Differences in the humanistic thoughts of Lu Xin and Leo Tolstoy

Yan Lyu ORCID: 0000-0002-4206-8893 PhD in Philology Postgraduate student, Peoples' Friendship University of Russia 101000, Russia, Moscow, Yugo-Zapad, Miklukho-Maklaya str., 21 79267880340@yandex.ru

Introduction

Tolstoy and Lu Xin, these two literary giants, although they live in different temporal and spatial conditions, they wrote about their deep sympathy for human suffering and their insistence on the light of human nature with a common humane spirit. Their works are not only criticism and reflections on society, but also consolation and encouragement of the human spirit.

Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy strove for the most accurate and detailed description of the life and customs of his time. In his novels such as War and Peace and Anna Karenina, attention is paid not only to the plot, but also to the vast landscapes of public life. Tolstoy was a keen critic of the social and political phenomena of his time. He used his works to express his attitude towards war, poverty, education and religion.

An important feature of humanism in Tolstoy's work is a deep analysis of the characters' characters. He sought to understand the inner world of his characters and depicted their psychological evolution. Tolstoy introduced his moral philosophy into his works, raising questions about the meaning of life, good, evil, and morality.

Lu Xin, a representative of Chinese literature at the beginning of the 20th century, was also a notable realist. His works describe Chinese rural life and the socio-cultural environment in detail.In his works, Lu Xin raised questions about social inequalities, the exploitation of peasants and other social problems peculiar to China at that time.

Like Tolstoy, Lu Xin paid attention to the description of nature and its influence on humans. Landscapes and the environment often serve as a backdrop for dramatic events in his works. Lu Xin's work also shows an interest in the psychology of characters. He sought to understand their feelings, motives, and internal conflicts.

Both writers focused on depicting the reality of their time. They sought to create authentic images and convey the complexity of human experience. Both Tolstoy and Lu Xin were socially oriented writers who cared about the problems of their society. Both authors combined intellectual and emotional aspects in their works, allowing readers to better understand not only events, but also human relationships and feelings. These writers have left an indelible mark on the literature of their countries, and their works continue to inspire researchers and readers around the world.

The main part

Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy and Lu Xin are outstanding writers of their countries and periods, their work occupies an important place in the history of world literature. All of them are aimed at people at the bottom of society, using their works to reveal the darkness and injustice of society, as well as to express sympathy for human suffering and the desire for the light of humanity, but each of them embodies this style in its own unique context.

The value systems of Leo Tolstoy and Lu Xin are based on the principle of humanism, an ideological system that emphasizes the status and value of a person, protecting his rights and dignity. The humanism of Lu Xin and Leo Tolstoy can be defined as "love for the weak" and "love for humanity." Despite the common features, this "love" of the two writers is, in fact, different.

Tolstoy devoted his entire life to researching and tormenting the fate of "human love". Based on extensive research into various religious schools and religious philosophies, he absorbed the rational core of Christianity – Human love is the main content of Tolstoy's religious and moral theory. Tolstoy's later works have a remarkable feature: he denied all countries, religions, and social forms of life that existed at that time and sought his ideal form. Ideological trends such as Islam, Buddhism, Taoism, Brahmanism and many others had a significant impact on Tolstoy's worldview and his teachings. Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy became the founder of a special ideology of nonviolent anarchism based on a rational understanding of Christianity. He was deeply convinced that coercion was evil and that the state should be abolished. Instead of a violent revolution, he proposed the voluntary renunciation of public duties by every member of society. Tolstoy agreed with the anarchists in their denial of the existing system and in their assertion that violence by the authorities is the worst thing that can happen under current norms. He believed that anarchy could be established by people refusing to protect government authority ^[1]. Each of Leo Tolstoy's works promotes this religious thought with "human love" as its core.

