The True Story of Ah Q

The True Story of Ah Q is an episodic novella written by Lu Xun using third-person narration perspective, first published as a serial between December 4, 1921 and February 12, 1922. It was later placed in his first short story collection Call to Arms in 1923 and is the longest story in the collection. The piece is generally held to be a masterpiece of modern Chinese literature, since it is considered the first piece of work to fully utilize vernacular Chinese after the 1919 May 4th Movement in China.

It was first published in the Beijing Morning News supplement as a serial. Originally Lu Xun wrote the story under the name "Ba Ren" (, "crude fellow"), and so few people knew who wrote the novella. The first installment was published on December 4, 1921, and additional installments appeared weekly or fortnightly. The final installment was published on February 12, 1922. The story had nine chapters.

Furthermore, The True Story of Ah Q also achieved considerable international influence. As reported by Chinawriter, the translation of the novella began in 1925, indicating its early recognition abroad. During Lu Xun's lifetime, the work was translated into eight languages: Russian, English, French, Japanese, German, Czech, Korean, and Esperanto. Remarkably, Lu Xun personally encountered several of these translations, actively participating in the proofreading process for some. Expanding upon Lu Xun's international reach, Peng Xiaoling and Han Aili's article, "Ah Q: 70 years", found in Paul B. Foster's journal article, documents the novella's translation into over thirty languages, its adaptation into more than sixty reprints, dramatic renditions, a film, a ballet, and even its artistic expressions through cartoons and woodcuts.

Theme
The True Story of Ah Q portrays how the Xinhai Revolution did not bring about genuine reform to the countryside, and through the artistic portrayal of the impoverished hired hand Ah Q from the rural areas, it reflects the flawed roots of human nature, such as cowardice, the "spiritual victory method", opportunism, megalomania, and excessive self-esteem.

Novella form
Both the novella form and the low social station of the protagonist were new in Chinese literature. But the story consisted of nine serial episodic chapters (an old Chinese method for long folklore, which can consist of hundreds of chapters). This is the only novella published by Lu Xun.

Metaphor
Lu Xun believed that the purpose of literature was to transform the minds of and enlighten fellow Chinese. He followed the concept of "Wén Yǐ Zài Dào" (, "literature as a vehicle for Tao (moral message)").

In Chapter One, the author ironically claims that he could not recall nor verify Ah Q's correct name, thus giving the character symbolic anonymity. "Ah" in Chinese is a diminutive prefix for names. "Q" is short for "Quei", which would today be romanized in Hanyu Pinyin as "Guì". However, as there are many Chinese characters that are pronounced "Quei", the narrator claims he does not know which character he should use, and therefore shortens it to "Q". The deliberate use of a Latin letter instead of a Chinese character is a reference to the concepts of the May Fourth movement, which advocated adoption of Western ideas.

Mao Dun believed that Ah Q represented a "crystallization of Chinese qualities" of his time and that it was not necessarily a satirical work. Zhou Zuoren, the author's brother, in the article "[On] The True Story of Ah Q" (阿Q正传; "Ā Q Zhèngzhuàn") said that the work was, as paraphrased by Paul B. Foster, author of Ah Q Archaeology: Lu Xun, Ah Q, Ah Q Progeny, and the National Character Discourse in Twentieth Century China, "unequivocally satirical" and argued against Mao Dun's point of view.

Plot summary
The story is centered around Ah Q, who always uses his idea of the spirit of victory to comfort himself after every failure. When he faces people who have a higher social status than him, he uses his spirit of victory by depreciating himself to release the pain that is caused by those people. However, when he faces people who have a similar or lower social status than him, he uses his spirit of victory by using violence on those people to show his "strength", which shows his personality of bullying the weak and fearing the strong. In his life, he has experienced suppression from the people with higher social status, such as Mr. Chao. Meanwhile, he also suppresses the people who have similar social status as him, such as Young D. In the end, Ah Q is arrested by soldiers. When he is executed, he still uses his spirit of victory to mock the people who can draw a circle better than him when he cannot even write his name on the paper. This kind of spirit of victory stays with him even in his last minutes before his death after the execution.

