Lu Xun’s Fourth Residence in Beijing

The building in the photo is Lu Xun’s last Residence in Beijing at the No. 21 West Santiao in Fucheng Gate. Lu Xu (1881-1936), the short-story writer, essayist, critic, and literary theorist, was considered one of the greatest figures in the 20th century Chinese literature. Luxun had reaved many places, including  Shanghai, Nanjing, Beijing and Xian tour. One time, when he came to Beijing in his Beijing Xian tour, he loved the Beijng at the first time. He spent all of his money buying the house in the Badaowan. Later, he gave his savings to Habuto Nobuko, his sister-in-law. So he borrowed 400 yuan respectively from his friend Xu Shoushang and Qi Zongyi to buy the house in the West Santiao. He paid off all the debt until he became a teacher in Xiamen City.

Lu extended a nine-sqm flat-roofed (he called it the tiger’s tail) room to the north of the front room and made it its living room and study room. In those days, on the east wall hangs the portrait of professor Fujino and the pencil sketch work of the young painter Situ Qiao. On the desk were displayed brushes, an ink box, a clock mid a kerosene lamp. Sitting at the desk in the tiger’s tail”, Lu Xun looked out of the window into the outside and described: “Two trees were seen outside the room — one is a jujube tree and other is also a jujube.The two trees are silently and headstrongly piercing the weired and high sky…”The great writer calmly sat there, nestling in a cane chair, smoking and staring into the deep blue night sky through the window. The two jujube trees withered many years ago. In 1995, two other new trees were planted there. Starting in May 1934, Luxun stayed in this room for two years and three months. And during this period, he finished more than 200 essays as the components of the collection works, including Wild Grass, Huagai Collection, Sequence to the Huagai Collection, Graveyard, Wandering, and Down Blossom Plucked at Dusk. At that time, Zhou Zuoren(1885-1967) — essayist, psychologist, translator, and younger brother of Lu Xun was working on the prose poems and received the men of letters from the academic school. He complained that: “ I always feel it a pity that I can’t find the refection that can crystallize the essence or dregs of the ancient Chinese history while I’m living in the ancient city of Beijing” (a quotation from the book Beijing Snacks). In sharp contrast, Lu Xun was crouching in the small “tiger tail” room welcoming the ambitious young men. At dusk, when the door was knocked at, Lu Xun would hold a small oil lamp to offer light for the young visitors.

“They are the people who will always be deeply concerned with the realities and will never feel satisfactory about the reality. They worry a lot about the security of the nation,” such was the comments once made by Lu Xun on some of the excellent Chinese Intellectuals. And he was the leader of this group.