Whose "Modernization" and What Kind? —Lu Xun’s Overall Concept of the Issue of China’s Modernization and Its Realistic Significance Judging from His Early Classical Chinese Writings

This paper tries to refute the various trendy fallacies and misconceptions and holds that Lu Xun's significance lies not in his creation of any wise modernization theory, but in the establishment of an attitude of critical query which was most lacking in modern China. With this modern attitude, Lu Xun built his own complete concept on the issue of modernization: examination of oneself as the principle, comparison as the approach, self-consciousness as the root, and spirit as foundation. Lu Xun's idea lies in his reflection on culture as a whole. Nevertheless, he attached equal importance to the political and economic issues as well.