Chapter 1: Introduction
The narrator of the story states that he wishes to author a biography for the titular character, Ah Q. Ironically, the narrator then mentions that several difficulties of why writing about Ah Q is not easy: the title of this book, the surname of Ah Q, the true personal name of Ah Q and his place of birth. The narrator speculates that Ah Q's surname might have been "Zhao", recounting a story of him being beaten by Mr. Zhao, a rich and famous senior villager, because he claimed that his surname was Zhao and thus is related to the Zhao family.

Chapter 2: A Brief Account of Ah Q's Victories
In Chapter 2 the narrator elaborates further on Ah Q's character, place in society and his daily routine. Ah Q's peers hold him in very low regard due to his insignificant background. With no family, no regular employment and eccentric character, Ah Q is often the laughing stock and victim of bullying by the townsfolk. However, Ah Q has a high opinion of himself and looks down on others regardless of their income or status.

The chapter also gives the readers more in-depth imagery on Ah Q's (unfortunate) physical appearance—specifically, the ringworm scar on his scalp that turns red when he is angry. This scar is a factor in him being ridiculed by the people around him. Ah Q's response differs based on his opponents. He usually physically or verbally retaliates against the weak, but resorts to denial or self-belittlement against those better than him, and achieves some small emotional satisfaction through his actions.

Chapter 3: A Further Account of Ah Q's Victories
Ah Q being slapped in the face by Mr. Zhao makes him famous for he has prospered for a long time, as some townsfolk speculate on whether he is truly related to the Zhao family. One day, Ah Q finds Whiskers Wang, another tramp, and sits down next to him with no fear. Due to the lack of two Whiskers (beard), Ah Q feels jealous of Wang and provokes him into a fight. Wang wins and leaves with satisfaction after giving Ah Q a shove to the wall. Later, Ah Q sees Mr. Qian's eldest son, whom Ah Q hates a lot. Ah Q insults him by calling him "Baldhead", and Mr. Qian's son beats him with a walking stick. Ah Q soon forgets everything that has just happened and goes to the alcohol shop. Soon after, when he sees a young nun on the streets, Ah Q claims all the bad luck that has just happened is because of her. Ah Q harasses the nun publicly and she leaves crying and cursing Ah Q. However, the other bystanders in the shop just laugh at her for amusement.

Chapter 4: The Tragedies of Love
After picking on a nun, Ah Q is victorious and feels as though he is flying right into the Tutelary God's Temple. The words from the nun weigh on his mind: "Ah Q, may you die son-less!" He realizes her insult has some merit and decides that he should take a wife. Ah Q rushes towards Mr. Zhao's maidservant, Amah Wu, and shouts "Sleep with me!" The bailiff finds out about his attack on Mr. Zhao's maidservant and makes Ah Q agree to five terms.

Chapter 5: The Problem of Livelihood
After the Zhao family fiasco, Ah Q notices unusualness when walking through the streets of Weizhuang. Women have become shy and take refuge indoors, while wine shops refuse service to him. What worries him is the fact that no household wants to hire him anymore, cutting Ah Q off from any source of income to support his livelihood. Shunned from regular employer's houses, Ah Q finds Young D, a weak beggar of lower status than Ah Q, has taken Ah Q's odd jobs. To the delight of onlookers, the enraged Ah Q rushes to fight Young D which ends in a tie.

Almost starving, Ah Q returns to the streets and comes across the Convent of Quiet Self-improvement, finding a field containing a patch of turnips. Ah Q decides to steal the turnips until a nun notices him and lets loose her black dog on him. Ah Q runs and is able to escape with some turnips.

Chapter 6: From Restoration to Decline
Ah Q does not come back to Weizhuang until after the Moon Festival. The custom in Weizhuang is "that when there seem[s] to be something unusual about anyone, he should be treated with respect rather than insolence." According to him, he had been a servant for a successful provincial candidate. Later on, everyone wants to get their hands on Ah Q's silk shirts only to find out that he has run out of them and had been a petty thief.

