The Asia-Pacific Journal | Japan Focus Volume 5 | Issue 2 | Article ID 2344 | Feb 02, 2007

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Japanese Visions of Lu Xun in the Light of the Magic LanternIncident

Christopher Robins

Japanese Visions of Lu Xun in the Lightof the Magic Lantern Incident

By Christopher Robins

Abandoning Medicine to Minister to theChinese Spirit through Literature

In January of 1906 in the northeasternJapanese city of Sendai, China’s most famousmodern writer, Lu Xun (Zhou Shuren1881-1936), claimed to have experienced a life-changing epiphany that led him to abandon hismedical studies and “devote himself to thecreation of a literature that would minister tothe ailing Chinese psyche.” [1] The now famous“magic lantern (slide) incident” allegedly tookplace at the end of Lu Xun’s bacteriology classat the Sendai Medical School. The lesson hadended early and the instructor used the slideprojector to show various images to studentsfrom the recently concluded Russo-JapaneseWar (1904-05). Lu Xun later recounted that theJapanese medical students were roused into apatriotic frenzy by scenes of the war,culminating in reverberating chants of“banzai!” One scene showed a Chinese prisonerabout to be executed in Manchuria by aJapanese soldier and the caption described thisman as a Russian spy (see image 1). Lu Xunreported that rather than the sight of a fellowChinese facing death, it was the expression onthe faces of the Chinese bystanders thattroubled him deeply. Although they appeared to

be physically sound, he felt that spiritually theywere close to death.

Image 1: Portrait of the “magic lanternincident”

Through the lens of Chinese nationalism afterWorld War II and the victory of the communistsin 1949, the slide incident came to representLu Xun’s prescient decision to reject Japan’sbellicose nationalism and Western-style sciencein favor of a politically-motivated literature. LuXun’s “conversion” to a life of literaturesuggests a quasi-religious renunciation of hispast life and the beginning of a process ofspiritual and political purification following his

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extensive contact with China’s longstandingnational nemesis.

As an intellectual who was both sharply criticalof traditional Chinese social institutions andactive in socialist literary and political circlesuntil his death in 1936, Lu Xun’s apotheosis asa national icon within the Chinese CommunistParty was swift and enduring. On the firstanniversary of Lu Xun’s death, Mao spoke to anassembly at the North Shaanxi Public School inYan’an and assessed Lu Xun’s influence onChina as comparable to Confucius: “The valueof Lu Xun in China is that he should beregarded as the number one sage of China.Confucius was the sage of the feudal society;Lu Xun is the sage of the New China.” [2] In1940 Mao showered Lu Xun with praise for hisrole in the May Fourth New Culture movementand paved the way for his elevation to thestatus of national hero and party stalwart:

Lu Xun was the greatest and mostcourageous standard-bearer of thisc u l t u r a l f o r c e . T h e c h i e fcommander of China’s culturalrevolution, he was not only a greatman of unyielding integrity, freefrom all syncophancy . . . he wasalso the bravest and most correct,the firmest, the most loyal and themost ardent national hero, a herowithout parallel in our history. Theroad he took was the very road ofChina’s new national culture. [3]

Thanks to the adoption of many of Lu Xun’sstories as part of the official People’s Republicof China public school curriculum, the detailsof his early life and his identity as a nationalhero became firmly enshrined in the memoriesof millions of Chinese citizens. A number of LuXun’s short stories and essays, including the

story “Mr. Fujino,” also became familiar toJapanese students after they were included inthe public school curriculum after the PacificWar in the 1950s. [4]

The Canonization of Fujino-sensei

The story of Lu Xun’s life in Japan has longfascinated Japanese readers as a means ofunderstanding his transformation into China’sgreatest modern writer. Lu Xun’s descriptionsof his time in Japan appeal to Japanese readersnot only because of his famous epiphanyfollowing the slide incident, but also because ofthe countervailing narrative of Lu Xun’srelationship with his former anatomy teacherand mentor at medical school, Professor FujinoGenkuro (1874-1945).

Fujino is recalled fondly in several of Lu Xun’sworks, including a vignette based on hisrelationship with the professor entitled “Mr.Fujino,” written in 1926. Lu Xun was the firstChinese student to study at the Sendai MedicalSchool, and during his first semester of study,Professor Fujino offered to review and correcthis lecture notes for him on a weekly basis. Thedescription of Fujino’s appearance in Lu Xun’saccount of the same name created anendearing portrait of a somewhat absent-minded and rumpled professor devoted todistraction in his work.

Professor Fujino was in charge ofanatomy. His skin was dark and hewore an arching moustache andnearsighted glasses on his gauntface. He spoke very slowly with alilting cadence in his voice and hisunkempt western-style clotheswere carelessly attired. He was thek ind o f pe r son who wou ldsometimes forget to put on his tie.

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[5]

Image 2: Photograph of Professor Fujino

Before Lu Xun withdrew from the medicalschool in Sendai and moved to Tokyo to enrollin German language classes, Fujino gave LuXun a photograph of himself and wrote theChinese characters sekibetsu (regrettableparting) on the back (see image 2). The story oftheir relationship was not widely known untilafter Lu Xun’s death when his works began tobe introduced to Japanese readers. At thatpoint Fujino was discovered living in relativeobscurity in his hometown in Fukui Prefecture.After Fujino died in 1945, his heretoforemodest life became so intertwined with thefame of his former student that his house inAwara City became a museum, and a memorialin Fukui City was dedicated to the memory oftheir relationship inscribed with the wordsekibetsu.

For Japanese fans of Lu Xun, Professor Fujino’sphotograph that hung over Lu Xun’s writingdesk encapsulates the legacy of his experiencein Japan. The photograph suggests Lu Xun’slifelong devotion to his former teacher and alingering awareness of an unsettled debt. Thistheme is expressed in the following excerptfrom “Mr. Fujino,” where Lu Xun describes hisreaction to receiving the photograph from

Fujino.

At the end of the second semester,I visited Fujino-sensei and notifiedhim that I wanted to quit medicalstudies and planned to leaveSendai. A look of sadness seemedto come over his face. Two or threedays before leaving I was invited tohis house and he gave me aphotograph. The two Chinesecharacters, “sekibetsu,” werewritten on the back. Although Isaid that I would give him myphotograph, unfortunately, Icouldn’t afford it at that time. Heeagerly requested that I send hima photo if I had one taken, and heasked me to send him lettersperiodically to keep him abreast ofmy situation from that point on.Yet, as time passed, it becameharder to write and make amends;I just couldn’t take up my brush.The situation is still the same up tothe present—I didn’t send onesingle letter or photograph. I don’tknow why, but even today Ireminisce about him frequently. Ofall of the teachers whom I revere,he was the one person who gaveme the greatest encouragementand inspiration. His picture alonehangs on the east wall facing mydesk in my home in Beijing. In themiddle of the night when I’m boredwith my work and I feel l ikequitting, I look up at his dark andgaunt face in the lamplight. Evennow, when I gaze upon that facethat looks like it is about to holdforth in that harsh tone of voice, itpricks my conscience and gives mecourage. At that point I light up acigarette, and once again, continue

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writing literature deeply detestedby “saints and virtuous scholars.”[6]

For many Japanese readers, and undoubtedlyChinese readers as well, Fujino’s photographstands as a kind of devotional icon, an undyingsymbol of the teacher’s lasting influence uponhis student. Lu Xun’s inability to reciprocateFujino’s kindness and maintain contact over theyears seems to fuel a lingering sense of guiltand inadequacy that spurs him to work harder.The inscription on the photograph conveys aspecial intimacy that transcends the strictlyformal relationship between teacher andstudent.

The first translations of Lu Xun’s work intoJapanese appeared in Beijing in the 1920s, andthese works were then collected into a bookpublished in Japan in 1924 with an introductoryessay written by the progressive politicalthinker Yoshino Sakuzo (1878-1933). [7] LuXun’s association with the progressive politicalmovement during the relative freedom of thelate 1920s and early 1930s seems to haveenhanced the reception of his works in Japan.

