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The Standard（英文虎报）2016.02.18 Japanese writer Arai Hifumi loves totravel. In her work Traveling is to findthe way home, she talks about finding an entry point when discussingtraveling. Her first trip out of the country was to China where she learned to speakand write in Chinese. Zhang Hui’s “entry point” to learningclassical literature and opera was when her grandfather took her to see Chineseopera. At the time she was only a toddler, but she can still remember the titleof the show-hua wei mei-flower as thematchmaker. Zhang is an assistant professor at the ChuHai College of Higher Education. She taught Chinese opera as well as novelappreciation and analysis. She sent me a copy of her work Studies of the Dream of the Red Chamber inthe US. Naturally, she is the president of the Hong Kong Society of Dreamof the Red Chamber. Zhang said she is a bit shy. But once thetopic of the Dream of the Red Chamber was brought up, the young scholar couldnot stop talking. She has a lot of interesting things to say about this classicnovel of Cao Xueqin, and shows deep knowledge in it. On the main female characters in thisfamous Qing dynasty work, Zhang said most people would say that Daiyu suffersfrom ill health as she often has to take medicine. But the “sick beauty” is, in fact, Baochai,her rival in romance. “Baochai knows how to arrange things. Shewas oppressed and is not happy inside. Yet, she has to show the world that sheis generous and proper, and she has to be smooth with people and to pleaseeveryone, which is actually quite painful.” Zhang cited the example of the scene whenBaochai wants to eat the pan-fried wolfberry buds and how she pays a lot ofmoney to the kitchen staff to get them to prepare the dish. This shows that sheknows how to bring people to her side. Zhang said those from the last generationlike Daiyu more. “But in our generation, most people likeBaochai more because she is graceful and likeable. Yet Baoyu, the maleprotagonist, chooses Daiyu. In doing so, he is choosing a partner he loves, asyou only live once and Baoyu doesn’t want to waste life.” |
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