Post by Holger E. Metzger

The irony of it...Lu Xun being transformed from a fiery anti-establishment rebel into a cuddly Communist Party mascot, in "an empire of tedium, a cheery chloroformed calm in which even grumpy troublemakers like Lu Xun are made to smile and fall into line." Great article by Andrew Higgins. I met Andrew briefly during the Tiananmen protests, when he reported from the capital for The Independent and I was a SOAS exchange student in Beijing, an experience that would make me return to China after graduation and spend three decades as a participant in history's most mind-blowing transformation of a nation and its people. Read about it and my deep insights into the "hou hei xue - Black Heart" philosophy on Substack: https://lnkd.in/dpEqNS7j (Lu Xun himself was a hou hei xue specialist...). https://lnkd.in/d8XG-2E9