When Lu Xun died from tuberculosis in 1936,newspapers in Japan published extensivecoverage and featured essays on his life andwork by a number of Japanese writers andcritics. By this time, the proletarian literarymovement in Japan had been thoroughlysuppressed by the government and nearly all ofthe Japanese writers with socialist sympathieshad publicly renounced socialism (tenko). LuXun enjoyed tremendous popularity amongthese proletarian writers, including the famouswriter, poet, and critic Nakano Shigeharu(1902-1979), who wrote a biography of Lu Xunin 1939. [8]

Another writer drawn to Lu Xun’s life and workwas Dazai Osamu (Tsushima Shuji, 1909-1948).Like Nakano, Dazai ran afoul of the Japaneseauthorities for his left-wing political activitiesin the early 1930s. By the end of 1932, Dazaijoined the long list of Japanese writers withsocialist agendas who had publicly disavowedparticipation in the movement. [9]

Lu Xun as a Mouthpiece for WartimeJapanese Propaganda

Ironically, it was Dazai—a fellow writer whoprofessed respect for Lu Xun’s work andprogressive modernizing agenda—who wrote anovel about Lu Xun’s time as a medical studentin Japan, depicting his decision to give upmedicine as rooted in personal humiliation andinspired by the models of modern Japanesepolitical philosophy and literature. Dazaibetrayed and distorted the spirit of Lu Xun’spolitical viewpoints in his propaganda novelentitled Sekibetsu, published in 1945. Thisnovel was one of a small number of novelscommissioned by the wartime Japanesegovernment to express the ideals of the GreaterEast Asia Joint Declaration, an outcome of theGreater East Asia Conference of November 5-6,1943. Originally Dazai was chosen to write onthe theme of “Independence and Amity.” [10]

The first-person narrator of Sekibetsu is adoctor in his sixties from a small country castletown in the North Country of Tohoku(northeastern Japan). It has been forty yearssince the narrator was a fellow medical studentwith the young Zhou Shuren (Lu Xun) studyingat the Sendai Medical School. The narrator,whose name is Tanaka, recounts how he wasinspired to write his own reminiscence of LuXun’s time in Sendai after being interviewed bya newspaper reporter about his acquaintancewith the late distinguished author. Then a r r a t o r — a n a l t e r e g o f o rDazai—disingenuously distances himself from

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the propagandistic tone of the reporter’sarticle, which was entitled “Pioneers in Amity.”Tanaka describes his own motivation in writingabout Lu Xun as pure and politically unbiased.

That sort of piece with a social andpolitical purpose cannot help butbe writ ten in that way. I t ’sinevitably different from theportrait that I have in my heart;you could say that since I’mwriting this as a decrepit oldcountry doctor who longs for along-lost friend, more than for asocial or political purpose, it is myfervent prayer to carefully recordfor posterity the image of thatperson. [11]

Tanaka first meets Zhou (Lu Xun) aboard a boatheaded for the famous sightseeing spot ofMatsushima along the coast of MiyagiPrefecture. Tanaka notices Zhou wearing thesame school uniform; they exchange greetings,and end up sharing a room together in aseaside inn. During their long discussionsthrough the night, Zhou laments the plight ofcontemporary China. He claims that China isdrunk with meaningless self-praise as a countrywith a long-gone glorious past, while blind tothe present and destined for the same fate asneighboring India. Zhou asserts that the rulersof the current Qing Dynasty are lazy. As part ofhis effort to shake China out of its malaise, hestates his wish to become the next SugitaGenpaku (1733-1817). Genpaku was a scholarof Dutch language during the Edo Period whotranslated texts on medicine into Japanese andhelped physicians keep abreast of Westernlearning during Japan’s long era of isolation.Genpaku represents a figure who helped to laythe groundwork for Japan’s modernizationprocess that would come later. [12]

Over the course of this one evening Zhououtlines his worldview and discusses thehistory of China’s colonization during thenineteenth century by an array of Westernpowers including England, France, Russia, andGermany. He also mentions America's growingimperialist ambitions in the Pacific, with therecent annexation of Hawaii and the acquisitionof the Philippines from Spain. He does notmention Japan’s colonization of Taiwan or thecontemporary battle with Russia in NortheastAsia. Zhou does describe the rising tide ofpolitical activism among Chinese intellectuals,many of whom enjoyed political sanctuary inJapan; he refers to intellectuals and politicalactivists such as Liang Qichao (1873-1929),Kang Youwei (1858-1927), and Sun Yatsen(1866-1925). Both Liang and Kang fled to Japanfrom China after the failed Hundred DaysReform in 1898, a reform effort modeled on theMeiji Restoration and aimed at establishing aconstitution, a parliament, and a reformededucational system.

Zhou’s recollection of how he felt when he firstcame to Japan in 1902 underscores hisimpression of Japan’s superiority in contrast tocontemporary China. Zhou first went to Japanto study Japanese language at Kobun College inTokyo on a Qing government- fundedscholarship.

I rode a train headed for Shinbashiand when I took a look out thewindow, I sensed that Japan had aunique feeling of purity that wasnot to be found anywhere else inthe world. The rice paddies andf a r m i n g f i e l d s , p e r h a p sunconsciously, were beautifullyand perfectly arranged. Then therewere the rows of factories withtheir black smoke filling the sky. Itfelt like there was a refreshingbreeze blowing through each and

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every one of the factory buildings.I had never seen this brand neworder and air of vitality in China.After this, whenever I went for awalk in downtown Tokyo early inthe morning, I saw the figure of awoman in every house with a newtowel covering her head and a sashholding up her sleeves, busilytaking a duster to the shoji .Indeed, when I saw this intent andappealing figure bathed in themorning light, I began to think ofthis as a symbol of Japan; I felt likeI had understood a glimpse of thetrue nature of a sacred nation. Ieasily experienced a similaradmirable feeling of purity likethat one, based on a quick glanceat the area between Yokohama andShinbashi. In other words, just alittle was enough. The dark shadowof ennui wasn’t malingeringanywhere. I was happy that I cameto Japan and my chest thumpedwith joy. I was so excited that Icouldn’t sit down, even thoughthere were plenty of seats, duringthe one hour ride from Yokohamato Shinbashi I stood up nearly thewhole time. [13]

In contrast to his breathless admiration for theindustrious Japanese people and their landbrimming with productive fields and factories,Zhou speaks disparagingly of his fellowChinese in Japan. His disdain for other Chinesealso manifests itself as a kind of self-loathing.Zhou explains how ashamed he was of hisqueue. The Manchu-led Qing governmentrequired all males to wear the queue and shavethe front of their pates. He describes how heand his fellow students would coil up theirbraids and put them inside their school caps,but they couldn’t help being embarrassed when

they were forced to remove those caps.

When Zhou went to Sendai in 1904, as the onlyChinese and first foreign student to attend themedical school, he encountered both a warmreception from school officials and locals, andcondescension and mistrust from some of hisfellow students. In Dazai’s novel, Tanakasupports Zhou through his friendship, but astime passes, Zhou faces hosti l ity andskepticism from many classmates and evenFujino himself. The hostility comes for tworeasons: many students distrust and disdainZhou because he is Chinese, and they alsocome to bel ieve that he has receivedpreferential treatment from Professor Fujino.In the highly competitive environment ofmedical school this is no small matter.

