The Significance of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Lu Xun's Medicine

Medicine was written in April of 19 19. Through the story of the teahouse owner Hua Laoshuan and his wife entertaining their son Xiao Shuan with blood steamed bread, the work reveals the sin of the feudal ruling class in suppressing the revolution and fooling the people, praises the revolutionary Xia's indomitable revolutionary spirit and criticizes the historical mistakes of the Revolution of 1911. The works focus on the way Hua Laoshuan and his wife treat their sons, and the revolutionary Yu Xia is killed by reactionaries. The two lines are intertwined and the story structure is clear.

original text

one

In mid-autumn, the moon goes down and the sun hasn't come out yet, leaving only a blue sky; Everything fell asleep except the things that traveled at night. Hua Laoshuan suddenly sat up, lit a match, lit a greasy lamp, and the two rooms in the teahouse were filled with naive light.

"Xiao Shuan's father, are you going?" This is the voice of an old woman. In the small room inside, there was also a cough.

"hmm." Old Shuan listened and answered, buttoning his clothes; Hold out your hand and say, "Give it to me."

Aunt Hua dug under the pillow for a long time and took out a bag of foreign money [2] and gave it to Lao Shuan. Old Shuan took it, shook it into his pocket and pressed it twice outside. He lit a lamp, blew it out and went to the back room. In that room, I heard a soldier's voice, followed by a cough. Old Shuan waited for him to calm down before he whispered, "Xiao Shuan ... don't get up." ..... the store? Your mother will arrange it. "

Old An Shu heard his son stop talking and hoped that he could sleep peacefully. He went out into the street. There is nothing in the dark street except a gray road, so I can see it clearly. The light shone on his feet and he walked in tandem. Sometimes I meet several dogs and don't bark. The weather is much colder than in the house; Old An Shu felt refreshed, as if once he became a teenager, he had magical power and the ability to give life to others, and his stride was exceptionally high. And the road is getting clearer and the sky is getting brighter and brighter.

Old Shuan was walking intently when he was startled and saw a T-shaped street in the distance, which was obviously horizontal. He stepped back and found a shop with a closed door. He jumped under the eaves and stood by the door. For a while, I felt a little cold.

"Hum, old man."

"I'm glad ..."

Old Shuan was taken aback again. When he opened his eyes, several people passed by him. One looked back at him, not very clear, but he looked like a long-term hungry man who saw food, and his eyes shone with a light of snatch. Old Shuan, look at this lantern. It's out. Press the pocket, the hard one is still there. Looking up to both sides, I saw many strangers wandering there in twos and threes like ghosts; After reading it again, I can't see anything else.

After a while, I saw several soldiers walking over there; A big white circle in front of and behind the clothes can be seen clearly in the distance. Walking in front of them, you can see the dark red edge (3) on the clothes. -a burst of footsteps, blink of an eye, has embraced a large group of people. Those people in twos and threes also suddenly cooperated into a pile and rushed forward like a flood; When I reached the T-junction, I suddenly stopped and folded into a semicircle.

Old Shuan also looked over there and only saw the backs of a bunch of people; The neck stretched out very long, as if many ducks were held up by invisible hands. It was quiet for a while, as if there was a little movement, then it shook again, and with a bang, it all retreated; Scattered all the way to the place where Old Bolt stood, and almost pushed him down.

"ah! Pay in one hand and deliver in one hand! " A man in black stood in front of the old bolt and looked like two knives, stabbing the old bolt in half. The man stretched out a big hand to him; Holding a bright red steamed bread in one hand, the red drops down bit by bit.

Old Shuan hurriedly pulled out the foreign currency and gave it to him trembling, but he was afraid to pick up his things. The man was in a hurry and cried, "What are you afraid of? Why not take it! " Old An Shu is still hesitating; Men in black grabbed lanterns, tore off paper covers, wrapped steamed buns and stuffed them into old plugs; Grab the foreign currency in one hand, pinch it and turn around. Mouth humming said, "this old thing ..."

