''The True Story of Ah Q'' is an episodic novella written by

Lu Xun Zhou Shuren (25 September 1881 – 19 October 1936), better known by his pen name Lu Xun (or Lu Sun; ; Wade–Giles: Lu Hsün), was a Chinese writer, essayist, poet, and literary critic. He was a leading figure of modern Chinese literature. ...

, first published as a serial between December 4, 1921 and February 12, 1922. It was later placed in his first

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

collection ''Call to Arms'' (吶喊, Nàhǎn) in 1923 and is the longest story in the collection. The piece is generally held to be a masterpiece of modern Chinese literature, since it is considered the first piece of work to fully utilize

Vernacular Chinese Written vernacular Chinese, also known as Baihua () or Huawen (), is the forms of written Chinese based on the varieties of Chinese spoken throughout China, in contrast to Classical Chinese, the written standard used during imperial China up t ...

after the 1919

May 4th Movement The May Fourth Movement was a Chinese anti-imperialist, cultural, and political movement which grew out of student protests in Beijing on May 4, 1919. Students gathered in front of Tiananmen (The Gate of Heavenly Peace) to protest the Chinese ...

in China.Luo, Jing.

004 004, 0O4, O04, OO4 may refer to: * 004, fictional British 00 Agent * 0O4, Corning Municipal Airport (California) * O04, the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation * Abdul Haq Wasiq, Guantanamo detainee 004 * Junkers Jumo 004 turbojet engine * Lauda Ai ...

(2004). "Over a Cup of Tea: An Introduction to Chinese Life and Culture". University Press of America. It was first published in the ''Beijing Morning News'' supplement as a serial. Originally Lu Xun wrote the story under the name "Ba Ren" (巴人, "crude fellow"), and so few people knew who wrote the novella.Davies, p
58
"When Lu Xun's prose fiction, The True Story of Ah Q was first published as a serial in the Beijing Morning News supplement in 1921, it was a tremendous success and readers throughout China were intrigued by the question of whether the portrayal of Ah Q was based on a real person. The disturbing realism of Lu Xun's story, according to Gao Yihan, led many people to suspect that the incidents related in the tale referred to them:" The first installment was published on December 4, 1921, and additional installments appeared weekly and/or fortnightly. The final installment was published on February 12, 1922. The story had nine chapters.

Synopsis

The story traces the "adventures" of Ah Q, a man from the rural peasant class with little education and no definite occupation. Ah Q is famous for "spiritual victories", Lu Xun's euphemism for self-talk and self-deception even when faced with extreme defeat or humiliation. Ah Q is a bully to the less fortunate but fearful of those who are above him in rank, strength, or power. He persuades himself mentally that he is spiritually "superior" to his oppressors even as he succumbs to their tyranny and suppression. Lu Xun exposes Ah Q's extreme faults as symptomatic of the Chinese national character of his time. The ending of the piece is equally poignant and satirical.

Novella form

Both the novella form and the low social station of the protagonist were new in Chinese literature. But the story consisted of nine serial episodic chapters (an old Chinese method for long folklore 章回體形式, which can consist of hundreds of chapters). This is the only novella published by Lu Xun.

Metaphor

believed that the purpose of literature was to transform the minds of and enlighten fellow Chinese. He followed the concept of "Wén Yǐ Zài Dào" (, "literature as a vehicle for

Tao ''Tao'' or ''Dao'' is the natural order of the universe, whose character one's intuition must discern to realize the potential for individual wisdom, as conceived in the context of East Asian philosophy, East Asian religions, or any other phil ...

(moral message)"). In Chapter One, the author ironically claims that he could not recall nor verify Ah Q's correct name, thus giving the character symbolic anonymity. "Ah" (阿) in Chinese is a diminutive prefix for names. "Q" is short for "Quei", which would today be romanized in Hanyu Pinyin as "Guì." However, as there are many

Chinese character Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are known as ''kanj ...

s that are pronounced "Quei", the narrator claims he does not know which character he should use, and therefore shortens it to "Q". The deliberate use of a Latin letter instead of a Chinese character is a reference to the concepts of the

May Fourth movement The May Fourth Movement was a Chinese anti-imperialist, cultural, and political movement which grew out of student protests in Beijing on May 4, 1919. Students gathered in front of Tiananmen (The Gate of Heavenly Peace) to protest the Chines ...

