故事新編故事gù shi — narrative; story; tale (HSK 2)新xīn — 1. new 2. newly 3. meso- (chemistry) (HSK 1)編biān — 1. to weave 2. to plait 3. to organize 4. to group 5. to arrange 6. to edit 7. to compile 8. to write 9. to compose 10. to fabricate 11. to make up (HSK 4) · 故事新编

What’s in it

故事新編 (Old Tales Retold) is Lu Xun's last and strangest work of fiction: eight stories that take Chinese myths and early history and retell them with a flat, anachronistic, often very funny irreverence. 補天 (Mending Heaven) follows the goddess Nüwa as she creates humanity out of boredom and then has to patch a hole torn in the sky by squabbling humans who have long since forgotten to thank her. 奔月 (Flight to the Moon) shows the legendary archer Houyi long after his famous feat of shooting down nine suns, now an aging celebrity whose wife is bored of eating nothing but crow for dinner because he can no longer find any other game. 理水 (Curbing the Flood) turns Yu the Great's mythic flood-taming into a satire of officialdom, complete with committees of scholars debating the flood in language lifted straight from 1930s academic conferences.

The later stories keep the same trick: 鑄劍 (Forging the Swords) is a genuinely eerie revenge story built around a severed head that keeps singing from inside a cauldron, 采薇 (Gathering Vetch) follows two brothers who starve themselves rather than serve a new dynasty, 出關 sends Laozi wearily out through the frontier pass, and 起死 (Bringing Back the Dead) has Zhuangzi revive a skeleton who is furious rather than grateful at being brought back to life. The deadpan mixing of ancient sages with distinctly modern bureaucratic and academic absurdities lets Lu Xun satirize both the myths themselves and the 1930s Chinese intellectuals who Lu Xun felt were reenacting them.

Literary forms

• Chinese Short Stories

Key words 关键字

• 么má么má — exclamatory final particle
• 后hòuHSK 1后hòu — empress · queen · (archaic) monarch · ruler (HSK 1)
• 羿Yì羿Yì — surname Yi · name of a legendary archer (also called 后羿 (Hòu Yì))
• 听yǐnHSK 1听yǐn — smile (archaic) (HSK 1)
• 气qìHSK 2气qì — gas; air · smell · weather · to make angry; to annoy; to get angry · vital energy; qi (HSK 2)
• 禹Yǔ禹Yǔ — Yu the Great (c. 21st century BC), mythical leader who tamed the floods · surname Yu
• 夷yí夷yí — non-Han people, esp. to the East of China · barbarians · to wipe out · to exterminate · to tear down · to raze
• 您nínHSK 1您nín — you (courteous, as opposed to informal 你 (nǐ)) (HSK 1)
• 伊yī伊yī — (old) third person singular pronoun ("he" or "she") · second person singular pronoun ("you") · (May 4th period) third person singular feminine pronoun ("she") · (Classical Chinese) introductory particle with no specific meaning · (preceding a noun) that · (bound form) Iraq (abbr. for 伊拉克 (Yī lā kè)) · (bound form) Iran (abbr. for 伊朗 (Yī lǎng))
• 劍jiànHSK 6劍jiàn — double-edged sword · classifier: 口 (kǒu), 把 (bǎ) · classifier for blows of a sword (HSK 6)
• 并bìngHSK 3并bìng — and · furthermore · also · together with · (not) at all · simultaneously · to combine · to join · to merge (HSK 3)
• 异yì异yì — different · other · hetero- · unusual · strange · surprising · to distinguish · to separate · to discriminate
• 裡lǐHSK 1裡lǐ — lining · interior · inside · internal · also written 裏 (lǐ) (HSK 1)
• 輸shūHSK 3輸shū — to lose; to be beaten · (bound form) to transport · (literary) to donate; to contribute · (coll.) to enter (a password) (HSK 3)
• 惊jīngHSK 7-9惊jīng — to startle · to be frightened · to be scared · alarm (HSK 7-9)
• 橐tuó橐tuó — sack · tube open at both ends · (onom.) footsteps
• 餑bō餑bō — cake · biscuit
• 侏zhū侏zhū — dwarf
• 鯀Gǔn鯀Gǔn — Gun, mythical father of Yu the Great 大禹 (Dà Yǔ)
• 兮xī兮xī — (particle in old Chinese similar to 啊)
• 叔shū叔shū — uncle · father's younger brother · husband's younger brother · Taiwan pr. (shú)
• 媧Wā媧Wā — surname Wa · sister of legendary emperor Fuxi 伏羲 (Fú xī)
• 尹yǐn尹yǐn — (literary) to administer; to govern · (bound form) governor; prefect; magistrate (official title in imperial times)
• 宋Sòng宋Sòng — surname Song · the Song dynasty (960–1279) · Song of the Southern Dynasties (420–479) 南朝宋 (Nán cháo Sòng)

