2 Cognitive process of “A Madman’s Diary”
2.1 Madman and madness
Luxun first wrote “A Madman’s Diary” (1918) in the colloquial style in the tradition of modern Chinese literature. He perceived contemporary Chinese society as a cannibalistic society and emphasized the mental reconstruction of the Chinese people as a means of rescue because the Chinese dynasty had misused the teachings of Confucius to establish the feudal society of cannibals.
The Madman suffered from paranoia, and the traditional treatment of the Madman in China is different from that in Japan. There are three perspectives on the Madman in China.
① The madness is a disguise and the person is a warrior of anti-feudalism.
② The madness is real and he is not a warrior of anti-feudalism, but the symbol charged with anti-feudalistic thought.
③ The madness represents a warrior of anti-feudalism caused by persecution.
On the other hand, in Japan, the Madman awakens from madness.
I also consider that the Madman awakens from madness, and so I correlate Luxun’s persuasion of the Chinese people to a cognitive process. That is, when human beings were barbarians, they were certainly cannibals. However, those who tried to be better and stopped practicing cannibalism could be civilized human beings. I consider a decision-making theory using risk avoidance saying that such effort is important.
Why did the Madman fall into madness? And when did he become sick with paranoia? “A Madman’s Diary” begins with the statement that he saw a beautiful moon for the first time in 30 years, which suggests that a long time must have passed after onset. In fact, the symptom of Madman’s disease had emerged during his junior high school years.
Luxun learned the modern Europe thinking to emphasize individuality during his study in Japan (1902–1909). He thought that it was a completely different idea from Chinese feudalism which depended on the Confucian doctrine. The madness of the Madman may have resulted from this thought.
Different stories describe the Madman’s period of wakefulness. For example:
① when the Madman opened the history books and learned about cannibals .
② when his sister was eaten by his older brother because the Madman realized that his family was connected with the world of cannibals and that he also remained in it.
③ when he appealed for the need to help children to revive Chinese people.
I associate these scenes and the Madman’s behavior with the cognitive process described in Table 1. They approach the analytic image and finally reach the generative image. As to a comparison table, please see Japanese.
花村嘉英著（2015）「从认知语言学的角度浅析鲁迅作品－魯迅をシナジーで読む」より translated by Yoshihisa Hanamura