How Lu Xun Went Global — A Dialogue with
Park Jae-woo, President of the International Lu Xun Studies Association
By Tong Bo
A launching ceremony for a joint research studio under the International Lu Xun Studies Association was recently held at the Research Institute of Lu Xun and World Literature, Shaoxing University. The reporter sat down with Park Jae-woo, Distinguished Research Fellow at Shaanxi Normal University, Honorary Professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, and President of the International Lu Xun Studies Association, for a conversation themed “How Lu Xun Went Global”.
From Text Dissemination to the Formation of an International Academic Community
Reporter: As
a renowned Korean sinologist with decades of research on Lu Xun and the
overseas dissemination of modern and contemporary Chinese literature, you have
long promoted cross-cultural academic dialogue and international Lu Xun
studies. What first set you on the path of Lu Xun research?
Park Jae-woo: I formed a bond with Chinese literature at an early age. I started learning Chinese characters in the fourth grade of primary school. In middle school, I studied classical Chinese tales, idioms and simple classical prose, and also enjoyed Korean translations of Chinese martial arts novels. In high school, I took a great liking to classical Chinese classes, reading classical essays by Confucius, Qu Yuan, Han Yu, Su Shi, and poetry by Tao Yuanming, Li Bai, Du Fu and other literary masters.
In March 1973, I passed the entrance
examination and enrolled in the Department of Chinese Language and Literature
at Seoul National University. During my sophomore year, Hyeongseong, an
academic journal run by arts and sciences students, invited me to write a
commentary on Lu Xun — that was the first time I had ever heard his name. Back
then, materials about Lu Xun were extremely scarce in South Korea, so I visited
Professor Ha Jeong-ok of Sungkyunkwan University, who had published The
Literary Context of Lu Xun. The professor offered me much encouragement and
inspiration, allowing me to finish an essay titled Lu Xun’s Literature and
Thought. Though merely an undergraduate exercise, it sowed a seed that
would alter the course of my life.
When writing my bachelor’s thesis, I
chanced upon the Japanese edition of Lu Xun: His Literature and Revolution
by Maruyama Noboru in the office of my supervisor Professor Lee Byeong-han. I
was overjoyed and borrowed it immediately to read. Under the guidance of
Professor Kim Si-jun, I completed my nearly 40,000-character undergraduate
thesis Lu Xun’s Life Experience and Literary Consciousness. Later
condensed to over 10,000 characters, it was published in the inaugural March
1980 issue of Literature East Asia, which gave me immense motivation.
More than a year after graduation, I resolved to devote myself entirely to
academic research — and Lu Xun was the spiritual anchor behind that decision.
Reporter:
Why do we discuss the question “How Lu Xun Went Global” today?
Park Jae-woo:
The phrase “going global” means far more than how many languages Lu Xun’s works
have been translated into, or how many national libraries and university
curricula include Call to Arms, Wandering, Wild Grass and Dawn
Blossoms Plucked at Dusk. Mere linguistic conversion amounts only to
“dissemination”.
What truly merits inquiry is this: Why
could a writer born at the turn of China’s late Qing and Republican eras be
repeatedly read, interpreted and cited across Asia, Europe and the Americas —
in Japan, South Korea, the United States, Russia, India and beyond, amid vastly
different historical contexts? Why have intellectuals in many regions turned to
him as a spiritual resource for reflecting on the predicaments of their own
societies and times?
Put another way, Lu Xun’s global reach
stems not from his detachment from China, but precisely from his deep roots in
Chinese soil, paired with his exploration of universal fundamental struggles of
the modern world: individual spiritual awakening, national self-examination,
the intellectual’s sense of duty, servility and resistance, enlightenment amid
despair, tension between tradition and modernity, oppression and freedom. For
readers worldwide, Lu Xun’s writing lays bare both China’s past and their own
present; it captures one nation’s spiritual struggle and humanity’s shared
modern existential anguish.
Therefore, Lu Xun’s journey to the world
cannot be reduced to a one-way overseas transmission timeline. Instead, it
constitutes an iterative process of rediscovery, reinterpretation and
reactivation, unfolding through five intertwined stages: dissemination,
reception, transformation, creative reinterpretation, and the formation of a
cross-border academic community.
Lu Xun first resonated profoundly across
East Asia: in Japan, he became an intellectual resource for critical reflection
on modernity; in South Korea, a spiritual weapon against colonial rule,
authoritarianism and servile mindsets. Later, across broader cultural spheres
in Europe, North America and Southeast Asia, scholars situated his work within
frameworks of revolutionary literature, modernism, post-colonial theory,
comparative literature and world literature to develop diverse readings.
