One of the greatest of modern Chinese writers, Lu Hsun was born Chou Shu-jen in 1881. He studied at the Naval Academy in Nanking and then went to Japan to study medicine, but, increasingly distressed by his country's weak and backward state, he turned to writing and university teaching, determined to bring about change. In 1918, in the magazine New Youth, Lu Hsun published "A Madman's Diary"; and many further stories, as well as poems and critical essays, followed. The first of his works to gain popularity in the West was "The True Story of Ah Q," a biting satirical picture of feudal China. Lu Hsun supported the aims of the Communist revolution (though he did not become a party member) and was hailed by Mao Tse-tung as "commander of China's cultural revolution." Much of his later work is in political papers and translations. He died in 1936. This volume contains eighteen of Lu Hsun's most important stories and the preface to his first short story collection, Call to Arms.

Reprint of the 1972 ed. published by Foreign Languages Press, Peking.

A madman's diary. --Kung I-chi. -- Medicine. -- Tomorrow. -- An incident. -- Storm in a teacup. -- My old home. -- The true story of Ah Q. -- Village opera. -- The New Year's sacrifice. -- In the wine shop. -- A happy family. -- Soap. -- The Misanthrope. -- Regret for the past. -- The divorce. -- The flight to the moon. -- Forging the swords.