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阿Ｑ正传⑴
  　　第一章　序

　　我要给阿Ｑ做正传，已经不止一两年了。但一面要做，一面又往回想，这足见
我不是一个“立言”⑵的人，因为从来不朽之笔，须传不朽之人，于是人以文传，
文以人传——究竟谁靠谁传，渐渐的不甚了然起来，而终于归接到传阿Ｑ，仿佛思
想里有鬼似的。

　　然而要做这一篇速朽的文章，才下笔，便感到万分的困难了。第一是文章的名
目。孔子曰，“名不正则言不顺”⑶。这原是应该极注意的。传的名目很繁多：列
传，自传，内传⑷，外传，别传，家传，小传……，而可惜都不合。“列传”么，
这一篇并非和许多阔人排在“正史”⑸里；“自传”么，我又并非就是阿Ｑ。说是
“外传”，“内传”在那里呢？倘用“内传”，阿Ｑ又决不是神仙。“别传”呢，
阿Ｑ实在未曾有大总统上谕宣付国史馆立“本传”⑹——虽说英国正史上并无“博
徒列传”，而文豪迭更司⑺也做过《博徒别传》这一部书，但文豪则可，在我辈却
不可。其次是“家传”，则我既不知与阿Ｑ是否同宗，也未曾受他子孙的拜托；或
“小传”，则阿Ｑ又更无别的“大传”了。总而言之，这一篇也便是“本传”，但
从我的文章着想，因为文体卑下，是“引车卖浆者流”所用的话⑻，所以不敢僭称
，便从不入三教九流的小说家⑼所谓“闲话休题言归正传”这一句套话里，取出“
正传”两个字来，作为名目，即使与古人所撰《书法正传》⑽的“正传”字面上很
相混，也顾不得了。

　　第二，立传的通例，开首大抵该是“某，字某，某地人也”，而我并不知道阿
Ｑ姓什么。有一回，他似乎是姓赵，但第二日便模糊了。那是赵太爷的儿子进了秀
才的时候，锣声镗镗的报到村里来，阿Ｑ正喝了两碗黄酒，便手舞足蹈的说，这于
他也很光采，因为他和赵太爷原来是本家，细细的排起来他还比秀才长三辈呢。其
时几个旁听人倒也肃然的有些起敬了。那知道第二天，地保便叫阿Ｑ到赵太爷家里
去；太爷一见，满脸溅朱，喝道：

　　“阿Ｑ，你这浑小子！你说我是你的本家么？”

　　阿Ｑ不开口。

　　赵太爷愈看愈生气了，抢进几步说：“你敢胡说！我怎么会有你这样的本家？
你姓赵么？”

　　阿Ｑ不开口，想往后退了；赵太爷跳过去，给了他一个嘴巴。

　　“你怎么会姓赵！——你那里配姓赵！”

　　阿Ｑ并没有抗辩他确凿姓赵，只用手摸着左颊，和地保退出去了；外面又被地
保训斥了一番，谢了地保二百文酒钱。知道的人都说阿Ｑ太荒唐，自己去招打；他
大约未必姓赵，即使真姓赵，有赵太爷在这里，也不该如此胡说的。此后便再没有
人提起他的氏族来，所以我终于不知道阿Ｑ究竟什么姓。

　　第三，我又不知道阿Ｑ的名字是怎么写的。他活着的时候，人都叫他阿Ｑｕｅ
ｉ，死了以后，便没有一个人再叫阿Ｑｕｅｉ了，那里还会有“著之竹帛”⑾的事
。若论“著之竹帛”，这篇文章要算第一次，所以先遇着了这第一个难关。我曾仔
细想：阿Ｑｕｅｉ，阿桂还是阿贵呢？倘使他号月亭，或者在八月间做过生日，那
一定是阿桂了；而他既没有号——也许有号，只是没有人知道他，——又未尝散过
生日征文的帖子：写作阿桂，是武断的。又倘使他有一位老兄或令弟叫阿富，那一
定是阿贵了；而他又只是一个人：写作阿贵，也没有佐证的。其余音Ｑｕｅｉ的偏
僻字样，更加凑不上了。先前，我也曾问过赵太爷的儿子茂才⑿先生，谁料博雅如
此公，竟也茫然，但据结论说，是因为陈独秀办了《新青年》提倡洋字⒀，所以国
粹沦亡，无可查考了。我的最后的手段，只有托一个同乡去查阿Ｑ犯事的案卷，八
个月之后才有回信，说案卷里并无与阿Ｑｕｅｉ的声音相近的人。我虽不知道是真
没有，还是没有查，然而也再没有别的方法了。生怕注音字母还未通行，只好用了
“洋字”，照英国流行的拼法写他为阿Ｑｕｅｉ，略作阿Ｑ。这近于盲从《新青年
》，自己也很抱歉，但茂才公尚且不知，我还有什么好办法呢。