A number of issues threaten to divide thefriendship between Tanaka and Zhou. Onearrogant classmate from Tokyo named TsudaKenji remarks to Tanaka that Zhou, who wassent to study in Japan on a government-fundedscholarship, could very well be a Chinese spy.He also asserts that, considering the fact thatnearly every one of the Chinese students inJapan were political activists, they might betempted to spy for Russia to gain political ormilitary influence in an attempt to overthrowthe Qing government. Tsuda, who is one of theclass officers, emphasizes that this is Fujino’sview and that he expressed his concerns aboutZhou during a class meeting. Tsuda says that“we need to be on guard; friendly on the onehand and watchful on the other. That’s why Itake that foreign student into my boardinghouse and help him out, while at the same time,I try to do things in accordance with Japaneseforeign relations.” [14] Tanaka and Tsudaargue, and finally Tsuda angrily accusesTanaka of being a traitor and a juveniledelinquent.

The next day Tanaka asks Fujino about this and

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the professor admits that he did discuss thepresence of Zhou during one of the classmeetings, but that he had emphasized the needfor all of the students to help him so that hecan return to China and improve medicalscience there. Tanaka presses him further andFujino is vague, but he points to an article inthe newspaper about a chrysanthemum viewingparty held at the Akasaka Detached Palace.With a grave expression, Fujino asks, “Doesn’tit give you confidence to see the light of thenation shining brightly from such a distance?”He adds obliquely, “I don’t know if I shouldspeak of the superior benevolence of thekokutai (body politic), but I feel this even moredeeply during times of war.” [15] Tanaka seemsto interpret Fujino’s cryptic comments as a firmaffirmation of the Japanese emperor-centeredideology.

Fujino asks Tanaka if he and Zhou are friends.Tanaka replies quickly, “No, we’re notparticularly good friends, but I’m thinking I’dlike to become closer to him.” Tanaka mentionshow he and Zhou had discussed politics andphilosophy. At that, Fujino mumbles almost tohimself, “Revolutionary ideas . . .” Fujino thenruminates about his own family and his oftentumultuous relationship with his brother. Then,in a statement that echoes the rhetoric of theGreater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere, hestates his belief that all of the Orient is onefamily. Here Fujino’s political stance is madeclear and he cannot be construed as having anaive attitude toward a potentially dangerousideologue such as Zhou.

Rewriting the Magic Lantern Incident:From Resolution to Humiliation

In Sekibetsu, the magic lantern incident islargely discounted as the actual motivation forLu Xun’s decision to quit his medical studies. Inthe afterword to Sekibetsu, Dazai explains thathe relied on Oda Takeo’s biography of Lu Xun

(Ro Jin-den) published in 1941 as well asTakeuchi Yoshimi’s definitive biography (RoJin) which came out in 1944. Takeuchi was thefirst to question the authenticity of Lu Xun’sclaim that he abandoned his medical studies towrite literature after seeing the slide of theChinese prisoner being executed. This was apopular anecdote conveyed in Oda’s biographyas well as others, but Takeuchi dismissed thisas lacking in historical evidence:

Lu Xun did not leave Sendai armedwith the great ambition that hewould salvage the spiritual povertyof his fellow countrymen throughliterature. It was more likely thathe took leave of the city smitten bya feeling of humiliation andindignation. He must not have hadthe luxury to think, “Althoughmedical science has failed me, Iwill do much better in literature.”.. . In any case I am inclined toconclude that the slide incidenthad no direct bearing upon histransfer to literature. [16]

It seems that Dazai was persuaded byTakeuchi’s view since Sekibetsu’s narrator,Tanaka, expresses similar skepticism about therole of the magic lantern incident in shaping LuXun’s future ambitions. Tanaka says of theincident:

I think that the explanation thateveryone has been talking aboutrecently is not exactly correct; thatdue to the so-called “magic lanternincident,” doubts (about Westernscience) suddenly arose in Zhou’sheart. According to some, Lu Xunwrote his recollections of Sendai in

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his later years and it did seem that,indeed, he resolved to make thetransition from medicine toliterature due to this magic lanternincident. Yet I think that, for hisown reasons, he was writing thesethings as a way of dealing with hispast in a shorthand fashion. Itseems that often people have tocommunicate the main points oftheir history after it has beenthoroughly reconstructed in thisway. [17]

Tanaka offers a number of alternativeexplanations for Zhou’s sudden change ofheart, including the suggestion that Zhoubecame dazzled by the glory of contemporaryJapanese literature. Tanaka assigns thegreatest influence on Zhou to an anonymousletter that was sent to him during the fallsemester of his second year in Sendai. On thefirst page of the letter was scrawled theadmonition: “Repent your evil ways!” The letteraccused Zhou of receiving the answers to thetests from Fujino when he corrected his lecturenotes. Tanaka interprets this situation asinfinitely more serious than the slide incident;he even speculates that this could spark aninternational scandal if thousands of Zhou’soutraged fellow Chinese students in Japan wereto come to his aid and question the integrity ofthe Sendai Medical School. [18] Not only doesthis have the potential to impugn the honor ofthe Japanese medical students, but just assignificantly, Tanaka sees this as the source ofgreat humiliation for Zhou and the primaryimpetus behind his decision to abandonmedical studies. In contrast to the slideincident in which his moral conscience ispricked, the insulting and accusatory letterostensibly sows the seeds of shame andalienation.

Dazai’s rewriting of Lu Xun’s famous narrative

of dramatic epiphany deflates the original toneof firm resolution and moral indignation andemphasizes instead resignation in the face ofadversity. As a wartime propaganda novel, thisseems to achieve the desired effect insuggesting that Lu Xun—an icon of Chinesemodernity and progressive pol i t icalconsciousness—is incapable of rational,principled, independent agency, but rather,must be more concerned with “saving face”when threatened with humiliation. Near theend of the novel, Zhou discusses the magiclantern incident and credits it with kindling anew personal commitment to changing China’snational character, yet his prescriptions forChina’s ailments could never be accepted bycontemporary Chinese nationalists. In recallingthe famous slide incident, he contrasts theChinese bystanders with the Japanese soldiersand expresses his pessimism for China’spolitical future.

When I saw this I couldn’t juststand there and watch. The peopleof my country are s t i l l in adegenerate state. Our ally Japanhas united its nation and is fightingbravely and I don’t understandwhat’s behind the fellow whobecame a military spy for theenemy—he was probably paid a lotof money—yet to me, more thanthat traitor, I really couldn’t standthe idiotic faces of those peoplegathered around watching in adaze. Those are the faces of theChinese people today. It’s aprob lem o f the sp i r i t . Theimportant thing for China today isnot physical strength; didn’t all ofthose onlookers have perfectlygood bodies? My conviction hasdeepened that for those people,the most important thing is notmedicine at all: it’s a spiritual

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revolution. It’s the improvement ofthe national character. If thingscontinue as they are now, Chinawill not be able to establish thehonor o f becoming a rea l ,permanently independent country.Even if they expel the Qing, restoret h e H a n , a n d e s t a b l i s h aconstitution, since the source ofthe product is still the same, isn’t ithopeless? [19]

Rejecting the West and China, EmbracingJapanese-Style Modernity

Zhou’s speech suggests that China’s problemsare endemic and intractable. Although Zhoudiagnoses China’s problem as spiritual, heconcludes that the remedy lies neither inWestern religion nor the Chinese Confuciantradition. After visiting a Methodist church witha fellow classmate named Yashima, Zhou findsthat he cannot stomach listening to a sermonabout Moses leading his people out of Egypt,and he concludes that even though Moses wasable to lead his people to the promised land,they were forced to endure forty long years ofsuffering and cursed him when it was all over.Zhou is skeptical that the common people canbe saved in this way; that this can alleviatetheir deep suffering and slave-like mentality.He also voices his view that Confucianism isuseless as a socio-political philosophy, since itall comes down to the rites which “theConfucian scholars teach as the final mode ofbehavior, but instead, princes insult theretainers and fathers bind sons in hypocriticalcustoms and force them into degeneracy.” [20]