, which advocated adoption of Western ideas.

Mao Dun Shen Dehong (Shen Yanbing; 4 July 1896 – 27 March 1981), known by the pen name of Mao Dun, was a Chinese essayist, journalist, novelist, and playwright. Mao Dun, as a 20th-century Chinese novelist, literary and cultural critic, and Minis ...

believed that ''Ah Q'' represented a "crystallization of Chinese qualities" of his time and that it was not necessarily a satirical work.Foster, p
179

Zhou Zuoren Zhou Zuoren () (16 January 1885 – 6 May 1967) was a Chinese writer, primarily known as an essayist and a translator. He was the younger brother of Lu Xun (Zhou Shuren, 周树人), the second of three brothers. Biography Early life Born in S ...

, the author's brother, in the article " nThe True Story of Ah Q" (阿Q正传; "Ā Q Zhèngzhuàn") said that the work was, as paraphrased by Paul B. Foster, author of ''Ah Q Archaeology: Lu Xun, Ah Q, Ah Q Progeny, and the National Character Discourse in Twentieth Century China'', "unequivocally satirical" and argued against Mao Dun's point of view.

Plot

Ah Q is known for deluding himself into believing he is the victor every time he loses a fight. In one scene in Chapter 2, Ah Q is beaten and had his

silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

taels Tael (),"Tael" entry
at the

Xinhai Revolution The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, ended China's last imperial dynasty, the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China. The revolution was the culmination of a ...

comes into town. Both landlord families, the Zhao and the Qian families, become revolutionaries to keep their power. Other people, calling themselves a "revolutionary army", rob the houses of the landlords and rich men. Ah Q also wants to join them and also call himself a revolutionary. But when the time comes, he misses the opportunity to act, because he slept in one morning and no one woke him up. Finally, Ah Q is arrested as a scapegoat for the looting and sentenced to death by the new governor. When Ah Q is asked to sign a confession, he worries that he cannot write his name. The officers tell him to sign a circle instead. Ah Q is so worried about drawing a perfect circle to save face that he is unaware he would be executed until it is too late. Before his death he tries to entertain the crowds watching his execution, but cannot decide on suitable lines from any Chinese opera. So he decides to sing on his own, but he sang for only one line.

Protagonist character traits

Gloria Davies, the author of an entry in ''Chinese Literature, Essays, Articles, Reviews, Volumes 13–15'', said " e protagonist Ah Q became a symbol of all that was backward, despicable and tragic in Chinese society and often served Chinese intellectuals of the 1920s as a kind of negative criterion against which they could measure China's and their own advance into modernity." In 1934 Lu Xun wrote to a periodical stating that, in regards to Ah Q, "My method is to make the reader unable to tell who this character can be apart from himself, so that he cannot back away to become a bystander but rather suspects that this is a portrait of himself as well as everyone

n China N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

A road to self-examination may therefore be opened to him."

saw Ah Q as a representative of China of his time like Oblomov, the main character of ''

Oblomov ''Oblomov'' ( ru , link=no, Обломов; ) is the second novel by Russian writer Ivan Goncharov, first published in 1859. Ilya Ilyich Oblomov is the central character of the novel, portrayed as the ultimate incarnation of the superfluous man, ...

'', represents Russia. Ah Q is shaped as an image of part-time worker from the poor peasant caste affected by the religions and superstition in feudal society. Living in a semi-feudal semi-colonial society before the

, "Ah-Q’s Victories" is the psychological practise of how Ah-Q satisfies himself from real life failures and losses. He escapes from reality, and he bullies the weak and is afraid of the strong. He is unconfident, forgetful and changeable. There is a claim that, in Ah-Q's name, 'Ah' represents prefix for friendly calling someone in Chinese, and 'Q' represents the imagery symbol of the people with queues in

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...

. In other words, Ah-Q represents everyone who lived in the time of Xinhai revolution in China.

