Lu Xun (pseudonym of Zhou Shuren, 1881–1936) is widely recognized as the greatest writer of modern Chinese literature in the years following the Literary Revolution of 1917 and the May Fourth Movement of 1919. His fame as a writer of fiction is based on two collections of short stories that he published in the 1920s. Many of these stories have a strong autobiographical element and draw on his youth in Shaoxing or his experiences as a teacher in Beijing. After he left Beijing in 1926, he published mostly essays and columns, which were feared for their mordant wit. Throughout the years, he was also extremely productive as a translator. During the final years of his life, when he was living in Shanghai, he returned to the genre of the short story with a collection of retellings of ancient myths and legends, Gushi xinbian (Old Tales Retold). The last story in that collection “Qisi” (Raising the Dead), is his retelling of the legend of Master Zhuang’s encounter with the skeleton.
Lu Xun had, of course, read the Master Zhuang, but he also knew the legend of Master Zhuang’s encounter with the skeleton, which he may have learned in a number of ways. As a leading scholar of traditional Chinese fiction, Lu Xun would have known the version of the legend in Ding Yaokang’s A Sequel to Plum in the Golden Vase (Xu Jinpingmei). It is very likely that he also knew Wang Yinglin’s Free and Easy Roaming (Xiaoyao you). He may also have learned of the legend through oral retellings or popular versions that have now been lost. But whereas most earlier versions had condemned the ingratitude of the resurrected skeleton, Lu Xun’s version shows great sympathy for the fellow, who is left naked and without a penny when Master Zhuang cannot turn him back into a skeleton, as he begs him to do. In Lu Xun’s version, it is Master Zhuang who has become the butt of satire, depicted as a vainglorious intellectual who, for all his fine language, is motivated primarily by self-interest. When the resurrected skeleton in his desperation becomes too demanding in the opinion of Master Zhuang, it is now the latter who does not hesitate to blow an alarm whistle and call a constable to his aid—in that officer of the law only too willing to serve the powers that be, one can easily recognize Confucius, the ultimate bête noir of the modern intellectuals of the May Fourth period.
Even though included in a collection of short stories, Lu Xun’s “Raising the Dead” is written as a one-act Western-style play. Late-nineteenth-century problem plays and their realist style of acting had been introduced into China from the early twentieth century onward, and because they lacked music and song were called huaju (spoken drama). Lu Xun had translated a number of Western plays. In view of the very detailed stage directions, one wonders to what extent Lu Xun may have envisioned a performance, if only in his mind. In its own day, “Raising the Dead” could, of course, never have been staged. After all, much of the action concerns the doomed attempts of the resurrected skeleton, who comes back to life as naked as the day he was born, to borrow some piece of clothing to cover his shame.
A large, desolate stretch of land. Everywhere there are grave mounds, but even the biggest ones are no higher than six or seven feet. There are no trees. The field is covered by all kinds of shrubs and weeds, and through those weeds leads a path that has been formed by men and horses. Not far from that road there is a ditch. Houses are to be seen in the distance.
MASTER ZHUANG (a dark and gaunt complexion, a few graying strands of beard, a Daoist cap, a linen gown; he enters holding a horsewhip): Ever since my departure from home, I haven’t had any water to drink. My thirst is getting worse and worse. To suffer from thirst is really no fun. It would really be much better to turn into a butterfly, but then there are no flowers here either. … Hey! There’s a pool over there, I’m in luck. (He runs to the ditch, pushes aside the watercress with his hands, and, scooping the water up in his palms, gulps down more than ten mouthfuls.) Wow, that was great! Let me slowly walk on. (While he is walking, he is looking all around him.) Well there! That’s a skull. How did it get there? (After he has pushed aside the shrubs and weeds, he speaks while tapping the skull.)
