Lu Xun is one of the greatest Chinese writers of the 20^th century. Besides his famous stories, he also wrote many influential articles about the living conditions of Chinese people.

    Born in 1881 to a wealthy family, Lu Xun had a happy childhood. In 1893, however, his grandfather, a senior government official, was put into prison for taking money. At the same time, his father became seriously ill. From that time on, his family were no longer accepted by their relatives and friends. These early experiences greatly influenced his writing.

    By the time Lu Xun arrived in Nanjing to study at university in 1899, he already believed that Chinese society had to change and become modern. In 1902 he went to study in Japan. There, he began writing articles for several Chinese student magazines. He showed a gift for writing and translating and he even wrote several books, although none was popular. He returned to China in 1909 because he was in need of money.

    After working for several years as a teacher in Beijing, Lu Xun again returned to writing. In 1918, he wrote his famous short story Diary of a Madman. It was the first Chinese novel published using the everyday language that people spoke, which helped make it a great success. This, together with his novel The True Story of Ah Q

New Jersey Botanical Garden Membership

    It's easy to join New Jersey Botanical Garden (NJBG) Membership or renew your membership online, by phone or by mail. And it's so important to the Botanical Garden! Your membership dollars help to improve the Garden, and provide educational and recreational (娱乐的) activities for the general public. Thank you for your support!

    To join or renew, please click on the appropriate section and membership category below for safe and convenient online payment processing by PayPal.

If you prefer to join by phone or mail, call the NJBG office at (973) 962-9534 or download and send in our membership brochure (Adobe Acrobat PDF file).

★ Join NJBG Today

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    The Botanical Garden started life as Skylands, a large area in the grand manner. It is famous for a 44 -room Tudor Revival granite (公馆) designed by John Russell Pope. Skylands has 96 acres of formal and naturalized gardens and is surrounded by over 1,000 acres of meadows (草坪) and woodlands. Purchased by the State in 1996 and officially named as the New Jersey State Botanical Garden in 1984, the gardens contain approximately 5,000 species and varieties of trees and flowers.

    For you, the NJBG is an exciting and beautiful place to visit where you may enjoy each season's best. Members enjoy special events, festivals, lectures, and rewarding educational opportunities for both city and country gardeners.

    Your NJBG membership offers you discounts at participating nurseries, garden centers and other fine businesses. Simply present your NJBG membership card when beginning your purchase:

    Goffle Brook Farm and Garden Center, (201) 652-7540

10% off your purchase

    Metropolitan Plant Exchange, (973) 683-7613

12% off your purchase

    Rohsler's Allendale Nursery & Florist, (201) 327-3156 15% off your purchase

    I've loved my mother's desk since I was just tall enough to see above the top of it as mother sat doing letters. Standing by her chair, looking at the ink bottle, pens and white paper, I decided that the act of writing must be the most wonderful thing in the world.

    Years later, during her final illness, mother kept different things for my sister and brother. "But the desk," she said again, "is for Elizabeth."

    I never saw her angry, never saw her cry. I knew she loved me; she showed it in action. But as a young girl, I wanted heart-to-heart talks between mother and daughter.

    They never happened. And a gulf opened between us. I was" too emotional". But she lived "on the surface".

    As years passed and I had my own family. I loved my mother and thanked her for our happy family. I wrote to her in careful words and asked her to let me know in any way she chose that she did forgive me.

    I posted the letter and waited for her answer, none came.

    My hope turned to disappointment, then little interest and, finally peace. It seemed that nothing happened. I couldn't be sure that the letter had even got to Mother. I only knew that I had written it, and I could stop trying to make her into someone she was not.

    Now the presence of her desk told me, as she'd never been able to, that she was pleased that writing was my chosen work. I cleaned the desk carefully and found some papers inside—a photo of my father and a one-page letter, folded and refolded many times.

    Give me an answer, my letter asks, in any way you choose. Mother, you always choose the act that speaks louder than words.

    The haunting paintings of Helene Schjerfbeck, on show in the final leg of a travelling tour that has already attracted thousands of visitors in Hamburg and the Hague, may come as a surprise to many. Few outside the Nordic(北欧的) world would recognize the works of this Finnish artist who died in 1946. More people should. The 120 works have at their core 20 self-portraits, half the number she painted in all. The first, dated 1880, is of a wide-eyed teenager eager to absorb everything. The last is a sighting of the artist's ghost-to-be.

