Chinese History Selected Stories \"When

¶ … Chinese History

Selected Stories

"When I was young I, too, had many dreams. Most of them came to be forgotten, but I see nothing in this to regret. For although recalling the past may make you happy, it may sometimes also make you lonely, and there is no point in clinging in spirit to lonely bygone days. However, my trouble is that I cannot forget completely, and these stories have resulted from what I have been unable to erase from memory."

Lu Hsun

This quote from the author of Selected Stories summarizes the intent of the book. Lu Hsun writes of his memories of China that he cannot forget. As a way to soothe his memory and of those with memories like his, he expresses the events, emotions, and narratives of those times through his writings. His stories are written during vast culture change in China, on the same scale as the kind of cultural change and turnover that China of the 21st century experiences now, but in differing ways. There are eighteen stories in this particular collection. Hsun's style of writing is reminiscent of modernist writers of the west such as Ernest Hemingway, with sparce, arid, but somehow deeply revealing and vivid details bringing the action of the story directly into the mind's eye of the reader. The stories are written primarily from either a first person point-of-view, or from a third person point-of-view. Through their variations, Hsun's stories are united through the themes of what is truly necessary to sustain and improve China on the national and individual levels.

Both directly and indirectly, Lu Hsun asks his readers to examine their mental habits. He wants readers to examine the behaviors of their minds and thoughts. We should practice observing how our minds behave so as to understand the nature of ourselves more deeply and accurately, but also to help us function through trauma as well as everyday life. Too often we are lost in our own thoughts; we do not take time to observe our thoughts outside of their content.

There are several stories of themes surrounding community and identity with or through community. This is a theme western readers may expect with literature from eastern cultures. While American culture is relatively more narcissistic and selfish, Chinese culture is more relatively selfless, and group oriented.