About this recording
Wandering or Pang Huang was Lu Xun's second collection of stories. It was published near the end of 1925 and included 11 stories written between 1924 and 1925. (Note: The Librivox reading is based on the Gutenberg version which includes only 8 stories, omitting “A Happy Family”, “Soap” and “Brothers”.) The title Lu Xun gave to the collection is Pang Huang, translated as Wandering, but literally means unsettled, agitated or restless. Lu Xun employed points of view in his stories in a way that was novel at the time for Chinese literature, helping readers consider new possibilities about the true nature of the reality around them. Some stories look at the problem of how members of the intellectual class are to live their lives, e.g. In the Tavern, Regret for the Past, whereas others are commentary on traditional customs and institutions, the specific dysfunctions of particular customs and institutions, and also at the general result in which people are discarded, e.g. The New Year Sacrifice and A Public Example…