Lu Xun Belongs to the World More Than to East Asia

The system and depth of Lu Xun’s knowledge of Italian and French civilization since Renaissance is obviously exceeding his translation and introduction of the Eastern and Northern European weak nations, mainly the Slavic literature. He pays much concern to French civilization, with emphasis on literature and art, and science and technology, political history and ideological academy as well. He notices the humanistic ideas in French modern science and technology, reflects the relationship between individual and community after French Revolution, the contemporary French politics including French policy on its Northern African colonies, and the political position of French cultural figures, from which he acquires his beneficial revelations for Chinese intellectuals. Lu Xun is neither an expert of French literature, nor a French speaker, but he is interested in French literature all his life by odd translation. He has a deep understanding of Rousseau, Hugo, Boudelaire, Roman Roland, Anatole France, and Gide, etc. In the art field of modern woodcut picture, he engages in “in-taking” and “sending-out”, which is a brilliant success in the history of Chinese-French interchange of literature and art. Making clear Lu Xun’s relationship to French civilization can help see a big picture of a “Lu Xun of the world” out of the previous narrow view that restrict him to China and the East Asia.