Videos, TV plays

I am back!LIN Daiyu's Elegy on Flowers.

2007-10-22T07:16:00.000-07:00

I live in China, Because of some reasons, I cann't access all of my blogs that hosted on blogspot for few months.
Now I am back. Sorry for the absense for so long a time. even no one notice that.:)
Now I will show you Anothor classic episode in A dream of Read Mansions.

That is LIN Daiyu's Elegy on Flowers.

The Chinese version can be seen in the above video. following is the translation of that poet.

Flowers fade and fly,
and flying fill the sky;
Their bloom departs, their perfume gone,
yet who stands pitying by?
And wandering threads of gossamer
on the summer-house are seen,
And falling catkins lightly dew-steeped
strike the embroidered screen.
A girl within the inner rooms,
I mourn that spring is done,
A veil of sorrow binds my heart,
and solace there is none.
I pass into the garden,
and I turn to use my hoe,
Treading over fallen glories
as I lightly come and go.
There are willow-sprays and flowers of elm,
and these have scent enough.
I care not if the peach and plum,
are stripped from every bough.
The peach-tree and the plum-tree too
next year may bloom again,
But next year, in the inner rooms,
tell me, shall I remain?
By the third moon new fragrant nests
shall see the light of day,
New swallows fly among the beams,
each on its thoughtless way.
Next year once more they'll seek their food
among the painted flowers,
But I may go, and beams may go,
and with them swallow bowers.
Three hundred days and sixty make
a year, and therein lurk
Daggers of wind and swords of frost
to do their cruel work.
How long will last the fair fresh flower
which bright and brighter glows?
One morning its petals float away,
but to where no-one knows.
Gay bloooming buds attract the eye,
faded they're lost to sight;
Oh, let me sadly bury them
beside these steps tonight.
Alone, unseen, I seize my hoe,
with many a bitter tear;
They fall upon the naked stem
and stains of blood appear.
The night-jar now has ceased to mourn,
the dawn comes on apace,
I seize my hoe and close the gates,
leaving the burying-place;
But not until sunbeams dot the wall
does slumber soothe my care,
The cold rain pattering on the pane
as I lie shivering there.
You wonder that with flowing tears
my youthful cheek is wet;
They partly rise from angry thoughts,
and partly from regret.
Regret that spring comes suddenly;
and anger that it cannot last.
No sound to announce its approach,
or warn us when it's passed.
Last night within the garden
sad songs were faintly heard,
Sung, as I knew, by spirits,
spirits of flower and bird.
We cannot keep them here with us,
these much-loved birds and flowers,
They sing but for a season's space,
and bloom a few short hours.
If only I on a feathered wing
might soar aloft and fly,
With flower spirits I would seek
the rooms within the sky.
But high in the air
What grave is there?
No, give me an embroidered bag
within to lay their charms,
And Mother Earth, pure Mother Earth,
shall hide them in her arms.
Thus those sweet forms which spotless came
shall spotless go again,
Nor pass dirty with mud and filth
along some filthy drain.
Farewell, dear flowes, forever now,
thus buried as was best,
I have not yet divined when I
with you shall sink to rest.
I who can bury flowers like this
a laughing-stock shall be;
I cannot say in days to come
what hands shall bury me.
See how when spring begins to fail
each opening flower fades;
So too there is a time of age
and death for beautiful maids;
And when the fleeting spring is gone,
and days of beauty over,
Flowers fall, and lovely maidens die,
and both are known no more.

Report about Chen Xiaoxu(lin mei mei) Play multiple roles in her life

2007-05-26T09:59:00.000-07:00

Poet, Actress, Ad Executive

09-19-2004 The New York Times?Sunday business

Chen Xiao Xu
Founding president of ShiPang Advertising, Beijing
Hometown: Anshan, Liaoning Province, China
Most Recent travel: Jiuhuashan (“Nine Flowers Mountain”),
one of China’s four sacred Buddhist mountains in Anhui Province
Never seen without: Meditation beads

Both of my parents were performers with the Peking Opera. They expected me to do the same, but I didn’t like opera at all. I liked ballet.

