Reading Discussions Literature & Language Coursework

Reading Discussions
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In this reading, Qichao blames the overall character of the Chinese. He asserts that they can only accept despotism and not freedom. He gives an example where he states that the Chinese living in San Francisco are disorderly and inferior because they are used to authoritative officials and growing up in harsh families. Moreover, he believed that freedom, constitutionalism, and republicanism would be overwhelming to the whole country because the people had the character of clansmen rather than citizens.
In the text, Qichao thinks that the only solution is to adopt an authoritarian government led by the likes of Guanzi, a Shang Yang, a Lycurgus, and a Cromwell. He also states that China would only be ready for democracy if the subjects believed that they were citizens and not clansmen, and dropped the village mentality. Also, he states that the nation should create its lofty objectives, such as working together in harmony and having a relaxing day.
A Madman’s Diary
In the story, rabbits symbolize oppressed people who are still committed to fighting for their lives. Although they face threats from predators, they ensure that they are capable of producing enough offspring. On the other hand, the moon connects the rabbits, or the people, to the Mother Earth, which symbolizes fertility, and the never-ending revival of life. Further, he brings out the imagery of cannibalism using the relationship between dogs, wolves, and hyenas. He states that the cannibalistic villagers are watching and waiting for him to die because they would not openly confront him. He also uses the word “buzzard” to refer to vultures and explain the characters and acts of the upper class, who are anxiously waiting for his death. In another instance, since China was undergoing the impacts of Confucianism, he uses the lion and the fox, and the rabbit, where the former represents the dominant upper class while the latter symbolizes the lower level.
The author offers a preface before presenting the content. The foreword is the brief introduction where the narrator tells his story and that of "I." Here, the preface is the key to understanding the information that follows. The author uses the section to involve his audience in the setting that the narration takes place. Telling an account using an anonymous narrator is a classical Chinese structure of narration where another person, the other "I" creates a frame story and shows it in the preface. The use of the framing device is useful because it provides an easy way of accessing the inner world of Lu Xun and understanding his deep thoughts and meanings.
Kong Yiji and Medicine
The prominence of young people in the two stories relates to the relentless attacks of Lu Xun towards the Chinese traditions and their fear of criticism. Throughout the two stories, the author has created a fictional environment that is full of mockeries joking about the culture and moral ideas of Confucianism. He believed in Confucianism. In Kong Yiji, the narrator brings out the character of Kong Yiji as a positive individual who has an individualistic attitude towards the Chinese traditional heritage.
In Medicine, the autho...