Chinese as major

As writing represents spoken language in visible form, literature mirrors human’s thoughts and it is about life as its core. Yet, some may regard literature as the study of artwork appreciation, which are just meant to be entertaining and irrelevant to the reality. However, I think besides entertaining, the main purpose of literature is to give the author a chance to express themselves, as well as arouse reflections and reveal the livelihood in the past society. I value literature as the record of the past events. As past and present are truly inseparable, what we are today has been the result of what we did yesterday. Chinese is fascinating because the literature we are studying is in fact the experiences from our ancestors. I believe words impact lives. Through the literature, we can understand more about the Chinese tradition and history in different perspective. The moral values that taught by Chinese cannot be easily observed from other subjects. In my opinion, only by studying our past could we learn our lessons and create a better future. This is the drive which “forces” me to study Chinese now as well as in the future.

My interest in Chinese, especially Chinese Literature, was first aroused during my senior secondary education. I chose Chinese literature as one of my elective subjects simply because I love reading. From then on, I have a lot of chances to interpret different genres of literature and gradually realize how the power of words influences my thoughts and perspective on judging things. One of the areas that particularly interests me is the short stories in late Qing China, especially from the downfall of the dynasty until the outbreak of Xinhai Revolution. The foreign wars made the literature published in this period particularly fascinating as many writers indicated how the old Chinese struggled to see the bigger world and discarded what they valued for the scale of progress.

Lu Xun, one of the most typical writers in late Qing, is my absolutely favorite writer because I highly appreciate and admire his lofty sentiment of choosing to be a writer rather than a doctor. Lu was once a medical student, but then he decided to abandon medical studies and pursue literature and art because he felt the stupid and ignorant of his fellow Chinese and realized the importance of changing this conservative nature of the Chinese. He thought that educating the citizen is the only way to build up the nation, and the key to educating people is the arousal of personality and the stimulation of spirit. It was a decisive step in his life when he chose to be a writer, using a pen as a weapon to save and rescue the country, and using words as medicines to treat the mentality of the people.  His lofty sentiment influences my attitude towards the power of writing. Besides, his influential writing style also impresses me a lot. Lu wrote many reflective short stories such as “Medicine” and “Public Exhibition”, which mirror the real situation of the early period of Xinhai Revolution in an implicit and sarcastic way. The opportunity to study the modern literature is the chief reason why Chinese appeals to me.

Undeniably, the study of Chinese aims at inheriting the traditional beauty of Chinese philosophy, and offering guidance to the present generation on doing the right things. Therefore, I would like to choose Chinese as my major and bear the responsibility of carrying on the Chinese tradition. Upon completing my degree, I wish to either continue my study of Chinese as a postgraduate or be an educator, letting the young appreciate and value the traditional Chinese culture. I would always love to train my next generation to nurture knowledgeable and responsible citizens for our nation.