Blinded by self-interests

In the story, there are many scenes that reveal Ah Q's personality. One of the Ah Q's personality traits is that, no matter what happens, Ah Q always makes an excuse to get out of a tight spot. For instance, in Chapter 3 of the book, the author writes that after the fight Ah Q uses his "precious 'ability to forget'", which shows that he does not have enough courage to deal with his emotions and, instead, uses this "ability" just to satisfy himself.

Self-absorption

A strong character trait of Ah Q is his limited focus on himself and his own outlook. Ah Q does not consider how others view him, engage in

perspective-taking Perspective-taking is the act of perceiving a situation or understanding a concept from an alternative point of view, such as that of another individual. A vast amount of scientific literature suggests that perspective-taking is crucial to human de ...

impression management Impression management is a conscious or subconscious process in which people attempt to influence the perceptions of other people about a person, object or event by regulating and controlling information in social interaction.Sanaria, A. D. (2016). ...

; this is demonstrated in Chapter 4 during the incident with the young mistress, Amah Wu (吳媽), when he abruptly asks her to sleep with him. In result, Ah Q's actions are strange and at times offend others. However, this does not bother Ah Q because he neither notices nor cares because he is strictly focused on his own needs and desires.

Chapter summaries

Chapter 1: Introduction

The narrator of the story states that he wishes to author a biography for the titular character, Ah Q. Ironically, the narrator then mentions that several difficulties of why writing about Ah Q is not easy: the title of this book, the surname of Ah Q, the true personal name of Ah Q and his place of birth. The narrator speculates that Ah Q's surname might have been "Zhao," recounting a story of him being beaten by Mr. Zhao, a rich and famous senior villager, because he claimed that his surname was Zhao and thus is related to the Zhao family.

Chapter 2: A Brief Account of Ah Q’s Victories

In Chapter 2 the narrator elaborates further on Ah Q's character, place in society and his daily routine. Ah Q's peers view him in a very low regard, due to his insignificant background. With no family, no regular employment and eccentric character, Ah Q is often the laughing stock and victim of bullying by the townsfolk. However, Ah Q has a high opinion of himself and looks down on others regardless of their income or status. The chapter also gives the readers more in-depth imagery on Ah Q's (unfortunate) physical appearance. Specifically, the ringworm scar on his scalp that turns red when he is angry. This scar is a factor in him being ridiculed by the people around him. Ah Q's response differed based on his opponents. He would usually physically or verbally retaliate against the weak, but resorts to denial or self-belittlement against those better than him, and achieves some small emotional satisfaction through his actions.

Chapter 3: A Further Account of Ah Q’s Victories

Ah Q being slapped in the face by Mr. Zhao making him famous for he has prospered for a long time, as some townsfolk speculate on whether he is truly related to the Zhao family. One day, Ah Q finds Whiskers Wang, another tramp, and sits down next to him with no fear. Due to the lack of two Whiskers (beard), Ah Q feels jealous of Wang and provokes him into a fight. Wang wins and leaves with satisfaction after giving Ah Q a shove to the wall. Later, Ah Q sees Mr. Qian's eldest son, whom Ah Q hates a lot. Ah Q insults him by calling him “Baldhead”, and Mr. Qian's son beats him with a walking stick. Ah Q soon forgets everything that has just happened and goes to the alcohol shop. Soon after, when he sees a young nun on the streets, Ah Q claims all the bad luck that has just happened is because of her. Ah Q harasses the nun publicly and she leaves crying and cursing Ah Q. However, the other bystanders in the shop just laugh at her for amusement.

Chapter 4: The Tragedies of Love

After picking on a nun, Ah Q is victorious and feels as though he is flying right into the Tutelary God's Temple. The words from the nun weigh on his mind: "Ah Q, may you die son-less!" He realizes her insult has some merit and decides that he should take a wife. Ah Q rushes towards Mr. Zhao's maidservant, Amah Wu, and shouts "Sleep with me!” The bailiff finds out about his attack on Mr. Zhao's maidservant and makes Ah Q agree to five terms.

