Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c10.s2.t2.4

v2.c10.s2.t2.4

In 1898, 17-year old Lu Xun left home to study at the Jiangnan Naval Academy and in 1899, he shifted to Jiangnan School of Mines and Railways at Jiangnan Military Academy. It was there that he had his first contact with Western learning, especially the sciences. He studied some German and English, reading in translation Huxley’s *Evolution and Ethics*, J. S. Mill’s *On Liberty*, as well as novels like *Ivanhoe* and *Uncle Tom’s Cabin*. In 1902, Lu Xun went to Japan to learn Japanese but after two years, he joined the Sendai Medical Institute (later known as the Medical Department of Tokyo University) to study modern Western medicine. Later, he decided to abandon his studies because he felt that it was more important to cure the Chinese people of their spiritual diseases through literature and art. He returned to China in 1909.