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人人书 > 杂志 > Enthralled by A Chinese Classic

Enthralled by A Chinese Classic

时间:2024-10-21 12:03:45

WaxstatuesinRongguofushowthesceneJiaBaoyu(left)beingintroducedtoLinDaiyuunderGrannyJia鈥檚jovialgazeCOURTESYPHOTOAsanardentadmireroftheChinesenovelDreamoftheRedChamber,IrecentlymadeapilgrimagetoShijiazhuangCity,capitalofnorthChina鈥檚HebeiProvince,hometotheRongguofu,acomplexofbuildingsbuiltexpresslyforthefilmingofthefamousChineseTVseriesDreamoftheRedChamber.Theseries,basedontheeponymousnovelsometimesknownasDreamofRedMansionsorStoryoftheStone,wasreleasedin1987.Thenovel,writtenbyCaoXueqin(1715-63)duringtheQingDynasty(1644-1911)inthemid-18thcentury,tellsthestoryofthenobleJiafamilyduringitspeakanditssubsequentdownfall.

ItisoneofChina鈥檚fourgreatclassicnovelsandahouseholdnameformostseasonedexpatsinthecountry,alongwithRomanceoftheThreeKingdoms,JourneytotheWestandWaterMargin.IloveDavidHawkes鈥檓asterfultranslationofDreamoftheRedChamberandhavewatchedthe1987TVseries.

TheplotrevolvesaroundalovetrianglebetweenJiaBaoyu,theJiafamily鈥檚adolescentsonwhowasbornwithapieceofjadeinhismouth,andhistwocousins.HeformsaspecialbondwithLinDaiyu,whoisphysicallyfrailbutwithwhomhesharesalotofinterests.ButheisfatedtomarryanothercousinnamedXueBaochai,awell-temperedandsensible鈥淢s.Right鈥漮fthetimesandafoiltoLinDaiyu.Thefamily鈥檚decliningfortunesformthebackdropofthislovetriangle.

TheTVseriesrevivedinterestintheclassic,andmanyvisitorsflockedtoRongguofuaftertheTVseriesdebuted31yearsago.Inthevisitors鈥檆enterIsawanintroductoryfilmfeaturingsomeoftheactorsreminiscingabouttheirexperiencesonset.Oneactressrecalledhowascenehadtobeshotmultipletimesbecausetheoillampsattractedbugswhichflewacrossthescreen.Thewholefilmingprocesstookseveralmonths,buttheactorshadtoundergoextensivepriortrainingtoadjustthemselvestothemannerismsofthecharacters.

RongguofuissimilartoBeijing鈥檚GrandViewGarden,whereinthepastIhavehadphotostakenwithactorsportrayingmatriarchGrannyJiaandBaoyu(truetocharacter,theactorwasplayingonhiscellphoneinhissparetime)duringaSpringFestivalpageant.

Rongguofufeaturesstonelandscapes,heavywoodenfurnitureandcanopybeds.Therearewaxdollsofthenovel鈥檚charactersreenactingsomeofthescenesfromthebook.YoucanseeBaoyubeingdisciplinedbyhisfatherfornotstudyinghardandplayingaround,orbeingintroducedtoLinDaiyuunderGrannyJia鈥檚jovialgaze.AnotherwaxfigureofLinDaiyuhasmovingeyes,whichstartledme.

Inparticular,thecharacterofLinDaiyuintheTVseriesleftadeepimpressiononmewithhergraceful,measuredstepsandtragicflair.Icouldn鈥檛believeshemanagedtolooksoelegantevenwhenflushinghermouthafteramealwithtea(antiquity鈥檚equivalenttomouthwash).IwasoncetoldbysomeoneinChinathatIlooklikeherbecauseofmywillowyfigure,althoughIwouldprefertobecomparedtoXueBaochaisinceshehasaluckierfate!Ialsorecently鈥渆ncountered鈥滾inDaiyuinfamousChinesewriterLinYutang(1895-1976)鈥檚MomentinPeking,whereoneofthecharacters,Hongyu,isanadmirerofhers.

AtRongguofutherewasalsoanexhibithonoring鈥渞edologists,鈥漵cholarswhospecializeinthestudyofthenovel,andabustwithbackgroundinformationonCaoXueqin,thebook鈥檚authorwhosenoblefamilyenjoyedclosetiestotheimperialhousehold.

Althoughthe1987TVserieswasmadelessthanadecadeafterthestartofChina鈥檚reformandopeningup,itsadvancedtechniques,credibilityandthewayitconveysatmosphereareatriumphofChineseTVprogramsanditisatrueclassicthathasleftitsmarkonChineseculture.

Iwasamazedatthesheeramountofclothes,food,propsandpeopleusedintheTVseriesthatwerecombinedintoaharmoniouswhole.Afterall,thenovelitselffeaturesalargecastofcharacterswith30protagonistsandover400minorroles.OnecouldsaythatDreamoftheRedChamberprovidesapanoramaofQingDynastylife.Althoughthestoryisnoteasilyaccessibletoforeignersbecauseoftheremoteculturalreferencesandcomplexcastofcharacters,itconveysemotionsthatareuniversalandtimeless:happiness,sorrow,unrequitedloveand,ultimately,submissiontoforcesbeyondone鈥檚control.

TheauthorisanAmericanlivinginBeijingCopyeditedbyLaurenceCoultonCommentsto
   

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