Call to Arms

Lu Xun

May 2014 · Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

Call to Arms is a collection of revolutionary Chinese writer Lu Xun’s most famous and most important short stories. Featuring “A Madman’s Diary,” a scathing attack of traditional Confucian civilization and “The True Story of Ah Q,” a poignant satire about the hypocrisy of Chinese national character and the first work written entirely in the Chinese vernacular. Together this collection exposes a contradictory legacy of cosmopolitan independence, polemical fractiousness, and anxious patriotism that continues to resonate in Chinese intellectual life today.

About the author

Lu Xun (September 25, 1881–October 19, 1936) was a revolutionary novelist, essayist, poet, and critic who helped lead the May 4th Movement. Described by described by Nobel laureate Kenzaburo Oe as “The greatest writer Asia produced in the twentieth century,” Lu Xun's works continue to resonate through Chinese culture and literature.