After rejecting Western Christianity andChinese orthodox Confucianism, Zhou decidesthat he can find inspiration for helping China

modernize from the Japanese NationalLearning (kokugaku) scholars who paved theway for the Meiji Restoration: scholars such asKeichu (1640-1701), Kamo no Mabuchi(1697-1769), Motoori Norinaga (1730-1801),and Hirata Atsutane (1776-1843). He tells thenarrator that it was not scientific knowledgethat enabled the reforms of the Meiji era, butrather, the spiritual enlightenment of thosewriters as well as Confucian historians like RaiSan’yo (1780-1832). He asserts that theyprovided the fuel for the miracle of the MeijiRestoration. Zhou praises the spiritual values ofthe Edo intellectuals while condemning theWestern emphasis on science as lacking anethical consciousness: “It was extremelydangerous to utilize the hedonism of science tosave one’s own citizens. With aggressive intent,this was the approach taken by Westerners tosubjugate the people of other countries. Themost important thing in cultivating civilizationin one’s own country is to first enlighten thespirits of the people.” [21]

In this way, Dazai presents Lu Xun as an anti-Western polemicist after the model of Japanesenationalists from the 1930s to the end of thePacific War. This ideological position generallypromoted the Japanese spirit (yamato-damashii) as superior to the cold rationalism ofWestern science and enlightenment. Theabstract goal of disentangling the nature ofJapan’s modern national identity from Westerninfluences culminated in the famous symposiumon “Overcoming Modernity” in July 1942. Thiswartime gathering of Japanese intellectualsproduced an array of opinions concerning theproblem of Japanese modernity. Generalconsensus viewed the West as synonymous withmodernization, and its powerful influence wasgenerally viewed as merely an importation ofform with little spiritual or cultural relevance toJapan. In this sense, Western modernity wasviewed as a hindrance to the development ofJapanese spiritual purity. The followingstatement from the symposium by the literary

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critic Nakamura Mitsuo reflects this view:

How badly have the heartlessdemands of the times twisted thespirits of those who had no choicebut to accommodate themselves toit! Surely this is the most seriousquestion our country’s modernityputs to us. [22]

The emphasis on spiritual cultivation as ameans of inoculating the Japanese peopleagainst the dangers of Western rationalmaterialism was also extended as a higherideological goal for all of Asia in the vauntedGreater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.

The root of the morality of theGreater East Asia Co-ProsperitySphere lies in passing on to eachpeople the moralische Energie ofJapan, raising their spiritual levelto a he ight where they cancooperate with Japan, and in thisway setting up a moral relationshipamong different ethnic peoplesthat can support the Greater EastAsia Co-Prosperity Sphere. [23]

Contrary to Dazai’s portrayal, Lu Xun was not ajingoistic nationalist who embraced thebinarism of East versus West, spiritualismversus materialism. After leaving medicalschool in Sendai in March of 1906, he returnedto Tokyo to enroll in the German Institute,ostensibly to study German language. In July ofthe same year he returned briefly to Shaoxingto marry a woman named Zhu An who waschosen for him by his mother. He soon returnedto Tokyo, leaving his bride behind, and duringthe next three years he and his brother Zuoren

translated, mainly through the medium ofJapanese, a wide range of stories into Chinesefrom Russia, England, America, France,Finland, Poland, Serbia, Bosnia, Hungary andother European and Eastern Europeancountries. [24] Lu Xun had intended to go toGermany to study, but he had to abandon thisplan and return to China in August of 1909 inorder to support his mother and brother backin Shaoxing. [25]

Dazai’s propagandistic agenda in Sekibetsuprovides a window on the idealized view of theSino-Japanese relationship from the wartimeJapanese perspective of the 1940s. In thisimagined world order, Japan serves as abulwark against Western imperialism in Asiaand presents itself to China as a role model formodernization, integrating Western knowledgewithout jettisoning some vaguely conceivednotion of pan-Asian cultural values guided byJapanese spiritual principles.

In Sekibetsu, Lu Xun’s break with his formerteacher is presented as a source of futureregret and the dynamics of that relationshipsuggests symbolic parallels with the historicalrelationship between China and Japan in themodern period as construed from the Japaneseside: China as the student to Japan the teacher.Lu Xun acknowledges that he “betrayed thekindness of that teacher (Fujino),” [26]suggesting that he felt later in life that it wasimpossible to make amends or reciprocate forthe debt incurred. As the embodiment of aprogressive political consciousness in China, LuXun is a figure who represents—from theJapanese historical perspective—a vital bridgefor modern ideas between the two countries.

Dazai’s portrayal of Lu Xun’s regretful attitudetowards his relationship with Fujino and Japansuggests an allegorical mea culpa regardingChina’s awkward steps toward modernity seenin retrospect, that is, implying that had China

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followed the Japanese nationalist model, shemay have avoided the rocky path towardpolitical independence in the twentieth century,from the founding of the Republic in 1912 tothe political chaos that may have enticedJapan’s militarists to exploit the situation totheir advantage.

Lu Xun’s Eternal Debt to the JapanesePeople: The Twilight Years in Shanghai

Nearly fifty years after Sekibetsu was written,the contemporary Japanese author Inoue Hiashi(b. 1934) presented his own fictionalizedversion of Lu Xun in the play Shanghai Moon,performed in January of 1991. [27] Inoue, aprolific playwright, director, novelist, andpublic intellectual, is perhaps best known inJapan for his bestselling satirical novel TheKirikirians (1981) that skewered the Japanesestate, and for his popular children’s puppetshow on NHK daily television, Popping-up-Gourd Island (Hyokkori hyotan-jima [1964-69]).Among a wide range of topics—he haspublished roughly 185 books as of 2006—Inouehas a penchant for writing plays and novelsabout modern Japanese canonical authors,some of whom shared his own progressivepolitical leanings. These include NatsumeSoseki (1867-1916) ; Higuchi Ichiyo(1872-1896); Ishikawa Takuboku (1886-1912);Miyazawa Kenji (1896-1933); Dazai Osamu;Yoshino Sakuzo, and Hayashi Fumiko(1903-1951). [28]

From the early 1990s to the present, most ofInoue’s plays have portrayed individualsstruggling to maintain their humanity in theface of the overwhelming material andideological forces during the time from theearly 1930s to the end of the Pacific War.Inoue’s interest in this tumultuous periodseems rooted in his own early childhoodgrowing up in a small farming community insouthern Yamagata.

Inoue’s father, Shukichi, who died when youngHisashi was only five years old, was an aspiringwriter and local political activist. WhenShukichi returned to his hometown inYamagata after studying in Tokyo in the early1930s, he began to run a general store whilesupervising tenant farmers as the eldest son ofa local landowner. After marrying and settlingwith his wife Masu from Tokyo, Shukichi beganproducing socialist propaganda billets on threemimeograph machines hidden in various placeson the property.

In a newspaper article from the YamagataShinbun dated May 21, 1931, Shukichi’s nameis mentioned as one of the leaders of a group of83 individuals who were arrested forcommunist insurgency. Shukichi was a founderof a theatre troupe called the Reimei-za (namedafter the Reimei-kai [The Illumination Society],a pro-democracy group founded by YoshinoSakuzo and Fukuda Tokuzo [1874-1930] in1918). [29]

Shukichi’s activities earned him cold stares andrebukes from the defenders of the status quo inthe town. After his death, Inoue’s mother wouldcome to be ostracized from the Inoue familyand the community for her own outspokenpolitical views and unconventional demeanor.Just before the beginning of the Pacific War inNovember of 1941, the literary critic andSinologist Ozaki Hotsumi (1901-1944) wasinvited by the town mayor to give a lecture.Ozaki was an outspoken critic of the war inChina, and when he addressed the audience,Masu Inoue was one of the few who nodded inagreement while most muttered theirdisapproval. Six months after the speech, Ozakiwas arrested with the German Richard Sorge(1895-1944) on the suspicion of sendingclassified Japanese information to the Soviets.In spite of the fact that Ozaki was arrested as atraitor and a spy, Masu sent a series of lettersto him in prison.