    Prematurely gifted, Schjerfbeck was 11 when she entered the Finnish Art Society's drawing school. “The Wounded Warrior in the Snow”, a history painting, was bought by a private collector and won her a state travel grant when she was 17. Schjerfbeck studied in Paris, went on to Pont-Aven, Brittany, where she painted for a year, then to Tuscany, Cornwall and St Petersburg. During her 1887 visit to St Ives, Cornwall, Schjerfbeck painted “The Convalescent”. A child wrapped in a blanket sits supported up in a large wicker(柳条编制的) chair, toying with a sprig(小枝条). The picture won a bronze medal at the 1889 Paris World Fair and was bought by the Finnish Art Society. To a modern eye it seems almost sentimental(感伤的) and is made up for only by the somewhat astonished, sad expression on the child's face, which may have been inspired by Schjerfbeck's early experiences. At four, she fell down a flight of steps and never fully recovered.

    In 1890, Schjerfbeck settled in Finland. Teaching exhausted her, she did not like the works of other local painters, and she was further isolated when she took on the care of her mother. “If I allow myself the freedom to live an isolated life”, she wrote, “then it is because it has to be that way.” In 1902, Schjerfbeck and her mother settled in the small, industrial town of Hyvinkaa, 50 kilometres north of Helsinki. Isolation had one desired effect for it was there that Schjerfbeck became a modern painter. She produced still lives and landscapes but above all moody yet sharp portraits of her mother, local school girls, women workers in town.

    “I have always searched for the dense depths of the soul, which have not yet been discovered by humans themselves”, she wrote, “where everything is still unconscious -- there one can make the greatest discoveries.” She experimented with different kinds of underpainting, scraped and rubbed, made bright rosy red spots; doing whatever had to be done to capture the subconscious — her own and that of her models. In 1913, Schjerfbeck was rediscovered by an art dealer and journalist, Gosta Stenman. Once again she was a success.

    We offer a full range of services to make your IKEA experience more complete.

Old Kitchen Removing Service

    Are you going to buy a brand-new kitchen in IKEA? So how to do with your old kitchen at home? Don't worry! IKEA is now providing professional dismantling and removing service for old kitchen to you. By this service you can have your new kitchen at home easily. (For service detail and charge please go to the staff of kitchen department.)

    Transport Service

    Need a way to get your new home-furnishings home? You can rent a transport or hire us to deliver it for you. Just talk to our Customer Service department for details.

Return Policy

    As long as the items are undamaged, unassembled and unused, you could return them in their original package within 60days (IKEA FAMILY member within 180days) together with your original receipt.

    Sorry, we cannot accept exchange or return of food, plants, liquid bathing products, AS-IS products, customized products, kitchen electrical appliance and all products that have already been cut, sewed or painted. “The exchange and return policy above applies only to the products purchased from IKEA stores in mainland China.”

    IKEA Restaurant/Café

    The restaurant/cafe serves both classic Swedish dishes and local favorites, and is one of the most popular areas of the whole IKEA store. Shopping at IKEA is fun and offers great value, but can also be hard work, so stop by and treat yourself to a refreshing drink and a bite to eat.

    Forget Cyclists, Pedestrians are Real Danger

    We are having a debate about this topic. Here are some letters from our readers.

    ■ Yes, many cyclists behave dangerously. Many drivers are disrespectful of cyclists. But pedestrians are probably the worse offenders.

    People of all ages happily walk along the pavement with eyes and hands glued to the mobile phone, quite unaware of what is going on around them. They may even do the same thing while crossing a road at a pedestrian crossing or elsewhere. The rest of us have to evade (避让) them or just stand still to wait for the unavoidable collision.

    The real problem is that some pedestrians seem to be, at least for the moment, in worlds of their own that are, to them, much more important than the welfare of others.

—Michael Horan

    ■ I loved the letter from Bob Brooks about cyclists (Viewpoints, May 29). I am afraid they seem to think they own the roads.

    I was walking across Altrincharn Road one morning when a cyclist went round me and on being asked what he was doing he shouted at me.

    The government built a cycle lane on the road but it is hardly used.

    The police do nothing. What a laugh they are!

    The cyclists should all have to be made to use the cycle lanes and wear helmets, fluorescent (发荧光的)jacket and tights at night and in the morning. They should pay some sort of tax and be fined for not wearing them.

—Carol Harvey

    ■ Cyclists jump on and off pavements (which are meant for pedestrians), ride at speed along the pavements, and think they have a special right to go through traffic lights when they are on red.

    I was almost knocked down recently by a cyclist riding on the pavement when there was a cycle lane right next to him.

    Other road users, including horse riders, manage to obey the rules so why not cyclists?

    It's about time they had to be registered and insured, so when they do hit a pedestrian or a vehicle, or cause an accident, at least they can be traced and there might be an opportunity to claim.

—JML

    Write to Viewpoints of the newspaper.