Did you end up this way because out of lust for life and fear of death you acted against all rules and propriety? (Tap-tap) Or did you end up this way because you lost your compass and were executed by the sword? (Tap-tap) Or did you end up this way because you created a mess and were a shame to your father and mother, wife and son? (Tap-tap) Didn’t you realize that suicide is the option chosen by the weak? (Tap-tap-tap!) Or did you end up this way because you had no food to eat and no clothes to wear? (Tap-tap) Or did you end up this way because you had grown old and had to die because your time was up? (Tap-tap) Or … Well, it’s me who is muddleheaded here, I seem to be putting on a play!1 How could he give me an answer? Fortunately, I’m not that far anymore from the capital of Chu and I don’t have to hurry, so let me ask the master of fate, that great divinity, to restore his shape and grow him some flesh. I will talk with him for a while, and then I will let him return to his home village to be reunited with his family members.
(He puts down his horsewhip; while facing toward the east, he raises both his hands toward Heaven, and at the top of his voice he starts to shout.)
With utmost sincerity I pay my respects to His Great Heavenly Majesty the Master of Fate! …
(A chill gust of wind and all kinds of GHOSTS appear, some with their hair in disarray, some bald, some emaciated, some thick, some male, some female, some young, some old.)
GHOSTS: Zhuang Zhou, you muddleheaded creature! Even though your beard has grown gray, you still couldn’t fathom this. Once you have died, there are no four seasons, and nobody is boss. Heaven and Earth are spring and autumn, and even an emperor doesn’t have it so easy. So don’t meddle in affairs that are none of your business but hasten on to the capital of Chu to do your own thing. …
MASTER ZHUANG: It’s you who are the muddleheaded ghosts; even though you have died, you still can’t fathom this. You must understand that life is death and death is life, and that a slave is a lord. I am the one who has probed the source of nature and fate. I’m not going to be told what to do by you such small ghosts.
GHOSTS: In that case we’ll allow you to make a fool of yourself. …
MASTER ZHUANG: I have been invited by a sagely edict of the king of Chu, so I am even less afraid of your tricks!
(He once again raises his hand toward Heaven and starts to shout in the loudest voice possible.)
With utmost sincerity I pay my respects to His Great Heavenly Majesty the Master of Fate!
Heaven and earth are dark and yellow;
The celestial dome is broad and wide.
The sun and moon: they wax and wane;
Planets and stars are arrayed in rows.2
Zhao and Qian and Sun and also Li;
Zhou and Wu and Zheng and Wang.
Feng and Qin and Chu and also Wei;
Jiang and Chen and Han and Yang.3
By the authority of the Old Lord of Highest Heaven,4 hurry as if this were a legal order: I command thee!
(A clear gust of wind, and that great divinity the MASTER OF FATE in a Daoist cap and a linen gown, with a dark and gaunt complexion, and a few graying strands of beard, and holding a horsewhip in his hand, appears in the haze and mist on the eastern side. All the ghosts have disappeared.)
MASTER OF FATE: Zhuang Zhou, you are looking for me, so what kind of foolish prank do you want to play this time? You’ve had plenty of water, why are you still not satisfied?
MASTER ZHUANG: On my way to be received in audience by the king of Chu, I passed by this place and found this skull that still looks like a head. He must have a father and a mother, a wife and a son, but he died out here, which is really too pitiable, too miserable. That is why I implore Your Divinity to restore his shape, give him back his flesh, and allow him to return to life, so he can go back to his home village.
MASTER OF FATE: Ha-ha! You’re not serious. Before you have had your fill, you start to meddle in other people’s business. You are not serious! This is no joke. Just go on your way and don’t seek trouble with me. You must know that “death and life have their fate,” so it is difficult for me to arrange matters at will.
MASTER ZHUANG: Your Divinity is mistaken. How can we speak of life and death? Once I, Zhuang Zhou, dreamed that I had changed into a butterfly, and I was a butterfly that fluttered about. But when I woke up, I had become Zhuang Zhou, and I was this Zhuang Zhou who’s as busy as can be. Until this very day, I have been unable to work out whether it was Zhuang Zhou who in his dream had become a butterfly, or whether it was a butterfly who in his dream became Zhuang Zhou. Seen from this angle, how don’t we know that this skeleton right now is very much alive, and that after a so-called return to life he has died? So I implore Your Divinity to do me a small favor and to be somewhat accommodating. As human beings, we have to be flexible, and as a god, one also cannot be too opinionated.
