Category Archives: Chinese culture
Thoughts from documentary “A Bite of China”
I have been watching a documentary of Chinese food: A Bite of China (link). Highly recommended to those who understand mandarin. The delicate filming and insightful illustration reminds of my childhood in Hubei province, and make me more aware of the Chinese’s deeply rooted attachment to the land. The vast territory of China has endowed …
The central power balance in Chinese hereditary monarchy
The Chinese monarchy lasted for several thousand years and had great impact upon the economic and social structure of the contemporary Chinese society. The ideology and mechanism supporting autocratic elements entrenched in the Chinese political system persist long after the original institutions collapsed. In this paper, I will use theories of autocracy, dictatorship to analyze …
Appreciating Chinese Guqin music
Guqin is a traditional Chinese plucked string instrument (wiki). Although the instrument is of simple structure, the music it carrys can express complicated feelings. Just as the Chinese phrase “meaning beyond the strings” (弦外之音) says, careful appreciation of Guqin music gives us not only pleasure but also meditation about life. There are ten most famous Guqin music pieces. Here I pick three to represent …
Scarcity and locality reflected in Chinese pre-industrial societies
In Patricia Crone’s book Pre-Industrial Societies: Anatomy of the Pre-Modern World, she put forward an interesting argument: scarcity and locality of activities are the two fundamental features of pre-industrial societies, and they justified the existence and development of various economic, political, and social institutions and policies in the pre-industrial world. It is interesting to relate this …
Notes on the structure of dictatorship
The below thoughts are based on Stephen Haber’s book about authoritarian government and Prof. Richard Wong’s lecture today. Because a dictator must depend on a launching group to help him seize power, he is faced with the threat that these people might take over his place after he becomes the autocrat. Therefore he must find a …
1587, a Year of No Significance: The Ming Dynasty in Decline
A fascinating novel-style Chinese history book with comments, written by an established Chinese historian, Huang Renyu. A brief introduction can be found here. The book’s name is a year in China’s Ming Dynasty, which the author thinks is the beginning of the dynasty’s decline. Among the Chinese dynasties, Ming is recent (1368-1644) and short. The book gives us a good flavor …
Chinese folk songs featuring the moon
The moon has always been a special object in Chinese poems and songs. Usually the moon stands for the family, friendship, and love. We believe that our beloved ones can share the same moonlight with us, even if we are apart. Wang Yue (望月) by Song Zuying is one of my all-time favourite Chinese songs. …
China needs to build its cultural soft power
I recently read an Economist article about China’s cultural soft power. The topic is intriguing. The phrase “soft power” was coined by Joseph Nye of Harvard University in 1990 in his book Bound to Lead: The Changing Nature of American Power. Interestingly, this concept reminds me of the central theme of Confucian philosophy: Ren (kindness). Kindness is just the opposite to violence and …
孩子眼中的世界
這個學期開始，我教兩個外國小朋友普通話。哥哥叫Thomas,今年8歲。妹妹Caitlyn才6歲。兩個小傢伙年紀雖小，觀察中文的方式卻時常讓我感到新奇。 Thomas的作業中，有一題是選詞造句。他選了“榕樹”，“青蔥”和“翠綠”三個詞，寫道：“這棵大榕樹非常青蔥翠綠。”老師在上面打了大大的紅叉，劃掉了“翠綠”。Thomas卻問：“那麼‘青蔥’和‘翠綠’有什麽區別呢？”“哦，青蔥是茂盛的樣子，包含了綠色的意思。而翠綠只是講顏色而已。所以你用了‘青蔥’也就不必再強調顏色了。”我答道。可他似乎覺得我的答案不夠有說服力，最終還是沒有改過來。 以中文為母語的我，竟不知道怎樣才能告訴他，我們用“青蔥”形容樹木而用“翠綠”形容山野的原因。我的腦中，“青蔥”似乎是樹木定義的一部份，而“翠綠”則是一提到山野我腦中就浮現的顏色。語言之中，有太多“規律”不能解釋的東西。我想，如果他讀過優美的風景散文，走過壯麗的華夏河山，大概會對這些詞語有更加清晰的認識吧。 和孩子們在一起，我常常思考成長的方式和意義。 上次教Caitlyn數學的時候，有一題是計數。她用完了十只手指，歪著頭很吃力地思考要怎樣繼續。我不禁笑了出來。對我這個成年人而言，數字已經深入到生活的各個領域，加減乘除根本就不需要經過思考。我很難想像，十五年前的自己也和她一樣，趴在桌子上試著用手指以及腳趾計算出作業題中一共畫了幾個蘋果。 歲月在不經意間慢慢流逝。我們由初生到成熟，由成熟到衰老，就像路旁的大榕樹由新芽初探到落葉歸根，經歷了生命的各種形式，才算是完滿充實。 從圖書館出來的時候，看到日光在樓梯上投下七彩的影子。我終於也在香港見過了彩虹。
《韩非子》：传统越剧的惊艳新作
maryandmusic ♦ November 21, 2011 ♦ Leave a Comment
由香港文化中心看完越剧《韩非子》归来，悠扬的唱腔在耳旁回荡，久不能忘。 这次的演出，是香港“游艺亚洲”文化节的闭幕表演之一。上海越剧团的演员们，用这一并不年轻的剧种，演绎出一台古老的故事。韩非子在剧中不仅仅是铁血英雄，也是寻常的多情男子。他和宁阳公主两情相悦却不能百年好合，实为一大憾事。 舞台布景非常华美，尤其是韩非榻旁的书桌，桌上一束桃花，点亮了整个场景。人物的着装十分精致，有古代的庄重典雅之风。在音乐上面，我也感受到传统中国艺术的创新与中西结合。小提琴和琵琶的合奏，映衬着宁阳公主愁肠百结的心情。而坑俘事件发生时，低沉的大提琴也很好地表达出韩非悲切的亡国之情。 桃之夭夭，灼灼其华。当韩非和宁阳公主合唱的时候，我能感受到其中流淌的欲说还休的复杂情感，非常动人。 演员们谢幕的时候，我才发现，原来身边都是些两鬓斑白的老人。他们站在舞台旁边，执着地鼓着掌，希望能听演员们再唱一曲。像我这样的年轻人，整个剧场都见不到几个。中国传统艺术的魅力，只有细心体会才能感受最深。而且随着时间流逝，民族的东西才能如陈年老酒，越发醇香。
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