My parents started teaching me classical Chinese poetry at age 3. I always wanted to play alone; I had a very active imagination.
When my mother saw what I was like, she bought me a library card at age 12, and I read so much. One thing I read was “Dream of the Red Mansion,” the famous 17thcentury Chinese novel. By 15, I was being published in a literary magazine, Young Poets.
At the age of 18, without any acting experience, I auditioned for the part of Lin Daiyu, the romantic and tragic ? but spiritually pure ? heroine of that same “Dream of the Red Mansion,” which was being turned into a TV series.
The director was doubtful. But he also thought that the actress playing Lin Daiyu should be a real poet, so I got the part.
The TV version became an extremely popular show, repeated some 700 times over the last 20 years.
My next role turned out to be another character just like Lin Daiyu. I started to wonder if I was Lin Daiyun and could not really act. Apparently, so did directors, because they stopped hiring me. I went through a lost time in my life. I had to struggle to find a new path.
In 1992, my then boyfriend, who was a photographer, and I started a small advertising agency. At the time, there were fewer than 100 agencies in the country; now there are more than 20,000. Clients looking for agencies didn’t know whom to trust. Our first client knew me from my TV role and later told me, “I know Lin Daiyu wouldn’t cheat us.”
Early on, one company manufactured medicines for old people but was almost about to go out of business. We got their account and developed a public relations campaignfor them that included a brochure we designed, showing photos of aging popular dignitaries trying the medicine. We distributed the brochures at trade shows. People thought, if it’s good enough for these well-known people, it must be good. The company revived, soon opened new markets and bought two factories.
In 1999, having realized all my financial dreams, I was still, somehow, unhappy. Then someone introduced me to the life and teaching of Sakyamuni, the Buddha. It changed my attitude about my life and my work.

Now I start each day by reading from a Buddhist scripture called Aparimitayur Sutra. In the evening, I read another sutra. During lunch at work, I take a 30-minute meditation break.
Some people ask me how I reconcile advertising, which feeds people’s desire to acquire material possessions, with Buddhism, which promotes nonattachment to the very same material things. I don’t agree that Buddhism teaches people to lead a life of deprivation. Buddha was really just simply encouraging people to create a happy world for themselves.
If we collect “things” or try to gain personal fortune for ourselves and our family, we may not find fulfillment, but we can use these same things to create greater benefit for others, and that is closer to what Buddhism is about for me.
The Chinese market is not only very large but also very complex. While consumption is strong in major cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guanzou, it is only just beginning to develop in other provincial capitals. To advertise in such a diverse country, we have to think on many levels at once.
China’s general public still finds it difficult to understand the concept of individualism and personal creativity. So American and European ads that sell the idea that you can gain personal enjoyment or satisfaction from a product wouldn’t work here. We place more importance on generosity and tolerance; even the younger generation does not want to show their selfishness. So we design ads that show the product in light of how it can reinforce these values。
As told to Perry Garfinkel

Report about the death of Chen Xiaoxu(lin mei mei)

2007-05-26T09:40:00.000-07:00

A death that was destined

BEIJING EXPRESS WITH CELESTE FONG

Classic video about the First glance of Linmeimei.

SHE made her name playing the character of Lin Daiyu in the 1987 CCTV series Dream of the Red Chamber. After acting as Lin for some 20 years, she endeared herself to millions of viewers as “Lin mei mei” (sister Lin).

In February this year, she made headlines when she converted to Buddhism and became a nun with the Buddhist name Mao Zhen Fa Shi. Shortly after, her husband Hao Tong shaved his head bald and also became a Buddhist monk.

Now, Chen Xiaoxu, the famous actress who was typecast as Lin Daiyu – one of the main protagonists in the Chinese classic Hong Lou Meng or The Story of the Stone – is dead.

She died aged 42 of breast cancer last Sunday, Mother's Day, in Shenzhen in South China.

In an interview about her conversion with the New York Times, she was reported as saying: “I don’t agree that Buddhism teaches people to lead a life of deprivation. Buddha was really simply encouraging people to create a happy world for themselves.”

Chen, who hailed from Anshan, Liaoning, said she had finally taken the right path in her life.

As of Friday evening, about 50% of 77,718 Netizens asked by leading web portal Sina.com on their views of her death described it as “hong yan bo ming (a beautiful girl who has (often) an unfortunate life)”.