MASTER OF FATE (with a smile): As for you, you can talk the talk but you can’t walk the walk. You’re a human being and no god. … Okay, let’s try it out!
(The MASTER OF FATE points with the horsewhip to the weeds and disappears in the same instant. A flare of fire emerges from the place to which he had pointed, and out jumps a MAN.)
THE MAN (about thirty years old; very tall and with a reddish face, he looks like a peasant. Without a thread on his body, he is stark naked. After rubbing his eyes with his fists, he gathers his wits and then sees MASTER ZHUANG): Huh?
MASTER ZHUANG: What “huh”? (Walks toward him with a smile and observes him.) What were you doing?
THE MAN: Aiya, I had fallen asleep. What were you doing? (Looks around him and starts to scream.) Damn, where are my pack and my umbrella? (Looks at his own body.) Damn it, where are my clothes? (Squats down.)
MASTER ZHUANG: Now calm down for a while, don’t panic. You have just come back to life. Your possessions, I’m afraid, must have turned to dust a long time ago, or perhaps they were taken away by someone.
THE MAN: What do you mean?
MASTER ZHUANG: Now let me ask you, what is your name and where are you from?
THE MAN: I’m Eldest Son Yang from Yang Family Village. In school I was called Bigong.5
MASTER ZHUANG: In that case, what was your business coming here?
THE MAN: I am on my way to visit my in-laws. But I must unwittingly have fallen asleep. (Becoming agitated.) Where are my clothes? My pack and my umbrella?
MASTER ZHUANG: Now be calm for a while, don’t be so panicky. … Let me ask you, in which period did you live?
THE MAN: (stupefied): What? What do you mean by saying, “In which period did you live?” … What about my clothes? …
MASTER ZHUANG: Keep quiet! You’re so muddleheaded it will be your death! You are concerned only about your own clothes, you are truly an inveterate egotist. You are not yet clear about the concept of “person,” so how can you talk about your clothes. So that’s why I first of all want to ask you, In which period did you live? … Okay, you don’t understand that question. (Thinks for a while.) So let me ask you then, what happened in your village when, earlier, you were alive?
THE MAN: What happened? Plenty! Yesterday, my little brother’s wife got into a fight with our seventh uncle’s wife.
MASTER ZHUANG: That’s not of sufficient importance.
THE MAN: That’s not important enough? … Well, Yang Little Three was honored as a filial son. …
MASTER ZHUANG: To be honored as a filial son is indeed a very important event. … But this is still very hard to track down. … (Thinks for a while.) Don’t you remember any even more important event, because of which everyone was in turmoil?
THE MAN: In turmoil? Sure, sure! That was three or four months ago. Because they wanted to catch the souls of infants to stabilize the foundations of Deer Terrace, everyone was indeed so scared that no chicken or dog was at peace. People hurried to make little amulet sacks that they had these children wear.
MASTER ZHUANG (surprised): The Deer Terrace? The Deer Terrace of which period?
THE MAN: That Deer Terrace on which the work was started some months ago!
MASTER ZHUANG: In that case, did you die in the period of King Zhou?6 This is truly amazing—you have been dead for more than five hundred years!
THE MAN: (getting somewhat angry): Master, this is our first meeting, you should not make fun of me. All that happened is that I slept here for a while; how can you say I have been dead for more than five hundred years! I have business to attend to; I’m on my way to my in-laws. Now give me back my clothes, my pack, and my umbrella. I don’t have the time to play silly games with you.
MASTER ZHUANG: Not so quick! Let me investigate this. How did you fall asleep?
THE MAN: How did I fall asleep? (Thinks.) When I arrived here this morning, it seemed as if I heard a thud on my head. Everything went black before my eyes, and I fell asleep.
MASTER ZHUANG: Did it hurt?
THE MAN: It seems it didn’t hurt.