Chapter 7: The Revolution and Chapter 8: Barred From the Revolution
One day, the news of the Xinhai Revolution comes. The landlord families become the revolutionaries to maintain their power. When Ah Q realizes that everyone fears the revolutionaries, he decides to be one of them and imagines exploiting rich families in town and ruling over the locals. A group of self-claimed revolutionaries rob the houses of the locals and rich families, and Ah Q is never called to join them. When Ah Q approaches the landlord rebels to express that he wants to join the rebels, he is refused from joining the rebellion. Ah Q becomes bitter that he cannot share the robbed goods and the prestige they enjoy.

Chapter 9: The Grand Finale
After the Chao family is robbed, Ah Q is dragged into town in the middle of the night, being carried to a yamen where he is pushed into a room. Keeping with his happy-go-lucky nature, the narrator says "although Ah Q was feeling rather uneasy, he was by no means too depressed." In the end, Ah Q is executed with his cries of "Help, help!" never actually being said. Even before his death, he still preserves his self-absorbed and petty personality; he tries to make his execution more impressive by reciting verses from some Chinese operas, but fails to find the right words.

Symbolism and historical relevance
Ah Q, the protagonist of The True Story of Ah Q, embodies a complex interplay of individual flaws and societal critiques. Gloria Davies posits that Ah Q became a symbol for the backwardness perceived in Chinese society, providing a benchmark for the 1920s intellectuals to gauge the country's modernization. In his correspondence, Lu Xun reveals his intent for Ah Q to serve as a mirror for the reader and society, dissolving the distance between character and self, and facilitating introspection. Mao Dun's comparison of Ah Q to Oblomov highlights the character's role as a cultural exemplar, reflecting the zeitgeist of his nation.

The intricacies of Ah Q's name, including the adoption of the "Q" to signify the traditional pigtail, and "Ah", a common prefix, are laden with symbolic meaning. This name choice by Lu Xun not only anchors Ah Q in the specific historical milieu of the Qing dynasty and the Xinhai Revolution but also connects him to the broader themes of tradition versus modernity, central to the May Fourth Movement. Japanese scholar Matsuoaka Toshihiro's inquiry into the significance of the letter "Q" and Zhou Zuoren's explanation of its representation of the Qing dynasty pigtail further illuminate the depth of Ah Q's symbolic stature.

Psychological and societal representation
Ah Q is intricately portrayed as an everyman, his character a canvas reflecting the psychological state and social dynamics of a China transitioning from feudalism to a new socio-political order. His 'spiritual victories' serve as a coping mechanism for personal and societal failures, an embodiment of the self-deception and rationalization that Lu Xun saw as a hindrance to progress. Romain Rolland's recognition of Ah Q's character extends its significance beyond satire, identifying it as a universal human trait across cultural boundaries.

Behavioral analysis
The narrative intricately reveals Ah Q's personality through his reactions to various challenges. Despite his predicaments, Ah Q's instinct is to escape through self-deception, a theme exemplified by his 'precious ability to forget' after conflicts. This tendency not to confront reality but to resort to self-satisfaction demonstrates a lack of emotional resilience. Ah Q's self-absorption, a dominant trait, manifests in his disregard for others' perceptions and societal norms, evident in his interactions with figures like Amah Wu. His behavior, often eccentric and offensive, underscores a profound disconnection from the evolving societal ethos.

Cultural and political commentary
Ah Q's characterization provides a potent commentary on the cultural and political shifts of early 20th-century China. Through his protagonist, Lu Xun critiques the impact of Western ideologies and the challenge of shedding long-held traditions. Ah Q's struggles and denials reflect the tension between the allure of modernity and the comfort of the familiar, encapsulating the societal transformations of the time. His character becomes a narrative tool, shedding light on the multifaceted nature of change and the human tendencies that both resist and enable it.

Mr. Zhao
Mr. Zhao, who lives in the same place as Ah Q, is wealthy, authorized, and educated. In the story, Zhao is an absolute exploiter who always suppresses Ah Q and everyone who has a lower social status than him in the village. He hates the revolution against feudalism and feudal dominance in China since it would break the social order that he wants and affect his social status as the "top" person in China.

Amah Wu
The maid in Zhao's family has the same social status as Ah Q but is spoken dirty by Ah Q in the aspect of sex. However, she is also one of the exploiters of Ah Q, and she reports Ah Q to Zhao's family, making Ah Q pay for the reimbursement of his talking to her.

