Villiruohoa

by Lu Xun, Tero Tähtinen (Translator)

Lu Xun (1881–1936) oli yksi Kiinan merkittävimmistä 1900-luvun kirjailijoista ja Kiinan modernin kirjallisuuden perustaja. Lu lähti nuorena miehenä Japaniin opiskelemaan lääketiedettä, mutta nähtyään sieltä käsin kansansa ankeat olot hän päätti parantaa niitä uuden kirjallisuuden avulla. Hänen mukaansa on nimetty asteroidi sekä Kiinan merkittävin kirjallisuuspalkinto.

Villiruohoa on Lu Xunin kuuluisimpia teoksia. Proosarunoissaan hän yhdistelee kiinalaisia kirjallisia perinteitä moderneihin eurooppalaisiin muotoihin.

Genres: China, Poetry, Chinese Literature, Literature, Classics, Fiction, Short Stories

71 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1927

About the author

Lu Xun (鲁迅) or Lu Hsün (Wade-Giles), was the pen name of Zhou Shuren (September 25, 1881 – October 19, 1936), a leading figure of modern Chinese literature. Writing in Vernacular Chinese as well as Classical Chinese, Lu Xun was a novelist, editor, translator, literary critic, essayist, and poet. In the 1930s he became the titular head of the League of Left-Wing Writers in Shanghai.


For the Traditional Chinese profile: here.
For the Simplified Chinese profile: 鲁迅

Reviews

[J.M. Hushour · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you haven't read Lu Xun, then you are a deviationist, anti-ist with a laughable genital. He's one of the greats of anywhere, anytime, creator of a school of FuckYouism that is more relevant to the America of today than anything since his own time.
"Wild Grass" is a collection of dark musings written in the mid 1920s during the heyday of the warlords tearing apart northern China. These are called "prose poems". They're more like miniature nightmares, with a few nice ones tossed in for good measure. Brief, succinct and weird, you should love them. If you don't, Lu Xun will make fun of your hairy back, your drink ordering, and/or the invisible pocks on your soul-face.

[Darryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lu Xun (1881-1936) was one of the most important writers of 20th century Chinese literature, and considered to be the 'founder of modern Chinese literature.' He wrote in a variety of genres, and was widely respected by Mao and other leaders of the original communist movement in China. Much of his work has been translated into English, although I had never heard of him before stumbling upon this book.

Wild Grass (1927) is a collection of prose poems that date from 1924-1926, which was translated by Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang. In the Foreword to this collection, Lu describes wild grass at that which grows from the abandoned clay of life, that which follows from the unhappiness of his past life. This grass is fragile and lacks beauty, yet it is full of vitality during its brief existence.

These prose poems cover a variety of topics: nature, friendship, personal struggle and loss, and betrayal and redemption.

A representative poem is this excerpt from "Hope":

My heart is extraordinarily lonely.

But my heart is very tranquil, void of love and hate, joy and sadness, colour and sound.

I am probably growing old. Is it not a fact that my hair is turning white? Is it not a fact that my hands are trembling? Then the hands of my spirit must also be trembling. The hair of my spirit must also be turning white.

But this has been the case for many years.

Before that my heart once overflowed with sanguinary songs, blood and iron, fire and poison, resurgence and revenge. Then suddenly my heart became empty, except when I sometimes deliberately filled it with vain, self-deluding hope. Hope, hope — I took this shield of hope to withstand the invasion of the dark night in the emptiness, although behind this shield there was still dark night and emptiness. But even so I slowly wasted my youth.

These poems are gentle and deceptively simple, which likely won't affect the reader on a initial examination, but will have greater impact on subsequent readings.

[Kam Sova]

Daha önce İngilizce çevirisini okumamın ardından Türkçe çevirisinin de elime geçmesi pastanın üzerindeki kiraz oldu diyebilirim. Çevirmenin eline sağlık, çok güzel çevirmiş. Çin edebiyatının farklı yönleriyle tanışmak da çok güzel. Umarım daha çok eser çevrilir.

