Abstract
Nihilism, intertwined with anarchist thought, was introduced to China in the late Qing Dynasty and attracted widespread attention. Although Lu Xun was not a nihilist in the strict sense, his philosophical outlook exhibited clear nihilistic tendencies. Zhu Qianzhi, a representative nihilist during the May Fourth period, radically rejected and resisted all established norms, asserting that “knowledge is stolen goods”, a position Lu Xun satirically critiqued. Despite their shared engagement with nihilist ideas, these two followed fundamentally different intellectual trajectories: Lu Xun represents a mature engagement with nihilism, marked by appropriation, critical reflection, and eventual transcendence, while Zhu embodies the impulsive radicalism of the newly awakened May Fourth youth, asserting individuality through a wholesale rejection of tradition. Their divergence illustrates what Friedrich Nietzsche called “negative nihilism”, characterized by Lu Xun's strategic grappling with despair through ironic gamesmanship, and “positive nihilism” expressed by Zhu Qianzhi through a feverish drive to “shatter the void and level the earth.” Together, they exemplify the dual expressions of nihilism in modern Chines thought, representing two unique adaptations of Yevgeny Bazarov's nihilist legacy within the Chinese context and revealing the diverse ways in which Chinese thinkers assimilated nihilism.
Keywords
Lu Xun, Zhu Qianzhi, Friedrich Nietzsche, Yevgeny Bazarov, nihilism
First Page
1
Last Page
12
Recommended Citation
Zhang, Quanzhi. . "Lu Xun and Zhu Qianzhi: Two Forms of Nihilism in Modern Chinese Thought." Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art 45, (4): pp.1-12. https://tsla.researchcommons.org/journal/vol45/iss4/1