Love for Lu Xin's man is mixed with intense hatred. Lu Xin was a writer who had a strong sense of social responsibility, paid attention to people's suffering, and advocated realistic creative methods. Lu Xin believed that literature should serve the people, reflect social reality, and criticize the old social system. He advocated that literature should pay attention to the lives of the lower strata of society and help them solve practical problems. He hopes to expose the darkness of society and awaken people through literary works ^[2]. In his works, one can trace a special attention to the humiliated disadvantaged groups throughout the structure of the social class. Russian writers saw Lu Xin's deep sympathy and concern for people from the bottom of society. They believe that Lu Xin's works are full of concern for lower-class people, such as "The True Story of A-Q", "Kong Yiji", etc., which describe the difficult survival of lower-class people ^[3]. Throughout his life, Lu Xin dedicated his works to the people of the lower class and sympathized with their inhumane conditions.: "The Chinese have never been able to compete on the price of "people", at best they are slaves, this is still the case, however, when they are inferior to slaves, it is not uncommon" ^[4]. In novels such as "The True Story of A-q" and "Blessings," the writer shows a shocking reality in which Chinese workers are not treated as "people" by the ruling class; struggle, mourning, tacit acceptance of reality in the absence of opportunities to fight for their rights and the right to be human. Lu Xin is the first person in the history of China and Chinese literature who invited ordinary low–level workers to the noble and sacred palace of literature with an attitude of absolute equality, along with their tattered clothes, sad faces and sickly souls, presenting in his works the standard of the oppressed and captured weak and small peoples of the country. In this regard, Lu Xin admired Byron, who, in his opinion, embodied the humanistic spirit of Greece. He called Byron self-respecting and fighting for strength, as well as independent, free and humane ^[5].

Tolstoy believed that the governing force of the world is not abstract principles or dogmas, but an internal moral compass. This power does not just prescribe rules or norms of behavior, but motivates people to actively participate in life and gives meaning and purpose to life ^[6].Tolstoy advocates that "love" should be given to all people in the universe; this is similar to the theory of "universal love" by the Chinese philosopher Mo Tzu. As I.I. Gorbunov-Posadov noted in his speech at the solemn meeting on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Leo Tolstoy: "Tolstoy called for the destruction of all borders between nations, all division between people. This idea of the unity of all is a great thought, a great truth, the realization of which and the embodiment of which in all human life would solve all painful questions, would end the suffering of human separation, division, human mutual struggle, violence, rivalry of people and peoples with each other" ^[7].

Lu Xin's humanism, "love for the weak," is based on "the weak as the standard," or in other words, it is based on "lower class people." Lu Xin's differentiated "love for the weak" is different from Tolstoy's indiscriminate "human love." This is primarily due to the fact that, on the one hand, it is a logical result of the potential influence of Lu Xin's early human thought. More importantly, Lu Xin was influenced by "populism" after World War I, especially after the October Revolution in Russia. This trend influenced the humanistic ideas of both Lu Xin and many other Chinese writers of the early twentieth century, which was clearly manifested during the "May 4" period (the cultural revolution of 1919 in China) and contributed to the clear orientation of Lu Xin's humanistic love for vulnerable social groups. Lu Xin was also influenced by the humanism of the Japanese literary school, represented by the three brothers Takeshi Koji, Shiga Naoya and Arishima Takero, especially the idea of "free sacrifice for the sake of the young and weak" by Arishima Takero.