In Dream of the Red Chamber, the sensitive Lin Daiyu dies of a broken heart after scheming relatives tricked her soulmate Jia Baoyu into marrying the calculative Xue Baochai.

It is said that when auditioning for the role, Chen told the director that she was Lin Daiyu.

A poet herself, she had written a poem on the back of her photograph to convince the director she was the most suitable candidate for the role and that she had also read and knew the novel well.

In life, the role of Lin Daiyu had turned Chen into a household name, but she had remained fixated on that role, too.

Fading from the limelight and her short-lived acting career after playing another similar role in a TV drama Family, Spring, Autumn, Chen teamed up with Hao Tong to set up an advertisement company in the 90s.

Shi Bang Advertisement Co Ltd and Shi Bang Culture Development Co Ltd made millions and the actress-turned-businesswoman was a billionaire.

But she later found that the pursuit of material wealth could not lead to happiness and that was when she turned to Buddhism. She became a student of Master Chin Kung to learn Buddha’s teachings.

The Sina.com poll shows that more than 26% believe her death was “destined” or “fated”.

Destined or not, the former celebrity had made an impact on the Chinese people and society.

Following her memorial service in Shenzhen, her family announced that they would help fulfil her wish to set up a 50-million yuan (RM112.5mil) charity fund to help the needy.

And a large sum of her fortune has also been donated for the development of Buddhism.

After news of her death spread, many were taken aback either with shock or disbelief. More than one million messages from Netizens flooded the Sina blog of Sina.com in just a few days.

News reports said there was a 10% increase in the number of women going for breast examination in various hospitals in Hangzhou, the capital city of Zhejiang province.

One woman told a newspaper that she was scared and concerned about her own health after hearing the news of that Chen who had died of breast cancer.

Chen was diagnosed with end-stage breast cancer last June.

Beijing Television is planning to expand a segment on Chen for a live broadcast of its nationwide talent search pre-production contest for the characters of the Dream of the Red Chamber today.

Many of the semi-finalists, especially those who are competing for the role as Lin Daiyu in the new 50-episode BTV drama series, shed tears as they remembered Chen.

Written by Cao Xueqin (1715–1763), Dream of the Red Chamber is a beautifully crafted fiction about the collapse of the rich and powerful Jia family and centres on the romance between Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu.

The novel affords powerful insights into how the characters, more than 400 of them, lived in 18th-century China.

Most Chinese in Beijing know the characters in the story quite well and Chen, to many, was indeed Lin Daiyu. And she will always remain as their “Lin mei mei”.

news video about her funeral:

Chinese Classic TVPlays Video-《Journey to the West》 EP.5

2007-05-26T09:32:00.000-07:00

Segment 1 of Epsode 5, Monkey King Becomes the Body Guard of Monk Tang

Segment 2 of Episode 5:Monkey King Becomes the Body Guard of Monk Tang

Buy a Dream of Red Mansions DVD at cgcmall.com

2007-05-06T07:34:00.000-07:00

Buy a Dream of Red Mansions DVD at cgcmall.com

Most popular television serials: Hong Lou Meng
36 television serials, directed by Wang Fulin
Starred by Ou Yang Fen Qiang, Chen Xiao Xu, Zhang Li, Deng Jie
Produced by CCTV
Product Info: 36 episodes in 12 DVDs, Mandarin/Cantonese conversation, subtitle in Chinese/English, ISRC CNA039433800br>DVD Format: DVD-9, NTSC, Region All (Regional codes are entirely optional for the maker of a disc. Region-free, code-free, multi-region, region all, these mean the same thing: Discs without region locks will play on any player in any country!)

Hong Lou Meng

Hong Lou Meng, translated as a Dream of Red Mansions, sometimes translated as the Dream of the Red Chamber, the great classical Chinese novel written in the mid-eighteenth century during the reign of Emperor Chien-lung of the Ching Dynasty, has been widely popular throughout the last two hundred years and more. It is said be a story engraved on a stone. Legend has it that one day two immortals passed by a huge wild Mountain, bringing to the world a stone, which is said to “the one of those left by Nu Wa, a girl who used to patch up the sky with stones. The two immortals have experienced all the vicissitudes of life.

A DREAM OF RED MANSIONS is known to every household in China. It tells of the social life of many periods in the Qing Dynasty and portrays successfully a group of innocent and lovely girls suffering under the debris of a male-centered feudal society.