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On the night after the Pearl Harbor attack,Inoue’s small town of Komatsu held a pro-warrally during which Masu publicly expressed herskepticism about the feasibility of winning awar against the U.S. Many in the communitysubsequently labeled her an “anti-national(hikokumin).” Once the Sorge Incident becamepublic, her persona non grata status waselevated to “woman spy.” [30]

Although Inoue Hisashi’s plays and novels tendnot to have overt political messages, many ofhis semi-fictionalized portraits of recenthistorical figures suggest a mischievousiconoclasm designed to subvert the foundationsof Japanese conservative political ideology. Inthe case of his play Shanghai Moon, however,Inoue seems less interested in elucidating LuXun’s own political philosophy and more intenton producing a portrait of Lu Xun’s Japanesefriends and supporters that reflects a forgottenfacet of Japan’s involvement in China duringthe war. Inoue said in a newspaper interviewthat when he wrote Shanghai Moon, “Japanwas performing very poorly in the internationalcommunity and getting lambasted for beingable to think only about money. Still, I thoughtthat the people of a given country were not allthe same and I felt that it was wrong to makegeneralizations about all Japanese people.” Forthis reason, he wanted to present a positiveexample of Japanese people from historyshowing compassion toward Lu Xun right up tothe very end of his life. [31]

Inoue’s portrait of Lu Xun focuses on the year1934 in Shanghai when Lu Xun and hiscommon-law wife, Xu Guangping (see image 3),took refuge at the famous Uchiyama Bookstoreto avoid persecution as by the Nationalists(Guomindang) led by Chiang Kai-shek.

Image 3: 1926 photographof Xu Guangping (1898-1968)

Following Chiang Kai-shek’s April 1927 coup inShanghai and the massacre of Communistsympathizers that followed, Lu Xun lived inconstant fear of political assassination orcapture by the Nationalists until his death.Although Inoue’s play ostensibly takes placefrom August 23 to September 16, 1934, heintegrates and conflates events that occurred inthe years 1930, 1931, 1932 and 1934. [32]

Following the 1927 coup, Lu Xun’s immediateresponse was to drop out of sight, and hedecided not to “speak, teach, or voiceopinions.” [33] By 1929, Lu Xun began toreturn to writing and reemerge as a politicalvoice for the socialist movement in China. Hejoined the League of Left-Wing Writers and

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became the titular head after its inaugurationo n M a r c h 2 , 1 9 3 0 . T h e l e a g u e w a ssubsequently suppressed by the Chinesegovernment, and the Zhejiang ProvincialGovernment ordered Lu Xun’s arrest. Duringthe spring of 1930, Lu Xun was compelled tocover his tracks, moving to various addresses,until finally seeking refuge with his wife on thethird story of a building just opposite theUchiyama Bookstore in May of the same year.[34] The setting of Inoue’s play is a storeroomon the second story of the Uchiyama Bookstore,run by Uchiyama Kanzo and his wife Miki. Thebookstore was located in Shanghai on the northside of the International Settlement in Hongkou(known informally as the Japanese Concession)at the end of North Sichuan Road, a bustlingcommercial street.

Like the setting, the cast of characters islimited in Shanghai Moon: It consists of Lu Xun(age 53), Xu Guanping (36), Uchiyama Kanzo(age 49), Uchiyama Miki (age 41), Sudo Iozo(age 50) and Okuda Aizo (age 39). In Act One,Scene One, entitled “Irregular Heartbeat,” theactor playing Lu Xun reads from seven letterswritten by Lu Xun that help to introduce thehistorical setting and characters. The thirdletter describes his old friend, UchiyamaKanzo, and his bookstore:

Many customers who come tog a t h e r h e r e w o r s h i p t h epersonality of that person. Ofcourse, I too am one of those fans.If you were to describe Kanzo’scharacter in a single word, it wouldprobably be “simple.” Those whodon’t know him might merely seehim as a fool. You see, his businesspolicy is basically, “Whetherthey’re Japanese or Chinese,people who read books can’t bebad.” For this reason, customerswere allowed to not only read

books while standing up, they wereeven offered chairs and treated totea. There was never any policyabout preventing shoplifting andcustomers who came in withoutmoney were given books on credit.Even when the charge accountreached upwards of hundreds ofyen, there was never a dour look.Considering this objectively, onecouldn’t help but call him a fool.Yet, when customers are trusted tothat extent, they also respond tothat trust with deep devotion. Theystart by taking special care inturning the pages of the books,then they begin forgetting abouttrying to shoplift, and despite othertemptations, when some moneycomes in, they try to pay off theirdebts on the charge account. Thisis how the Uchiyama Bookstorebecame one o f the b iggestbookstores in Shanghai. [35]

Kanzo moved to Shanghai with his wife shortlyafter they were married in March of 1916. Hefirst established the bookstore in 1917 onNorth Sichuan Road at a different address fromthe one where the store would later prosperfrom 1929 to 1945. Kanzo and Lu Xun first metin the original bookstore in October of 1927,and their friendship continued until Lu Xun’sdeath nearly ten years later. [36] (See image4.)

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Image 4: Lu Xun and Uchiyama Kanzo

The presence of the other Japanese maincharacters, Sudo Iozo and Okuda Aizo,underscores the fundamental plot of ShanghaiMoon: curing Lu Xun of his physical andspiritual afflictions. Sudo is a retired Japanesearmy doctor who opened his own clinic inShanghai in 1932. In 1934 he was Lu Xun’smain physician, treating his numerousailments, including incipient tuberculosis. [37](See image 5.) Okuda is a dentist and he isthere to assist in treating Lu Xun’s variousdental problems. However, according to onesource, Lu Xun’s dental difficulties at this timewere that he didn’t have any: his ill-fitting falseteeth were allegedly causing him to loseweight. [38]

Image 5: Sudo Iozo (1876-1956)

Japanese Intervention to Heal the ChineseLiterary Icon’s Body and Soul

Inoue takes many liberties with the facts of LuXun’s life in an effort to expose Lu Xun’s manypsychological and physical afflictions. Incontrast to Dazai’s novel, Inoue's play cleverlyexploits the irony that while Lu Xun wasattempting to cure the ills of the Chinese spiritand raise political consciousness throughliterature, his physical health was deterioratingto the extent that it was negatively affecting hiswriting and threatened to put him out ofcommission permanently. Inoue exaggerates LuXun’s vehement rejection of medicine andscience when he portrays him as havinguncontrollable phobias toward all doctors anddentists. This is played to comic effect, butInoue also uses this as an opportunity for Lu

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Xun to divulge his deepest emotions from thepast , when Sudo and Okuda secret lyanaesthetize him with nitrous oxide in an effortto treat his illnesses.

Just as in Dazai’s novel, Lu Xun’s “regrettableparting” from Fujino-sensei is presented as amajor source of psychological angst. In Dazai’snovel, Lu Xun praises the superiority ofJapanese-style modernization and politicalthought. In Shanghai Moon, Lu Xun begins tolose his literary voice and must be resuscitatedthrough the intervention of modern Japanesescience and technology, as well as somethingakin to group therapy.

When Doctor Sudo first appears in Scene One,Uchiyama’s wife Miki mentions the fact that LuXun detests doctors. Sudo finds it hard tobelieve that Lu Xun hates doctors, consideringhis previous aspiration to become one himselfwhen he was a medical student in Sendai.Kanzo then remarks to Sudo that Lu Xun hadstopped frequenting his favorite crabrestaurant in the French Concession since thefall of the previous year, when a medical clinichad opened up next door. Kanzo reports that LuXun’s latrophobia (fear of doctors) is so severthat he has never once stood in front of themedical section in the bookstore. Kanzo addsthat doctors are on the top of Lu Xun’s list ofmost detestable things, followed by dentistsand then Chiang Kai-shek’s Guomindang indescending order. [39] Miki and Kanzo concocta plan to make Lu Xun believe that Sudo issimply a fan of his literature, and they hope tohave him visit frequently in the future andbecome a regular member of their literarysalon as a pretext to check Lu Xun’s health.