[Bia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Feliz e finalmente cadastrada essa edição super elegante. Bilíngue, foi traduzido por
Calebe Guerra e publicada pela Editora Aboio sob o título "Ervas Daninhas". Um primor.
Com um tipo diferente de escrita dos demais textos de Lu Xun que tive contato, mais experimental, arisco até, mas igualmente profundo e melancólico, o verdadeiro retrato de um coração pesado.

[Sara XuHerondale · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars
"I love my wild grass, but I detest the ground which decks itself with wild grass."
Lu Xun setting himself as the narrator once again in my absolute favorite way, by writing the somewhat confusing, paradoxical, metaphorical, nihilistic short stories, through which he is trying to not only to bring the readers to understand himself and the world, but also to vent his own lonely, individualistic thoughts. I may not be one of the greatest prose writers of all time (not even a w of a writer), but even in this day and age I found myself relating to feelings conveyed in exactly a hundred years old short stories.

[Carlos Natálio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Em "Era Uma Vez Q", breve novela presente neste volume, Lu Xun cria uma personagem que, pela sua extrema ingenuidade, causa o riso e até alguma pena. As “vitórias morais” são uma forma de Q. se esquecer da sua condição e vulnerabilidade. A máquina política que dá origem à sua morte, pela sua implacabilidade, parece um tractor a desfazer um singelo palhaço. E isso magoa mais do que a morte de um herói consciente da sua desgraça.

[Yasemin Macar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bu güzel kitapla yollarımızın kesişmesi #müslümancenazesi kitabını okumamla başladı. Pekin Üniversitesi İngiliz Dili Edebiyatı bölümünde hocalık yapan Chu hoca, Dünya'ya bu önemli kişiyi duyurmak için çevirilerini yapıyordu. Mutluluk, Yeni Hikayeler gibi kitaplarından bahsediyordu. Hatta bu kitapta o kadar çok kitap var ki daha sonra bir liste yaparım✌️ Neyse doğal olarak benim de ilgimi çekti ve çevirisi var mı diye bakarken #yabaniot la karşılaştım. Hemen almadım ama alır almaz da okudum. İçinde 23 öykü ve #luxun a ait bir de şiir var. Lu Xun, Çinliler için çok önemli; adına düzenlenmiş Lu Xun Edebiyat Ödülü var, 2007 JR27 astroidine ismi verilmiş ayrıca Merkür'deki bir kraterin adı da Lu Xun'dur.

Öncelikle bu eseri #erciyesüniversitesi #çindiliedebiyatı öğrencilerinin çevirdiğini bilmiyordum. Eseri satın alınca farkettim; çeviri dersinde hocalarıyla beraber çevirmişler, sonra da hem hocalarının düzenlemeleri ve editöryel dokunuşlar yapılmış. Ve hocaları #feyzagörez öğrencilerinin de geleceğin çevirmenleri olabilmeleri adına böyle bir girişimde bulunmuş.🤗😍🥰 Böyle hocalara bayılıyorum, ne güzel bir destek 👏👏👏
Ben öyküleri beğendim; kısa ve akıcı betimlemeleri ilginç. Çince bilenler için çinceleri de mevcut. Modern Çin edebiyatının ilk örneklerini okumak isteyenlere de güzel bir kaynak. Umarım diğer eserleri de çevrilir. Ayrıca kitabın başında depremde hayatını kaybeden arkadaşlarına ithaf etmeleri beni mutlu etse de hüzünlendir de😔🥺

[Kam Sova · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The creator, the weakling, hides himself in shame. Then heaven and earth change colour in the eyes of the fighter."

A collection of prose poems that gets better and better as you keep reading.

4.5/5

[elly · Rating 3 out of 5]

dreams and nightmares of vibrant flowers and static violence; life right next to death.

