎者也之乎者也zhī hū zhě yě — (lit.) 之 (zhī), 乎 (hū), 者 (zhě) and 也 (yě) (four grammatical particles of Classical Chinese) (idiom) · (fig.) archaic expressions
• 之所以之所以zhī suǒ yǐ — (after a noun N and before a predicate P) the reason why N P · Example: 我之所以討厭他 (wǒ zhī suǒ yǐ tǎo yàn tā) "the reason why I dislike him (is ...)" (HSK 7-9)
• 乾巴巴乾巴巴gān bā bā — dry · parched · dull · insipid
• 乾草乾草gān cǎo — hay
• 云云云云yún yún — and so on · so and so · many and confused
• 五虎將五虎將Wǔ hǔ jiàng — Liu Bei's five great generals in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, namely: Guan Yu 關羽, Zhang Fei 張飛, Zhao Yun 趙雲, Ma Chao 馬超, Huang Zhong 黃忠
• 亨亨hēng — prosperous · henry (unit of inductance)
• 人言嘖嘖人言嘖嘖rén yán zé zé — everyone comments disapprovingly (idiom)
• 住戶住戶zhù hù — household · inhabitant · householder (HSK 7-9)
• 佐證佐證zuǒ zhèng — evidence · proof · to confirm · corroboration
• 体现体现tǐ xiàn — to embody · to reflect · to incarnate (HSK 3)
• 佛學佛學Fó xué — Buddhist doctrine · Buddhist studies
• 作合作合zuò hé — to make a match · to get married
• 來示來示lái shì — (polite) your letter
• 供品供品gòng pǐn — offering
• 依據依據yī jù — according to · basis · foundation (HSK 5)
• 侮蔑侮蔑wǔ miè — contempt · to despise
• 便閉便閉biàn bì — see 便秘 (biàn mì)
• 促進促進cù jìn — to promote (an idea or cause); to advance; boost (HSK 4)
• 保險燈保險燈bǎo xiǎn dēng — kerosene lamp
• 俠氣俠氣xiá qì — chivalry
• 俸錢俸錢fèng qián — salary
• 倒數倒數dào shǔ — to count backwards (from 10 down to 0) · to count down · from the bottom (lines on a page) · from the back (rows of seats) (HSK 7-9)
• 倒運倒運dǎo yùn — to have bad luck
• 倘如倘如tǎng rú — if
• 假洋鬼子假洋鬼子jiǎ yáng guǐ zi — (derog.) wannabe foreigner, a Chinese person who apes the ways of foreigners
• 停頓停頓tíng dùn — to halt · to break off · pause (in speech) (HSK 7-9)
• 側面側面cè miàn — lateral side · side · aspect · profile (HSK 7-9)
• 偶像偶像ǒu xiàng — idol (HSK 5)
• 偷漢偷漢tōu hàn — see 偷漢子 (tōu hàn zi)
• 傍午傍午bàng wǔ — towards noon; just before midday
• 傾向傾向qīng xiàng — trend · tendency · orientation (HSK 6)
• 傾耳傾耳qīng ěr — to prick up one's ear · to listen attentively
• 傾陷傾陷qīng xiàn — to frame (an innocent person) · to collapse
• 像元像元xiàng yuán — (remote sensing) pixel
• 僚僚liáo — bureaucrat · colleague
• 僭稱僭稱jiàn chēng — to give sb or sth a title one has no authority to give
• 僱僱gù — variant of 雇 (gù) (HSK 7-9)
• 儀器儀器yí qì — instrument; apparatus · classifier: 臺 (tái) (HSK 6)
• 儘先儘先jǐn xiān — in the first instance · as a first priority
• 優勝優勝yōu shèng — (of a contestant) winning; superior; excellent
• 元寶元寶yuán bǎo — a silver or gold ingot · mock ingot (burnt as offering in worship) · a name for ancient currency · a rare genius
• 光波光波guāng bō — light wave
• 入教入教rù jiào — to join a religion
• 全同全同quán tóng — identical
• 全新全新quán xīn — all new; completely new (HSK 6)
• 全球全球quán qiú — the whole world · worldwide; global (HSK 3)
• 公共公共gōng gòng — public; common; communal (HSK 3)
• 冰窖冰窖bīng jiào — icehouse
• 决决jué — to decide · to determine · to execute (sb) · (of a dam etc) to breach or burst · definitely · certainly
• 冷僻冷僻lěng pì — out-of-the-way · deserted · unfamiliar · obscure
• 减少减少jiǎn shǎo — to lessen; to decrease; to reduce; to lower (HSK 4)
• 凶狠凶狠xiōng hěn — cruel · vicious · fierce and malicious · vengeful (HSK 7-9)
• 凶猛凶猛xiōng měng — fierce · violent · ferocious (HSK 7-9)
• 凶相凶相xiōng xiàng — ferocious appearance
• 出洋出洋chū yáng — to go abroad (old)
• 出活出活chū huó — to finish a job on time · to produce the goods
• 出界出界chū jiè — to cross a border · (sport) to go out of bounds
• 出錢出錢chū qián — to pay
• 分擔分擔fēn dān — to share (a burden, a cost, a responsibility) (HSK 7-9)
• 切膚之痛切膚之痛qiè fū zhī tòng — keenly felt pain · bitter anguish
• 切近切近qiè jìn — close; near · similar to
• 切迫切迫qiè pò — urgent
• 列傳列傳liè zhuàn — historical biography
• 则则zé — (literary) (conjunction used to express contrast with a previous clause) but; then · (bound form) standard; norm · (bound form) principle · (literary) to imitate; to follow · classifier for written items (HSK 7-9)
• 创作创作chuàng zuò — to create; to produce; to write · a creative work; a creation (HSK 3)