　　第四，是阿Ｑ的籍贯了。倘他姓赵，则据现在好称郡望的老例，可以照《郡名
百家姓》⒁上的注解，说是“陇西天水人也”，但可惜这姓是不甚可靠的，因此籍
贯也就有些决不定。他虽然多住未庄，然而也常常宿在别处，不能说是未庄人，即
使说是“未庄人也”，也仍然有乖史法的。

　　我所聊以自慰的，是还有一个“阿”字非常正确，绝无附会假借的缺点，颇可
以就正于通人。至于其余，却都非浅学所能穿凿，只希望有“历史癖与考据癖”的
胡适之⒂先生的门人们，将来或者能够寻出许多新端绪来，但是我这《阿Ｑ正传》
到那时却又怕早经消灭了。

　　以上可以算是序。


口注释

⑴本篇最初分章发表于北京《晨报副刊》，自一九二一年十二月四日起至一九二二
年二月十二日止，每周或隔周刊登一次，署名巴人。作者在一九二五年曾为这篇小
说的俄文译本写过一篇短序，后收在《集外集》中；一九二六年又写过《阿Ｑ正传
的成因》一文，收在《华盖集续编》中，都可参看。

⑵“立言”：我国古代所谓“三不朽”之一。《左传》襄公二十四年载鲁国大夫叔
孙豹的话：“太上有立德，其次有立功，其次有立言，虽久不废，此之谓不朽。”


⑶“名不正则言不顺”：语见《论语·子路》。

⑷内传：小说体传记的一种。作者在一九三一年三月三日给《阿Ｑ正传》日译者山
上正义的校释中说：“昔日道士写仙人的事多以‘内传’题名。”

⑸“正史”：封建时代由官方撰修或认可的史书。清代乾隆时规定自《史记》至《
明史》历代二十四部纪传体史书为“正史”。“正史”中的“列传”部分，一般都
是著名人物的传记。

⑹宣付国史馆立“本传”：旧时效忠于统治阶级的重要人物或所谓名人，死后由政
府明令褒扬，令文末常有“宣付国史馆立传”的话。历代编纂史书的机构，名称不
一，清代叫国史馆。辛亥革命后，北洋军阀及国民党政府都曾沿用这一名称。

⑺迭更司（１８１２—１８７０）：通译狄更斯，英国小说家。著有《大卫·科波
菲尔》、《双城记》等。《博徒别传》原名《劳特奈·斯吞》，英国小说家柯南·
道尔（１８５９—１９３０）著。鲁迅在一九二六年八月八日致韦素园信中曾说：
“《博徒别传》是　Rodney　Stone　的译名，但是　C。Doyle　做的。《阿Ｑ正传
》中说是迭更司作，乃是我误记。”

⑻“引车卖浆者流”所用的话：指白话文。一九三一年三月三日作者给日本山上正
义的校释中说：“‘引车卖浆’，即拉车卖豆腐浆之谓，系指蔡元培氏之父。那时
，蔡元培氏为北京大学校长，亦系主张白话者之一，故亦受到攻击之矢。”

⑼不入三教九流的小说家：三教，指儒教、佛教、道教；九流，即九家。《汉书·
艺文志》中分古代诸子为十家：儒家、道家、阴阳家、法家、名家、墨家、纵横家
、杂家、农家、小说家，并说：“诸子十家，其可观者九家而已。”“小说家者流
，盖出于稗官。街谈巷语，道听途说者之所造也。……是以君子弗为也。”