MASTER ZHUANG: Hm … (Thinks for a while.) Ha … I understand. It must be the case that at some time in the period of King Zhou of the Shang dynasty you, all by yourself, were walking through this place and ran into robbers who blocked your way. They hit you over the head with their staves, beat you to death, and robbed you of everything you had. At this moment, we are living under the Zhou dynasty, and more than five hundred years have passed, so there is no way to find your clothes. Do you understand?
THE MAN: (looking at MASTER ZHUANG with fixed eyes): I don’t understand a word of what you say. Master, if you are willing to stop fooling around, give me back my clothes, my pack, and my umbrella. I have business to attend to, I don’t have the time to play silly games with you.
MASTER ZHUANG: This man truly doesn’t talk reason. …
THE MAN: Who doesn’t talk reason? I don’t see my belongings, so I grab you on the spot. If I don’t demand them from you, from whom should I demand them? (Rises to his feet.)
MASTER ZHUANG (flustered): Now you listen to me once again. You were actually a skull, and it’s because I took pity on you that I asked the master of fate, that great divinity, to bring you back to life. Just think about it: you’ve been dead for all these many years, so how could your clothes still survive? At present, I don’t want any token of gratitude from you. Just sit down for a while and let’s talk about the period of King Zhou. …
THE MAN: Nonsense! Even an infant of three cannot believe such a tale. And I am thirty-three! (Starts walking.) You …
MASTER ZHUANG: I truly have that kind of ability. You must have heard about Zhuang Zhou of the Lacquer Grove
THE MAN: I’ve never heard about him. And even if you had such ability, what fucking use would it have? You’ve left me here stark naked, so what’s the use of bringing me back to life? How do you want me to visit my in-laws? My pack has disappeared too. … (He is about to cry, runs over and grabs MASTER ZHUANG’s sleeve.) I don’t believe your nonsense. You’re the only one around, so I of course demand my stuff from you. I’ll drag you with me to the village head!
MASTER ZHUANG: Calm down, please calm down! My clothes are very old and very much worn, you can’t pull at them. Listen to a few words of mine. First of all, you shouldn’t be so obsessed by clothes. Clothes are something one can perhaps also do without. Perhaps it is better to have clothes; perhaps it’s better not to have clothes. Birds have their feathers and wild animals have their fur, but cucumbers and eggplants are stark naked. This is what is called That side has its advantages and disadvantages, and this side has its advantages and disadvantages. You, of course, cannot say that it is better not to have clothes, but how could you say that it would be better to have clothes? …
THE MAN: (getting furious): Fuck yourself! If you don’t give me back my belongings, I will beat you to a pulp. (Raising one hand as a fist, he grabs MASTER ZHUANG with the other.)
MASTER ZHUANG (at a loss what to do, trying to shield himself): Don’t dare! Let me go! If not, I will go and invite the master of fate, that great divinity, to return you to death!
THE MAN: (backing off with a sarcastic smile): Fine, you give me back to death. If not, I want you to return my clothes to me, my umbrella, and my pack. In it I had fifty-two fully round copper coins, one pound and a half of white sugar, two pounds of southern dates …
MASTER ZHUANG (seriously): You will have no regrets?
THE MAN: Only my wife’s kid brother has regrets!
MASTER ZHUANG (determined): Then we’ll do it that way. Since you are so muddleheaded, I will have to send you back to your origin. (Changing his expression, he turns toward the east. Raising his two arms toward the sky, he starts to shout at the top of his voice.)
With utmost sincerity I pay my respects to His Great Heavenly Majesty the Master of Fate!
Heaven and earth are dark and yellow;
The celestial dome is broad and wide.
The sun and moon: they wax and wane;
Planets and stars are arrayed in rows.
Zhao and Qian and Sun and also Li;
Zhou and Wu and Zheng and Wang.
Feng and Qin and Chu and also Wei;
Jiang and Chen and Han and Yang.
By the authority of the Old Lord of Highest Heaven, hurry as if this were a legal order: I command thee!
(There is absolutely no reaction for quite a while.)
Heaven and earth are dark and yellow!
By the authority of the Old Lord of Highest Heaven: I command thee! … I command thee!
(There is absolutely no reaction for quite a while.)