• 初年初年chū nián — early years
• 删去删去shān qù — to delete
• 刮目相待刮目相待guā mù xiāng dài — see 刮目相看 (guā mù xiāng kàn)
• 到點到點dào diǎn — it's time (to do sth) · the time has come
• 前驅前驅qián qū — precursor · pioneer
• 剪掉剪掉jiǎn diào — to cut off · to cut away · to trim
• 副刊副刊fù kān — supplement
• 副手副手fù shǒu — assistant
• 創始創始chuàng shǐ — to initiate; to found
• 劇場劇場jù chǎng — theater · classifier: 座 (zuò) (HSK 3)
• 加之加之jiā zhī — moreover; in addition to that
• 加緊加緊jiā jǐn — to intensify · to speed up · to step up (HSK 7-9)
• 勃然勃然bó rán — suddenly · abruptly · agitatedly · excitedly · vigorously
• 勢均力敵勢均力敵shì jūn lì dí — (idiom) evenly matched
• 勸告勸告quàn gào — to advise · to urge · to exhort · exhortation · advice · classifier: 席 (xí) (HSK 7-9)
• 勸誘勸誘quàn yòu — to prevail upon · to coax
• 包票包票bāo piào — guarantee certificate
• 區別區別qū bié — difference · to distinguish · to discriminate · to make a distinction · classifier: 個 (gè) (HSK 3)
• 半懂不懂半懂不懂bàn dǒng bù dǒng — to not fully understand · to only partly understand
• 卑下卑下bēi xià — base · low
• 博徒博徒bó tú — gambler
• 参考参考cān kǎo — consultation · reference · to consult · to refer (HSK 4)
• 反應反應fǎn yìng — to react · to respond · reaction · response · reply · chemical reaction · classifier: 個 (gè) (HSK 3)
• 发表发表fā biǎo — to issue · to publish (HSK 3)
• 取消取消qǔ xiāo — to cancel; to call off; to revoke; to rescind (HSK 3)
• 受潮受潮shòu cháo — to get moist; to get damp (due to humidity, seepage etc)
• 口訥口訥kǒu nè — (literary) inarticulate
• 口頭禪口頭禪kǒu tóu chán — Zen saying repeated as cant · (fig.) catchphrase; mantra; favorite expression; stock phrase
• 古典古典gǔ diǎn — classical (HSK 6)
• 史上史上shǐ shàng — in history
• 号号háo — (bound form) to wail; to howl (HSK 1)
• 吁吁吁吁xū xū — to pant · to gasp for breath
• 合奏合奏hé zòu — to perform music (as an ensemble)
• 同謀同謀tóng móu — to conspire with sb · to plot · a conspirator · a partner in crime · an accomplice
• 同黨同黨tóng dǎng — to belong to the same party or organization · member of the same party or organization; (derog.) confederate; accomplice
• 名角名角míng jué — famous actor
• 君子動口不動手君子動口不動手jūn zǐ dòng kǒu bù dòng shǒu — a gentleman uses his mouth and not his fist
• 吸烟吸烟xī yān — to smoke (HSK 4)
• 周作人周作人Zhōu Zuò rén — Zhou Zuoren (1885-1967), brother of Lu Xun 魯迅 (Lǔ Xùn), academic in Japanese and Greek studies, briefly imprisoned after the war as Japanese collaborator, persecuted and died of unknown causes during the Cultural Revolution
• 呪呪zhòu — variant of 咒 (zhòu)
• 咸與維新咸與維新xián yù wéi xīn — everyone participates in reforms (idiom) · to replace the old with new · to reform and start afresh
• 哺養哺養bǔ yǎng — feed · rear
• 唾罵唾罵tuò mà — to spit on and curse · to revile
• 單傳單傳dān chuán — to have only one heir in a generation (of a family, clan etc) · to be learned from only one master (of a skill, art etc)
• 單方單方dān fāng — unilateral · one-sided · home remedy · folk prescription(same as 丹方) · single-drug prescription (same as 奇方 (jī fāng), one of the seven kinds of prescriptions of Chinese medicine 七方 (qī fāng)) · metaphorically. a good solution
• 嘉定嘉定Jiā dìng — Jiading district of northwest Shanghai · final reign name 1208-1224 of South Song emperor Ningzong 寧宗 (Níng zōng)
• 嘷嘷háo — variant of 嗥 (háo)
• 嚄嚄huò — (interj.) oh!
• 嚮嚮xiàng — to tend toward · to guide · variant of 向 (xiàng) (HSK 2)
• 囚徒囚徒qiú tú — prisoner; convict
• 回望回望huí wàng — to return sb's gaze; to meet sb's eyes · to look back (to one's rear) · (fig.) to look back at (the past); to reflect on
• 固定固定gù dìng — to fix · to fasten · to set rigidly in place · fixed · set · regular (HSK 4)
• 固窮固窮gù qióng — to endure poverty stoically
• 團丁團丁tuán dīng — (old) member of local militia
• 土穀祠土穀祠tǔ gǔ cí — temple dedicated to the local tutelary god 土地神 (tǔ dì shén) and the god of cereals
• 土財主土財主tǔ cái zhǔ — local wealthy landlord · country money-bags · rich provincial
• 在于在于zài yú — to rest with; to lie in; to be due to (a certain attribute) · (of a matter) to be determined by; to be up to (sb) (HSK 4)