⑽《书法正传》：一部关于书法的书，清代冯武著，共十卷。这里的“正传”是“
正确的传授”的意思。

⑾“著之竹帛”：语出《吕氏春秋·仲春纪》：“著乎竹帛，传乎后世。”竹，竹
简；帛，绢绸。我国古代未发明造纸前曾用来书写文字。

⑿茂才：即秀才。东汉时，因为避光武帝刘秀的名讳，改秀才为茂才；后来有时也
沿用作秀才的别称。

⒀陈独秀办了《新青年》提倡洋字：指一九一八年前后钱玄同等人在《新青年》杂
志上开展关于废除汉字、改用罗马字母拼音的讨论一事。一九三一年三月三日作者
在给山上正义的校释中说：“主张使用罗马字母的是钱玄同，这里说是陈独秀，系
茂才公之误。”

⒁《郡名百家姓》：《百家姓》是以前学塾所用的识字课本之一，宋初人编纂。为
便于诵读，将姓氏连缀为四言韵语。《郡名百家姓》则在每一姓上都附注郡（古代
地方区域的名称）名，表示某姓望族曾居古代某地，如赵为“天水”、钱为“彭城
”之类。

⒂胡适之（１８９１—１９６２）：即胡适，安徽绩溪人，买办资产阶级文人、政
客。他在一九二○年七月所作《〈水浒传〉考证》中自称“有历史癖与考据癖”。

ENGLISH / " The true story of Ah Q " by Lu Xun , Chapter one ( introductory chapter )

For several years now I have been meaning to write the true story of Ah Q. But while wanting to write I was in some trepidation, too, which goes to show that I am not one of those who achieve glory by writing; for an immortal pen has always been required to record the deeds of an immortal man, the man becoming known to posterity through the writing and the writing known to posterity through the man—until finally it is not clear who is making whom known. But in the end, as though possessed by some fiend, I always came back to the idea of writing the story of Ah Q.

And yet no sooner had I taken up my pen than I became conscious of tremendous difficulties in writing this far-from-immortal work. The first was the question of what to call it. Confucius said, "If the name is not correct, the words will not ring true"; and this axiom should be most scrupulously observed. There are many types of biographies: official biographies, autobiographies, unauthorized biographies, legends, supplementary biographies, family histories, sketches . . . but unfortunately none of these suited my purpose. "Official biography?" This account will obviously not be included with those of many eminent people in some authentic history. "Autobiography?" But I am obviously not Ah Q. If I were to call this an "unauthorized biography," then where is his "authenticated biography"? The use of "legend" is impossible, because Ah Q was no legendary figure. "Supplementary biography"? But no president has ever ordered the National Historical Institute to write a "standard life" of Ah Q. It is true that although there are no "lives of gamblers" in authentic English history, the famous author Conan Doyle nevertheless wrote Rodney Stone;1 but while this is permissible for a famous author it is not permissible for such as I. Then there is "family history"; but I do nor know whether I belong to the same family as Ah Q or not, nor have his children or grandchildren ever entrusted me with such a task. If I were to use "sketch," it might be objected that Ah Q has no "complete account." In short, this is really a "life," but since I write in vulgar vein using the language of hucksters and pedlars, I dare not presume to give it so high-sounding a title. So from the stock phrase of the novelists, who are not reckoned among the Three Cults and Nine Schools.2 "Enough of this digression, and back to the true story!" I will take the last two words as my title; and if this is reminiscent of the True Story of Calligraphy3 of the ancients, it cannot be helped.

The second difficulty confronting me was that a biography of this type should start off something like this: "So-and-so, whose other name was so-and-so, was a native of such-and-such a place"; but I don't really know what Ah Q's surname was. Once, he seemed to be named Chao, but the next day there was some confusion about the matter again. This was after Mr. Chao's son had passed the county examination, and, to the sound of gongs, his success was announced in the village. Ah Q, who had just drunk two bowls of yellow wine, began to prance about declaring that this reflected credit on him too, since he belonged to the same clan as Mr. Chao, and by an exact reckoning was three generations senior to the successful candidate. At the time several bystanders even began to stand slightly in awe of Ah Q. But the next day the bailiff summoned him to Mr. Chao's house. When the old gentleman set eyes on him his face turned crimson with fury and he roared:

"Ah Q, you miserable wretch! Did you say I belonged to the same clan as you?"

Ah Q made no reply.

The more he looked at him the angrier Mr. Chao became, and advancing menacingly a few steps he said, "How dare you talk such nonsense! How could I have such a relative as you? Is your surname Chao?"

Ah Q made no reply, and was planning a retreat, when Mr. Chao darted forward and gave him a slap on the face.

