Overview of Lu Xun’s Medicine | Generated by AI
Question: Introduce Lu Xun’s short story “Medicine” in English.
Answer:
“Medicine” (药, Yào) is one of the most famous and powerful short stories written by Lu Xun (鲁迅), widely regarded as the greatest modern Chinese writer and the founder of modern Chinese literature.
- Publication: April 1919 (first published in New Youth magazine 《新青年》)
- Later included: in Lu Xun’s first short story collection Call to Arms (呐喊, Nahan, 1923)
Brief Plot Summary
The story is set in the late Qing dynasty, around the time of the failed 1898 Reform Movement and the execution of revolutionary Qiu Jin (秋瑾) in 1907 — events that deeply influenced Lu Xun.
- The main character is Hua Laoshuan (华老栓), a poor, illiterate teahouse owner.
- His young son Xiaoshuan (小栓) is dying of tuberculosis.
- Believing in a folk “cure”, Hua spends all his savings to buy a steamed bun soaked in the fresh blood of an executed revolutionary (believed to cure consumption/TB).
- The revolutionary remains unnamed but is clearly modeled on real anti-Qing revolutionaries.
- In the end, Xiaoshuan still dies after eating the blood bun.
- The story closes with a very ironic and tragic scene at the graveyard: Xiaoshuan’s mother visits his grave and sees a single red flower (placed by the revolutionary’s mother) on the otherwise barren execution ground — a tiny symbol of hope and sacrifice that nobody in the ignorant crowd understands.
Main Themes
- The ignorance and numbness of the Chinese masses — the people buy revolutionary blood as “medicine” but have no understanding of, or sympathy for, the revolutionary cause.
- The tragic failure of revolution — the sacrifice of the revolutionary does not awaken society; instead, it is turned into a superstitious commodity.
- Critique of traditional superstition vs. modern enlightenment ideals.
- Deep pessimism about cultural inertia and the difficulty of truly “saving” China through either revolution or education.
Famous Symbolic Images
- The blood-soaked steamed bun → the most shocking and cruel symbol in modern Chinese literature
- The crow that refuses to fly away on the grave (in the final scene) → symbolizes the stubborn, unchanging, deathly spirit of old China
- The single red flower → fragile hope / the lonely tribute of those who understand
Why It Is Considered a Masterpiece
“Medicine” is short (only about 3,000 Chinese characters), yet extremely dense with meaning. It uses almost no direct political preaching — everything is shown through cold, restrained, ironic narration. This “ice-cold irony” became Lu Xun’s signature style and deeply influenced generations of Chinese writers.
It is still one of the most frequently taught and analyzed works in Chinese middle schools and universities, and remains a classic example of how literature can expose social illness without offering easy comfort or solutions.
References:
- Lu Xun. Call to Arms (呐喊). 1923. (various English translations available, most commonly by Julia Lovell or William A. Lyell)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicine_(short_story)