"Lu Xun wrote New Year’s Sacrifice and created the classic literary figure of Xianglin’s Wife (Xianglin Sao) with the core aim of exposing and criticizing the cannibalistic nature of feudal ethics and the patriarchal clan system, and of awakening the numb Chinese populace. The villagers initially expressed sympathy for Xianglin’s Wife’s misfortunes, but soon turned her story into idle gossip and amusement after their meals. In the end, she committed suicide in despair. Through this, Lu Xun criticized the feudal ideology of the time, which rendered the Chinese people numb, cold, and devoid of compassion.

Yet this usage of ‘Xianglin’s Wife’ as a derogatory term (who on earth would treat her name as a pejorative?) strikes me as precisely the opposite of Lu Xun’s intent, and also reveals the cognitive logic of certain so-called ‘Marxists’ in China—in their mindset, a proletarian should not speak online about living a hard life; if you are having a hard time, you should work even harder, otherwise you are just fishing for attention. This creates a closed loop: when all those who are struggling are silenced, because ‘admitting your failure online means you are actually doing well,’ then you must work and study diligently offline (and if you fail, it proves you haven’t tried hard enough). Thus, this society becomes the ‘least bad’ one, constantly and gradually improving."