"Who is this for?" Old Shuan seemed to hear someone ask him, but he didn't agree. His spirit is now only on a bag, as if holding a baby that has been handed down for ten generations, and everything else is ignored. Now he is going to transplant the new life in this bag to his home and gain a lot of happiness. The sun also came out; In front of him, there is a road leading to his home, and behind it, you can see the four dim golden characters of "Gu Mou Ting Mou" on the broken plaque on the street in Queena Ding.

two

By the time Lao Shuan got home, the shop had already packed up, and the rows of tea tables were slippery and shiny. But there are no guests; Only Xiao Shuan sat at the table in the back row to eat. Sweat rolled down his forehead and his jacket stuck to his spine. His two shoulder blades stand out high, and they are printed as an "8" in Yang Wen. Seeing this, Lao Shuan frowned. His woman, running out from under the stove, her eyes open and her lips trembling.

"Come on?"

"Come on."

Two people went into the kitchen together and discussed for a while; Aunt Hua went out and soon came back with an old lotus leaf and spread it on the table. Old Shuan also turned on the light and wrapped the red steamed bread with lotus leaves. Small Shuan also finished eating, his mother hurriedly said:

"An Shu-you sit, don't come over."

Old Shuan put a green bag and a broken red and white lantern into the stove while rectifying the stove fire; When red and black flames passed by, the shop room was filled with a strange smell.

"It smells good! What snacks do you have? " This is the hunchback of the Fifth Young Master. This man always spends his days in the teahouse every day, coming the earliest and leaving the latest. At this time, he just skipped to the table in the corner of the street and sat down to ask questions, but no one answered him. "Fried rice porridge?" Still no answer. Old Shuan hurried out to make tea for him.

"Come in, Shuan!" Aunt Hua called Xiao Shuan into the back room, put a stool in the middle and Xiao Shuan sat down. His mother with a plate of black round things, gently said:

"Eat it-you'll be fine."

Xiao Shuan picked up this black thing and looked at it for a while, as if he were holding his own life, and he couldn't say how strange it was. Carefully opened it, and white gas appeared in the coke skin. The white gas dispersed, and it was a steamed bread with two halves of white flour. -there is not much time, it is all in my stomach, but I have forgotten what it tastes like; There is only an empty plate left in front. Next to him stood his father and his mother, both of whom looked as if they were going to put something into his body and take something out; I can't help my heart beating and coughing on my chest.

"Get some sleep-you'll be fine."

Xiao Shuan coughed and fell asleep according to his mother's words. Aunt Hua waited for him to catch his breath and calm down before gently covering him with a quilt full of patches.

three

There are many people sitting in the shop, and Lao Shuan is also busy, holding big copper pots and making tea for the guests one by one; Both eyes are surrounded by black lines.

"Old Shuan, do you feel a little sick? -Are you sick? " A man with a gray beard said.

"No."

"No? -I want to laugh happily, but it's not like ... "Gray beard canceled his words.

"Old Shuan is just busy. If his son ... "Humpty-backed five young master words not to say that finish, suddenly broke into a juryman, wearing a dark black cloth unlined upper garment, buttons scattered, with a wide dark black belt, casually tied at the waist. Just an enter a door, then shouted to the old bolt:

"Have you eaten? Are you ready? Old Shuan, you are so lucky! You are very lucky, if it weren't for my information spirit ... "

Old Shuan raised the teapot with one hand and hung it respectfully with the other; Listen with a smile. The full house listened respectfully. Aunt Hua, with dark eyes, smiled and sent out a tea bowl with an olive in it, which the old bolt went to flush.

"This is wrapped! This is different. You think, bring it while it is hot and eat it while it is hot. " Jurors just yell.

"Really, if it weren't for Kang Dashu's concern, how could this happen ..." Aunt Hua also thanked him gratefully.

"Wrap, wrap! Eat this while it is hot. This kind of human blood steamed bread, what consumption! "

Aunt Hua's face changed a little when she heard the word "consumption", and she seemed a little unhappy; But he immediately smiled and walked away. This Kang Dashu didn't notice, but raised his voice. He just let out a cry and let Xiao Shuan, who was sleeping inside, cough together.

