MCLC: parents angry at removal of Lu Xun texts

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: pjmooney <pjmooney at me.com>
Subject: parents angry at removal of Lu Xun texts
***********************************************************

Source: SCMP (9/8/13):
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1305905/parents-angry-removal-lu-xun
s-works-chinas-school-textbooks

Parents angry at removal of Lu Xun's works from China's school textbooks
By He Huifeng <huifeng.he at scmp.com>

An essay by Lu Xun, a towering figure of modern Chinese literature, has
been dropped from the latest edition of middle school textbooks,
triggering an outcry among parents and intellectuals, who say the author
is essential to understanding the national psyche.

The People's Education Press, a government-backed publisher that supplies
most of the mainland's textbooks, removed Lu's essay The Kite as part of
revisions to its seventh-grade textbooks for Chinese and literature.

For years, pupils and teachers have long complained Lu's works are too
difficult for young people to understand and that his insights into
Chinese culture, written almost 100 years ago, are losing their relevancy.
The decision may please them, but others feel it is a step in the wrong
direction.

Tens of thousands of people posted comments online overnight on Wednesday
after a newspaper in Henan reported the editing decision. In two surveys
conducted on Sina's Weibo, the mainland's most popular microblog site,
more than 85 per cent of respondents disagreed with removing Lu's essay.

Lu Xun was the pen name of Zhou Shuren (1881- 1936), who wrote using both
traditional Chinese conventions and 19th century European literary forms.
He penned short stories, essays and letters that had an enormous impact on
modern China. His two short story collections, Nahan ( A Call to Arms or
Outcry) and Panghuang ( Wandering) were established classics and often
viewed as marking the beginning of modern Chinese literature, said Qian
Liqun, a professor of literature at Peking University.

"For China's reformers and intellectuals of different generations, Lu's
importance to the country lies not only in literature. His works fostered
introspection in Chinese society and led to the questioning of orthodoxies
and authorities," Qian said.

"Even now, when reading his writings, you will feel powerfully inspired to
think critically about society and the authorities of China's past, its
present, or even of its future."

It is a common experience for many teenagers to gain their first insight
into the darker aspects of the national character through Lu's works - he
vividly captures and dissects China's obsession with "face"; its
superiority complex, servility before authority and its cruelty towards
the weak.

In 2009, mainland media looked into how prevalent Lu Xun's works remained
in schools. They found that only three of his writings were included in
the latest textbooks for senior high school pupils published by the
People's Education Press. Previously, they included two of his most
admired short stories The True Story of Ah-Q and Diary of a Madman.

Su Huitao , who taught Chinese and literature in middle schools for 30
years before retiring, said about eight or nine of Lu's works were
included in textbooks for most middle school pupils, and about seven in
junior high school and three in high school.

"That's a big reduction compared to editions we used in the 1980s and
1990s," Su said. "We were told by education officials that middle school
pupils need to study 'age-appropriate' material and should not be reading
such deep and abstruse works."

Many pupils say they dislike studying his works, arguing his writing is
indeed difficult and written in an archaic style that is difficult to
learn.

"His works are all about criticism of society in the early 1900s. That's
too distant from our life," said a Shenzhen-based grade 11 pupil. "Our
society is now peaceful and rich."

Some parents and college students think learning Lu's works is a necessity
for all young people.

"I disliked Lu's works when I was a middle school student. But now that I
am an adult, I find his works are like a seed. I hope every Chinese uses
them to prompt self-reflection about our society when confronted with
unfair social issues," said Liu Weilan, a Dongguan-based mother in her 40s
said.

"I felt sad and angry when I saw the authorities had taken take away The
True Story of Ah-Q, Diary of a Madman and The Medicine from my child's
textbook. Learning these works is a good way for teenagers to learn how to
think critically. That's what I want my daughter to learn from school."