Kong Yiji

"Kong Yiji" (Chinese: 孔乙己; pinyin: Kǒng Yǐjǐ; Wade–Giles: K'ung I-chi) is a representative work in famous Chinese writer Lu Xun's short story collection Call to Arms. The story recounts the destitute outcome of a scholar, through the eyes of a young adolescent waiter at Xianheng Tavern, Lu Town (a substitute for the author's hometown, real-life Shaoxing).

"Kong Yiji" was first published in New Youth magazine in April 1919, and is also the name of the main character in the story.

The title character's name is said in the story to have derived from a common text for youngsters to practice calligraphy, which has no actual meaning, being purely a collection of characters for practice. The three characters were the 4th to 6th characters in the text, and it was used because people did not know his name other than that his surname was "Kong". Written before the May Fourth Movement, this piece is the second Vernacular Chinese story written by Lu Xun after writing A Madman's Diary.

Some people believe that Lu Xun wrote this story to express the unhappiness of the university students at that time. Others have suggested that Lu Xun wrote the story to explain the problems with China's feudal society, where people could waste their entire lives trying to pass meaningless examinations and where people were selfish and completely indifferent to the plight of others.

This story describes Kong Yiji as a scholar who failed to pass the Imperial Examination required to become a xiucai. As a result, Kong Yiji eventually loses his respectability, and descends into an object of ridicule at the local inn. His ending is not clear, other than the last time he was seen, he had suffered a beating and broken legs for stealing, and had finally pawned his everyday clothing. The story makes clear some of the social problems of the time, including the fact that the innkeeper orders the waiter to water down the wine to be served to the working-class patrons, while not doing so for his wealthier customers.

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