The research on the influence of foreign writers on Lu Xun, which has been actively in progress, is abundant and various ranging from novels such as "A Diary of a Lunatic" and "The True Story of Ah Q" to theories on the individual literary works. However it is difficult to find systematic research on the influence of the Russian literature on Lu Xun''s work "A Diary of a Lunatic" referred to as the first work of modern Chinese literature.
Lu Xun''s "A Diary of a Lunatic" results from the impact of foreign literature. I selected eight literary works that have profound influences on Lu Xun''s "A Diary of a Lunatic" including "A Diary of a Lunatic" by Gogol, "4 days", "Coward", "Red flowers" and "Signal" by Garshin, "A Diary of a Lunatic" and "Reconsider" by Tolstoy and "Notes from the house of the dead" by Dostoyevsky, and I analyzed and compared them with Lu Xun''s work. It was thereby possible for me to empirically identify how many Russian literary elements are underlain in the text of "A Diary of a Lunatic" by Lu Xun.
The impacts of Gogol, Garshin, Tolstoy, and Dostoyevsky on "A Diary of a Lunatic" by Lu Xun are as follows:
Lu Xun''s "A Diary of a Lunatic" shares the same title as not only Gogol''s but also Tolstoy''s, created from 1884 to 1903 and released in 1912. In addition to that, "A Diary of a Lunatic" by Lu Xun is very much like theirs in theme, stylistics, characters, stories, forms which are the detailed elements of the structure, and even the form of expressions. Lu Xun also was seriously affected by the works of Russian writers, Garshin and Dostoyevsky in addition to Gogol and Tolstoy.
"A Diary of a Lunatic" by Lu Xun is the same genre as and has the same title as and the similar theme, stylistics, characters and background to the works of above writers. These characteristics of Lu Xun''s "A Diary of a Lunatic" were commonly affected by these works. The influences on the story clearly divide. The story of the introduction was affected by Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky and the body by Gogol and Tolstoy.
Whereas the structure seems to have been commonly influenced by all of the above writer''s works, it has noticeable impacts particularly from Dostoyevsky. However, the form of expressions appears to be affected by most of the works except Dostoyevsky''s.
Subsequently, about the specific influences of the each writer, in Garshin''s works such as "4 days", "Coward", "Red flowers" and "Signal" symbolic representations were used to strongly emphasize the theme of the work. In particular, cannibalism which was used in "Signal" seems to have been cited by Lu Xun in his work.
Facing a national crisis and feeling devastated and desperate, Lu Xun brought the "lunatic" from the autobiographical novel "A Diary of a Lunatic" by Tolstoy and recreated the main character, "the lunatic" in his own work, "A Diary of a Lunatic"
Lu Xun considered Tolstoy as his main character of his work and put his thought into the character, thought and voice, but, with the figuration of a lunatic highlighted, it underwent extensive refining process in the light of the reality of China. Through a careful analysis, Lu Xun clearly revealed the characteristics of what he wanted to express. While he highlighted the character, not did he emphasize the appearance but he did essentially similar aspects of it. Thus he could make his character "a real lunatic" who never submits to any difficulty.
Lu Xun also brought the special structural format from "Notes from the house of the dead" by Tolstoy and used it as the frame for creation of his work. He composed and wrote the preface of his work using the introduction of the novel by Tolstoy in accordance with the current situation of China. In fact, the introduction of Lu Xun''s work is similar to that of Dostoyevsky''s and, in addition to that, some parts of the Tolstoy''s "A Diary of a Lunatic" was extracted and blended.
It can be seen that the body of Lu Xun''s work also was heavily influenced by the same titled works of Gogol and Tolstoy in the beginning and the development. Lu Xun wrote the novel under the same title as the works of two literary giants, and made the story abundant and emphasized the theme by using symbolic methods from Garshin.
"A Diary of a Lunatic" by Lu Xun clearly has the similar beginning and ending of the body to that by Gogol, and used the same writing material. However in the character''s aspect, it seems to have been referred to "A Diary of a Lunatic" and "Reconsider" by Tolstoy. The lunatic of Gogol and Lu Xun gets out of the house, wanders around the street and meets a dog from the very first day. In the story, the dog was personified. Many animals appear subsequently and in the ending, there is a desperate cry for children. In the story, the figuration of a lunatic, the reason the lunatic became normal after becoming mad, the man who branded the man as a lunatic, the attitude towards the lunatic and in the caring process, and the on-going process of madness are all similar to "A Diary of a Lunatic" by Tolstoy. Especially the lunatic''s desperate cry to emphasize the theme coincide with that of "Reconsider"
It has been a century since "A Diary of a Lunatic" was released in 1918, and there have been a lot of research in and out of Korea. Still, what we wonder about is the candidate appointment of "a lunatic".
The lunatic of Lu xun''s work is a complete lunatic, who is in the state of madness which reaches an extreme in the ending of the novel. However, in the introduction considered as a conclusion, he appears to be completely cured without even any treatment. This fresh setting is just the same as that of Tolstoy''s "A Diary of a Lunatic". Tolstoy''s lunatic is also in his madness which reaches an extreme and there is no treatment, but he is judged as normal from medical professionals. When he goes to meet the doctors to ascertain status, what he does is only to be silent. Also the scene is found where the lunatic created by Lu Xun was silent. Lu Xun''s lunatic has the same process and the time as Tolstoy''s where and when he becomes mad and the madness reaches to the extreme. Both madmen are considered as lunatics even by their own family in both Lu xun''s and Tolstoy''s likewise. In addition, the medical attitudes toward the lunatics are similar, too. In Tolstoy''s beginning sentences corresponding to a introduction, the doctors dispute over whether to diagnose him as mad or not. In the Lu Xun''s introduction, the lunatic''s autobiography is to be provided as research material for the medical professionals.
Based on these, Lu xun''s work was influenced by Gogal''s "A Diary of a Lunatic", and, afterwards, was heavily affected by Russian writers, Garshin, Tolstoy, and Dostoyevsky. From Gogol Lu Xun referred to not only the title "A Diary of a Lunatic" but also the appearance of animals in the story and the personification of them, and he made use of symbolic representations like ''cannibalism'' to strongly emphasize the theme of the work. Setting a lunatic as a main character, he made Tolstoy, who wrote the novel with the same title, a same main character in his work. Lastly, the entire format including preface was affected by Dostoyevsky. He brought the special structural format from "Notes from the house of the dead". in addition to that he used to complete the preface the special story which can be considered Tolstoy''s introduction and the story from Dostoyevsky''s introduction which includes the story of the lunatic''s obtaining another''s autobiography and the processing of it afterwards. With the same methods with other parts, the body was filled.
Lu Xun wrote "A Diary of a Lunatic" taking all the elements constructing his novel from Russian literature and reusing them. "A Diary of a Lunatic" by Lu Xun is the very work which was created under the profound influence of Russian literature.