[吕不理 · Rating 5 out of 5]

“我以这一丛野草，在明与暗，生与死，过去与未来之际，为我自己，为友与仇，人与兽，爱者与不爱者，我希望这野草的死亡与朽腐，火速到来。要不然，我先就未曾生存，这实在比死亡与朽腐更其不幸。”

黑暗时代里，生命的泥委弃在地面上，不生乔木，只生野草。鲁迅是一株野草。愤怒时可以写针砭时弊的檄文，绝望里就是能写诗，写阴郁寒凉的意象。 但即便是哀哀的环境依然有斗士的热血。方方面面都很好。就算没了高中语文阅读理解的那股劲，也能体味到作者心境之万一。

《淡淡的血痕中》是我最喜欢的一篇。摘一段：

“几片废墟和几个荒坟散在地上，映以淡淡的血痕，人们都在其间咀嚼着人我的渺茫的悲苦。但是不肯吐弃，以为究竟胜于空虚，各各自称为“天之僇民”，以作咀嚼着人我的渺茫的悲苦的辩解，而且悚息着静待新的悲苦的到来。

这都是造物主的良民。他就需要这样。

叛逆的猛士出于人间；他屹立着，洞见一切已改和现有的废墟和荒坟，记得一切深广和久远的苦痛，正视一切重叠淤积的凝血，深知一切已死，方生，将生和未生。他看透了造化的把戏；他将要起来使人类苏生，或者使人类灭尽，这些造物主的良民们。

造物主，怯弱者，羞惭了，于是伏藏。天地在猛士的眼中于是变色。”

要当一个猛士 哪怕在别人看来是傻子。要当猛士。

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I felt incredibly lucky to have come across this, along with several other works of Chinese fiction at an estate sale yesterday. I’ve been meaning to read Lu Xun for some time!

The closest comparison I can think of is Baudelaire’s Paris Spleen - short jottings, roughly three pages, that express thoughts of stark sentiment. Some favorites were the ones about Opinions (if you can’t lie or be honest, all you can do is make joyous utterances oho! Hehehe!) and the one about feeling sensation after death.

Again, not one who is fond of hearing stories about dreams, but these aphoristic tales stand up on their own. Truly a great writer and I understand why he’s so renowned.

[Nola Chen · Rating 3 out of 5]

read this on the plane but now attempting to read it in chinese… struggling…

[Myhte · Rating 4 out of 5]

they may have lost all their leaves and have only their branches left but these, no longer weighed down with fruit and foliage, are stretching themselves luxuriously. A few boughs, though, are still drooping, nursing the wounds made in their bark by the sticks which beat down the dates while, rigid as iron, the straightest and longest boughs silently pierce the strange, high sky, making it blink in dismay, they even pierce the full moon in the sky, making it pale and ill at ease.

my love lives on the mountain side but too high the mountains,
my love lives in the heart of town but the crowds I fear,
my love lives on the river bank but the stream's to deep,
my love lives in a rich man's house but I have no car,
helpless I shake my head and now my tears
are scattered near and far.

at a time when I lose track of time, I shall go far away alone, alas, if it is dusk, black night will surely engulf me, or I shall be made to vanish in the daylight if it is dawn.

I yawn, light a cigarette, and puff out the smoke, paying silent homage before the lamp of these green and exquisite heroes.

[Branca · Rating 2 out of 5]

Desabafos inebriados, para quem confuso está. Pequenos contos desconexos que mostram um pouco da cultura asiática.
A destacar o poema romanticopitoresco que surge na segunda metade do livro: palavras de amor com um toque travesso, retratando situações/decisões mal tomadas de forma leve e irónica.
(aqui fica-)

[Keren Zhu · Rating 4 out of 5]

重读确实是有发汗药的作用

[Xiuxiu Cao · Rating 4 out of 5]

有些看不懂。
喜欢《聪明人和傻子和奴才》。

[Brigid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bilingual editions of classic texts in poetry are always wonderful, and this edition of Lu Xun's short anthology is no exception. I am not able to read Chinese (yet), but it is enormously comforting to know that this book will be waiting for me on my shelf when I finally learn the language. Because poetry as an art-form (perhaps moreso than any other) is enmeshed in the intricacies and nuances of how the writer uses, exploits, and violates the syntactic and grammatical rules of their language, and how they build sensations through deeply contextual associations, a translation can never wholly re-present the original for audiences in other languages. So, almost by default, bilingual editions of poetry will always be more 'complete' than simple translations. Lu Xun in particular is known for his fusion of both classical and vernacular forms of Chinese in his poetry, something that is impossible to capture in an English translation. The result is that in translation the poems read a lot like prose, especially since the introduction does not contextualise the technical elements of poetic compositions at this point in history.