魯迅 Lu Xun

Lu Xun worked on these stories on and off for thirteen years, from 1922 until shortly before his death, and the collection was only assembled into a single book in 1935–36, right at the end of his life. It is generally read as his most playful and formally adventurous work — where 吶喊 and 彷徨 diagnose contemporary China through realist fiction, 故事新編 does something closer to the same work through parody, using the distance of myth and legend to say things too pointed to say about the present directly.

More by Lu Xun 同作者

• 吶喊 · 呐喊Call to Arms
• 彷徨Wandering
• 朝花夕拾Dawn Blossoms Plucked at Dusk
• 野草Wild Grass

Key vocabulary 词汇

• 万万mò — used in 万俟 (Mò qí) (HSK 2)
• 侏侏zhū — dwarf
• 侖侖lún — to arrange
• 儿儿ér — child · son
• 匕匕bǐ — dagger · ladle · ancient type of spoon
• 听听yǐn — smile (archaic) (HSK 1)
• 呔呔dāi — (interjection) hey! · Taiwan pr. (tai)
• 㖇
• 堞堞dié — battlements
• 忪忪sōng — used in 惺忪 (xīng sōng)
• 戽戽hù — water bucket for irrigation
• 扈扈hù — retinue
• 揍揍zòu — to hit; to beat (sb) · (coll.) to smash (sth) (HSK 7-9)
• 旒旒liú — tassel
• 昃昃zè — afternoon · decline
• 槲槲hú — Mongolian oak (Quercus dentata) · see also 槲樹 (hú shù)
• 殛殛jí — to put to death
• 气气qì — gas; air · smell · weather · to make angry; to annoy; to get angry · vital energy; qi (HSK 2)
• 汶汶Wèn — Wen River in northwest Sichuan (same as 汶川) · classical name of river in Shandong, used to refer to Qi 齊國
• 澎澎péng — used in 澎湃 (péng pài) · Taiwan pr. (pēng)
• 燜燜mèn — to cook in a covered vessel · to casserole · to stew
• 玀玀luó — used in 豬玀 (zhū luó)
• 疬疬lì — used in 瘰癧 (luǒ lì)
• 皋皋gāo — bank · marsh
• 䀹
• 碘碘diǎn — iodine (chemistry)
• 祁祁qí — large · vast
• 禺禺yú — (archaic) district · (old) type of monkey
• 縋縋zhuì — to let down with a rope
• 羿羿Yì — surname Yi · name of a legendary archer (also called 后羿 (Hòu Yì))
• 翟翟dí — long-tail pheasant
• 聃聃dān — ears without rim
• 蚕蚕cán — silkworm
• 螄螄sī — snail
• 裎裎chéng — to take off one's clothes · naked
• 褚褚zhǔ — padding (in garment) · to store up · pocket · Taiwan pr. (chǔ)
• 賁賁bēn — energetic
• 躃躃bì — variant of 躄 (bì)
• 逷
• 郢郢Yǐng — Ying, ancient capital of Chu 楚 in Hubei, Jianling county 江陵縣
• 錚錚zhēng — clang of metals · small gong
• 隗隗wěi — eminent · lofty
• 韉韉jiān — (bound form) saddle blanket
• 頊頊xū — used in 顓頊 (Zhuān xū) · used in 頊頊 (xū xū) · Taiwan pr. (xù)
• 顓顓zhuān — good · simple
• 飴飴yí — maltose syrup
• 餾餾liú — to distill · to break a liquid substance up into components by boiling
• 鯀鯀Gǔn — Gun, mythical father of Yu the Great 大禹 (Dà Yǔ)
• 鴟鴟chī — scops owl
• 黔黔qián — (literary) black; to blacken
• 齪齪chuò — used in 齷齪 (wò chuò)
• 齷齷wò — dirty · small-minded
• 优优yōu — excellent · superior (HSK 7-9)
• 佚佚yì — (bound form) (of a book, author etc) lost (to the ages) · (bound form) reclusive