After Sudo is introduced to Lu Xun for the firsttime, Sudo immediately begins his covertexamination of Lu Xun’s vital signs. Forexample, when they first shake hands, Sudoholds Lu Xun’s hands for an unusually long

period of time. When the author asks why he isstill holding his hand, Sudo replies that he isjust overwhelmed at finally meeting him.Meanwhile, Sudo has secretly taken his pulseand determined that Lu Xun has an irregularheartbeat. Although Lu Xun remains unawareof Sudo’s ministrations, he begins to reminisceabout his medical studies with Fujino-senseiand his earlier attraction to Western thought.

Lu Xun: It’s certainly true that theoccidental way of thinking aboutthings is wonderful. At one time Itoo was drawn to it.

Sudo: Do you mean to say that youthink differently now?

Lu Xun: (nodding his head) I’vecome to real ize that not al lWestern thought is so marvelous.For example, brutality—do youknow what I mean?

Sudo: Do you mean cruelty?

Lu Xun: Yes, it could be thatWesterners are no longer able tocontrol this cruelty. Thanks to thegreat powers of Europe, Chinafinds itself in this terrible semi-colonial state and this crueltyclearly rears its head as thesepowers try to make foreigncountries into their own colonies.Of course, Orientals are cruel aswell, but the nature of Westerncruelty is different. It’s founded onideas from evolutionary theorysuch as the survival of the fittest.This heartless and unforgivingcruelty is based on the idea that itis just and good if the strongerones triumph and survive while theweaker ones are defeated and fadeaway.

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Sudo: I see, I think I understandsome of your ideas . . .

Lu Xun: (then with firmness) AndJapan learned this cruelty from theWest. [40]

Lu Xun is fully aware of the threat to Chinesesovereignty that the Japanese presencerepresents. He declares that he has been longarguing for the expulsion of the Japanese andthat Shang Kai-shek and the Nationalists areannoyed with the Communists’ anti-Japaneseposition. Lu Xun asserts that the Nationalistsare trying to appease the Japanese temporarilyso that they can first eradicate the Communistsbefore turning their attention to the foreigninvaders. He then produces a photograph ofFujino-sensei from a handkerchief and musesthat there is a part of him that trusts theJapanese. Looking at Kanzo and then Sudo, hesays, “If there were one, two, or three Japanesepeople like this Fujino-sensei, then I could trustthe Japanese.”[41]

In Scene Two, “Toothache,” it seems that LuXun’s trust has been misplaced because all ofthe Japanese characters, Uchiyama Kanzo andhis wife, Sudo, and Okuda, the dentist, havebeen plotting to catch him off-guard andanaesthetize him so that the doctor and dentistcan examine and treat him. In this scene,Okuda pretends to be an artist painting LuXun’s portrait. From casual conversation,Okuda learns that Lu Xun has a perennialsweet tooth and warns him that he willcertainly get cavities if he continues eating somuch sugar. Soon Sudo and Kanzo appear.Kanzo tells Lu Xun that his young son, Haiying,was sick to his stomach and that he had calleda doctor for him. Lu Xun comments that hehimself has no need for a doctor; that heunderstands his body perfectly well. Sudoobserves Lu Xun carefully and asks him why heseems to be so afraid to get close to doctors: he

wonders whether there isn’t some hiddenreason for this deep anxiety associated withdoctors. Lu Xun counters that he has exploredevery nook and cranny of his heart through hisliterature, and he doesn’t believe that there areany secrets lingering there.

Mr. Sudo, if I can, I’d like to showyou what’s inside my heart. It’s adesolate scene: a desert in themoonlight with nothing but sand asfar as the eye can see. I’ve writtenand written myself out to theextent that there’s only four or fiveuseless blades of withered wildgrass growing there that mightmake material for some oddsketches. Do you think that theremight be any secrets rolling aboutin there somewhere? [42]

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Image 6: Lu Xun, XuGuangping and Haiying

Lu Xun’s Innermost Soul is Bared throughthe Magic of Science

Stage direction: Okuda puts thegas mask over Lu Xun’s nose andsignals to Kanzo. Responding tothese signals as from a symphonyconductor, Kanzo manipulates theknobs. Miki takes out a washbasin,pours hot water and takes outdisinfectant. Guangping puts akind of bib on Lu Xun and holdshim firmly.

Once Lu Xun is incapacitated by the nitrousoxide, Okuda and Sudo examine him and arguewith each other over about how to begintreatment. After being completely immobilizedfor a short while, Lu Xun suddenly becomessemi-conscious: he then attempts to get up andbegins addressing Dr. Sudo as Fujino-sensei.

Lu Xun (speaking now in a groggyand distressed tone of voice):When I went to say words offarewell at your home, the homethat you could see at the top of thehill among that sea of rooftops inSendai, I told you a lie. Pleaseforgive me (as if he is taking on allthe sins of the world). At that time,I said, “I’m going to stop mymedical studies at this pointbecause I want to study biology.”That was a lie. In my heart, myambition was to write literature. Inyour desire to bring new medicalstudies to China, you alwaysencouraged me in a kindheartedway. I repaid your heartfeltcompassion with lies. I feel terribleabout that. [43]

Still in a drug-induced haze, Lu Xun then turnsto Guangping and apologizes to her with a lookof deep sorrow. Guangping is confused and LuXun says, “I completely thrust my mother onyou. Zhu An, I made you into a worthlesshousekeeper for your whole life. . . I made youinto a widow while you were still alive!” HereLu Xun mistakes Guangping for his legal wifethat he married in 1906. Three years his senior,Zhu An was a distant cousin of Lu Xun’s and hismother, Lu Rui, initiated the negotiations fortheir betrothal. It seems that they wereformally betrothed in the spring of 1902 beforeLu Xun first left for Japan. Lu Xun had resistedthe union and he reportedly would not consent

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unless Zhu An unbound her feet and went toschool. (See image 7.)

Image 7: Zhu An (1878-1947)

When Lu Xun moved to Tokyo from Sendaisome four years later, he received a telegramfrom his hometown of Shaoxing with themessage, “Mother ill, return with all speed.” LuXun promptly returned to find that his motherwas fine; it was a ruse to lure him into his ownwedding that had been prepared for theauspicious date of the sixth day of the sixthlunar month. Lu Xun dutifully complied withthe ceremony, in spite of the fact that Zhu Anhad not met his preconditions. He slept withZhu An only once on their wedding night andthen reportedly moved into his mother’s roombefore hastily returning to Tokyo. Throughouthis marriage to Zhu An, Lu Xun generally

ignored and neglected her, although he didsupport her financially since she played animportant domestic role and aided his agedmother over the years. Lu Xun’s attitude can besummed up in his dismissive comment aboutZhu An made later in life: “She isn’t my wife,she is my mother’s.” [44]

Image 8: Lu Rui,Lu Xun's mother

Inoue’s Lu Xun voices his regrets about histreatment of others in the past, but his deepestsource of lingering guilt stems from hisperceived betrayal of Fujino-sensei. Theanesthesia triggers a psychological regressionin which Lu Xun’s consciousness of the presentis subsumed by emotion-laden memories of thepast. In this delusional state, the only personLu Xun recognizes is Kanzo; he doesn’t evenremember his own nom de plume. Kanzocannot reason with him enough to guide hisway back to the present reality. In the finaltableau of Scene Two, Kanzo says, “I’m Kanzoand you (sensei) are Lu Xun.” Lu Xun responds,

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“Who is he?” Then he points to a model of ahuman skeleton on the stage as the lights growdim.