"So your little bolt met such good luck. Naturally, the disease is completely cured; No wonder Lao Shuan smiles all day. " Gray beard said, while walking to the front of Kang Dashu, humbly asked, "Kang Dashu-I heard that one of the prisoners who got the result today is Hagar's child. Whose child is that? What is it? "

"Whose? Isn't this grandma Si Xia's son? That little guy! " Uncle Kang was very happy to see all the people pricking up their ears to listen to him. Now that all the pieces are full, he said even louder, "This little thing is not bad, but I don't want it. I didn't get any benefits this time; Even the stripped clothes were taken away by Ayi, a red-eyed prisoner. -the first is the luck of our uncle; Secondly, Master Xia San gave twenty-five taels of snow-white silver and kept it for himself without spending a penny. "

Xiao Shuan slowly walked out of the small room, put his hands on his chest and kept coughing; Go under the stove, serve a bowl of cold rice, soak in hot water and sit down to eat. Aunt Hua followed him and asked softly, "Xiao Shuan, are you better?" Are you still just hungry? ……"

"Wrap it up, wrap it up!" After glancing at Xiao Shuan, Uncle Kang turned to them and said, "Xia San is really a good character. If he doesn't sue the officer first, he will even be beheaded. What about now? Silver! -this little thing is really nothing! Locked in Laurie, it is also to persuade the prison owner to rebel. "

"Ah, that's not bad." A man in his twenties sitting in the back row looked very angry.

"You know red-eye Ah Yi went to the license plate number, but he talked to him. He said: This big world belongs to all of us. You think: is this human talk? Red-eye knew that there was only one old lady in his family, but he was too poor to squeeze any oil and water, and he was furious. If he wants to catch the tiger's head, give him two mouths! "

"Brother Yi is a good fist stick. These two pens must be enough for him. " The hunchback in the corner suddenly became happy.

"He is not afraid of this bitch, but he wants to say that he is pitiful."

The man with white beard said, "What's the pity of hitting this thing?"

Uncle Kang dismissed him with a smile: "You didn't hear what I said clearly; Look at his air, which means that aunt is pitiful! "

Listen to the person's eyes, suddenly some dull; Words also paused. Xiao Shuan has finished his meal, sweating profusely and steaming on his head.

"Ah Yi is poor-crazy is crazy." Gray beard said with an epiphany.

"Crazy." People in their twenties also suddenly realized.

The guests in the shop are laughing again. Xiao Shuan also coughed desperately with excitement; Kang Dashu went up to him and patted him on the shoulder and said:

"Wrap it up! Sean.-don't cough like that. Wrap it up! "

"Crazy." Humpback five young master nodded and said.

four

The land outside Xiguan, near the city root, was originally an official land; There is a narrow road in the middle, which is caused by people greedy for sidewalks, but it has become a natural boundary. On the left side of the road are people who have been sentenced to death and beheaded, and on the right side are the graves of the poor. Both sides are buried in layers, like steamed bread for a rich family's birthday.

Qingming is particularly cold this year; The willows spit out half a grain of rice. Before dawn, Aunt Hua sat in front of a new grave on the right, unloaded four dishes and a bowl of rice, and cried. 5] after the paper, dull to sit on the ground; As if waiting for something. The breeze blew his short hair, which was much whiter than last year.

There came another woman on the path, also with half-white hair and tattered clothes; Carry a worn-out red lacquer round basket and hang a string of paper ingots in three steps. Suddenly, when I saw Aunt Hua sitting on the ground looking at him, I hesitated, and my pale face showed some shame. But in the end, I crustily skin of head, walked to a grave on the left and put down my basket.

The tomb and the tomb of the small bolt are lined up, only separated by a path. Aunt Hua watched him arrange four dishes and a bowl of rice, standing and crying, melting paper ingots; I thought to myself, "This grave is also a son." The old woman lingered for a while, suddenly her hands and feet trembled, staggered back a few steps, and just stared in a daze.

Aunt Hua saw it, fearing that he would go crazy with grief. I couldn't help getting up, crossing the path and whispering to him, "Don't be sad, you old woman-we'd better go back."

The man nodded, his eyes still staring; He also whispered, "Look-what do you think this is?"

Aunt Hua followed his finger and looked at the grave in front of her. The grass roots on this grave are not completely combined, revealing pieces of loess, which is really ugly. When I looked up carefully again, I was surprised; -There is a circle of red and white flowers around the sharp grave.

