Lu Xun
1881 – 1936
About Lu Xun
Lu Xun (1881–1936), pen name of Zhou Shuren, is widely considered the founding father of modern Chinese literature. Born in Shaoxing, Zhejiang, he initially studied medicine in Japan before concluding that China's problems were spiritual and cultural rather than physical — and that literature, not medicine, was the cure. His "A Madman's Diary" (1918) is considered the first modern Chinese short story written in vernacular Chinese.
His major collections include Call to Arms (Nahan, 1923) and Wandering (Panghuang, 1926). His satirical essay "The True Story of Ah Q" is a devastating portrait of Chinese national psychology under imperialism. Mao Zedong praised him as "the saint of modern China," though Lu Xun died before the Communist victory and his actual political views were more complex.
“Bravery is not the absence of fear but the action in spite of it.”
Quick Facts
- Born
- 1881
- Died
- 1936
- Lifespan
- 55 years
- Domain
- inspiration
- Quotes
- 5 collected
- Key Themes
- CourageActionIdentityHopeTruth
Learn More
Wikipedia — Lu XunLu Xun's Famous Quotes
5 quotes
“Bravery is not the absence of fear but the action in spite of it.”
— Widely attributed — note: this exact wording is also associated with Nelson Mandela and Ambrose Redmoon; Lu Xun attribution uncertain
“Despair can only be overcome by action.”
— Widely attributed to Lu Xun — consistent with themes across his essays and stories
“To be truly modern, one must first be Chinese.”
— Widely attributed to Lu Xun — consistent with his documented philosophy of cultural modernization
“Hope is like a path in the countryside. Originally, there is nothing—but as people walk this way again and again, a path appears.”
— "My Old Home" (故乡, 1921) — closing lines
“Lies written in ink cannot disguise facts written in blood.”
— "Written After a Silent China" (无声的中国, essay, 1927)
Explore Related Content
Articles and guides inspired by inspiration thinkers like Lu Xun
Failure Is Not the Opposite of Success — It Is Information
Treating failure as a verdict rather than a data point is the single most common reason intelligent people stop short of becoming good at the things they care about most. The opposite of success is not failure. It is ignorance.
Read article →
Work-Life Balance Is a Myth. Here's What Actually Works.
Balance implies two equal sides held in static equilibrium. Most adult lives are not built this way. The actual problem is not imbalance — it is treating recovery as optional and integration as impossible.
Read article →
Marcus Aurelius Never Planned to Be Emperor — and That Made Him Great
Marcus Aurelius did not want to be emperor. He wrote Meditations as private notes to himself, never intending publication. The most-quoted Stoic text in history is a man arguing with his own weakness in the dark — and that is why it still works.
Read article →
More inspiration
Browse all authors →
Arundhati Roy
Arundhati Roy (born 1961) is an Indian author and activist whose debut novel *The God of Small Things* (1997) won the Booker Prize and sold more than eight million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling novels ever by a non-expatriate Indian author. Born in Shillong and raised in Kerala, Roy trained as an architect before writing her debut. After its success, she turned primarily to political essays — opposing nuclear testing, the Narmada Dam displacement, and the U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq — collected in *The Algebra of Infinite Justice* (2002) and *Listening to Grasshoppers* (2009). Her second novel, *The Ministry of Utmost Happiness* (2017), arrived twenty years after her first. She remains one of India's most fearless public intellectuals.
Mo Yan
Mo Yan (born 1955) is a Chinese author who received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2012, cited for his "hallucinatory realism" that "merges folk tales, history and the contemporary." Born Guan Moye in Gaomi, Shandong — a rural area that becomes the setting of much of his fiction — he left school during the Cultural Revolution to work in the fields, then served in the People's Liberation Army. His international reputation was established by *Red Sorghum* (1987), a visceral novel of wartime Shandong that was adapted into a Zhang Yimou film. His subsequent novels — *The Republic of Wine* (1992), *Big Breasts and Wide Hips* (1995), and *Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out* (2006) — blend Chinese folklore, Rabelaisian excess, and political critique. The Nobel Prize generated controversy because of his silence on the imprisonment of Liu Xiaobo, but he remains the most internationally recognized Chinese author.
Eckhart Tolle
Eckhart Tolle is a renowned spiritual teacher and author, best known for his books "The Power of Now" and "A New Earth." His teachings focus on the importance of presence, mindfulness, and awakening to one's true self. Tolle's work has inspired millions to live more consciously and find peace in the present moment.
Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou (1928–2014) was an American poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist whose seven-volume autobiography, beginning with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), transformed American literature. Born Marguerite Annie Johnson in St. Louis, Missouri, she endured a childhood marked by racial segregation, sexual trauma, and years of voluntary muteness. She became a dancer, singer, actress, journalist, playwright, and eventually one of the most celebrated poets in American history. In 1993 she delivered her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" at President Bill Clinton's inauguration. She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011. Her work is inseparable from the Civil Rights Movement — she was a close friend and collaborator of both Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.
Frequently Asked Questions
Lu Xun (1881–1936), pen name of Zhou Shuren, is widely considered the founding father of modern Chinese literature. Born in Shaoxing, Zhejiang, he initially studied medicine in Japan before concluding that China's problems were spiritual and cultural rather than physical — and that literature, not medicine, was the cure. His "A Madman's Diary" (1918) is considered the first modern Chinese short story written in vernacular Chinese. His major collections include Call to Arms (Nahan, 1923) and Wandering (Panghuang, 1926). His satirical essay "The True Story of Ah Q" is a devastating portrait of Chinese national psychology under imperialism. Mao Zedong praised him as "the saint of modern China," though Lu Xun died before the Communist victory and his actual political views were more complex. Lu Xun lived 1881 – 1936.