The TV series by CCTV explains how the Chinese feudal society die out through the declines and falls of a typical Chinese feudal family through a couple of young lovers and many girls' tragic life.

The series begins with the mother-less child, Lin Daiyu - whose beauty and intelligence surpasses all - moving into her maternal grandmother's family in the capital. There, the child meets numerous relatives, one of whom is Jia Baoyu, her mother's nephew, and the heir of the family. Baoyu was borne with a jade tablet and so, is treated like a fragile egg, and is spoiled by his grandmother. He often spends his time with his female cousins and maids instead of being in his studies. One of the cousins he hangs around with is Xue Baochai.

As the story goes on, Baoyu and Daiyu eventually fall in love with each other, but Daiyu is not very well-liked by the family, and instead, the family members favor Baochai.

Contents

1 Tai-yu Parted with her Father and Went to the Capital
2 Pao-yu, Tai-yu and Pao-chai's First Meeting at the Hall of Glorious Pageant
3 Granny Liu Pays her First Visit to the Jung Mansion
4 Tai-yu Feels Slight Jealous while Meeting Pao-yu at Pao-chai's Home
5 Hsi-feng Sets a Vicious Trap for a Lover
6 Hsi-feng Helps to Manage Affairs in the Ning Mansion
7 Literary Talent Tested by Composing Inscriptions in Grand View Garden
8 Jung Mansion Had the Imperial Consorts Visitation on the Feast of Lanterns
9 A Sweet Girl Shows Deep Feeling One Quiet Day
10 A Song Awakes Pao-yu to Esoteric Truths
11 Meeting a Nightmare in Seeking after Favor
12 Tai-yu Weeps at Falling Petals
13 The Fortune Enjoys Deep Fortune and Long Life
14 Chi-chuan Dies a Heroic Death in Shame
15 Pao-yu Was Beaten for Flirting
16 Granny Liu Pays Visit to Grand View Garden
17 Hsi-feng Taken by Surprise Gives Ways to Jealousy
18 Yuan-yang Vows Never to Marry
19 White Snow and Red Plum-Blossom in the Glassy World
20 Plucky Cheng-wen Mends a Peacock-Feather Cape in Bed
21 An Evening Banquet on the Feast of Lantern Festival in the Jung Mansion
22 Ping-erh Wields Authority to Right a Wrong
23 Artful Tzu-chuan Tests Pao-yu's Feelings
24 Girls Feast at Night in Happy Red Court
25 The Profligate Secretly Takes Second Sister Yu as a Concubine
26 Hsi-feng in Jealousy Makes a Scene in the Ning Mansion
27 Lady Hsing Feels Wronged and Puts Hsi-feng in Wrong
28 Strange Omen Occurs at Night Banquet
29 Spoony Childe Writes a Dirge on Cottonrose Hibiscus
30 Drifting away of Fair Maidens from Grand View Garden
31 Spiritual Jade Was Stolen During a Bustling Feast
32 Grieving Over Tan-chun's Departure to Marry Far from Home
33 Astonished by the Heavy News of the Death of Tai-yu
34 High-and-Mighty Hsi-feng Resigned herself to Fate Spread East of Bed-Curtain
35 Collapsed Mansion Come to an End
36 A Vast and White Expanse of Immerse Universe

All episodes of online videos can be found here:a Dream of Red Mansions

Buy A Romance of Three Kingdoms VCD at cgcmall.com

2007-05-06T07:16:00.000-07:00

Buy A Romance of Three Kingdoms VCD at cgcmall.com

Famous classics, historical TV serials: A Romance of Three Kingdoms
84 television serials produced by the China Central Television
VCD edition, caption and subtitles in Chinese and English
Published by Shenzheng Xianke Dianzi Youxian Gongsi

A Romance of Three Kingdoms is adapted from one of the most famous Chinese classic novels with the same title by Luo Guanzhong, and based on the history of the Three Kingdoms period (220AD-280AD). The TV serial describes the intricate and tense struggles for the throne among three powerful political forces: Liu Bei, Cao Cao and Sun Quan, and focuses on various great talents and bold strategy during that period. It is an epic times that carries many different outstanding heroes. To reproduces his historical period, China Central Television spent nearly four years on shooting the serial with 84 episodes, and a great deal of funds, manpower & material resources.