Because of this, I can really only rate this book according to the poetic images it evokes. In this sense it is a genuinely astounding little book. It builds up images which are both viscerally dense and imaginatively rich by using very simple components: shadows, conversations, the weather, light, silence, life and death, and so on. These very simple ideas are put into relations that make for alienating and uncanny situations and images that offer complex and twisted insights that occasionally feel like existential parables. There is an incredible psychological depth and literary vibrancy to the simplicity of Lu Xun's poetry. There is no need for complicated abstract experiments with poetic form: all the provocative and elemental energy of the poetic drive is channelled into synthesising concrete sensuous images which are nevertheless infinitely complex. On those merits the poems in this anthology are extremely powerful - they do not search for the right sensation or image to correspond to an idea, nor do they attack the literary establishment and strive to intellectually disturb the reader, they openly seek to create new ways of thinking and feeling through components that are immediately familiar to even novice readers (at least in this translation).

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lu Xun, as always, writes stories that feel like little puzzles—full of the uncanny echoing of his writing style and loaded to hell and back with allegory, of course, but also somehow beyond allegory and into fable territory? this collection is a fun mix of the didactic and the fully dream-like (after all, it is mainly a series of his worst and strangest dreams, full of death and body-politics and viscera and eerie emptiness and landscapes). But also I’m not sure these are meant to be read as pure allegory, either—the urge to read politically isn’t as strong for me as it used to be, at least. Certainly knowing the political context and Lu Xun’s ability to despair in it helps in piecing together what these stories ‘mean’—but then again, do dreams always mean what we think they do? Sometimes a dead body in a barren field is just a dead body. Sometimes when you die, sensation doesn’t leave. Sometimes death doesn’t stop the world, just stretches it.

And I found a lot of these pieces weirdly moving just as tableaus, just as little moments of strange feeling…to reread, especially bookmarked pieces. But of course it’s the new year—and I’m in the mood to be moved in the eerie and winding dark…

Addendum: I had a conversation with my dad about this book and while he doesn’t remember specific essays from this one, his two cents on Lu Xun were…mid? But also reminded me of who my dad is and how he has thought about these things, however biased his POV is, and he is my dad. Which is also a weirdly moving thing.

Happy new year?

List of favorites/pieces you especially want to revisit:
秋夜
影的告别
希望
过客
死火
墓碣文
颓败线的颤动
死后
一觉

[Zachary Littrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like any good book of poetry, I really don't know what the heck some of these were even about. But they at least all sounded good, though.

At the cusp of change in China, Lu Xun's writings capture the weird, messy feelings of a weird, messy time. Bomber planes flying "like students going to school" and Jesus's bones cracking on the cross, Lu Xun also still finds time to include a little wry humor and hope in between some really depressing, nihilistic, and kinda awesome images.

Some of my favorites:

"The Kite"-- I like a poem that calls out kites as being stupid (and touches on the problems with forgiveness)

"On Expressing an Opinion"--I'm glad to see early 20th century China also recognized how dumb it is when people fish for compliments on their unremarkable babies.

"The Wiseman, the Fool, and the Slave"--'No good deed goes unpunished' is really timeless, ain't it?

"Revenge (II)" -- A really interesting take on the crucifixion of Jesus story. They didn't just execute 'Jesus;' that was a man they killed in a really cruel way.

Some poems were quite a bit head-scratching ("Dead Fire" has an amazing but tremendously bummer ending). But I enjoyed it all, and will probably chew on Wild Grass for a while longer.