Their eyes have been presbyopia for many years, but they can still see red and white flowers. Not many flowers, arranged in a circle, not very energetic, but also very neat. Aunt Hua is busy looking at the graves of her son and others, only a few blue and white flowers that are not afraid of cold are scattered; I suddenly feel a sense of loss and emptiness, and I don't want to delve into it. The old woman took a few more steps, looked carefully and said to herself, "This is rootless, unlike her own. -Who will come to this place? Children will not come to play; -relatives and family members don't come early. -What's the matter? " He thought and thought, suddenly shed tears, loudly say:

"On her, they wronged you, but you still can't forget. You are sad, but you must show some spirit today. Do you want me to know? He looked around and saw a crow standing on a bare tree. Then he said, "I see. -on her, pity that they lied to you, they will always get what they deserve in the future, who knows; Close your eyes. If you are really here and hear me, teach this crow to fly to the top of your grave and show it to me. "

The breeze has long ceased; The branches of the hay stand upright like copper wires. A trembling voice is getting thinner and thinner in the air, and everything around it is dead. They stood in the withered grass and looked at the crow on their backs. The crow also stood among the straight branches, shrinking its head and casting iron.

A lot of time has passed; The number of people who went to the grave gradually increased, and several people, old and young, haunted the earth grave.

Aunt Hua somehow seems to have unloaded a heavy burden and thought of leaving; "We'd better go back," he urged.

The old woman sighed and put the food away listlessly; After some hesitation, I finally left slowly. Mouth said to himself, "what's going on? ……"

They couldn't walk twenty or thirty steps when they heard a cry of "dumb-"behind them; Both of them looked back in horror and saw the crow spreading its wings and crashing down, flying straight into the distant sky like an arrow.

19 19 April.

To annotate ...

① This article was first published in 19 19, the fifth issue of New Youth, Volume VI. Reporter: The character Yu Xia is a metaphor for Qiu Jin, a female revolutionary in the late Qing Dynasty. Shortly after Qiu Jin was killed in Xu Xilin, he was also killed by the Qing government on July 5, 1907.

⑵ Foreign currency: refers to silver dollars. Silver dollar originally flowed into China from foreign countries, so it is commonly known as foreign money; China has been casting silver dollars since the late Qing Dynasty, but people still use this old name.

(3) No.1 clothing: refers to the military uniform of soldiers in the Qing Dynasty, with a round white cloth on the front and back, with the words "soldier" or "brave" on it.

(4) Red steamed bread: that is, steamed bread dipped in human blood. In ancient superstition, people think that human blood can cure tuberculosis, so executioners use it to defraud money.

5. Burning paper: Paper refers to paper money, a superstitious article, which is considered by the old custom to be used in the "underworld" after the cremation of the deceased. The paper ingot mentioned below is an ingot made of paper or tin foil.

Key words in Lu Xun's novels

China youth wreath is complacent.

L What happened to China youth?

Dead, Hua Xiaoshuan died, and two young people, Hua and Xia, also died. This is the sorrow of Hua and Xia. It is not excluded that Mr. Lu Xun wants to split up: this is the sorrow of "China" and the sorrow of the Chinese nation.

First, Xiao Shuan is dead.

The novel doesn't describe the small latch too much. All we know is that he has lung disease and is very ill. After eating "human blood steamed bread", it was not cured, so it was buried in the poor grave on the right side of Xiguanwai cemetery.

Tuberculosis referred to by Chinese medicine was not a minor illness or a sudden illness at that time, and it was impossible to fall down at once. However, it seems that his illness is not his own business, and his parents are responsible. Aunt Hua told him not to get off the stove, so he didn't come; Tell him to come in and he will come in. Told him to eat "human blood steamed bread", he ate it without even asking, although he watched it for a while. Tell him to sleep for a while, and he falls asleep, even though he coughs. A sweet-talking young man. Amitabha, however, has no vitality and no opinion. He is a complete idiot.

Second, Yu Xia died recklessly.

Compared with Xiao Shuan, Yu Xia went to the other extreme. He is energetic and brave, and he doesn't know what obedience is. He was put in prison because of the revolution, but he kept persuading the prison leaders to rebel.