The accuracy of its storyline makes it a good guide to Chinese History. Also, with thousands of actors and horses involved in the making of this film, the battle scenes looked very realistic.
The song lyrics are representative of the story. Those who understand Chinese will appreciate these poetic songs and series even more.
The casting was also well done. The portrayal of Guan Yu was very close to what people usually thought of. The smart, kind and intelligent Zhuge Liang, the dumb hero Lu Bu, the wicked yet smart Zhao Zhao, the kind but indecisive Liu Bei, and other characters were all well played by the actors.

Contents:
1. Swear brothers
2. A political turmoil by the eunuchs
3. Dong Zhou seizes the capital
4. Cao Cao Presents a sword
5. Three heroes fighting with Lu Bu
6. A set of interlocking strategies
7. The Fengyi pavilion
8. Liu Bei declining to take Xuzhou Thrice
9. Sun Ce building his career in Jiangdong
10. Settling disputes by shooting
11. Battle of Wancheng
12. Baimen Tower (part 1)
13. Baimen Tower (part 2)
14. Discussing the heroes of the country when drinking
15. Yuan Shao and Cao Cao Fighting against each other
16. Guan Yu plighting three conditions with Cao Cao
17. Hanging up seal and sealing up the treasures
18. A long solitary journey
19. Meeting at Gucheng
20. Seize of Jiangdong
21. Battle of Guandu (part 1)
22. Battle of Guandu (part 2)
23. Waterloo for Yuan Shao
24. Leaping across the Tan River
25. Looking for the talented person
26. Recommending Zhuge Liang
27. Visiting the Thatched Cottage Thrice
28. Burning Bowangpo
29. Crossing across the Yangtze River with people
30. Arguing against East Wu's scholars
31. Irritating Zhou Yu by wisdom
32. A failed scheme by Zhou Yu
33. The meeting of heroes
34. Borrowing arrows from Cao Cao
35. The self-tortured ruse
36. Pang Tong presenting scheme of Chaining ships
37. Composing a poem when wielding spear
38. Zhuge Liang sacrificing for procuring a wind
39. The burning of Chibi
40. Taking Nanjun by strategy
41. Battle of Nanjun
42. Beauty trap
43. Ganlu Temple
44. Return to Jingzhou
45. Anger Zhou Yu thrice
46. Zhuge Liang mourns for the dead
47. Cao Cao took to his heels
48. Zhang Song presents a map
49. Liu Bei enters west shu
50. Slope of fallen phoenix
51. Releasing Yan Yan righteously
52. The capture of West Shu
53. Guan Yu goes to a feast alone but armed
54. Battle of Hefei
55. Contending for Succession
56. The battle fo Dingjun Mountain
57. Capturing Hanzhong by clever scheme
58. Drowned seven armies
59. Guan Yu Being defeated in Maicheng
60. Death of Cao Cao
61. Cao Pi usurping state power of Han Dynasty
62. Expedition to Dongwu
63. Burning of Shu's camps
64. Settling attacks from five directions
65. Crossing the Lu River
66. Asking the way in desperate situation
67. Capturing and releasing Meng Huo seven times
68. The expedition of North
69. Reducing Jiang Wei to submission
70. Sima Yi being restored to command
71. Zhuge Liang holding the enemy back by putting on a bold front
72. Sima Yi seizing the seal of commander
73. Zhuge Liang setting his wits to Sima Yi at Qishan
74. Zhuge Liang juggling on the beach
75. The sixth north expedition at Qishan Mountain
76. Extinguishing the rain in Shangfang Valley
77. Zhuge Liang died in Wuzhang Plain
78. Sima Yi seizing military power from Cao Shuang by false illness
79. Coups happening in the Wu Palace
80. Sima Zhao being besieged in Tielong Mountain
81. Sima Zhao murdering the Emperor of Wei
82. The ninth North Expedition to Central Plains
83. Deng Ai making surprise advance by sideway to Yinping
84. Jin uniting the Three Kingdoms eventually.

