The short story, K'ung I-chi 孔乙己, written in March 1919, is Lu Hsün' s second short story, following the short story, The Diary of a Madman, and is, artistically speaking, one of his best. This story is an important work in Lu Hsün' s literary career as his second short story, which forms a bridge between his first story, The Diary of a Madman, and his most famous story, The True Story of Ah Q. K'ung I-chi already shows the characteristics of Lu Hsün' s later work, such as a strong but hidden ideological message, a firmness of construction and a highly polished narrative technique. Analysis of the narrative elements of K'ung I-chi shows the story's structural unity and its basic artistic principles, and it leads the reader to experience a lingering sense of sorrow or pathos. First of all, the title of this short story, K'ung I-chi, is a short title which is a nickname for a pathetic failed scholar. It gives the reader an incomplete idea and arouses curiosity without giving away the story. The title is especially effective because it has a double meaning and can be employed by the author as a unifying force. The title, K'ung I-chi, adds symbolic emphasis to the story, since some of the readers may associate the Chinese character of the surname K'ung 孔 with K'ung-tzu 孔子(Confucius or Confucian).