A Quick Read of Lu Xun's Kong Yiji

In the bustling Xianheng Tavern, workers, small traders, and rural teachers gather together, drinking cheap rice wine and chatting about the trivialities of life. The tavern owner and his staff are also busy, greeting and serving various customers. The air in the tavern is filled with the smell of wine and tobacco, accompanied by bursts of laughter and casual conversations, as if everyone is immersed in their own little world.

However, the moment Kong Yiji’s figure appears at the door, the atmosphere in the tavern subtly changes. The originally lively customers unconsciously stop their actions, exchange glances, and smile with an inexplicable expression. Kong Yiji’s tattered long gown and awkward steps always elicit low laughter and murmurs.

Kong Yiji is the only person in the tavern who wears a long gown but stands while drinking. In the social context of that time, a long gown was a symbol of intellectuals, representing a certain status and dignity. However, Kong Yiji’s long gown is already ragged and filthy. His self-proclaimed identity as a “scholar” seems so ridiculous, as if a good show is about to start.

Kong Yiji is often ridiculed, especially for his semi-literate “literary talk” and his clumsy handwriting. Whenever someone asks him to write, he always agrees happily, but his writing only attracts mockery. His speech is tinged with a bit of scholarly air, yet it also reveals some pedantry. He often says, “Stealing books can’t be considered theft. How can a scholar’s matter be called theft?”

Every time he says this, the tavern erupts in laughter. They enjoy watching Kong Yiji’s jokes, taking his pain as a spice for their own lives. Some would rudely interrupt him or deliberately provoke him, appreciating his helpless and fragile defense.

Kong Yiji’s hands are often injured, and whenever asked, he always forces a smile and says he “fell and broke them.” In reality, it’s because he was beaten for stealing. Every time he enters the tavern, he tries to maintain a smile, as if proving to everyone that he can still stand on his own, but in reality, he has long been defeated by life. Every time he borrows money, he does so with helplessness and humility, but is often met with refusal and ridicule. He tries to maintain his last bit of dignity, but reality always cruelly shatters his illusions.

One day, Kong Yiji appears in the tavern again, but he can only sit on the ground drinking. His body and spirit have been destroyed, and his former dignity has been trampled to pieces. The tattered and dirty long gown still hangs on his frail shoulders.

After that, he never appeared again. Only occasionally do the drinkers mention him with a touch of disdainful laughter. Kong Yiji’s fate thus silently disappears in the noisy tavern, as if none of this had ever happened.