Chapter 5: The Problem of Livelihood

After the Zhao family fiasco, Ah Q notices unusualness when walking through the streets of Weichuang. Women have become shy and take refuge indoors while wine shops refused service to him. What worries him is the fact that no household wants to hire him anymore, cutting Ah Q off from any source of income to support his livelihood. Shunned from regular employer's houses, Ah Q finds Young D, a weak beggar of lower status than Ah Q, to have taken Ah Q's odd jobs. To the delight of onlookers, the enraged Ah Q rushes to fight Young D which ends in a tie. Almost starving, Ah Q returns to the streets and comes across the Convent of Quiet Self-improvement, finding a field containing a patch of turnips. Ah Q decides to steal the turnips until a nun notices him and lets loose her black dog on him. Ah Q runs and is able to escape with some turnips.

Chapter 6: From Restoration to Decline

Ah Q does not come back to Weichuang until after the Moon Festival.The custom in Weichuang is "that when there seem to be something unusual about anyone, he should be treated with respect rather than insolence." According to him, he had been a servant for a successful provincial candidate. Later on, everyone wants to get their hands on Ah Q's silk shirts only to find out that he has run out of them and had been a petty thief.

Chapter 7 The Revolution & Chapter 8 Barred From the Revolution

One day, the news of the Xinhai Revolution comes. The landlord families become the revolutionaries to maintain their power. When Ah Q realizes that everyone fears the revolutionaries, he decides to be one of them and imagines exploiting rich families in town and ruling over the locals. A group of self-claimed revolutionaries rob the houses of the locals and rich families, and Ah Q is never called to join them. When Ah Q approaches the landlord rebels to express that he wants to join the rebels, he is refused from joining the rebellion. Ah Q becomes bitter that he cannot share the robbed goods and the prestige they enjoy.

Chapter 9: The Grand Finale

After the Zhao family is robbed, Ah Q is dragged into town in the middle of the night, being carried to a

yamen A ''yamen'' (''ya-men''; ; Manchu: ''yamun'') was the administrative office or residence of a local bureaucrat or mandarin in imperial China. A ''yamen'' can also be any governmental office or body headed by a mandarin, at any level of gover ...

where he is pushed into a room. Keeping with his happy-go-lucky nature, the narrator says “although Ah Q was feeling rather uneasy, he was by no means too depressed.” In the end, Ah Q is executed with his cries of “Help, help!” never actually being said. Even before his death, he still preserves his self-absorbed and petty personality; he tries and fails to make his execution more impressive by reciting verses from some Chinese operas, but fails to find the right words.

Cultural significance

Ah Q as a negative symbol of Chineseness

Ah Q has a literary metaphor of national character of his time. Ah Q became a recognizable symbol that expanded the intellectual discourse of national character into the popular consciousness. Originally, the name Ah Q represented a negative Chinese national character (国民性, guómín xìng). A negative example, it served as a warning to urge Chinese to change for the “better”. After the publication of ''The True Story of Ah Q,'' the " Chinese themselves used the term to label those who are complacently ignorant, indolent, unhygienic, backward, slavish, and parochial". However, because this term is used to describe "negative human characteristics as "natural" components of the Chinese national character, they are ironically accepting and reinforcing certain stereotypical images of the Chinese of the time."

References in modern culture

The story of Ah Q weaves together nationalism, modern Chinese literature and modern Chinese history. In modern

Chinese language Chinese (, especially when referring to written Chinese) is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and many minority ethnic groups in Greater China. About 1.3 billion people (or approximately 16% of the ...

, the term the "Ah Q mentality" (阿Q精神, "Ā Q jīngshén") is used commonly as a term of mockery to describe someone who chooses not to face up to reality and deceives himself into believing he is successful, or has unjustified beliefs of superiority over others. It describes a narcissistic individual who rationalizes every single actual failure he faces as a psychological triumph ("spiritual victory"). A phrase meaning "relax for a bit" or "take it easy" (阿Q一下, Ā Q yí xià) has also surfaced in modern

due to the character's nonchalant nature.

