History of Cannibalism and Dark Consciousness—— An Intersection of the Zhou Brothers’ Reading Histories

Lu Xun and Zhou Zuoren shared a common interest in the history of cannibalism in early modern China in their reading histories.Their research and collection of the history of cannibalism was centered around the time of the Ming and Qing Dynasties and the Taiping Rebellion at the end of the Qing Dynasty.The stories of “long hair”（“长毛”） told by the Zhou brothers implicated the hidden anguish of their family and the terror of history that they personally experienced.The fear of “old ghosts coming back” led them not only to decode the cannibalism between the lines of history but also to recognize the dead souls clinging to the living,as reflected in the mirror of history.The Zhou Brothers’ peculiar interest in the history of cannibalism reflects a “dark consciousness” deep in their thoughts.Captured by the dark consciousness,the Enlighteners transformed into “lovers of the night” with the ability to “see all the darkness in the dark”.The “ancient fear” that originated in the unofficial history has,to some extent,shaped he Zhou brothers’ basic judgments on revolution,war,nationalism,and rural China.Fighting against the terror of history,overcoming the dark consciousness and ending the history of cannibalism has been their lifelong pursuit in their intellectual activities.