About the Author
Lu Xun (Zhou Shuren) (1881-1936)
- He belonged to a family with a strong Confucian background. Confucianism is a philosophy developed by Confucius, a philosopher and teacher who lived from 551 to 479 B.C.E. It focuses on the importance of personal ethics and morality.
- He is considered China’s greatest author of the 20th century.
- He is known for his satirical observations of early 20th-century Chinese society and also a pioneer of modern vernacular Chinese literature.
- Vernacular literature means the literary work that consists of dialects spoken by ordinary people.
Background of the Story
- This story presents a comparison between Xun’s childhood memories and the middle age scenario.
- It depicts the conflict between memories, expectations, and realities.
- After returning to his old home to sell it for ever, he observes the suffering of lower class people. Through his experiences, he presents the gap between higher class and lower class ironically.
Character Analysis
Lu Xun: He is the author, narrator, and a significant character of this story. He is the son of a landlord who returns to his hometown after 20 years.
Runtu: He is the son of a servant and childhood friend of the narrator. In the past he had befriended Lu Xun but in the present he regards him as his master.
Hong’er: Eight-years-old nephew of the narrator who is also the friend of Runtu’s son.
Shusheng: Son of Runtu, and a friend of Hong’er. Their friendship is just like the friendship of Lu Xun and Runtu as children.
Lu Xun’s mother: She is happy for her son’s arrival but she has hints of melancholy on her face because they have to leave their ancestral home to migrate for the strange land.
Second Sister Yang: She is a relative and neighbor of Lu Xun who tries to coax him to get household things from them without paying. She had been beautiful in her youth who used to run a shop of beancurd. But now the narrator describes her as an ugly lady who has legs like compasses.
Servants: There are three kinds of servants: yearlongs, short-timers, and busy-monthers.”
Neighbours/Villagers: They try to get or steal the household things from Xun’s mother as they were leaving the village.
Setting
A small town inside China during the early 20th century, most probably the year 1912, when the Qing dynasty was overthrown by the Xinahi revolution for the Republic of China. As this story is in the form of a memoir, we can say that it was 1912 because that was the year when Lu Xun returned to his hometown after so long.
Point of View/Style
First-person limited narrator: A method of storytelling in which the narrator is also a character in the story.
Plot:
Lu Xun returned to his hometown after twenty years, travelling over six hundred miles. He looked from his boat’s cabin towards his town and felt that it was like a dark and deserted place because of his depressed feeling. It was not the place in his memory that was far more lovely. The purpose of this return was to bid farewell to his ancestral home and take his mother and eight-year-old nephew, Hong’er, with him to the city. The home was already sold and they had to leave the place before the new year.
When he appeared at his home early the next morning his mother came out to greet him and Honger too darted out behind her. She was happy to see him but there was a sign of melancholy on her face as they had to move away from the familiar countryside to some strange place. Xun told his mother that he had already rented a place and some furniture for them in the new place. He also forwarded his plan to sell household goods and use the money to buy required things for them in the new place. The mother agreed with this plan. She asked him to meet the relatives and his childhood friend, Runtu before they would move from there.
This name, Runtu, made him remember his childhood. He remembered twelve-year-old Runtu with a ring around his neck and a pitchfork in his hands, hunting a zha in a watermelon’s field under the moonlight. It was thirty years ago when Runtu and Xun first met. As Xun’s father was alive, his family was well to do and Runtu’s father was a temporary servant at his house. There were three kinds of servants back then: if they worked the whole year long for one family, they were “yearlongs”; if they worked by the day, they were “short-timers”; and if they tilled their own land but worked for a specific family just during the holidays or when rents were collected, they were “busy-monthers.” Runtu’s father was the third kind who would come to serve them during the New Year for a month and Runtu would come with him sometime.
Once there was a special ceremony at Xun’s home that was supposed to be celebrated once every thirty years. Ten years old Xun requested Runtu’s father to bring Runtu with him to guard the expensive utensils against theft that were to be used in the ceremony. Runtu’s father agreed and it made Xun excited. The narrator also talks about the reason for Runtu’s naming. He was named Runtu because he was born in the month of “run” and lacked “tu '' among the five elements. Runtu knew about setting snares and catching birds. He also would tell Xun things that were strange and exciting.
In the next New Year, the mother told Xun that Runtu had come and was waiting for him in the kitchen. Xun ran to the kitchen to see him. Runtu had a purplish round face and was wearing a hat. He was wearing a large silver ring around his neck which his father made him wear with a faith that Lord Buddha would protect him. He was shy with the adults but so open only with Xun. Runtu talked about catching birds, collecting colorful shells by the beach, and guarding melons against badgers, porcupines, and zha at night with a pitchfork. These were new and marvellous things for Xun by then. The first month of the new year came to an end and Runtu returned to his home. Li Xun cried because of it. It was the last time they ever met again.
Xun came to the present from his nostalgia. He asked his mother about how Runtu was doing in his life. Mother replied that things had not been right in Runtu’s life because of too many children, famine, harsh taxes, soldiers, bandits, officials, and gentryfolk. The neighbors and relatives were rushing to their homes asking for the household goods free of cost which Xun and his mother were looking to sell. Second Sister Yang was one of them who flattered Xun as a rich man and tried to escape some goods from him but was unsuccessful. She accused him of being a greedy person. He remembered her to be a beancurd seller. Because of that people called her Beancurd Beauty.
One cold afternoon, after lunch, Xun was drinking tea and he heard a new voice outside. It was Runtu. His round and ruddy face during his childhood was now pale and grey. It was filled with deep wrinkles. He was wearing an old hat and was shivering because of the thin clothes. He was there with his fifth son, Shuisheng. Shuisheng was a shy kid but was very comfortable with Hong’er. Runtu addressed Xun as “Master” just opposite to his expectation. Xun’s mother told him to call “brother” but he denied it. Runtu was having a miserable life because of too many children, famine, harsh taxes, soldiers, bandits, officials, and gentryfolk, so, they told him to take things from them whatever he wanted. In response, he selected two long tables, an incense burner, some candlesticks, and a set of scales. He also asked the ashes from the kitchen. He collected everything together and told them that he would take everything on the day of their departure. The next morning he left with Shuisheng.
After nine days, on the day of the departure, Runtu returned with a five years old girl to take the things he was supposed to. In the afternoon, by the time Xun boarded along with his mother and nephew, the old house had been swept clean of old and used things by the neighbors. As they proceeded upriver, Hong’er asked Xun if they were ever coming back, and Xun replied that they would not. Hong’er was worried about it because Shusheng had invited him to visit the place.
Mother and Xun started talking about Runtu again. She told him about a recent incident in which Second Sister Yang had retrieved a dozen plates from the pile of ashes which she accused Runtu of it. Mother and Hong’er went to sleep but Xun was still thinking about Runtu.
Conclusion/Themes
The context of this story is the life of people during the time of Qing Dynasty and Republic of china because it satires by presenting the bitter reality of people at that time. Lu Xun, who represents the higher class, even struggles financially as he has to leave home in hope of a better future. Runtu’s life is miserable because of too many children, famine, harsh taxes, soldiers, bandits, officials, and gentryfolk. It shows how the common people were helpless during the early nineteenth century in China. This story is also about childhood innocence; however, it portrays the conflict between memory and reality. The author also transcends the class gap by comparing Lu Xun’s hope through migration and Runtu’s hope through idol worship.
Shells - reds, blues, ghost-scarers; and Guanyin hands
Badger, Porcupine, and Zha
Notes by Samarpit Prakash
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