(MASTER ZHUANG looks all around him and slowly drops his arms.)
THE MAN: Did I die?
MASTER ZHUANG (dejectedly): I don’t know why, but this time the magic didn’t work. …
THE MAN: (jumping forward): In that case, no more nonsense. Give me back my clothes!
MASTER ZHUANG (stepping backward): How dare you? You are a barbarian without any understanding of philosophy!
THE MAN: (grabbing him): You rotten scoundrel, you mastermind of all robbers and thieves! I will first strip off your Daoist gown and then take your horse as payment for my …
(MASTER ZHUANG on the one hand is fending him off and on the other hand as fast as he can takes an alarm whistle from the sleeve of his Daoist gown and frenetically blows it three times. The MAN is flabbergasted and slows down his movements. Not much later a POLICE OFFICER comes running from somewhere far off.)
POLICE OFFICER (shouting while running): Get hold of him! Don’t let him escape! (When he comes closer, he turns out to be a big fellow from the state of Lu.7 He is very tall, and he is dressed in uniform. In his hands he holds his stick; his red face is beardless.) Get hold of him! The bastard!
THE MAN: (once again he has tightly grasped MASTER ZHUANG): I’ve got him! The bastard!
(When the POLICE OFFICER arrives out of breath, he grasps MASTER ZHUANG’s collar and raises his stick with his other hand. The MAN releases his grip, and, slightly bending his body, he covers his private parts with both his hands.)
MASTER ZHUANG (pushing back the stick and averting his head): What’s the meaning of this?
POLICE OFFICER: What this should mean? You still are not clear about it?
MASTER ZHUANG (in a rage): How is it that I call you and that you arrest me?
POLICE OFFICER How?
MASTER ZHUANG: I blew the whistle. …
POLICE OFFICER You stole this man’s clothes, and you still had the nerve to blow the whistle?
MASTER ZHUANG: I was a traveler passing by on the road when I saw that he had died. But when I saved him, he started to bother me, saying that I had taken his possessions. Just look at me, am I someone who steals?
POLICE OFFICER (putting away his stick): “Knowing a man you know his face but not his heart.” Who knows. Let’s go to the bureau.
MASTER ZHUANG: But that is impossible. I have to hurry on, I am to be received in audience by the king of Chu.
POLICE OFFICER (startled, releases his grip and scrutinizes MASTER ZHUANG’s face): In that case, you must be the Lacquer …
MASTER ZHUANG (in a better mood once again): Exactly! I am the Lacquer Grove administrator Zhuang Zhou. How did you know?
POLICE OFFICER Sir, our bureau chief has mentioned you time and again these last few days. He says that you, sir, are going to make your fortune once you have come to the capital, and that perhaps you would pass by this place. Our bureau chief is also a gentleman in hiding, but he manages this little job on the side. And sir, he very much loves to read your writings. When reading your “Treatise on the Equalization of Things,” those lines like “Where there is birth, there must be death; where there is death, there must be birth. Where there is acceptability, there must by unacceptability; where there is unacceptability, there must be acceptability”8 are written with such force, they are truly superior writings, the best! Sir, you should come to our bureau to rest for a while.
(The MAN is scared and moves back into the shrubs and weeds, where he squats down.)
MASTER ZHUANG: It is already getting late today, I have to travel on and cannot tarry here any longer. When I come back, I will make sure to pay a visit to your bureau.
(While he is saying this, MASTER ZHUANG starts walking and mounts his horse. The very moment he wants to spur it on, the MAN suddenly jumps out of the bushes, runs forward, and grabs the horse by its bit. The POLICE OFFICER runs after him and grabs him by his shoulder.)
MASTER ZHUANG: Why are you still bothering me?
THE MAN: You’ll be gone, but I’ll have nothing. What do you want me to do? (Looking at the POLICE OFFICER.) Mister Officer, please look. …
POLICE OFFICER (rubbing behind his ears): This situation is really difficult to solve. … But master … in my judgment (looking at MASTER ZHUANG), it’s still you who is the richer of the two, so give him one piece of clothing so he can cover his shame. …
MASTER ZHUANG: That would, of course, be a possibility. Clothes are, in final analysis, not a part of the self. But I will be received in audience this time by the king of Chu. That would be impossible if I was not wearing a gown, and if I were to take off my shirt and wear only my gown, that would also be impossible. …
POLICE OFFICER Yes, you cannot do without them. (Toward the man.) Let him go!