Young D
Young D is another person in the bottom of the social status. Like Ah Q, he also does not have a name. However, has a more classical characterization of the people with low social status who are being suppressed by the society of feudalism in China.

Ah Q as a negative symbol of Chineseness
Ah Q has a literary metaphor of national character of his time. Ah Q became a recognizable symbol that expanded the intellectual discourse of national character into the popular consciousness. Originally, the name Ah Q represented a negative Chinese national character. A negative example, it served as a warning to urge Chinese to change for the "better". After the publication of The True Story of Ah Q, the "Chinese themselves used the term to label those who are complacently ignorant, indolent, unhygienic, backward, slavish, and parochial". However, because this term is used to describe "negative human characteristics as "natural" components of the Chinese national character, they are ironically accepting and reinforcing certain stereotypical images of the Chinese of the time."

Pigtail
The motifs of hair and pigtails are repeatedly invoked, yet the author deliberately avoids detailing their color or shape. Instead, these elements are endowed with symbolic significance, reflecting the collective traits of the time. Hair, in traditional Chinese culture influenced by Confucianism, is not merely a protective covering for the head but also a symbol of filial piety, as mutilating one's hair was seen as a disrespect to one's ancestors. The pigtail, a Manchu-imposed hairstyle, became a staple of Chinese identity. With the advent of Western influence, the pigtail morphed into a symbol of derision, epitomizing the alleged backwardness of the Chinese people in the eyes of Westerners. In the tumult of the Xinhai Revolution, the pigtail's presence or absence signified one's political leanings, becoming a focal point of contention. Keeping the pigtail was perceived as clinging to old ways while cutting it off represented a break from the past and an embrace of revolutionary ideals. This symbolism of hair and pigtails in the novel is a reflection of the deeper social and cultural dynamics at play during a period of intense ideological change in China, where the clash of traditional values and the pressure to modernize were palpable. Through these symbols, Lu Xun critiques the societal transformations and the impact of Western ideologies on Chinese national identity during the early 20th century.

References in modern culture
The story of Ah Q weaves together nationalism, modern Chinese literature and modern Chinese history.

In modern Chinese language, the term the "Ah Q mentality" is used commonly as a term of mockery to describe someone who chooses not to face up to reality and deceives himself into believing he is successful, or has unjustified beliefs of superiority over others. It describes a narcissistic individual who rationalizes every single actual failure he faces as a psychological triumph ("spiritual victory"). A phrase meaning "relax for a bit" or "take it easy" has also surfaced, further showing how Ah Q's traits of evasion of reality and self-consolation have permeated contemporary language.

Zhao family
The term Zhao Family, a derogatory term for China's ruling elite and their families, from the character Mr. Zhao, entered contemporary Chinese language. Originally appeared in a WeChat article, the term subsequently became an internet meme widely used by dissident netizens, with numerous variations such as (Zhaos' empire, China) and  (Zhao's spiritual members, 50 Cent Party).

International recognition and adaptations
In 1958, Hong Kong adapted The True Story of Ah Q into a film, starring Guan Shan (the father of Rosamund Kwan), who won the Best Actor "Silver Sail Award" at the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland. This accolade made him the first Hong Kong actor to receive an award at an international film festival at the age of 25.

In 1976, the Hong Kong television network TVB broadcast a five-episode TV drama series of The True Story of Ah Q, featuring Kong Ngai in the lead role.

The Mainland Chinese film adaptation of The True Story of Ah Q, produced by the Shanghai Film Studio, scripted by Chen Baichen, directed by Cen Fan, and starring Yan Shunkai, was released in 1981. This film was created to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Lu Xun's birth and stands as the first Chinese film to compete in the main competition of the Cannes Film Festival in France, with director Cen Fan receiving a nomination for the Palme d'Or. Additionally, the film won the "Golden Cane Award" for Best Actor at the 2nd Vevey International Comedy Film Festival in Switzerland, Best Leading Actor at the 6th Popular Movie Hundred Flowers Awards, and the Jury Prize at the 12th Figueira da Foz International Film Festival in Portugal.