• 偃偃yǎn — to lie supine · to stop · to fall down
• 兕兕sì — animal cited in ancient texts, resembling a buffalo (some say rhinoceros or female rhinoceros)
• 函函hán — envelope · case · letter
• 后后hòu — empress · queen · (archaic) monarch · ruler (HSK 1)
• 啥啥shá — dialectal equivalent of 什麼 (shén me) · also pr. (shà)
• 圜圜huán — circle · encircle
• 圭圭guī — jade tablet, square at the base and rounded or pointed at the top, held by the nobility at ceremonies · sundial · (ancient unit of volume) a tiny amount; a smidgen; a speck
• 圾圾jī — used in 垃圾 (lā jī) · Taiwan pr. (sè)
• 坏坏huài — bad · spoiled · broken · to break down · (suffix) to the utmost (HSK 1)
• 垃垃lā — used in 垃圾 (lā jī) · Taiwan pr. (lè)
• 堯堯Yáo — surname Yao · Yao or Tang Yao (c. 2200 BC), one of the Five legendary Emperors 五帝 (Wǔ Dì), second son of Di Ku 帝嚳 (Dì Kù)
• 妲妲Dá — female personal name (archaic)
• 姚姚yáo — handsome · good-looking
• 孳孳zī — industrious · produce · bear
• 寨寨zhài — stronghold · stockade · camp · (stockaded) village
• 岡岡gāng — ridge · mound
• 庄庄zhuāng — farmstead · village · manor · place of business · banker (in a gambling game) · grave or solemn · holdings of a landlord (in imperial China)
• 异异yì — different · other · hetero- · unusual · strange · surprising · to distinguish · to separate · to discriminate
• 弒弒shì — to murder a superior · to murder one's parent
• 弩弩nǔ — crossbow
• 怀怀huái — bosom · heart · mind · to think of · to harbor in one's mind · to conceive (a child)
• 怜怜lián — to pity
• 怦怦pēng — (onom.) the thumping of one's heart
• 恿恿yǒng — used in 慫恿 (sǒng yǒng)
• 悌悌tì — to do one's duty as a younger brother
• 惊惊jīng — to startle · to be frightened · to be scared · alarm (HSK 7-9)
• 愿愿yuàn — honest and prudent · variant of 願 (yuàn) (HSK 5)
• 扑扑pū — to throw oneself at · to pounce on · to devote one's energies · to flap · to flutter · to dab · to pat · to bend over (HSK 6)
• 暾暾tūn — sun above the horizon
• 机机jī — (bound form) machine; mechanism · (bound form) aircraft · (bound form) an opportunity · (bound form) crucial point; pivot · (bound form) quick-witted; flexible · (bound form) organic
• 极极jí — extremely · pole (geography, physics) · utmost · top (HSK 4)
• 梟梟xiāo — owl · valiant · trafficker
• 棲棲qī — to perch · to rest (of birds) · to dwell · to live · to stay
• 楠楠nán — Machilus nanmu · Chinese cedar · Chinese giant redwood
• 橇橇qiāo — sled · sleigh
• 橐橐tuó — sack · tube open at both ends · (onom.) footsteps
• 橛橛jué — a peg · low post
• 殂殂cú — to die
• 毿毿sān — long-haired · shaggy
• 沃沃wò — fertile · rich · to irrigate · to wash (of river)
• 洁洁jié — clean
• 涂涂tú — to apply (paint etc) · to smear · to daub · to blot out · to scribble · to scrawl · (literary) mud · street (HSK 7-9)
• 淳淳chún — genuine · pure · honest
