Abstract:Lu Xun had written in classical Chinese for an extensive period of time prior to the May Fourth Movement. His classical Chinese writings unfolded against the backdrop of classical Chinese becoming modernized in late Qing. Under the influence of and with the attempt to transcend such modern essayists as Yan Fu, Liang Qichao, Zhang Taiyan and Lin Shu, he sought to integrate newly discovered literary modernity with refined classical Chinese. Five classical Chinese essays systematically expound his idea of achieving salvation through literature. These works push the argumentative power of modernized classical Chinese to its peak with a strong sense of subjectivity, profound problem awareness, complex internal logic, and rich emotions. The Collection of Foreign Novels directly connects the refined classical Chinese with the “new school of foreign literature and art”, and conducts an extreme experiment on the possibility of literal translation of modern novels into classical Chinese. Nostalgia is already a modern novel written in classical Chinese. Lu Xun's classical Chinese writings represent the final efforts of late Qing classical Chinese. These experiences of frustration result in his firm turn to vernacular writing during the May Fourth period.
汪卫东. 文言对接现代性的试验:论鲁迅前“五四”时期的文言写作[J]. 华中师范大学学报(人文社会科学版), 2024, 63(4): 107-114.
Wang Weidong. The Experiment of Classical Chinese Integrating with Modern Chinese: A Study on Lu Xun's Classical Chinese Writings before the May Fourth Movement. journal1, 2024, 63(4): 107-114.