In this light, our discussion today extends beyond the narrow question of “Lu Xun overseas”. We must further explore why the world needs Lu Xun, how East Asian Lu Xun studies took shape, and under what conditions overseas Lu Xun research evolved into a formal academic field known as international Lu Xun studies.
From Engaging with Lu Xun to Emulating His Spirit
Reporter:
Could you introduce the development of Lu Xun studies in South Korea?
Park Jae-woo:
Translation and research on Lu Xun’s works in South Korea date back to the
1920s. The earliest media coverage of Lu Xun appeared in the writings of Yang
Baek-hwa, who translated Aoki Masaru’s essay The Literary Revolution
Centered on Hu Shi into Korean. Serialized in four installments from
November 1920 to February 1921 in Korea’s magazine Gaebyeok, the piece
included a brief introduction to Lu Xun and Diary of a Madman. In 1927,
Ryu Su-in published the first Korean translation of Diary of a Madman —
marking the first time a foreign translator rendered any work of Lu Xun’s into
another language.
South Korea’s engagement with Lu Xun did
not originate in quiet ivory towers. From its very outset, it was inseparable
from national self-reflection, military dictatorship, the democratization
movement, and questions of intellectual conscience. Lu Xun was first received
in South Korea not as a foreign writer, but as a kindred spirit who awakened
critical awareness, denounced darkness, and emboldened resistance.
In China, Lu Xun stands as the spiritual
core of modern Chinese identity; in Japan, he serves as a vital intellectual
reference for re-evaluating modern history; in South Korea, however, he is
often understood as a tangible spiritual force that directly intervenes in
real-world struggles. Korean readers see in Lu Xun not merely the darkness of
old China, but recurring oppression, servility, silence and hypocrisy in modern
societies. They value not only his sharp literary style, but the courage of
intellectuals who “refuse to fall silent” in dark ages.
This resonance intensified in the 1970s and
1980s, a period of brutal political repression in South Korea. Lu Xun’s spirit
of essayistic critique, his rejection of servility, and his uncompromising
critical persona struck a powerful chord with intellectuals active in the
country’s democratization movement.
A figure worthy of special mention is Lee Yong-hee. Though not a specialist in Chinese literature, Lee adopted Lu Xun’s essayistic spirit to critique South Korean society, earning him the moniker “Korea’s Lu Xun”. He once stated openly that his decades of writings resisting injustice in South Korea share core ideological and stylistic affinities with Lu Xun. Through critical intellectuals like Lee Yong-hee, Lu Xun transcended the boundaries of university Chinese literature classrooms to embed himself deeply within the spiritual landscape of Korean thinkers, intellectuals and young students alike.
From East Asian Lu Xun Studies to Global Lu Xun Studies
Reporter:
Why is Lu Xun more than a Chinese or East Asian icon, attaining global
significance? What intrinsic qualities enabled his internationalization?
Park Jae-woo:
I believe three key dimensions account for this.
First, though Lu Xun’s thought is firmly
grounded in China’s historical realities, it interrogates fundamental dilemmas
shared by all modern humanity — struggles not exclusive to China or East Asia,
but faced by countless nations past and present.
Second, the crises Lu Xun laid bare
reverberate across diverse regional historical experiences: colonialism,
imperialism, wartime violence, systemic social oppression, servile mentalities,
and the tension between intellectual complicity and moral accountability.
Third, Lu Xun’s global dissemination relies
on foundational institutional infrastructure: translation projects, university
curricula, monographic research, academic conferences and transnational
scholarly networks. Without translation, Lu Xun could never cross linguistic
divides; without university courses and academic treatises, sustained research
into his work would be impossible; without international conferences and
scholarly associations, cross-border dialogue among Lu Xun specialists could
not flourish. Since the founding of the International Lu Xun Studies
Association, global academic forums have been hosted in China, India, the
United States, South Korea, Austria, Malaysia, Germany and other nations,
creating spaces for scholars from all regions to connect, exchange research and
inspire one another. Lu Xun’s globalization is realized through the synergy of
textual circulation, cross-cultural ideological resonance, and
institutionalized international academic networks.
Consequently, Lu Xun’s expansion from East
Asia to the world is far more than a linear chronicle of overseas transmission
— it constitutes a richer, more complex process of cross-cultural rediscovery.
Scholars worldwide do not passively accept a fixed, static image of Lu Xun;
instead, they reinterpret, reconceptualize and even creatively reimagine him
through the lens of their own historical contexts.
Lu Xun’s journey to global prominence is
driven not only by the world coming to know Lu Xun, but by the world
recognizing fragments of its own struggles within his writing.
Source: http://epaper.shaoxing.com.cn/sxrb/pad/content/202607/08/content_653281.html
