SHANGHAI - It appears that Lu Xun's popularity never dies out, though the pioneer of modern Chinese literature has been dead for 75 years.

Streams of people laid flowers in front of the granite tomb of Lu Xun in Shanghai on Saturday, his 130th birth anniversary, paying their respect to the writer whose works are believed to have enlightened the public when Chinese were under the pressure of feudal rulers and imperialist bullies.

The number of visitors to the Lu Xun Museum on Saturday was several times more than usual. They all lined up to get a memorial postmark to commemorate the late writer's birthday.

The newly-renovated museum in Shanghai exhibits over 1,000 items in memory of Lu Xun, which includes many of his personal belongings.

The exhibition also displays the fruit of the past ten years of research on Lu Xun, said Wang Xirong, curator of the museum.

Over the past decades, thousands of experts and scholars across the world have been studying Lu Xun's works and thoughts.

Lu Xun is the pen name of Zhou Shuren. He was born in Shaoxing County of east China's Zhejiang Province on September 25, 1881 and died on October 9, 1936.

He gave up medical study in Japan in his 20s after realizing that it was more important to spiritually enlighten his compatriots rather than to cure their physical diseases.

Through his works, the master of irony produced harsh criticism on ?social problems in China.

He wrote a number of literary classics including essays, poems and short stories. Among his great works are "The True Story of Ah Q", "A Madman's Diary", "Kong Yiji" and "Medicine", which exposed the ugly side of feudal society and human nature and emancipated people's minds.

His works have been in textbooks for Chinese classes for years.

In his hometown Shaoxing, the city government and the writers' association in Zhejiang on Saturday sponsored a reading party during which college students read aloud Lu Xun's classic stories.

In Beijing, many organizations held various activities to commemorate the works and spirits of the great writer.

When Lu Xun was still alive, his works stood out like a lighthouse providing a guiding light for perplexed Chinese youths who were passionate about China's future.

According to a latest online survey, over 72 percent of respondents believe the spirits of Lu Xun are timeless gifts that are never out of date.