Zhao family

The term Zhao Family (赵家人, Zhàojiārén), a derogatory term for China's ruling elite and their families, from the character Mr. Zhao, entered contemporary Chinese language. Originally appeared in a

WeChat WeChat () is a Chinese instant messaging, social media, and mobile payment app developed by Tencent. First released in 2011, it became the world's largest standalone mobile app in 2018, with over 1 billion monthly active users. WeChat has b ...

article, the term subsequently became an internet meme widely used by dissident

netizens The term netizen is a portmanteau of the English words ''internet'' and '' citizen'', as in a "citizen of the net" or "net citizen". It describes a person actively involved in online communities or the Internet in general.

, with numerous variations such as 赵国 (Zhaos' empire, China) and 精赵 (Zhao's spiritual members,

50 Cent Party The 50 Cent Party, also known as the 50 Cent Army or ( ), are Internet commentators who are paid by the authorities of the People's Republic of China to spread the propaganda of the governing Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It was created durin ...

Reception

When "Ah Q" was first published, the story became very popular. Many Chinese people wondered if Ah Q was based on a real person, partly because at the time few people knew the true identity of the book's author. Gao Yihan said that some individuals believed that Ah Q was based on their own lives. In the 1920s the most common critical sentiment argued that "Ah Q" was a masterpiece.Foster, p
199
In 1926

Zheng Zhenduo Zheng Zhenduo (Cheng Chen-to; December 19, 1898 – October 17, 1958), courtesy name Xidi, was a Chinese journalist, writer, archaeologist and scholar. His pen names were Baofen (寶芬), Guo Yuanxin (郭源新) and CT. He made a significant con ...

stated his belief that Lu Xun had finished the story too quickly. In literary terms questioned why Ah Q would die in such a casual manner after the story had already determined that being a revolutionary was already not satisfactory.Davies, p. 59. In response to Zheng, Lu Xun said "So week after week passed, and inevitably the problem arose whether Ah Q would become a revolutionary or not. To my mind, as long as there was no revolution in China, Ah Q would not turn revolutionary; but once there was one, he would. This was the only fate possible for my Ah Q, and I would not say that he has a dual personality. The first year of the Republic has gone, never to return; but the next time there are reforms, I believe there will be revolutionaries like Ah Q. I only wish that, as people say, I had written about a period in the past, but I fear what I saw was not the past but the future — even as much as from twenty to thirty years from now." Gloria Davies, the author of "The Problematic Modernity of Ah Q," said that many Marxist critics criticized "Ah Q" because the betrayal of the Communists after the 1927

Northern Expedition The Northern Expedition was a military campaign launched by the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Kuomintang (KMT), also known as the "Chinese Nationalist Party", against the Beiyang government and other regional warlords in 1926. The ...

"bore a dangerous resemblance to Ah Q's fate in front of the firing squad." Davies further explained that " is perhaps also not too far-fetched to suggest that the Marxist dogmatists perceived in "The True Story of Ah Q" a realism with sufficient power to undermine even their own adamant and much-vaunted belief in the imminent arrival of a Communist utopia; for not even the most foolhardy dogmatist could ignore the countless acts of political violence and betrayal taking place around him, borne variously of the ruthlessness, ambition, cynicism, fear and ignorance, in all, the darker side of the human condition that Lu Xun had portrayed so vividly in "The True Story of Ah Q"."Davies, p. 59-60. Lu Xun's last response regarding "Ah Q" itself was his reply to Zheng. During the debates on revolutionary literature in 1928 and 1929, Lu Xun decided not to comment on the criticisms of the story.Davies, p
60
A leftist critic, Qian Xingcun, wrote an essay "The Dead Era Of Ah Q" (死去了的阿Q时代, "Sǐqùle de Ā Q Shídài"), published in the March 1, 1928 issue of '' Sun Monthly'' (太阳月刊, Tàiyáng Yuèkān), No. 3. It was reprinted in ''Gémìng Wénxué Lùnzhēng Zīliào Xuǎnbiān'' (革命文学论争资料选编).Davies, p. 61. In it he argued that

had belonged to a preceding historical era, the story was not a masterpiece and did not represent the current era. Davies argued that Qian knew he was unable to challenge Lu Xun on literary merits. Furthermore, Davies argues that "it was all the more important to recognize Lu Xun's works as bearing no relevance to the contemporary situation because they were capable of influencing the reader into misrecognizing social reality."

