Links to stuff mentioned:
Wikipedia article on Classic Chinese Novels: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_Chinese_Novels
I mentioned in a previous video that I was going to stop doing "Starting Videos": https://youtu.be/cmaIdb3Mn2w
...but I make an exception for big reading projects. And this is definitely a big reading project.
Started Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x6iMcM85L9dcWvKxN6kGZKg
A Dream of Red Mansions by Cao Xueqin and Gao E Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBl7dpw5Awdc&si=CcZVBsrHS-0VjFxj
2 comments:
What a surprise to see this video review! I thought you wouldn't want to read Hongloumeng [1] and may have had enough after finished those other Chinese classics.
In terms of practical effects, I just don't see how important this novel is given that most people I have encountered barely mentioned it - and I must have made comments (deleted) about some amusing exchanges I have seen online: some girl talked about how the novel is so dry to read compared to Chinese romance novels [2] and another exercised their (superficial) elitism by retorting something like 'of course it has to be dry, it's a classic'. To sum up (repeat) the point: if people want to read Hongloumeng for the sake of cultural understanding [3], HLM perhaps could be deprioritized compared to some other like 3 Kingdoms or Journey West, as HLM isn't really influential in even one of the ways 3K/JW are influential (if it's at all impactful at some distant point somehow, I think very few people would know). My guess is that people outside the culture could find the novel more fascinating than people here do - but of course there's nothing wrong if one finds it dull, which is just normal.
I have nothing to say but cheers, I haven't finished the novel and likely wouldn't soon (if I will keep reading literature in general at all). Bonus song version of one of the poems in the book, if you find interesting at all - randomly recommended to my Youtube some years ago.
[1] Hongloumeng/HLM = transliteration of the Chinese name of 'Dream of Red Chamber'. I'm just used to using the transliteration because it's identical to the Vietnamese translation 'Hồng Lâu Mộng'.
[2] Yunqing/Ngôn Tình. A peculiar genre of romance novels in Mainland China + Taiwan and maybe where else. It spans enough amusing tropes your very distant FB friend could be making fun of its readers as females-who-have-unrealistic-expectations-about-males somewhere now (there's a VN term for them I won't say what it is, but there's even one). A more relevant cultural note would be that despite being a Chinese genre of novels, it's really popular in Vietnam (just like anything Chinese in Vietnam, which is hardly even an exaggeration).
[3] Speaking narrowly in terms of impact or how influential HLM is though. I guess people who care more about the culture itself or simply how entertaining the novel is should just ignore my yaps.
楼 [written as 樓 for HK/TW Chinese] is basically the name for those traditional Chinese buildings with multiple floors - places that are exuberant, say a certain tower, or even a brothel. It's a word easier to get from contexts.
Jing Ping Mei [The Plum in the Golden Vase] and The Scholars wouldn't really be considered on the same level of status like the 4 others. For 'The Scholars' you can bring up its name in any language and I don't think most people in Sinic countries, and maybe even China itself, would even know if it's a thing. I did try to read some first paragraphs and my impression of 'The Scholars' is just that it seems familiar somehow, but perhaps due to the didactic cliches people in Sinic countries must have been way too familiar with. As for Jin Ping Mei, simply because... people say so. [1]
[1] I asked my elder sister: "Why is JPM not considered a classic on the same level of status as the other Four Classics?"
She answered: "What is JPM? A Chinese classic? Maybe you can try to Google why? AFAIK it's not as good as the other Chinese Classics. Besides it's only known for having 18+ stuff, no?"
So well, I don't think people are even aware JPM is even considered a classic (whatever the sense of the word Wiki means, and however or for whatever reason Wiki says so).
Post a Comment