«Raccogliendo la veccia» di Lu Xun

The present article focuses on a short story written by Lu Xun in 1935, «Gathering Vetch», later included in Gushi Xinbian (Old Tales Retold). In this text the author has been faithful to the official biography of the two legendary hermits Boyi and Shuqi, as it was recorded by Sima Qian and comme...

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Main Author: Perini, Gaia
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Fondazione Università Ca’ Foscari 2023-08-01
Series:Annali di Ca’ Foscari: Serie Orientale
Subjects:
Online Access:http://doi.org/10.30687/AnnOr/2385-3042/2023/01/013
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author Perini, Gaia
author_facet Perini, Gaia
author_sort Perini, Gaia
collection DOAJ
description The present article focuses on a short story written by Lu Xun in 1935, «Gathering Vetch», later included in Gushi Xinbian (Old Tales Retold). In this text the author has been faithful to the official biography of the two legendary hermits Boyi and Shuqi, as it was recorded by Sima Qian and commented by Confucius, while on the other hand he could not fail to contaminate it with his irreverent wit, as well as with a variety of unmistakably modern narrative devices. Through a close reading of this single work, the article aims at analyzing Lu Xun’s ambivalent yet vital relationship with the Chinese tradition and folklore; it shows how the writer mingled the most authoritative historical texts (zhengshi) with the unofficial history (yeshi) and oral culture. This mixture between orality and the sacred written word of the Classics was not intended to demystify the canon for the sheer pleasure of it; rather, as this article tries to prove, Lu Xun engaged in a profound and radical rethinking of the Chinese past by retelling it in a new way.
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spelling doaj.art-01024d5456284c65b3ccfa11f3c2a1802023-10-30T08:23:24ZengFondazione Università Ca’ FoscariAnnali di Ca’ Foscari: Serie Orientale2385-30422023-08-0159110.30687/AnnOr/2385-3042/2023/01/013journal_article_12473«Raccogliendo la veccia» di Lu XunPerini, Gaia0Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna; Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Italia The present article focuses on a short story written by Lu Xun in 1935, «Gathering Vetch», later included in Gushi Xinbian (Old Tales Retold). In this text the author has been faithful to the official biography of the two legendary hermits Boyi and Shuqi, as it was recorded by Sima Qian and commented by Confucius, while on the other hand he could not fail to contaminate it with his irreverent wit, as well as with a variety of unmistakably modern narrative devices. Through a close reading of this single work, the article aims at analyzing Lu Xun’s ambivalent yet vital relationship with the Chinese tradition and folklore; it shows how the writer mingled the most authoritative historical texts (zhengshi) with the unofficial history (yeshi) and oral culture. This mixture between orality and the sacred written word of the Classics was not intended to demystify the canon for the sheer pleasure of it; rather, as this article tries to prove, Lu Xun engaged in a profound and radical rethinking of the Chinese past by retelling it in a new way. http://doi.org/10.30687/AnnOr/2385-3042/2023/01/013Cai Wei. Gushi Xinbian. Lu Xun. Rewriting history. Sima Qian
spellingShingle Perini, Gaia
«Raccogliendo la veccia» di Lu Xun
Annali di Ca’ Foscari: Serie Orientale
Cai Wei. Gushi Xinbian. Lu Xun. Rewriting history. Sima Qian
title «Raccogliendo la veccia» di Lu Xun
title_full «Raccogliendo la veccia» di Lu Xun
title_fullStr «Raccogliendo la veccia» di Lu Xun
title_full_unstemmed «Raccogliendo la veccia» di Lu Xun
title_short «Raccogliendo la veccia» di Lu Xun
title_sort raccogliendo la veccia di lu xun
topic Cai Wei. Gushi Xinbian. Lu Xun. Rewriting history. Sima Qian
url http://doi.org/10.30687/AnnOr/2385-3042/2023/01/013
work_keys_str_mv AT perinigaia raccogliendolavecciadiluxun