• 湃湃pài — used in 澎湃 (péng pài)
• 湮湮yān — (literary) to sink into oblivion · (literary) to silt up · Taiwan pr. (yīn)
• 瓮瓮wèng — pottery container for water, wine etc
• 甦甦sū — variant of 蘇 (sū) · to revive
• 疆疆jiāng — border · boundary
• 疵疵cī — blemish · flaw · defect
• 瘰瘰luǒ — used in 瘰癧 (luǒ lì)
• 癟癟biě — deflated · shriveled · sunken · empty
• 瞟瞟piǎo — to cast a glance
• 矓矓lóng — used in 矇矓 (méng lóng)
• 确确què — authenticated · solid · firm · real · true
• 磋磋cuō — (old) to polish bones, horns, ivory etc into tools · (bound form) to deliberate; to consult
• 离离chī — mythical beast (archaic) (HSK 2)
• 种种zhǒng — seed · species · kind · type · classifier for types, kinds, sorts (HSK 3)
• 稷稷jì — millet · God of cereals worshiped by ancient rulers · minister of agriculture
• 筏筏fá — raft (of logs)
• 籲籲yù — to implore
• 糰糰tuán — dumpling (HSK 3)
• 繭繭jiǎn — (bound form) cocoon · (bound form) callus (variant of 趼 (jiǎn))
• 纛纛dào — big banner · feather banner or fan
• 网网wǎng — net; web · network · to net; to catch with a net (HSK 2)
• 羹羹gēng — thick soup
• 肱肱gōng — upper arm · arm
• 胜胜shèng — victory · success · to beat · to defeat · to surpass · victorious · superior to · to get the better of · better than · surpassing · superb (of vista) · beautiful (scenery) · wonderful (view) · (Taiwan pr. (shēng)) able to bear · equal to (a task) (HSK 3)
• 腴腴yú — fat on belly · fertile · rich
• 茀茀fú — luxuriant growth
• 莠莠yǒu — Setaria viridis · vicious
• 蒐蒐sōu — (bound form) to collect; to gather (HSK 5)
• 薯薯shǔ — potato · yam
• 虫虫chóng — lower form of animal life, including insects, insect larvae, worms and similar creatures · classifier: 條 (tiáo), 隻 (zhī) · (fig.) person with a particular undesirable characteristic
• 蚩蚩chī — ignorant · worm
• 蚪蚪dǒu — used in 蝌蚪 (kē dǒu)
• 蜢蜢měng — grasshopper
• 襄襄xiāng — (literary) to assist
• 触触chù — to touch · to make contact with sth · to stir up sb's emotions
• 赶赶gǎn — to overtake; to catch up with · to hurry; to rush · to try to catch (the bus etc) · to drive (cattle etc) forward; to drive (sb) away · to avail oneself of (an opportunity) · until; by (a certain time) (HSK 3)
• 輓輓wǎn — variant of 挽 (wǎn) · to draw (a cart) · to lament the dead (HSK 7-9)
• 鉞鉞yuè — battle-ax
• 鏃鏃zú — arrowhead · sharp
• 阪阪bǎn — slope · hillside
• 陝陝Shǎn — short name for Shaanxi 陝西 (Shǎn xī)
• 鞽鞽qiáo — the pommel and cantle of a saddle
• 韭韭jiǔ — leek
• 頡頡jié — used in 倉頡 (Cāng Jié)
• 髑髑dú — used in 髑髏 (dú lóu)
• 鯽鯽jì — bastard carp · sand perch
• 鵓鵓bó — woodpidgeon
• 鷥鷥sī — heron
• 黧黧lí — dark · sallow color
• 鼉鼉tuó — see 鼉龍 (tuó lóng)
• 么么má — exclamatory final particle
• 尹尹yǐn — (literary) to administer; to govern · (bound form) governor; prefect; magistrate (official title in imperial times)
• 予予yú — (archaic) I · me