In Scene Three, entitled “Chronic SuicidalLonging,” Lu Xun disappears from the stage.Guangping emerges and reports on hiscondition to the other characters. Shecomplains that he still thinks that she is ZhuAn. Sudo and Okuda speculate about the rootcause of his symptoms and conclude that hehas suicidal tendencies. Beyond theirassessment that Lu Xun’s “body is a nest forpernicious maladies, a veritable departmentstore of diseases,” Sudo speculates that LuXun’s sense of guilt for betraying the trust ofFujino-sensei and living longer than others whohave since died had manifested itself as adesire to “apologize through the act of dying.”Sudo asserts further that Lu Xun’s hatred ofdoctors is tantamount to a kind of “passivesuicide.” He argues that “Lu Xun has beenliving with this in his head the whole time: ‘I’llnever receive any treatment for sicknesswhatsoever. If I can die without taking any, Ican meet death honestly; in that way I can atleast apologize for my. . .’” [45] After furtherdiscussion, both men decide that it is necessaryto act out the roles of these key figures from LuXun’s life to facilitate a catharsis of hisdebilitating burden of guilt.

Sudo (as Fujino-sensei): Betweenyou and me, I’m going to call youby your real name. Zhou Shuren, Iunderstand that over your writingdesk you always hung on the wallthat picture of Fujino Genkuro thatI gave you as farewell gift. Thankyou. I thank you from the bottom ofmy heart.

Lu Xun (in the midst of fear, aslight look of fond nostalgiaemerges): Sensei . . .

Sudo: Zhou-kun, more than findingillnesses of the body and curingthem, you thought that first youwould uncover the maladies of theheart. Hmm, it’s probably goodthat you thought of this. I think I’llgive you a passing grade.

Lu Xun: A passing grade!

Sudo: If you came up with this ideaduring one of my lectures it makesme feel proud. You see, that meansthat I send a famous doctor of theheart out into the world.

Lu Xun: Does that mean that you’llforgive me?

Sudo: Do you think that betweenyou and me there’s a need forsomething like forgiveness? Zhou-kun, listen closely to a doctor’sorder and become healthy. I praythat your literary fortunes willbecome ever greater. Why don’tyou even come over to Japan for avisit?

Through this process of role playing andtransference, Sudo and the others attempt tohelp Lu Xun unburden his conscience andreturn to the present. His recovery is notimmediate, but in Scene Five (“Aphasia”) LuXun greets Kanzo, Sudo, and Okuda, andrecounts how he suddenly recovered his senseswhile the three of them were traveling in Japan.Lu Xun explains that after his recovery,Guangping told him what had transpired duringthis regression and how Sudo and the othershad made heroic efforts to cure him. Not onlydoes Lu Xun recognize his wife and friends, henow has a fresh outlook on the world:

Lu Xun: The next morning, an

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unusual thing happened; my eyesopened at the same time as thesunrise. I casually opened thewindow (the one facing the streetside) and was astonished. The raysof the sun beat down and seepedinto my body. For the first timesince I was born I thought that Iwanted to embrace the sun. Iwonder why this happened sosuddenly; ever since I was little, Ialways liked the moon much morethan the sun.

Sudo (to Okuda and Kanzo): Senseiwants to live! Those monsters andthe chronic suicidal impulses havevanished from Sensei’s heart! . . .The debt on Sensei’s heart hasbeen paid off! [46]

Now that Lu Xun has changed his perspectiveon the past, he is eager to follow the advice ofhis Japanese friends regarding his health andpsychological well-being. Symbolically, LuXun’s relationship with Japan has also beenrestored to a harmonious state, and he nolonger seems to harbor misgivings about thepast. The revived reciprocal nature of thisrelationship is underscored when Sudo reportsthat he too witnessed a slide show of a Chineseprisoner being executed just after the Russo-Japanese War when he was in high school. InSudo’s case, he viewed a similar slide in hisGerman language class. It was not the sight ofthe apathetic Chinese bystanders that affectedhim; rather, it was the sight of the Japanesesoldiers joking and drinking as the man wasbeing put to death. In the background of thephotograph, Sudo noticed the face of an oldercousin, a cousin who would later die in battle.According to Sudo, it was this shockingincident that led him to abandon his plan tostudy German literature in college, and heresolved to study medicine instead: the obverseof Lu Xun’s career path.

At this point in Inoue’s play, Lu Xun undergoesanother life-changing epiphany and is poised toflee the chaos and danger of Shanghai and takerefuge in Kamakura, Japan, with his Japanesecompanions. He even expresses his ardent wishto finally write a novel entitled Shanghai Moon.This ambition is short-lived, however; Lu Xun issoon afflicted with an odd case of aphasia.Whenever he speaks, syllables of nouns andverbs become garbled in strange and oftencomic ways. For example, when he tries to callKanzo by name, he repeatedly mispronouncesthe first syllable and calls him “Kidney (jinzo),”“Heart (shinzo),” “Lungs (haizo),” and “Innards(naizo).” [47] Near the end of the play Lu Xunovercomes this condition, and he concludesthat both of his afflictions constituted a kind ofself-punishment for his own lack of courage andrevolutionary zeal.

Lu Xun: As for scrub brush(tawashi=watashi=me), that is,s t r a w s a n d a l s(waraji=watashi=me), I haveb o i l e d(nitsuketa=mitsuketa=found) theroot cause of my own illness (nolonger upset by his chronicparaphasia). I think that strawsandal (I) have always tried to slipout (nugeta=nigeta=run away) atthe most critical point. Before therevolution straw sandal (I) slippedout (ran away) from the scene oft h e p o r k c u t l e t(katsudon=katsudo=action). Andstraw sandal (I) also slipped out(ran away) when those people whohad the same carelessness(soso=riso=ideals) as they shoutedout and were just about to rush in.The young people go to theirdeaths (under the slogan of)“creating a better world!” But all Idid was continue to run away.

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Indeed, it was for that reason that Iwas afflicted with the condition ofmistaken identity and those otherillnesses. So in spite of all of thesefailures, I am still trying to get outof Shanghai. That’s why I’ve gottenthis case of aphasia. I think thatboth the mistaken ident i tysyndrome and the aphasia were akind of punishment that I gavemyself . . . [48]

Although Lu Xun’s recovery was temporary, theplay ends on an optimistic note and it seemsthat even if Lu Xun does not write his covetednovel, his remaining days will be productiveones. Although Lu Xun was never a member ofthe Chinese Communist Party, it is striking tosee this literary giant within the Chinesesocialist movement being nursed back topsychological and physical health by Japanesecitizens during a period when the Japanesegovernment’s official stance was so virulentlyanti-communist, not to mention arrogantlybelligerent toward China in general.

Inoue’s play concludes in a way that seemsdesigned to invite a reevaluation of Japaneseinfluence on Chinese intellectual life andliterature. A more richly nuanced portrait ofSino-Japanese historical relations seems longoverdue; at the same time, Shanghai Moonrepresents yet another attempt to reclaim LuXun’s legacy as something that was nurturednot only by his experience in Japan, but alsothrough his lifelong contact with Japanesefriends and associates.

The longing of Lu Xun fans in Japan to feeltheir affection reciprocated seems satisfiednear the conclusion of the play when Lu Xunmakes his final speech expressing his gratitudetoward his Japanese friends in Shanghai. LuXun agrees that he will receive X-rays and any

other medical or dental treatment that mightbe necessary. Sudo is pleased to see thischange of attitude and he conveys hisappreciation: “Thank you, Lu Xun-san.” Okuda,Kanzo and Miki also express their admirationas they bow in unison toward Lu Xun.

