This study presents the first systematic comparison of Sándor Petőfi (1823–1849), Hungary's national poet and revolutionary, and Lu Xun (1881–1936), the founder of modern Chinese literature. Despite belonging to radically different cultural traditions separated by nearly a century, these two writers share a profound affinity as revolutionary poets who used literature to awaken their nations. Lu Xun first introduced Petőfi to Chinese readers in his 1907 essay "On the Power of Mara Poetry" (Moluo shili shuo), placing him alongside Byron and Shelley as a model of rebellious spirit. This encounter initiated a century-long dialogue between Hungarian and Chinese revolutionary literature. Through close reading of key texts—Petőfi's revolutionary poems including "National Song" (Nemzeti dal) and "Liberty and Love" (Szabadság, szerelem), Lu Xun's essays and prose poetry, and the translations of Petőfi by Lu Xun's disciple Yin Fu—this study traces the parallel ways in which these two writers transformed personal suffering into national awakening, and how Petőfi's image was reshaped in the Chinese context to serve China's own revolutionary needs. The study argues that the Petőfi-Lu Xun connection offers a unique window into the cross-cultural transmission of revolutionary poetics, and contributes to the emerging field of Hungarian-Chinese literary relations.
Bo Xia (Thu,) studied this question.