If we consider the value system of Leo Tolstoy and Lu Xin from the point of view of class theory, there is a clear class difference between them. Tolstoy's love has no class distinctions (including nationality, country, region, etc.). She emphasizes "loving all people unconditionally." Unlike the Russian writer, Lu Xin became a Marxist class theorist only in a later period. Therefore, his perception of humanism directly or implicitly passes through the "red" discourse, that is, the lower workers are always the ones who are in the center of the Chinese writer's attention. Many Chinese researchers believe that Lu Xin's "love for the weak" is actually more reasonable, because the weak in a class society undoubtedly represent the fair side of social and historical development, where the weak form a group, are the most advanced in a class society, the most viable and the most capable of advancing history. At the same time, considering this issue from an objective point of view, one can trace the connection with the differences in the culture of Russia and China and reveal that Christianity and its unconditional and all-encompassing love became a decisive factor in the formation of Leo Tolstoy's moral and philosophical thinking, which in turn determined the peculiarities of the writer's literary work. Tolstoy's "human love" is like a castle in the air without a foundation, very idealistic on the surface, but it is illusory and cannot be controlled and realized. Russian Russians believe that Leo Tolstoy's ideal is an "impotent ideal" that cannot guide the actual development of Russian society, has no connection with real life, cannot accurately reflect the actual situation of Russian society, and can only be reduced to empty talk ^[8]. Grigoriev believes that Leo Tolstoy's ideal is an "impotent ideal" that cannot guide the actual development of Russian society.

Another key difference in Tolstoy's and Lu Xin's perception of the ideas of humanism is that for Lu Xin, "bloodthirsty revenge" was an essential condition for the existence of humanism. Tolstoy's views are based on the principle of nonviolence.

Leo Tolstoy did not approve of violence. He advocated peaceful reforms. He tried to use "conscience" to restore so-called normal social relations, and called on all people to show restraint and tolerance, regardless of good or evil. Under Tolstoy's influence, on June 29, 1895, the Doukhobort movement held a famous ceremony in Canada to burn weapons, and the leader of the Doukhobort movement, P.V. Verigin, refused military service and called on other believers to do the same. They believe that military service and participation in violent acts contradict Christian teachings. The Doukhobort movement accepts Tolstoy's concept of non-resistance, that is, when faced with injustice and violence, violence should not be used to resist. They refuse to engage in any form of violent conflict, including violence in self-defense. However, some believers believe that violence is necessary in extreme situations, for example, to protect themselves and their families. This conflict over social change led some believers to disagree with Tolstoy's philosophy of nonviolence. Despite the differences, the main part of the spiritual warfare movement still adheres to Tolstoy's philosophy of nonviolence ^[9].

Lu Xin's awareness of humanity has always been closely linked to resistance, struggle, and revenge, and his humanistic love has always been combined with hatred. He gives passionate love to the oppressed and weak, and complete and merciless hatred to the enemies of the people and the oppressors. He believes that a writer should "celebrate what is" and praise what he loves, regardless of what is not and what he hates, he should attack what is not, as passionately as he defends what is, and attack what is not. just as passionately as if hugging what he loves would actually be disgusting for him – just like Hercules hugged the giant Antheus for breaking his ribs" ^[10]. After 1925, the brutality of imperialism and the Beiyang warlords in China became more and more serious. Faced with this situation, Lu Xin wrote: "It's time for us to raise our swords and demand blood for blood." The need for revenge for oppression was noted in many of Lu Xin's statements and embodied in his literary works. He sharply spoke out against forgiveness for the sake of love, wrote: "Sometimes I feel that forgiveness is a virtue, but I immediately suspect that it's made up by a coward because he doesn't have the courage to take revenge; lying in the name of kind forgiveness." He also said: "If light and darkness cannot fight thoroughly from now on, honest people mistake leniency for tolerance and continue to blindly pamper, then the current state of chaos can be endless" ^[11]. Lu Xin believed that Tolstoy's idealism, although noble, was difficult to implement in real society. He pointed out that Tolstoy's ideal "is a sincere and kind ideal, but if you look at the facts, it is the ruthless ambition of the Buddha" ^[12].

