Kong Yiji
Kong Yiji ( Chinese 孔乙己 , Pinyin Kǒng Yǐjǐ ) is a short story published by the writer Lu Xun in March 1919 at the time of the May Fourth Movement in China, showing the status of Confucian civil servant scholars in society before the social changes at that time redefined and called into question.
Redefinition of the status of Confucian civil scholars
At the time the short story was written, Chinese society was in a state of flux: in 1905 the civil servant examination system that recruited state officials into the administration of the Qing dynasty had been abolished , and in 1911 the Qing dynasty had been overthrown by the provincial assemblies of Beijing elected in 1909 declared independence.
The short story is described from a boy's perspective. As an adult he remembers his work in a tavern, in which he warmed the wine for the guests, and in particular of a guest who enjoyed a classical upbringing and who also tried his hand at the examination system for civil servants in Confucian ethics , and so on the scholar's perspective, always using incomprehensible phrases from the old classics when speaking, which no one understood anyway.
From the boy's perspective, it is clearly shown that the educational asset, which was so highly regarded at the time, practically no longer fulfilled any function worthy of consideration. During a conversation with this guest, the assistant says only briefly that his employer does not use the character for "Anis" in the bookkeeping, which is why he does not need to be able to write it, but the scholar, in his excessive zeal, would inappropriately right away show four more spellings for the character "coming back", which in one version is part of the character for aniseed.
When some children come from the street into the tavern and eat from the scholar's plate with spiced beans, he utters statements that have become incomprehensible to the common people, which are peppered with words from the classics, which impresses the children immensely. In terms of content, however, it only states that you should leave something for him. This is to expose that behind the education in Confucian classics there need not be any grandiose philosophical knowledge.
The character Kong Yiji
But regardless of the fact that it is blatantly shown that the status of the Confucian civil servant scholars is no longer the same as it was during the Qing Dynasty, the author arouses the pity of the reader that he takes an unsuccessful scholar as the protagonist - and the audience in the wine tavern, constantly mocking the shabby scholar.
The classically trained guest wears a long robe, which distinguishes him as a Confucian scholar, but stays with the short robes. There his behavior was always exemplary, it is said. Perhaps he is hoping to find a place in this place where he can gain respect, because despite a certain upbringing, he has not managed to acquire half a Xiucai and is lazy and drunk. He himself considers his reputation to be flawless, but the visitors to the wine tavern bluntly point out that he has stolen books again after all. He serves the visitors of the wine tavern continuously as an object of amusement and is called by them "Kong Yiji" because his last name is Kong as well as Master Kong (Confucius), the founder of Confucianism. The name “Kong Yiji”, which Lu Xun also chose as the title of the story, is said to be an abbreviation and modification of the slogan “Shanggu daren Kong shi yi ren er yi” (上古 大人 孔氏 一 人 而已 ， “Confucius is an important person of antiquity “), But is only used ironically in this context as an allusion to something that sounds completely incomprehensible and is peppered with meaningless classical grammatical particles.
The author lets the character Kong Yiji experience further strokes of fate, in particular one day he shows up in the tavern with broken legs, dragging himself on his hands in a raffia basket, and then no more. On the other hand, the innkeeper, assistant and visitor to the tavern are not in a position to offer the sufferer social support, let alone feel sorry for him. The glee and scorn towards Kong Yiji and his fate remain unchanged, and even when it can be assumed that Kong Yiji perished, this too is only ascertained.
Author's intention and social significance in China
When the short story is received, the reader is constantly unclear as to whether he should take sides with the character Kong Yiji or not, whether the story is directed against the Confucian civil servant scholars, who after all can do nothing, are lazy and make empty phrases give themselves, or whether they, on the other hand, are the victims of social circumstances and therefore deserve pity. Pointing out the contradiction between “good” and “bad” of a character was an innovation in Chinese literature, and an important concern for the writers of the May Fourth Movement .
Lu Xun himself, commenting on his intention in creating the short story, wanted to "describe the common people's cold disdain for a poor man". A look at Lu Xun's biography reveals the solidarity that Lu Xun feels, despite his anti-Confucianist attitude, with the values of a past phase of his life - Lu Xun's father and Lu Xun himself still enjoyed a classical upbringing.
The short story has been part of the basic teaching material for Sinology students in China who want to pass the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination, HKCEE, since 1993.
swell
- ↑ Wang Jingshan (1991: 22)
literature
- Wang Jingshan (ed.). Lu xun mingzuo jianshang cidian. Beijing: China Heping Publishing House, 1991.
- Wolfgang Kubin (ed.). Modern Chinese literature . Frankfurt a. M .: Suhrkamp, 1985.
- Wolfgang Kubin (ed. / Transl.): Lu Xun: Kong YiJi. In: Lu Xun: Applause. In: Wolfgang Kubin: (Hg./Trans.): Lu Xun. Work edition in 6 volumes. Zurich 1994
- Wolfgang Kubin: literature as self-redemption. Lu Xun and Vox clamatis. Chinese literature in the 20th century. In: History of Chinese Literature. Volume 7 Munich 2005 pp. 33-46