Conceptions of literary origins directly reflect epistemic and axiological frameworks across historical periods. Modern Chinese intellectuals’ interpretations of literary genesis engage not only with divergent perceptions of traditional culture during modernity’s emergence but also with the positioning of cultural nativity within global comparative contexts. Lu Xun’s evolutionary perspective exemplifies this duality. His early explorations privileged traditional notions of “divine inspiration” (神思) as literature’s wellspring, emphasizing indigenous cultural foundations. During the May Fourth to Great Revolution period (1919–1927), he explicitly endorsed the mythological origin theory of fiction, revealing both Western theoretical influences and his complex negotiation thereof. In later years, while adopting the labor-origin theory as his primary paradigm, he concurrently acknowledged shamanistic, religious, and other primitive cultural elements. This conceptual trajectory underscores the inherent complexity of literary origins while exposing the paradoxical nature of Lu Xun’s intellectual development amid China’s modern transformation.