The Historical Mission Of The Intellectuals And Life Choices

Lu Xun has always been paying full attention to the intellectual. He has discussedmodern, ancient and foreign intellectuals in his satirical essays, mainly through thecriticism of a large number of specific characters and events to show his thought that theintellectual should be regarded as a whole. Firstly, Chinese intellectuals were originallypart of the ancient officials, therefore the relation between the intellectual and power hasalways been close. Lu Xun has been so disgusted with the intellectuals' obsequiousness infront of power that he insisted that the intellectual should not give up their independenceand critical mind. Secondly, in the relation with the public, the intellectual undertook thehistorical mission of enlightenment, however enlightenment is not the same ascommand. On the one hand, the intellectual should side with the common and respectthem and their power. On the other hand, because of the weakness of the common, suchas falling behind the time and ignorance, the intellectual should not be coward and give inbefore the civilian. In addition, Lu Xun's own choice is the best notes of his intellectualconcept. Hu Shi, as another representative of modern Chinese culture, chosed a differentpath and played a different role in modern culture and politics. Lu and Hu stand for twotypical intellectuals in Chinese modern cultural history. By comparion, we can see thehighlighted independence and responsibility belonging to the intellectual like Lu Xun.