"The New Year's Sacrifice" (祝福) is a short story by Lu Xun, originally published in Oriental Magazine, Volume 21, Number 6 (March 25, 1924).

[1] It narrates a story of a woman who lives a tragic life that eventually forces her to the fringes of societal moral standards.

Since she is considered unlucky, she is faced with apprehension and forbidden from touching the sacrifice regalia due to the fear of aggravating ancestors.

She also struggled and resisted during the period of 1911 Revolution dominated by feudal thinking and rituals, but eventually succumbed to the ruthless and repressive society that ended her life with despair.

Nonetheless, she showed her only indifference and ridicule that she makes fun of Xiang Lin's wife and exposes her scars.

I (The Narrator) “I”, an enlightenment intellectual who is alienated from Mr. Lu and resentful of the conservative and indifferent social atmosphere of Luzhen.

In the detailed description, repeated contrast can make the image of the character more three-dimensional full, deepen the impression of the reader.

[5] In Lu Xun's, stories, Luzhen represents the world of the masses and the epitomizes the society of rural China at that time.

When Xiang Lin's wife tells her own tragic story, at first people will redden their eyes and shed tears, but later they will gradually turn to despise or even spit on her, without any sympathy.

[6] When Xiang Lin's wife first flees to Luzhen, Mr. Lu takes her in as a laborer is simply because she is more diligent and stronger.

Shi Yanxing summarized the theme of “The New Year’s Sacrifice” as a profound revelation of the cruel spiritual destruction of working women by feudalism and the landlord class, a criticism of the weakness and compromise of the 1911 Revolution, and a powerful stimulus to the spirit of anti-imperialism and anti-feudalism.

[7] The reform of Chinese education went deeper, and the syllabus of 1980 was revised in 1986 and 1990, and the teaching reference book published by the People's Education Press in 1990 summarized the theme as follows: "The New Year’s Sacrifice" reflects the social contradictions in China after the 1911 Revolution through the tragic life of Xiang Lin's wife, and profoundly exposes the destruction and persecution of the landlord class against working women, and reveals the feudalistic etiquette of “eating people”.

[7] In 2004, the textbook adopted by the preliminary review set "The New Year’s Sacrifice" in the first unit of the third book, and with a strong humanitarian sympathy, focused the theme on the survival rights of the toiling masses at the bottom of the Chinese society.

"The New Year’s Sacrifice" is based on the working women of the lower class, depicts the unfortunate fate of Xiang Lin's wife, who is shackled by the feudal superstitious ideology, and profoundly exposes the corruption and backwardness of the Chinese feudal society, which distinctly embodies stories’ expression of the aspirations of Lu Xun.

At the same time, it gives full play to the advantages of English expression, so that it is concise, coherent and meaningful, which is closer to the style of Lu Xun's novels and creates a sad beauty similar to the original text.

Even the screenwriter Xia Yan, who has outstanding literary achievements, has "misread" the original work again and again when adapting Lu Xun's The New Year's Sacrifice.

As Mr. Wang Furen commented, "When Xia Yan regards The New Year's Sacrifice as only the expression of Xiang Lin's tragic fate, its meaning is thin, its theme is not fundamentally different from that of a large number of later works reflecting the suffering life of the lower-class people, and the basic character relationships in it have also undergone significant changes.

The folk customs of Luzhen during the New Year, such as tracing red, cooking blessing ceremony, give people the atmosphere of the old Chinese New Year, while the insertion of graceful music in Jiangnan not only shows the regional colour, but also sets off the tragic atmosphere, giving people a sense of dignity.

[13] — Zheng Ping In 1977, the story was adapted into Yue Opera by Director Wu Zhen, actress Yuan Xuefen and other crew members.

The team studied and discussed based on the previous five revisions, and furthermore edited the script structure, plot setting, role shaping, theme expression, costume style and other aspects.

The rearrangement of the performance according to the original words of the director Wu Chen has an important memorial significance to Lu Xun as a great writer, thinker and revolutionary.

[14] In October 1977, the Opera was performed successfully in Beijing Theater to commemorate the 41st anniversary of Lu Xun's death.