However, his mind is not calm and too simple. Betrayed by my uncle Xia San, still in the dark. The so-called "ruling the country by family" of Confucianism has not even won over the family members. How can it be easily supported and embraced by others? Ah Yi went to check the details with red eyes, but took him as a true friend and started a conversation with him, saying, "This big world belongs to all of us.". Aunt who didn't squeeze out any oil and water gave two mouths and said "poor".

We admire his loyalty and courage to the revolution. But I always feel that he lacks a clear understanding and minimum strategies, and has not done any work for the revolutionary masses. What he did was a "Yu Xia-style revolution", which could only be a tragic ending, exposing the weakness of the old democratic revolutionary heroism and being divorced from the masses.

Third, "twenties" live as fools.

In the third chapter, I also wrote about a man in his twenties twice.

For the first time, Kang Dashu said that Yu Xia advised the old man to rebel, and his first reaction was that he:

"Ah, that's not bad." A man in his twenties sitting in the back row looked very angry.

When people understand that Yu Xia called Ah Yi pitiful, he followed the gray beard to realize:

"Crazy." People in their twenties also suddenly realized.

Most people can't understand Yu Xia's propaganda of revolution, which is the sorrow of social numbness. Young people in their twenties should get rid of the naivety of teenagers and the stubbornness of old people, have a clearer understanding of the world and accept new democratic and scientific ideas more easily. But he didn't understand it, and he soon reflected it. If nothing else, he was very angry. The faster he reacts, the more stupid he is. In this "group chat" in the teahouse, he finally echoed "an epiphany" and said that Yu Xia was crazy, which made the "youth" even more sad.

Fourth, the youth on T-Street shouted obscenity.

This society is really "sick", not only this young man; Wasn't it laughed at by all the young people that Hua Laoshuan went to T-street to buy human blood steamed bread for his son?

"Hum, old man."

"I'm glad ..."

"Several people passed by him," he said when he saw Hua Laoshuan. "A person still looks back at him ... much like a long-term hungry person who sees food, and his eyes are shining with a grabbing light. "Cold autumn, dark morning, I came to the street to catch hot spectators, suddenly found an" old man "mixed up. I feel strange. It seems that this "old man" is very poor and is still making trouble. It seems that this is purely the patent of "us" young people.

There are too many such young people. "In a blink of an eye, they have embraced a large group of people." Those people in twos and threes suddenly cooperated in a pile and flooded forward. "'3322' is not isolated,' a bunch of cooperation' is more common." Blink of an eye shows the shortness of time, while Hug and The Tide see the surge of fighting. Young people's youthful enthusiasm, that's all. Look at killing people for fun.

These boring and numb spectators strongly impacted Mr. Lu Xun's sensitive mind. Mr. Lu mentioned in his works more than once, for example, "All stupid and weak citizens, no matter how healthy and strong, can only be meaningless propaganda materials and spectators." (Preface to Scream) They are collectively ignorant, so that the voices of some sober revolutionary pioneers (such as Yu Xia) are still not understood and accepted by them. This era, this society, is really sick!

Why is Yu Xia in Lu Xun's novel Medicine Qiu Jin?

Most of the characters' names written by Lu Xun have profound meanings, such as Kong Yiji. Without Confucius' rich cultural support, he could not embody a typical image of a down-and-out scholar who was deeply poisoned by the feudal imperial examination system. Moreover, Mr. Lu Xun himself has more than 100 pen names, and each pen name refers to something. His first pen name was Jian Jiansheng, which means: Suddenly, he was born and his sword was drawn. In the novel Medicine, Hua Laoshuan's family and Yu Xia's family are two main lines: one bright and one dark. Yu Xia in the article died, and so did Hua Xiaoshuan. The death of these two young people is the sorrow of Hua and Xia. Therefore, no one can rule out this division of Mr. Lu Xun: this is the sorrow of China and the sorrow of the Chinese nation.