All episodes of online can be found here:《A Romance of Three Kingdoms》

Chinese Classic TVPlays Video-《Journey to the West》 EP.4

2007-05-06T07:13:00.000-07:00

Segment 1 of Epsode 4:Monkey King Being imprisoned in Wuhang Mountain

Segment 2 of Epsode 4:Monkey King Being imprisoned in Wuhang Mountain

Buy Journey to the West DVD at cgcmall.com

2007-05-06T06:57:00.000-07:00

CCTV Serial: A Journey to the West DVD

Most popular television serials: Journey to the West

25 television serials, directed by Yang Jie

Starred by Liu Xiao Ling Tong, Chi Zhong Rui, Ma Dehua, Xu Shaohua, Yan Huai Li
Produced by CCTV
Product Info: 25 episodes in 13 DVDs, Mandarin/Cantonese conversation, subtitle in Chinese, ISRC CNA039832304br>DVD Format: DVD-9, NTSC, Region All (Regional codes are entirely optional for the maker of a disc. Region-free, code-free, multi-region, region all, these mean the same thing: Discs without region locks will play on any player in any country!)

Adapted from the famous Chinese classic novel of the same title by Wu Cheng'en, a writer in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), "Journey to the West" in the TV version is directed by the female director Yang Jie. In 1986, the series topped the TV ratings.
Based on the actual pilgrimage of the monk Xuanzang to India in the Tang Dynasty (618-907), the story had already become a favorite of the Chinese people when Wu Cheng'en shaped it into a romantic novel which describes the Monkey King, also known as Sun Wukong, and his entourage protecting Xuanzang against that is all kinds of demons on an adventurous journey westward.
It was successful because it was the first TV-series on the mainland to retell a popular tale and the first TV production to use cinematic techniques.

"WUKONG, help me!"
"Wukong, where are you?"
A monk was tied to a big stone, crying for help.
Several pretty and coquettish women surrounded him, looking up and down before bursting into laughter.
At the entrance of the cave, a monkey was knocking on the door.
"Cut!"
This is how one of the outdoor scenes of the sequel to the popular television drama series "Journey to the West" goes.
Besides, no TV production had involved such a complicated use of make-up and costumes.
Since the first nationwide broadcast of the original 25 episodes 13 years ago, provincial television stations have broadcast the series many times at the viewers' request.
"We wish to successfully combine the Chinese traditional play with modern television techniques," said Yang.
Above all, Yang said that the Monkey King, a symbol of bravery, cleverness and justice, has been popular among people through the ages. The stories of those protecting Xuanzang against enemies and subduing all kinds of demons and goblins are always the first choice for parents when they read for their children.
"They will be popular as long as the struggle between good and evil exists," Yang concluded.

Contents

1 The Birth of Monkey King
2 Monkey King Being in Charge of Horses
3 Monkey King Making a Mess in Heaven Palace
4 Monkey King Being imprisoned in Wuhang Mountain
5 Monkey King Becomes the Body Guard of Monk Tang
6 Disaster in Kwan-yin Temple
7 Getting Ba Jie with Strategy
8 Facing Three Adversities During the Rough Journey
9 Stealing the Ginseng Fruit
10 Beating the Dead Bones Spirit Three Times
11 Stimulating the Monkey King Wisely
12 Seizing Treasures in Lotus Flower Cave
13 Killing the Devils in the Wuji Country
14 A Battle with the Red Boy
15 Defeating the Three Monsters with Magic
16 The Funny Advantage in the Women Nation
17 Getting the Palm-leaf Fan for Three Times
18 Cleaning the Tower and Clarifying the Injustice
19 Getting in the Little Thunder Temple Accidentally
20 Doctor Monkey King
21 Falling in the Spider Silk Cave Accidentally
22 Visiting the Abyss for Four Times
23 Teaching in Yuhua Continent
24 Getting the Rabbit Spirit in India
25 Arriving the Pure Land

Journey to the West is a mythological novel based on many centuries of popular tradition. It was probably put into its present form in the 1570s by Wu Cheng'en (1500-82).

