Lu Xun And Natsume Soseki

Lu Xun and Natsume Soseki are two peaks of modern literature in China andJapan. Although Chinese and Japanese scholars have made considerable achievementsin comparison between them, many aspects have not yet been referred to till today.This article compares the two masters in terms of the view of life, that of the world andthat of literature based on the analysis of the scholars'previous study outcomes and mypersonal views.The first chapter commences with analyzing Lu Xun and Natsume Soseki'sdifferent views on Laozi, Zhuangzi and Tao Yuanming, and leads to discussion of thetwo writers'tendency of"getting into the society"and"getting out of the society".Although Natsume Soseki made criticism towards Taoism, his thought described as"following the destiny and eliminating selfishness"showed an eventual return to theTaoism; Lu Xun, based on a philosophy of"struggling", tried to find out the element of"struggling"in the thought of Laozi and Tao Yuanming, emphasized Laozi's"anger"and ambition. Lu Xun thought Tao Qian was not actually"full of quiet solemnity, andso he was great". Such an understanding is just conformed to Lu Xun's"purpose ofresistance and consequence of actions". After identification of these points, this chaptermakes observation and comparison of the interior of Lu Xun and Natsume Sosekithrough perspectives on"Sin"and"Enlightenment"based on the Weeds and Ten-NightDreams. Lu Xun's"Sin"exposition originated in Japan's Takeuchi Yoshimi, and laterwas quoted by many persons. In fact, it is merely a perspective of elucidating Lu Xun.This thesis makes particular analysis of this. Lu Xun's"Enlightenment"is essentiallydifferent from that of Natsume Soseki's. Natsume Soseki's"Enlightenment"movedcloser to the realm of Taoist and Zen and called on the world to remove self-interest.Lu Xun's"Enlightenment"meant to get rid of secular fetters and fight the forces ofdarkness in a swifter way. In the process of transformation from feudal society to modern society,ideological review and transformation has become a problem. The second chapter sortsout Lu Xun's thought of reforming national character and Natsume Soseki'sindividualism by means of comparison. Women issue is a problem that Lu Xun andNatsume Soseki both concerned. Natsume Soseki criticized women's self-interest andshowed his individualism by portraying the image of women in his works. Comparedwith Natsume Soseki, Lu Xun didn't instill the so-called social responsibility into hisfemale characters. Lu Xun thought the root in women's misfortune was genderinequality and defended for women. Women should liberate themselves. On one handthey should break the shackles of feudal ideology just like men and on the other handthey should have equal political rights and economic status equivalent to men, so theyshould make more efforts and keep"fighting"all the time for their liberation. Thischapter also analyzes the tyrannical rule's impact on the national character. China'sfeudal rule centered on Confucian thought was super strong and had profound impacton China's national character. Even the creation of the new era of the Republic couldnot uproot the feudal ideology which was still pervasive in all sectors of Chinesesociety. The cruelty of Japan's royal rule was similar with China's, and even in the lateMeiji period, the savage repression upon the"outrage incident"and the like were still ahorrible pressure preventing the nation from pursuing democracy and freedom. Facingthe different situations of the characters in China and Japan, out of various reasons, LuXun and Natsume chose to take different paths: Lu Xun tended to prefer more fiercerevolution, and Natsume feared the revolution, so he thought the improvement wasbetter, and reminded the rulers to make a new start to avoid their destruction.The third chapter compares Lu Xun and Natsume Soseki's views of literature.Firstly, it compares the literature"for life"concept. They both noted the mission ofliterati, they both emphasize that the literati should not be persons at leisure, they bothput emphasis on realist techniques, and stressed that literature for life should depictordinary persons. Their works showed the depth of life through"dull realism".Secondly, it launches leisure concept comparison. Natsume Soseki advocated "lingering mood"which was also known as"a literature of leisure". A school of leisurewas formed in Japan represented by Natsume Soseki and at the same time the word"leisure"was often seen in Lu Xun's works and became one of the core words."I Ama Cat"and"The Story of Ah Q", respectively Natsume Soseki's and Lu Xun'smasterpiece, showed the characteristics of"touching the theme of literature, and thewriting style of leisure"reflected in two aspects of lingering mood and humorousness.Lu Xun and Natsume Soseki's leisures show different looks because of their differentorigins of social environments. Lu Xun regarded the literature as a whole and thoughtthat one could make literary activities only when he is at leisure, and that leisure wasthe precondition of literary creation. Natsume targeted mainly at the naturalistone-sided emphasis on the"reality"of life, and held that one should observe the life ina comprehensive way, and advocated observing the life at a certain distance with amood of leisure so as to grasp more accurately the essence of life. Third, this chapterelaborates Lu Xun's and Natsume Soseki's views of literature through the analysis ofthe two debates.The fourth chapter is the summary of the first three chapters. It takes theperspective of Irony for comparison between Lu Xun and Natsume Soseki. This is aperspective that few people have talked about."The formation of Ironic thought","thestance of Irony"and"the quality of irony"are particularized and elucidated in thischapter. Concerning the stance of irony, Lu Xun and Natsume Soseki showed subtledifference: Lu Xun was based on"viewing the world like watching dramas", andNatsume Soseki was based on"Self Orientation". The"Self Orientation", as thecornerstone of Natsume Soseki's thought, was not only applied by him in the field ofliterature but also used by him to solve all kinds of actual problems."Self Orientation"is embodied as utterly independent and free spirit, and as the outstanding insight neverconfused or deceived by any illusion of reality. Lu Xun's viewed the world just likewatching dramas, and he saw the falseness of the actors. Meanwhile, he felt the lifeoften played almost the same tragedies and comedies again and again. Lu Xun's"viewing the world like watching dramas"and Natsume Soseki's"Self Orientation" are different with each other, but the two are also interlinked. Lu Xun's ironic thoughtalso has some elements of"Self Orientation", and Natsume's thought also has someelement of"viewing the world like watching dramas". We can say that both"viewingthe world like watching dramas"and"Self Orientation"are indispensible factors ofironic thought.