The True Story of Ah Q - AQ zhengzhuan

Japanese: 阿Q正伝 - あきゅうせいでん（英語表記）A-Q zhengzhuan

A novel by Chinese author Lu Xun. Published in the newspaper "Chen Pao" in 1921 under the pen name "Ba Ren." It marked the triumph of new literature through the "literary revolution." The protagonist, Ah Q, is a day laborer farmer who sleeps in a Jizo hall. He is stupid and powerless, but has a strong sense of self-esteem. When he sees someone weak, he picks a fight, but usually loses. However, he thinks that he must have done it because he lost, and is filled with a sense of superiority. When this sense of superiority crumbles, he thinks that he has "despised himself," and believes that he has become a great man. Eventually, in the chaos of the Xinhai Revolution, he is executed for no crime. He is a typical example of the slave character in feudal colonial society, with his "spiritual victory method" of perverting every failure into success through conceptual manipulation, his false obedience while secretly being treasonous, and his dual personality of servility and arrogance, and he later became synonymous with such a character. The novel was the subject of fierce debate, with many people both in favor and against, mainly due to the lack of revolutionary qualities in the novel, but there is an anecdote that when it was released, many readers felt that they were the model for the novel. This is evidence that the character's portrayal cut deeply into the national character of the time.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

中国の作家魯迅の小説。1921年，新聞『晨報』に「巴人」の筆名で発表。「文学革命」による新文学の勝利を決定づけた作品。主人公阿Qは，地蔵堂に寝泊まりする日雇農民。愚かで力もないのに自尊心だけが強く，相手が弱いとみるとけんかをふっかけるが，たいていは負ける。しかし負けてやったのだと考えて優越感にひたり，その優越感が崩れると「自分で自分を軽蔑できた」と考え，大人物になったように思い込む。やがて辛亥革命の混乱のうちに，罪もないのに処刑される。観念的な操作であらゆる失敗を成功と思い込む「精神勝利法」，面従腹背，卑屈と傲慢の二面性など，封建植民地社会内における奴隷性格の典型といえる人物で，その後そのような性格の代名詞ともなった。そのなかに革命性が認められないという点を中心に，肯定，否定の激しい論争の対象となったが，この小説が発表されたとき，自分がモデルにされたと感じた読者が多かったという逸話がある。この人物像が当時の国民性を鋭くえぐっていたことの証左であろう。

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