Lu Xin's "bloodthirsty revenge" is feasible or practical. From the point of view of historical materialism, since there were classes, history was basically a binary class antagonism and spiral turns in the struggle of contradictions. At the historical level, there is always a life-and-death struggle between justice and injustice, between good and evil, so harmony and peace are temporary, but struggle and movement are eternal. When there is a life-and-death struggle between good and evil, progress and backwardness, justice and injustice, it is obvious that "bloodthirsty revenge" is more reasonable than "resisting evil with nonviolence." Lu Xin believed that in the historical context of China at that time, the propaganda of non-resistance would help the oppressors, provide them with excuses and force people to abandon resistance, which would ultimately damage social progress and the realization of justice ^[13].

From another point of view, the efficiency of the "bloodthirsty revenge" mentioned above, that is, its reality, "without using violence to resist evil," is extremely ideal. One can imagine that when human civilization is extremely developed, when the country dies, when class antagonism disappears, when humanity is completely liberated and completely free, Tolstoy's "do not use violence against evil" can be fully realized. Therefore, there is a fantasy in Tolstoy's statement that points to the future.

Also, the difference between the values of Lu Xin and Tolstoy is manifested in the concretization and abstraction of the concepts of revenge. Lu Xin's concept of "bloodthirsty revenge" is mainly related to specific historical events, it often discusses facts on the ground, most of which relate to Lu Xin's real feelings and realizations of that time. Compared to Lu Xin, Tolstoy's thinking has more metaphysical abstract philosophical meanings, he conducts abstract reflections from the standpoint of the world, religion, country, system, life, morality, etc. His thoughts rarely relate to specific events.

It should be noted that Lu Xin had his own unique dialectical thinking about Tolstoy's humanistic thought, in general, Lu Xin agreed with Tolstoy's struggle for humanism, but did not agree with his "do not fight with violence." Here, Lu Xin called the idea of "non-use of violence to resist evil" "Tolstoyan" and pointed out that this non-violent, non-cooperative humanitarian approach is not feasible. Lu Xin's criticism of "Tolstoy" is more scientific and fair and corresponds to the historical truth. Lu Xin did not systematically explain his humanistic ideals in special articles, but in all his works one can trace special humanitarian ideals in the style of Lu Xin, which include Lu Xin's longing for humanity and the embodiment of the highest form of humanism in him from the point of view of the social system.

Lu Xin also imagined the highest form of humanism from the point of view of the social system. He stated that "at first he hated this familiar class and did not regret its collapse," and then, "based on the lessons of facts, he thought that only emerging proletarians had a future."^[14]

He believed that after the proletariat came to power in the Soviet Union, "a completely new and truly unprecedented social system emerged from hell, and tens of millions of people became people in control of their own destiny" ^[15]. Later, Lu Xin expressed himself more clearly: "I definitely believe that a classless society should arise"^[16], which, in his opinion, was the pinnacle of humanistic teaching.

Tolstoy once believed that the scientific civilization of the West would eradicate poverty and enrich the human spirit, but when he saw beggars on the busy streets of European countries, he realized that people all over the world are under the sword of the bourgeoisie almost every day. He was keenly aware that "everything in Russian society has been turned upside down and everything is just beginning to settle down." But he is not familiar with, does not understand that "what is just beginning to take shape," "does not and cannot see what a new system looks like, which is "beginning to take shape," and how to "arrange" it, what social forces can eliminate these innumerable and especially profound disasters peculiar to the era of the "revolution" ^[17]. This plunged Tolstoy into painful reflections on rationality. Unfortunately, his ideal did not point to the future, but went into the past. He sought truth in the "quiet" Eastern philosophy. The writer welcomed and accepted the ancient Chinese way of life of "working at sunrise and relaxing at sunset" with the concept and mood of patriarchal peasants. Lao Tzu's idea of a "small country with a small population" caters to Tolstoy's idea of "returning to nature." Lao Tzu opposes the evolution of production tools and vehicles. He believes that different utensils expand people's material desires. Therefore, he advocates the rejection of everything that violates "nature" and forces people to be content with only a primitive and simple life. Tolstoy also advocates abandoning the secular and returning to nature. He opposes social civilization and progress, expressing contempt for science and technology. In his opinion, all the achievements of mankind related to scientific and technological progress will only make people forget or abandon the true meaning of the Gospel. He longs for the social order of a "small, sparsely populated country" and highly values primitive people. He urges people to abstain from emotions and desires and live an ascetic life. He also concludes that modern machine production is harmful to society. Peasants do not like agricultural work because of "artificially transplanted alien civilizations into Russia, especially means of transport." Only "agriculture", "diligence", "thrift" meet the "laws of nature".