Notes

Bibliography

* Davies, Gloria.
The Problematic Modernity of Ah Q
" In: ''Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews''. Volume 13, December 1991. p. 57–76.
Also available at
Jstor. Also published in: ''Chinese Literature, Essays, Articles, Reviews, Volumes 13–15''. Coda Press, 1991. p. 57–76. * Foster, Paul B. ''Ah Q Archaeology: Lu Xun, Ah Q, Ah Q Progeny, And the National Character Discourse in Twentieth Century China''.

Lexington Books Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group is an independent publishing house founded in 1949. Under several imprints, the company offers scholarly books for the academic market, as well as trade books. The company also owns the book distributing compa ...

, 2006. , 9780739111680. * Foster, Paul B. (2010) Ah Q genealogy: Ah Q, Miss Ah Q, national character and the construction of the Ah Q discourse, Asian Studies Review, 28:3, 243-266, DOI: 10.1080/103782042000291088 * Huang, Martin Weizhong. "The Inescapable Predicament: The Narrator and His Discourse in "The True Story of Ah Q"." '' Modern China'', 1990. Volume 16, Issue 4. p. 430-449
Available at
Jstor. * Huters, Theodore E. "Hu Feng and the Critical Legacy of Lu Xun." (Chapter 6). In: Lee, Leo Ou-Fan (editor and author of introduction). ''Lu Xun & His Legacy''.

University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by facult ...

, 1985. p. 129–152. , 9780520051584. * Tambling, Jeremy. ''Madmen and Other Survivors: Reading Lu Xun's Fiction''.

Hong Kong University Press Hong Kong University Press is the university press of the University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially t ...

, August 30, 2007. , 9789622098251. * Xing, Xue Yan. "Lu-Xun's“AQ”and Ibuse Masuji's“Ei” ;“AQ（qiu）Zheng Zhuen” and“Mr.Tange's Mansion”." Accessed February 28, 2018. http://www.bunkyo.ac.jp/faculty/kyouken/old_web/bull/Bull11/yan.pdf. * ''The Real Story of Ah-Q and Other Tales of China: The Complete Fiction of Lu Xun'', trans. Julia Lovell, London: Penguin, 2009. * ''Chinese Literature'',

Foreign Languages Press Foreign Languages Press is a publishing house located in China. Based in Beijing, it was founded in 1952 and currently forms part of the China International Publishing Group, which is owned and controlled by the Publicity Department of the Chi ...

, 1981. * ''Selected Stories of Lu Hsun'', Published by Foreign Languages Press, Peking, 1960, 1972; Images for chapters 1 and 4 from Chinese Literature Volume 5-6, 1977. * "The True Story of Ah Q (Ah Q Zhengzhuan) by Lu Xun, 1923." Reference Guide to Short Fiction. . Retrieved February 28, 2018 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/true-story-ah-q-ah-q-zhengzhuan-lu-xun-1923

External links

The True Story of Ah Q (English)

阿Q正傳 / The True Story of Ah Q (simplified characters)
*

* ttp://www.coldbacon.com/writing/luxun-calltoarms.html Selected Stories, Lu Hsun (1918–1926)at www.coldbacon.com
Capturing Chinese The Real Story of Ah Q
Edited by Kevin Nadolny (Capturing Chinese Publications, 2010) – includes short summaries to Lu Xun's stories, the Chinese text in simplified characters, pinyin, and definitions for difficult vocabulary. * Qian, Xingcun.
Siqule de A Q shidai
* Naver Encyclopedia of Current Affairs and Common Sense (in Korean) http://terms.naver.com/entry.nhn?docId=70044&cid=43667&categoryId=43667 * Zhang, Lixin. “Discuss the Image of Ah-Q in ’The True Story of Ah Q’”. (in simplified Chinese) http://www.jyqkw.com/show-208-222588-1.html {{DEFAULTSORT:True Story Of Ah Q Novels first published in serial form 1921 novels Novels set in the Qing dynasty Chinese novellas Works originally published in Chinese newspapers Chinese novels adapted into films Works by Lu Xun Chinese satirical novels Chinese Republican era novels