Lecture: Lu Xun and Zhu Qianzhi: A Study in the Intellectual History of Modern China
Time: 19:00–21:00, Wednesday, November 4, 2026
Venue: Room 114, Humanities Building
Speaker：
Zhang Quanzhi, born in Yinan, Shandong Province, holds a PhD in Literature. He is currently a tenured Professor, doctoral supervisor and Chair of the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at the School of Humanities, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. His research mainly focuses on modern and contemporary Chinese literature. He has presided over and completed two key projects, one general project and one sub-project of a major project supported by the National Social Science Fund of China, as well as multiple provincial major bidding projects and general projects. His research achievements have won six provincial and ministerial-level awards. He also serves as Vice President of the Chinese Lu Xun Research Association and Executive Director of the Chinese Modern Literature Research Association.
Abstract:
Zhu Qianzhi (1899–1972), born in Fuzhou, Fujian, was a renowned historian and philosopher. He is known as an “encyclopedic” scholar, with outstanding contributions in the fields of history and philosophy. In 2024, The Commercial Press published The Complete Works of Zhu Qianzhi (10 volumes in 20 books).
It may seem unexpected to place Zhu Qianzhi alongside Lu Xun, as the two are largely unrelated and differ greatly in historical stature. Their paths crossed at Peking University, yet they had no personal contact. In 1921, Lu Xun published Knowledge Is Evil to criticize Zhu Qianzhi, yet Zhu did not response, and no intellectual confrontation ever took place between them.
Tracing their intellectual roots reveals that they both absorbed the nihilism from Turgenev’s Fathers and Sons, but their subsequent paths of development and ideological frameworks diverged dramatically. Lu Xun moved from Bazarov toward Nietzsche, while Zhu Qianzhi moved from Bazarov to Laozi. Lu Xun was not a nihilist in the strict sense, but the nihilistic tendency in his thought belongs to Nietzsche called “passive nihilism”. He directed Bazarov's "negation" and Nietzsche's "revaluation" into his inner world. While resisting suffering and despair, he also developed a subtle, playful attitude toward despair. In contrast, Zhu Qianzhi took nihilism as a banner to subvert and resist everything, reflecting the extreme tendency of individualism held by the awakened young people after the May Fourth Movement. Their acceptance of nihilism embodies two forms of nihilism in modern Chinese thought and is of significant research value.
School of Humanities and Law (School of Public Administration)
October 28, 2026