The difference between the humanistic ideals of Lu Xin and Tolstoy is obvious. Tolstoy looked back. He was an exponent of the patriarchal peasantry. "Down with the landlords and the landowner government. To destroy all the old forms and systems of small peasant land ownership" – this political ideal is "primitive peasant democracy" or a kind of "primitive utopian socialism", which was supported by Tolstoy.

Tolstoy lived in an era when feudal-serfdom was rapidly disintegrating, capitalism began to take root in Russia, and the whole society was moving from feudalism to capitalism. However, he violated the law of the historical development of human society and completely denied the existing social order. The writer aimed his zealous ideals at the most distant past, to a primitive peasant society, more backward and conservative than the capitalist system (even feudal-serfdom). Tolstoy asked people to eliminate trouble by suppressing to the greatest extent their legitimate desire for survival in order to find peace of mind and happiness, which is equivalent to asking everyone to return to the living state of ordinary poverty of the primitive period. In his reflections, he begins by opposing the capitalist system, in fact, he denies not only private property, but also all the material goods and spiritual civilization created by mankind as a result of centuries of joint efforts. Not only did he not see the importance of advanced productive forces, but he also did not see the inevitability of class struggle, so he advocated class harmony and denied revolution. Although he put forward a number of reformist proposals, they were useless at the time because history cannot go backwards. In short, Tolstoy's humanistic ideals have no realistic orientation, at best it is just a beautiful "utopia".

Lu Xin early formulated the concept of a "people's state" based on the principle of "creating people," but the realization of this idea did not occur during his lifetime, but as a result of social progress, the evolution of civilization, the elimination of class differences and the complete abolition of alienation of people. "Creating a people" means moving from individual awakening to national awakening, and thus China has become a country of "people." Lu Xin realized that the development of Europe and the United States is "rooted in people," so China's innovations "primarily depend on the formation of people," that is, the formation of a free and independent modern personality. In the history of modern Chinese thought, Lu Xin led the high-flying banner of "man" and revealed the educational theme of "human liberation" ^[18]. Lu Xin became a Marxist at a later stage, advancing the view that communism is the highest form of humanism.

There are many subjective and objective reasons for the formation of the humanistic value systems of Lu Xin and Tolstoy. Objectively speaking, Tolstoy grew up in a family atmosphere full of intense love, he was born into an aristocratic landowner's family, in a house where both gentlemen and servants could sincerely love each other. Therefore, it seemed to him that the people living around him possessed the best qualities of the Russian nation. At the manor house, Tolstoy also had more opportunities to get closer to the peasants and establish a certain friendship with them, thus preserving some patriarchal and simple old customs in life. He also often felt deeply that the great Russian people gave him boundless love and at the same time demanded the best from him. From this point of view, the environment of love cultivated Tolstoy's idea of "human love." Lu Xin's maternal grandmother lived in the countryside, and he often visited the provinces with his mother, so he was familiar with rural society and maintained close ties with the rural population. The decline of the rural economy as a misfortune of the peasants once caused Lu Xin a strong sense of unease. He said, "My mother's mother's family lives in the countryside. From time to time, I can get close to many villagers. Gradually, I learn that they have been oppressed all their lives, have suffered a lot, and are as weak as flowers and birds."^[19]

