A Madman's Diary (Chinese: 狂人日記, Kuangren Riji) was written by Lu Xun, a founder of baihua (白話, 
"vernacular") Chinese, in May 1918. This short story is considered to be one of the first works written in vernacular Chinese. A Madman's Diary is an attempt by Lu Xun to describe the effects of feudal values upon the Chinese people. He uses an analogy of cannibalism to describe the way such outdated values eats away at the individual. It became a cornerstone of the New Culture Movement.
It was also a short story in the book Diary of a Madman which contains other short stories by Lu Xun.
The story is about a madman who thinks everyone is out to eat him. After he extensively studied history, he felt that an overarching theme is cannabalism. Lu Xun uses him to express his belief that the old Chinese history is always trying to prevent the new Chinese history from prospering. Nonetheless, Lu Xun offers a sense of hope when he said in his last line "save the children". It is his belief that someday one of the new generations would eventually lead China to the prosperity.
In this short story, a lunatic has a deranged idea that people around him would try to eat him. This is Lu Xun's attempt to convey the his belief that the old Chinese society always tries to "eat" the modern Chinese society. Thus, China is stuck in a perpetuating cycle without the new generations being able to advance forward. However, the last of "save the children" indicate's Lu Xun's hope that eventually a new generation will surface to take China forward.