[M. P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a crying shame Xun Lu's writings didn't make their way to my home country, Finland, until this collection of poetic prose got translated to Finnish in the late year of 2017. I started and finished reading this short book today, and I'm already thinking it'll probably remain as one of the absolute best books I will read this year, if not even one of the best books I've read in all of my life. Xun Lu's poetic prose here is so beautifully tender, yet dark. Even the humor sprinkled here and there is written in such a delicately dismal. It's amazing to think satire could be so... graceful, moving from dream to reality and back to dream. I truly hope more of his works will be translated to my mother tongue, and I hope the translator Tero Tähtinen will do more translating from Chinese to Finnish, because his work here was fire.

[Thanh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Văn chương của Lỗ Tấn tựa như một cánh đồng cỏ dại – tưởng chừng hoang hoải, rối ren, nhưng nếu kiên nhẫn bước chậm, ta sẽ bắt gặp những bông hoa nhỏ nở âm thầm giữa lớp lá lòa xòa. Ông không chủ tâm sắp đặt tư tưởng theo những khuôn khổ mạch lạc, mà để mặc dòng suy nghĩ lan tỏa một cách tự nhiên, thô ráp, đôi khi rối bời. Nhưng chính sự chân thật ấy lại khiến văn ông mang sức nặng. Viết, với Lỗ Tấn, dường như là một cách để tự gỡ rối cho chính mình – vừa là hành động khai phá nội tâm, vừa là cuộc đối thoại không ngừng giữa cái tôi cá nhân và thời cuộc.

[Elisabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't sure what to make of this collection at first, but when read through the lens of the zero-covid lockdowns, it starts to make a lot of sense. Most of his stories are allegory and they really tap into the powerlessness and despair of a very dark period in China's history.

There is also a dream-like quality to many of his stories (in fact, some are literally about his dreams). Lu Xun is apparently required reading for all Chinese high schoolers, so it's worth a look.

[Sergio Maduro]

"Falando em acessibilidade, a nova editora Aboio passou a disponibilizar de graça os ebooks de todo o seu catálogo —"Luz dos Monstros", do premiado escritor gaúcho Paulo Scott, "Ervas Daninhas", do gigante chinês Lu Xun, e "Ossada Perpétua", da estreante carioca Anna Kuzminska. O argumento é que o ebook como modelo de negócios "não colou no Brasil", segundo o editor Leopoldo Cavalcante, e a tecnologia é mais útil para aproximar leitores e leitoras do trabalho feito pela casa" (Folha de SP)

[Mikko Saari · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ohut vihkonen lupasi edustavansa merkittävää kiinalaista kirjallisuutta. Teoksen kuvataan olevan proosarunoutta, mutta paino on kyllä proosalla, ei runoudella. Lyhyet katkelmat ovat villiä tavaraa, niissä on paljon unenomaista sekavuutta ja painajaismaista tunnelmaa. Kiinnostava, mutta enemmän kulttuurisena kuriositeettina kuin maistuvana kirjallisuutena.

[Graham Sillars · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first experience of translated Chinese.

This was beautiful. The writing was poetic but also spare and unfussy.

Very picturesque in its descriptions of places, feelings and people.

A touch of magical realism ran throughout.

I would definitely recommend this lovely piece of early 20th century literature.

[Juan Fuentes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una estupenda edición con un prólogo abundante, orientación sobre la obra y tabla cronológica del autor. La colección es de poesía y son más bien relatos poéticos, a veces impresiones, en general de una o dos páginas.

[Yinxue · Rating 3 out of 5]

喜欢《复仇》和《颓败线的颤动》。部分文章涉及当时混战，内容略显干燥难咽。

[Lee Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

“于浩歌狂热之际中寒；于天上看见深渊。于一切眼中看见无所有；于无所希望中得救。”

[Lailai · Rating 5 out of 5]

His articles have never been out of day!

[汪先生 · Rating 4 out of 5]

2018-01-14 20:40:38
中学读过，在暨大北门二手书店买了79年版，原价0.25，购买价8元，在回家的火车上读完。此书是鲁迅的散文集，极强的象征手法，比较难读，总体还是表达出作者对于时代的苦闷与讽刺，对于了解历史与审视现实都还是很好的作品。