Photo: VCG

At the recently concluded 2025 Shanghai Book Fair, a single item stole the spotlight - not a best-selling novel or a rare manuscript, but a sweater vest. Inspired by the one frequently worn by Chinese literary giant Lu Xun (1881-1936), this creative cultural product released by one of the publishing houses quickly captured viral attention on social media.

On social media platforms such as Xiaohongshu and Sina Weibo, it has sparked thousands of posts with photos of putting on the vest just like Lu Xun. Some netizens commented, "This vest looks really nice - it exudes a lazy and relaxed vibe with a touch of literary giant charm." 

Treating Lu Xun-themed cultural and creative products as a "literary buff item" and sensing the "literary giant charm" in them is indeed an interesting narrative. 

In this narrative, there is both the respect and affection people have for Lu Xun, while it also makes Lu Xun's image more vivid and down-to-earth.

As one of the literary figures with the highest national recognition in China, Lu Xun is admired for his distinctive personality. Lu Xun, the pen name of Zhou Shuren, was among the leading Chinese writers who helped kick Chinese literature into the modern era with novels such as The True Story of Ah Q and A Madman's Diary.

For a long time, the image of Lu Xun in people's minds has been largely the one from textbooks - "confronting injustice with hair standing on end and a stern face." His essays are like daggers, and he himself a warrior who wields his pen as a sword. 

Actually, if we strip away the "solemn" label, Lu Xun was not that rigid; he might have been more of a "slashie" and more interesting than you imagine. 

This vest is linked to a warm memory between Lu Xun and his wife Xu Guangping. In the autumn of 1926, Xu Guangping personally knitted it in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province, and sent it to Lu Xun. Lu Xun expressed his joy in a letter, writing, "I have been wearing the vest over my undershirt - it is very warm. I think this will be enough to get me through the winter, and I won't need a cotton-padded robe anymore." He also wore it later while giving lectures, meeting friends, writing, and taking photos, making it part of his classic image.

This enables the replica vest to become a contextual storyteller. The details of Xu Guangping knitting the sweater and Lu Xun's daily life represented in the vest have transcended time and space and become vivid cultural memories. After demystification, Lu Xun's image reverts to that of a genuine, warm individual - becoming, in people's eyes, a "literary giant" with a taste for fashion and a zest for life.

Today's younger generation of consumers has grown up in a media environment characterized by visualization, experiential engagement, and interactivity. They are more inclined to engage with and understand traditional culture through personal experience, emotional resonance, and identity role-playing.

Cultural and creative products like this vest, through the restoration of details and integration of creativity, have transformed the stern "literary giant" into a tangible, ­interactive "cultural companion" in people's lives. When people purchase cultural and creative products, they are also paying for "cultural identity."

It is important to note that the core of Lu Xun's spirit still resonates strongly with contemporary society. His critical spirit, the trait of independent thinking, his focus on individual values, and his pursuit of "genuine humanity" can still strike a chord with today's people. These rich cultural connotations provide profound emotional and value support for related cultural and creative products.