The novel Medicine was written on April 25th, 2009+1965438. On the eve of the May 4th Movement, the bourgeoisie, which led the Revolution of 1911 at that time, failed to complete the revolutionary task of anti-imperialism and feudalism because of its compromise with feudal forces and imperialism. They are divorced from the masses and dream of relying on the strength of a few people (including the use of terrorist means) to replace the revolutionary movement of the masses. 1July 6, 907, Xu Xilin assassinated Anhui Governor Enming. After the failure, Eun-ming's soldiers brutally cut out his heart and fried the food. Qiu Jin was jailed for this, and died heroically in Xuantingkou, Shaoxing in July of 15. Against this background, Mr. Lu Xun started to write Medicine with the aim of "exposing the pain of diseases and attracting the attention of treatment".

Mr. Lu Xun used Qiu Jin as the prototype of Yu Xia's life and used it to mourn Qiu Jin, the heroine of Jianhu Lake. According to the name, people generally interpret it as "summer" and "autumn" are relative, and "jade" and "gold" reflect each other. Both "jade" and "gold" come from "jade", which is often taken as a compliment in China names. When I was in middle school, my teacher said the same thing.

Tiezi thinks this statement is too far-fetched. In fact, the moral of the names Lu Xun is very direct. Yu Xia is a homonym for Xia Chao, and Qiu Jin is spelled as Qiu Jin. Qiu Lai in summer, so "Yu Xia" is "Qiu Jin". The "Yu Xia" here is not used to allude to "Qiu Jin", nor is it an allusion, but it is straightforward and a sketch that people can understand at a glance. It not only entrusted Mr. Lu Xun with respect and mourning for Ms. Qiu Jin, but also entrusted Mr. Lu Xun with respect and regret for people with lofty ideals in the democratic revolution. In the social background at that time, this not only requires a far-sighted vision, but also requires a heroic courage and heroism.

The general idea is:

Lao Shuan's son got tuberculosis, and now it is tuberculosis, which was incurable in those days. At that time, it was said that human blood steamed bread could cure diseases, so Lao Shuan spent a lot of money to buy blood steamed bread dyed by the ruling party (* * *) and steamed it back for Xiao Shuan to eat. Unfortunately, his efforts only played a comforting role, and Xiao Shuan eventually died. Near his grave is the beheaded revolutionary party.

Medicine is a metaphor. The important task of saving the country, in Lu Xun's view, is by no means up to the revolution launched by the petty bourgeoisie. Because of their inherent defect of being divorced from workers and peasants, they are always in a weak position in the comparison of state power. Those who are sincere and enthusiastic about saving the country at the cost of their lives will not get the understanding of ordinary people, let alone the support of most people, and eventually die for their country and be beheaded, but their blood is taken as superstitious drugs for treating tuberculosis by unconscious people.

The bright line of medicine is to describe the ignorance of the public; Its hidden line praised the revolutionary's dedication. Using human blood steamed bread to connect the two clues of light and darkness highlights the ignorance of the masses, but also makes the dedicated revolutionaries feel an unbearable sadness and loneliness. What the author reveals is not Yu Xia's mistakes and shortcomings, but the weakness of the masses. Moreover, this weakness is not generally exposed, but is more deeply exposed in connection with revolution and revolutionaries. It is true that Yu Xia is lonely and sad, but the author does not analyze the subjective reasons for his loneliness and sadness, such as "being divorced from the masses", but focuses on revealing the objective reasons for this sadness and loneliness. When analyzing the objective reasons, the author does not focus on revealing the cruelty and cunning of the reactionary rulers, but on depicting the numbness and ignorance of the masses. In other words, revolutionaries are sad and lonely because they have deeply tasted the ignorance and numbness of the masses. Lu Xun once talked about this work with his friends. He said: "medicine describes the ignorance of the masses and the sorrow of revolutionaries;" Or the sorrow of revolutionaries because of the ignorance of the masses; To put it more bluntly, revolutionaries sacrificed their lives for the ignorant masses. The masses don't know who this sacrifice is for, but because of their own ignorance, they think that this sacrifice can be enjoyed ... "6. We think that this passage of Lu Xun has clearly explained what his central idea is. If it is necessary to make a summary, the theme of Medicine is: the masses are still ignorant, they urgently need revolution, but they are not conscious and even hostile to revolution. To make a revolution, we must use scientific and democratic ideas to liberate them from the long-term rule of Confucius and Mencius and feudal superstitions. Otherwise, the revolution has no hope of success.