Lu Xun : It is I who must bow myhead in respect. Each and everyone of you cured me through yourways of living, through the way thestory of our lives have been woventogether. All of you are exceptionaldoctors. (Looking at Guangping)You too, Guangping. [49]

Shanghai Moon is an attempt to consolidate LuXun’s status as a Japanese canonical authorand it presents a reenactment of Lu Xun’sidentity crisis that was allegedly sparked by themagic lantern incident. In Shanghai Moon, LuXun once again struggles to decide where hebelongs: with his fellow Chinese who resistJapanese imperialism, or with his dearJapanese friends who counter totalitarianideology with individual compassion. All four ofhis friends demonstrate selfless devotion andChristian-like charity that elevates them abovethe historical taint of their nationality.

Like Dazai’s Sekibetsu, Inoue’s portrait of LuXun serves a useful didactic role when itaccurately reflects the historical record, yet itseems primarily designed to present asympathetic portrait of these open-minded andadmirable Japanese citizens rather thanilluminate Lu Xun’s essential character.Likewise, the depiction of Lu Xun’s tortuousdelusions, regressions, and aphasia suggests anexternal projection of traumatic symptoms fromthe repressed guilt of Japanese historicalmemory.

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When the audience in Shanghai Moon identifieswith the four Japanese friends whom Lu Xunrefers to as “exceptional doctors,” by extension,they are also intended to feel a sense ofsolidarity with Fujino-sensei and vicarioussatisfaction with the notion that thisrelationship has been symbolically restored toits previous state: the bond between theselfless, compassionate teacher and his gratefuland obedient student.

Christopher Robins is currently teaching atVassar College. He has translated a collectionof short stories by Inoue Hisashi entitled A NewReading of the Tales of Tono under review forpublication. Email at chrobins@vassar.edu.

This article was written for Japan Focus. Postedon February 4, 2007.

Notes

[1] Lu Xun: Diary of a Madman and OtherStories, translated by William A. Lyell(Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1990),xi.

[2] David Holm, “Lu Xun in the Period1936-1949: The Making of a Chinese Gorki,” inLu Xun and His Legacy, ed., Leo Ou-fan Lee(Berkeley, California: University of CaliforniaPress, 1985), 165.

[3] Op. cit., 166.

[4] Translations of “Mr. Fujino,” “A SmallIncident,” “Storm in a Teacup,” and “My OldHome” were included in the Japanese juniorhigh school kokugo (national language)curriculum after the 1950s. More than 20million Japanese read “My Old Home” as partof their high school education. See MaruyamaNoboru, “Lu Xun in Japan,” in Lu Xun and HisLegacy, 240.

[5] Oda Takeo, Ro Jin den (Biography of LuXun) (Tokyo: Daiwa shobo, 1966), 40.

[6] Numano Seisuke, Ro Jin to Nihon (Lu Xunand Japan) (Bungeisha: 2004), 31-32.

[7] In Shimizu Yasuzo, Shina shinjin to reimeiundo (Ch inese new peop le and theenlightenment movement) (Osaka: Osakagoshoten, 1924), cited in “Lu Xun in Japan,” 218.

[8] Nakano’s biography of Lu Xun (Ro Jin den)was less a comprehensive biography than anargument for the necessity of one. Nakano wasimprisoned for two years between 1932-34 forleftist activities and was released afterbecoming a political “convert.” Cited in “LuXun in Japan,” 224-225.

[9] Phyllis I. Lyons, The Saga of Dazai Osamu:A Critical Study with Translations (Stanford,California: Stanford University Press, 1985),32.

[10] Donald Keene, “Japanese Writers and theGreater East Asia War,” The Journal of AsianStudies, 23:2 (Feb., 1964), 219-220.

[11] Daizai Osamu, Sekibetsu, in Dazai Osamuzenshu, vol. 7 (Chikuma shobo, 1989), 189.

[12] Sekibetsu, 210-212.

[13] Sekibetsu, 222-223.

[14] Sekibetsu, 247.

[15] Sekibetsu, 250.

[16] Takeuchi Yoshimi, Ro Jin (Lu Xun) (Tokyo:Nihon hyoronsha, 1944; rpt., Tokyo: Miraisha,1961), 70. Cited in “Lu Xun in Japan,” 226-227.

[17] Sekibetsu, 302

[18] Sekibetsu, 277-278.

[19] Sekibetsu, 315.

https://apjjf.org/mailto:chrobins@vassar.edu

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[20] Sekibetsu, 295.

[21] Sekibetsu, 298-299.

[22] James W. Heisig and John C. Maraldo,eds., Rude Awakenings: Zen, the Kyoto School,and the Question of Nationalism (Honolulu:University of Hawaii Press, 1994), 216.

[23] Rude Awakenings, 309-310.

[24] Leo Ou-fan Lee, Voices from the IronHouse: A Study of Lu Xun (Bloomington,Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1987), 22-23.

[25] David E. Pollard, The True Story of Lu Xun(Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press,2002), 37.

[26] Sekibetsu, 316.

[27] First performed January 9, 1991, at theTaira Municipal Hall (Iwaki City) in FukushimaPrefecture. Published serially in the magazineSubaru, beginning in March 1991, and in bookform with Shueisha the same year.

[28] The titles of these Inoue Hisashi works areWagahai wa Soseki de aru (I am Soseki[Natsume Soseki] (1982); Zutsu katakoriHiguchi Ichiyo (Higuchi Ichiyo with a headacheand stiff neck) (1984); Nakimushi namaikiIshikawa Takuboku (The cheeky crybaby,Ishikawa Takuboku) (1986); Iihatobo no gekiressha (The Iwate theatre train [MiyazawaKenji]) (1980); Ningen gokaku (Passing ashuman [Dazai Osamu]) (1990); Ani ototo (Olderand younger brother [Yoshino Sakuzo]) (2003);and Taiko tataite fue fuite (Blow the flute andbeat the drum [Hayashi Fumiko]) (2002).

[29] Inoue Hisashi, Hon no unmei (The fate ofbooks) (Bungei shunju, 1997), 18-20.

[30] Inoue Hisashi, “Hahagimi no nokoshitamaishi kotoba (Words bequeathed to me bymy mother)” in Bungei Shunju, August 1991,214.

[31] Inoue Hisashi, interview with the YomiuriShinbun, September 16, 1991.

[32] See brief introduction, Inoue Hisashi,Shanhai Mun (Shanghai Moon) (Tokyo:Shueisha, 1991), 5.

[33] Leo Ou-Fan Lee, “Literature on the Eve ofRevolution: Reflections on Lu Xun’s LeftistYears, 1927-1936,” Modern China, Vol. 2 (July,1976), 281.

[34] Oda Takeo, Ro Jin den, 143.

[35] Inoue Hisashi, Shanghai Moon, 19.

[36] Yoshida Hiroji, Ro Jin no tomo: UchiyamaKanzo no shozo (Portrait of Uchiyama Kanzo,Lu Xun’s friend) (Tokyo Shinkyo shuppansha,1994), 113.

[37] Koizumi Yuzuru, Hyoden: Ro Jin toUchiyama Kanzo (Critical biography of Lu Xunand Uchiyama Kanzo) (Tokyo: Tosho shuppan,1989), 263. Sudo, who was born in OkayamaPrefecture in 1876 and died in 1959, wasactually 58 years old when he was in Shanghaiwith Lu Xun in 1934. See Izumi Hyonosuke,“Rojin no shiin Nihonjin ishi hinan wa gimon,”(Doubts about accusations against a Japanesephysician regarding the cause of Lu Xun’sdeath,” Asashi Shinbun, June 4, 1984.

[38] See Koizumi, 263.

[39] Shanghai Moon, 32.

[40] Shanghai Moon, 40-41.

[41] Shanghai Moon, 41.

[42] Shanghai Moon, 53.

[43] Shanghai Moon, 73-74.

[44] See David E. Pollard, The True Story of LuXun, 55-67.

[45] Shanghai Moon, 99-100.

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[46] Shanghai Moon, 134-135.

[47] Shanghai Moon, 186.

[48] Shanghai Moon, 200-201.

[49] Shanghai Moon, 202.