From the point of view of ideological and cultural origin, Tolstoy was strongly influenced by Rousseau. Rousseau believed that the private system is the scourge of society. On the contrary, capitalist society generates extreme poverty and human misery. At the same time, it degrades public morality. It is only in ordinary peasants that we can find honest and kind remnants of antiquity. This idea resonated with Tolstoy and pushed him towards the humanistic ideal of "a product of primitive peasant democracy"^[20] Tolstoy was also very interested in the theories of the Bible, Confucius, Meng Tzu, Lao Tzu, Mo Tzu, read and studied the theories of these ancient Chinese philosophers and spoke, noting his own fascination with their works and the value of moral lessons learned from their works. He believes that Confucius and Meng Tzu had a great influence on him, while Lao Tzu had a "huge" influence. Tolstoy began reading the works of Lao Tzu in 1877 and wrote many articles commenting on and introducing Lao Tzu's thoughts. Lao Tzu's thoughts really had a profound influence on Tolstoy. For example, the thought mentioned above about "a small country with few people." In addition, Lao Tzu's theory of "doing nothing" was transformed and reworked by Tolstoy and became famous for the idea of opposing evil without violence.

Lu Xin is a descendant of the Miao of the ancient Yue and Kuaiji cultures, he feels deep nostalgia for the sages and customs of the country and understands them. The ancient Yue culture contained deep spiritual qualities of revenge, martial arts, and self-improvement, and this cultural tradition played a role in Lu Xin's thought of "bloodthirsty revenge." In the process of adopting Western culture, he was also influenced by poets and writers of Western countries – Nietzsche, Tolstoy, Ibsen, etc., who "intended to resist and strive for action," so he defended a solid rebellious spirit and sought freedom, development and liberation of the people, the individual and society. When Lu Xin translated and introduced foreign literature, he also paid special attention to literature reflecting the life of the lower classes in oppressed and humiliated weak countries, which also contributed to the formation of his "love for the weak." In addition, as mentioned above, there is a certain causal relationship between the humanitarian idea of "Sacrifice for the young and weak" by the writer Takero Arishima of the "Baihua school" and the formation of Lu Xin's value of "love for the weak."

It is also worth noting that humanism can be viewed from two points of view – as a worldview and a historical view, and as an ethical principle and a moral norm. For Lu Xin, he focused on examining and defending humanism as an ethical principle, while for Tolstoy, humanism was the main content of his so–called "Tolstoyism" worldview. This kind of humanism as a worldview sometimes penetrates into the ethical principles of everyday life. Therefore, Tolstoy's humanism exists both as a worldview and as ethical principles at the same time.

Leo Tolstoy, who got used to the mysteries of life, was not an indifferent observer of historical events. He showed himself to be a vocal opponent of the established social order responsible for the many sufferings of the people. Lenin's great description of Tolstoy as the personification of the ideas and sentiments of the peasantry during the years of preparation for the bourgeois-democratic peasant revolution in Russia reveals the social essence of his work and the acute contradictions inherent in his artistic and journalistic work ^[21].

Conclusion

Through a comparative analysis of the humanistic spirit of Lu Xin and Tolstoy, we see that although there are differences in the ideological content and methods of implementing both, they both embody concern for people and the desire for social progress. Lu Xin's thoughts have awakened the national consciousness and resistance consciousness of countless Chinese, promoted the new culture movement and the May Fourth movement, and greatly contributed to China's ideological enlightenment and social change. Tolstoy's thoughts had a profound impact on religious and moral thought around the world, inspiring many people to reflect on violence and strive for peace. Comparing the humanitarian spirit of Lu Xin and Tolstoy can help us better understand the core values of humanism, including concern for human dignity, rights and freedom, as well as the pursuit of social justice and peace. This understanding is of great importance for our understanding of nature and the direction of human society. Their ideological spirit of attention to human nature, criticism of society and striving for human well-being is essential for us to solve current social problems and promote social progress. At the same time, their humanitarian thoughts also remind us of the need to always pay attention to human dignity and rights and strive to build a more just and harmonious society.