Ah Q spirit in China
2 min readAh Q’s Therapy of Spiritual Victory
Lu Xun’s“The True Story of Ah Q ”is profound.It probes into the very soul of the Chinese people.It is said that when the story was first published，many people felt deeply disturbed，believing the character of Ah Q was drawn from them.
According to Zhou Zuoren ，Lu Xun’s brother，the letter“Q”resembles a featureless face with a whip attached behind it.This is what Lu Xun intended to convey to readers.Therefore，Ah Q can be looked at as”any ordinary person”in the countryside of China，a general image of the common people.
Ah Q does not have a definite name.His family name seems to be Zhao.When he loses in gambling，he quickly transforms defeat into victory in this way:”Raising his right hand，he slapped his own face hard，twice…then his heart felt lighter，for it seemed as if the one who had given the slap was himself，the one slapped some other self，and soon it was just as if he had beaten someone else.”In this way，he gains victory and falls asleep.
Ah Q’s character is thus expressed through many similar mundane episodes in life.
Ah Q’s“spiritual victory”therapy has long been considered the most profound summary of the inherent weakness of the Chinese nation.Its essence is self-deceit，that is，covering failure in reality with illusory spiritual victory，and even seeking comfort by bullying those weaker than oneself.Self-deceit causes people to conceal their faults for fear of criticism，makes them numb and forgetful，and even leads the whole nation to stop developing.