THE MAN: I’m on my way to see my in-laws. …
POLICE OFFICER Nonsense! If you pester him again, I’ll take you to the bureau. (Raises his stick.) Get lost!
(The MAN walks backward, and the POLICE OFFICER follows him into the shrubs.)
MASTER ZHUANG: Good-bye!
POLICE OFFICER Good-bye, sir, have a good trip!
(MASTER ZHUANG, on horseback, spurs on his horse and rides off. With his hands on his back, the POLICE OFFICER watches him as he goes farther and father and disappears in the dust. Then he slowly turns around to go back along the road by which he came.)
(The MAN suddenly jumps out of the shrubs and pulls the POLICE OFFICER by his clothes.)
POLICE OFFICER What do you want?
THE MAN: What should I do?
POLICE OFFICER How should I know?
THE MAN: I wanted to visit my in-laws. …
POLICE OFFICER Then go and visit your in-laws.
THE MAN: But I don’t have any clothes.
POLICE OFFICER So you cannot visit your in-laws without any clothes?
THE MAN: You allowed him to leave. Now you, too, want to get out of here. But you will have to help me out. If I don’t ask you, whom should I ask? Just look, how can I go on living like this?
POLICE OFFICER But I tell you: suicide is the option chosen by the weak.
THE MAN: Then you come up with some solution for me!
POLICE OFFICER (freeing his lapel): I don’t know any solution for you!
THE MAN: (holding on to the POLICE OFFICER’s sleeve): Then take me with you to the bureau!
POLICE OFFICER (freeing his sleeve): How could that be? Stark naked as you are, how can you appear in the street? Let me go.
THE MAN: Then lend me a pair of pants!
POLICE OFFICER I have only this pair of pants. If I give them to you, I will look ridiculous. (Pushing him off with all his force.) Don’t bother me! Let go!
THE MAN: (grabbing the POLICE OFFICER by the neck): I absolutely want to go with you.
POLICE OFFICER (at a loss what to do): That’s impossible!
THE MAN: I will not release you.
POLICE OFFICER What do you want?
THE MAN: I want you to take me to the bureau.
POLICE OFFICER This truly is … Why would I take you with me? Don’t be such a pain in the ass. Let go! If not … (Struggling with all his strength.)
THE MAN: (holding on to him even tighter): If not, I cannot visit my in-laws and I cannot go on living. Two pounds of southern dates, one pound and a half of white sugar … You allowed him to leave, so you and I will have to fight it out.
POLICE OFFICER (struggling): Don’t be such a pain in the ass! Let go! Otherwise … Otherwise … (While saying this, he has also taken out his whistle and frenetically starts to blow.)
December 1935
1. The play that Lu Xun is thinking of in this instance may well be Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
2. These are the first four lines of the Text in a Thousand Characters (Qianzi wen), one of the primers in traditional education. The text is composed in rhyming four-syllable lines for easy memorization.
3. These are the first four lines of The Surnames of the Hundred Families (Baijia xing), another primer. This text is also composed in rhyming four-syllable lines.
4. This is the title of the Old Master as one of the highest gods in the Daoist pantheon.
5. Bigong is the equivalent of Mustcrap.
6. King Zhou was the last ruler of the Shang dynasty (ca. 1600–1050 B.C.E.). He was renowned for his cruelty. He had stored his jewels and other valuables on Deer Terrace. When his troops were defeated by the armies of King Wu of the Zhou dynasty (traditional dates, 1122–249 B.C.E.), King Zhou committed suicide by burning himself and his possessions on Deer Terrace.
7. The state of Lu was the home of Confucius, who was renowned for his tall stature.
8. Zhuangzi, chapter 2. See Zhuangzi, Complete Works of Chuang Tzu, 39–40.