In 1981, the Central Experimental Dialect Theater in China released the stage play True Story of Ah Q which included the performance of the story from words to drama.

Reception
When Ah Q was first published, the story became very popular. Many Chinese people wondered if Ah Q was based on a real person, partly because at the time few people knew the true identity of the book's author. Gao Yihan said that some individuals believed that Ah Q was based on their own lives. In the 1920s the most common critical sentiment argued that Ah Q was a masterpiece.

In 1926 Zheng Zhenduo stated his belief that Lu Xun had finished the story too quickly. In literary terms, he questioned why Ah Q would die in such a casual manner after the story had already determined that being a revolutionary was already not satisfactory. In response to Zheng, Lu Xun said "So week after week passed, and inevitably the problem arose whether Ah Q would become a revolutionary or not. To my mind, as long as there was no revolution in China, Ah Q would not turn revolutionary; but once there was one, he would. This was the only fate possible for my Ah Q, and I would not say that he has a dual personality. The first year of the Republic has gone, never to return; but the next time there are reforms, I believe there will be revolutionaries like Ah Q. I only wish that, as people say, I had written about a period in the past, but I fear what I saw was not the past but the future—even as much as from twenty to thirty years from now."

Gloria Davies, the author of "The Problematic Modernity of Ah Q", said that many Marxist critics criticized "Ah Q" because the betrayal of the Communists after the 1927 Northern Expedition "bore a dangerous resemblance to Ah Q's fate in front of the firing squad." Davies further explained that "[i]t is perhaps also not too far-fetched to suggest that the Marxist dogmatists perceived in The True Story of Ah Q a realism with sufficient power to undermine even their own adamant and much-vaunted belief in the imminent arrival of a Communist utopia; for not even the most foolhardy dogmatist could ignore the countless acts of political violence and betrayal taking place around him, borne variously of the ruthlessness, ambition, cynicism, fear and ignorance, in all, the darker side of the human condition that Lu Xun had portrayed so vividly in The True Story of Ah Q." Lu Xun's last response regarding Ah Q itself was his reply to Zheng. During the debates on revolutionary literature in 1928 and 1929, Lu Xun decided not to comment on the criticisms of the story.

A leftist critic, Qian Xingcun, wrote an essay "The Dead Era Of Ah Q", published in the March 1, 1928 issue of Sun Monthly (, No. 3. It was reprinted in . In it he argued that Lu Xun had belonged to a preceding historical era, the story was not a masterpiece and did not represent the current era. Davies argued that Qian knew he was unable to challenge Lu Xun on literary merits. Furthermore, Davies argues that "it was all the more important to recognize Lu Xun's works as bearing no relevance to the contemporary situation because they were capable of influencing the reader into misrecognizing social reality."

Liu Bin says in an article published in the Modern Chinese Literature Research Series that Lu Xun says the "Spirit of Victory" that Ah Q uses in the story does not overcome the failure, but the feeling of "pain" that is brought by the failure, and the failure is not overcome at all. Therefore, Li believes that Lu Xun uses the biography of Ah Q to satire the foolish and weakness of the people in the nation who also use the same strategy as "Ah Q's Spirit of Victory" to release the "pain" during the enslavement under feudal society in China. Meanwhile, Liu also points out that the motivation of Lu Xun to write the "True Story of Ah Q" was to help the people in the nation to be able to have feelings of pain when they are getting suppressed by the society feudalism, and also help them turn into "men" from the "slave" during the revolution of China from feudalism to the "New China".

Zhou Zuoren, Lu Xun's biological brother, one of the authors of modern literature in China, says that Lu Xun's The True Story of Ah Q has more abhorrence but less love, which also mentions that Lu Xun overuses satire to write Ah Q and writes less about the empathy of Ah Q to represent the people in China at that moment who were also suppressed by feudalism. Personally, Zhou Zuoren believes that The True Story of Ah Q is a rational writing work, and therefore it does not contain much passion and love of the story during Lu Xun's writing. However, Zhou Zuoren still believes that his evaluation of Lu Xun's The True Story of Ah Q has both praise and criticism, praising the rationality and the use of satire to write the story, while criticizing the lack of passion and love that can be demonstrated as empathy to Ah Q in the story.