"How could you be named Chao!—Do you think you are worthy of the name Chao?"

Ah Q made no attempt to defend his right to the name Chao, but rubbing his left cheek went out with the bailiff. Once outside, he had to listen to another torrent of abuse from the bailiff, and thank him to the tune of two hundred cash. All who heard this said Ah Q was a great fool to ask for a beating like that. Even if his surname were Chao—which wasn't likely—he should have known better than to boast like that when there was a Mr. Chao living in the village. After this no further mention was made of Ah Q's ancestry, so that I still don't know what his surname really was.

The third difficulty I encountered in writing this work was that I don't know how Ah Q's personal name should be written either. During his lifetime everybody called him Ah Quei, but after his death not a soul mentioned Ah Quei again; for be was obviously not one of those whose name is "preserved on bamboo tablets and silk."4 If there is any question of preserving his name, this essay must be the first attempt at doing so. Hence I am confronted with this difficulty at the outset. I have given the question careful thought: Ah Quei—would that be the "Quei" meaning cassia or the "Quei" meaning nobility? If his other name had been Moon Pavilion, or if he had celebrated his birthday in the month of the Moon Festival, then it would certainly be the "Quei" for cassia.5 But since he had no other name—or if he had, no one knew it—and since he never sent out invitations on his birthday to secure complimentary verses, it would be arbitrary to write Ah Quei (cassia). Again, if he had had an elder or younger brother called Ah Fu (prosperity), then he would certainly be called Ah Quei (nobility). But he was all on his own: thus there is no justification for writing Ah Quei (nobility). All the other, unusual characters with the sound Quei are even less suitable. I once put this question to Mr. Chao's son, the successful county candidate, but even such a learned man as he was baffled by it. According to him, however, the reason why this name could not be traced was that Chen Tu-hsiu6 had brought out the magazine New Youth, advocating the use of the Western alphabet, so that the national culture was going to the dogs. As a last resort, I asked someone from my district to go and look up the legal documents recording Ah Q's case, but after eight months he sent me a letter saying that there was no name anything like Ah Quei in those records. Although uncertain whether this was the truth or whether my friend had simply done nothing, after failing to trace the name this way I could think of no other means of finding it. Since I am afraid the new system of phonetics has not yet come into common use, there is nothing for it but to use the Western alphabet, writing the name according to the English spelling as Ah Quei and abbreviating it to Ah Q. This approximates to blindly following the New Youth magazine, and I am thoroughly ashamed of myself; but since even such a learned man as Mr. Chao's son could not solve my problem, what else can I do?

My fourth difficulty was with Ah Q's place of origin. If his surname were Chao, then according to the old custom which still prevails of classifying people by their districts, one might look up the commentary in The Hundred Surnames7 and find "A native of Tienshui in Kansu Province." But unfortunately this surname is open to question, with the result that Ah Q's place of origin must also remain uncertain. Although he lived for the most part in Weichuang, he often stayed in other places, so that it would be wrong to call him a native of Weichuang. It would, in fact, amount to a distortion of history.

The only thing that consoles me is the fact that the character "Ah" is absolutely correct. This is definitely not the result of false analogy, and is well able to stand the test of scholarly criticism. As for the other problems, it is not for such unlearned people as myself to solve them, and I can only hope that disciples of Dr. Hu Shih, who has such "a passion for history and antiquities,"8 may be able in future to throw new light on them. I am afraid, however, that by that time my True Story of Ah Q will have long since passed into oblivion.

The foregoing may be considered as an introduction.

1. In Chinese this novel was called Supplementary Biographies of the Gamblers.

2. The Three Cults were Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. The Nine Schools included the Confucian, Taoist, Legalist and Moist schools, as well as others. Novelists, who did not belong to any of these, were considered not quite respectable.

3. A book by Feng Wu of the Ching dynasty (1644-1911).

4. A phrase first used in the third century B.C. Bamboo and silk were writing material in ancient China.

5. The cassia blooms in the month of the Moon Festival. Also, according to Chinese folklore, it is believed that the shadow on the moon is a cassia tree.

6. 1880-1942. A professor of Peking University at this time, he edited the monthly New Youth. Later he became a renegade from the Chinese Communist Party.

7. An old school primer, in which the surnames were written into verse.

8. This phrase was often used in self-praise by Hu Shih, who is regarded as a reactionary politician and writer.