Dying Flowers

Unlike the rest of the country, living in Southern California enables you to prolong the heat of summer.  Sadly even the warmest of seasons fall victim to the periods of life and death.  As I was picking the last flower in my front yard, it reminded me of Lin Daiyu, a character from Cao Xueqin's The Red Chamber.

For those of you unfamiliar with The Red Chamber, it's a comprehensive book that saga that follows the rise and fall of an aristocratic Qing Dynasty family.  I initially interpreted Lin Daiyu as an overly emotional sick girl that complained to much.  But once I continued reading into her character and the movement of the story, I regretted my initial underestimation of her.

As the year 2012 is about to end, I couldn't help but not feel the present and it's ephemeral nature.  As Lin Daiyu feels pity for the fallen flower petals, she says in a few lines:

"儂今葬花人笑癡，他年葬儂知是誰?"

"As I bury flowers others laugh at my insanity, how will I know who buries me?"

"一朝春盡紅顏老，花落人亡兩不知!"

"Once spring ends the red face of youth ends, fallen flower and missing departed will never be known!"

The entire poem roughly translates to "Ode to the Flower Burial".   Here's a shortened English translation, and a the full Chinese text.

Death and endings are morbid truths that seems to have been erased, or at least blind-sighted by instant communication and high speed internet.  The internet is not a window into the future, or even the present. It's quick recall of information from the past.  Constant availability of quick information provides the illusion of power and immortality, but death and endings are truths that cannot erase.

Stop.  Smell the flowers.

 

What is "Chinese Culture"?

To understand this phrase you have to remove the mask of stereotypes and clichés that weigh it down.  Let's look at something thats the complete opposite of this ambiguity of this phrase:  Marina Abramovic's: The Artist is Present.

It appears to be a woman sitting in a large clunky dress staring at a member of the public across a table.  Once a viewer is done, the person leaves and another sits staring at Abramovic.  Nothing special. But Marina Abromovic has sat on this chair during museum hours for 3 months!  She's not spacing off either.  If the viewer on the other chair is open to the present, she stares straight into you with full concentration.  Both are defenseless, the viewer senses emotion in it's purest form without hiding behind ego or pretext.

The general perception Chinese culture is the complete opposite.  Culture is old, traditional, full of symbolism.  It's 5000 years old and Confucius preaches it's morals.  But is is meaningful?

I forgot which survey, but there's always talk that China surpasses the entire world in math and science.  Was this due to "Chinese culture" ?  I doubt it.  The first line of the Analects quotes, "If there is the practice of learning, is there not joy?"  Were these kids happy when they were bubbling their multiple choice answers?  Both Chinese and non-Chinese have this preconceived notion that education will equate to success, but rarely do people question if the test itself is meaningful.  Barely after 100 years after the civil service exam during the Han Dynasty, it was riddled with corruption and bribery.  I doubt Confucius envisioned his predecessors to strive for perfects on the SAT.

Like a viewer looking into Marina's eyes, we have to let go of our own ego and prejudice when trying to find meaning behind culture.  Chinese culture isn't meaningful because of it's traits, it's meaningful through the values we can sense and intuit.  I hope that as I continue writing my blog, my viewers will find joy in learning.

 

 

 

My Poetic Idol

When I was at a coffee shop with a couple of my closest friends, they asked me which two people I wished I could spawn from.  I said Muhammad Ali and Su Shi  (That's, "Sue! Shhhh" for being  too loud in the library, not sushi you eat). I want to be a hydraulic engineer, politician, alcoholic poet that can knockout someone.

Of all the people I know in Chinese literature so far, Su Shi someone way ahead of his time, even by today's standards.  Every time I read Su Shi, he turns the most minute things turn into some heartfelt and touches my soul.  Whether it be about boiling water, or admiring is little plant from home, you can tell he writes with his soul.  My tagline alludes to a poem Su Shi wrote to his brother Su Che  (蘇澈　Pronounce "suture"):

和子由澠池懷舊

With Ziyou Fondly Remembering Mian Chi

( ZiyouPen name for Su Che)
人生到處知何似，應似飛鴻踏雪泥。

Where has everyone gone, like a flying crane that stepped into the muddy snow.
泥上偶然留指爪，鴻飛那復計東西。

By chance on the mud a clawprint, the crane flew east or west.
老僧已死成新塔，壞壁無由見舊題。

The old monk died and a new pagoda built, the ruined wall I do not see our couplet.
往日崎嶇還知否，路長人困蹇驢嘶。

Do you remember in the old days our rugged journey?  The road long, I'm tired and this old donkey whinnies.

Su Shi 11th century

(Translated by Daniel Tran)

The written word is like the crane's snow print.  In this case, Su Shi is writing to his little brother about the good times they had.  At the moment he writes this poem, traveling is still rough as he journeys into the unknown future.  What's most striking is his humor at the end.  An old Chinese man rides a slow donkey.

I'm a young Chinese dude typing on an old computer chair.  I blog fondly about the past and type slowly into the unknown future.

Note: I should be using pinyin, but I personally think it's non-intuitive to begin with.  I learned the Taiwanese pronunciation system and didn't learn pinyin until college.  Plus, I think it's fun if you want to know the pronunciation just for the moment.  Sadly, pinyin is now the international standard for pronunciation, so please don't use my half-baked system to methodically pronounce Chinese!

Note II: Stephen Owen does a much better translation of this poem