This lively fantasy relates the amazing adventures of the priest Xuanzang as he travels west in search of Buddhist sutras with his three disciples, the irreverent and capable Monkey, greedy Pig, and Friar Sand. The opening chapters recount the earlier exploits of Monkey, culminating in his rebellion against Heaven. We then learn how Xuanzang became a monk and was sent on his pilgrimage by the Tang emperor who had escaped death with the help of an Underworld official.
The main story, the journey, takes the priest through all kinds of entertaining trials and tribulations, mainly at the hands of monsters and spirits who want to eat him. Most, like the ferocious Red Boy, want to devour him. Some, such as the scorpion spirit of Pipa Cave, take the form of beautiful women in the hope of seducing him. Only the courage and powers of his disciples, especially Monkey, save him from death. Monkey has to use all his connections in the supernatural world to find the help that will enable him to defeat these and other formidable enemies, such as the Bull Demon King and Princess iron Fan, or the imitation Monkey who is indistinguishable from himself. On the last part of the journey the demons come in as wide a range of shapes and kinds as ever. Among them are spider-women who spin webs from their navels, a pride of lion monsters and a terrible female spirit who carries the Tang Priest down into her bottomless cave to marry him. These and all the other fiends test to the very limit Monkey's ingenuity, supernatural powers and connections throughout the universe. Monkey is the hero of the fantasy, and the reader will soon learn why he has long been so loved in China. Will the pilgrims reach the Vulture Peak and obtain the scriptures? The answer will only be found at the end of the 100-chapter novel.

The story is as full of imagination as Monkey is of magic, and packed with incident and down-to-earth humor. The illustrations are from 19th-century Chinese edition.

"Journey to the West has the same status in Chinese popular literature as Dickens, the the Wizard of Oz and the Superman comics combined. Everyone knows it. The episodes are featured in countless theatre pieces, comic books, and cartoon shows." -- James Beerbower
"The story, attributed to Wu Cheng-en, is quite hilarious on the surface, full of creatures, jokes and foibles, and on the other hand it is a deeply religious plot. This is the finest piece of Chinese literature I've come across." -- Alexander Moir
"When I read the book, I was so intrigued in the writing, I couldn't put it down. This is definitely a book worth reading. The language is moderately difficult. I had quite an easy time reading it (and I'm only 8). A must read, it is absolutely fantastic. " -- Christine Wong

All episodes of videos can be found here: 《Journey to the West》

Chinese Classic TVPlays Video-《Journey to the West》 EP.3

2007-04-26T08:09:00.000-07:00

Segment 1 of Epsode 3 :Monkey King UPROAR IN HEAVEN

Segment 1 of Epsode 2: Monkey King UPROAR IN HEAVEN

Short Introduction of Journey to the West

2007-04-23T07:18:00.001-07:00

Journey to the West is a mythological novel based on many centuries of popular tradition. It was probably put into its present form in the 1570s by Wu Cheng'en (1500-82).

This lively fantasy relates the amazing adventures of the priest Xuanzang as he travels west in search of Buddhist sutras with his three disciples, the irreverent and capable Monkey, greedy Pig, and Friar Sand. The opening chapters recount the earlier exploits of Monkey, culminating in his rebellion against Heaven. We then learn how Xuanzang became a monk and was sent on his pilgrimage by the Tang emperor who had escaped death with the help of an Underworld official. The main story, the journey, takes the priest through all kinds of entertaining trials and tribulations, mainly at the hands of monsters and spirits who want to eat him. Most, like the ferocious Red Boy, want to devour him. Some, such as the scorpion spirit of Pipa Cave, take the form of beautiful women in the hope of seducing him. Only the courage and powers of his disciples, especially Monkey, save him from death. Monkey has to use all his connections in the supernatural world to find the help that will enable him to defeat these and other formidable enemies, such as the Bull Demon King and Princess iron Fan, or the imitation Monkey who is indistinguishable from himself. On the last part of the journey the demons come in as wide a range of shapes and kinds as ever. Among them are spider-women who spin webs from their navels, a pride of lion monsters and a terrible female spirit who carries the Tang Priest down into her bottomless cave to marry him. These and all the other fiends test to the very limit Monkey's ingenuity, supernatural powers and connections throughout the universe. Monkey is the hero of the fantasy, and the reader will soon learn why he has long been so loved in China. Will the pilgrims reach the Vulture Peak and obtain the scriptures? The answer will only be found at the end of the 100-chapter novel.

The story is as full of imagination as Monkey is of magic, and packed with incident and down-to-earth humor. The illustrations are from 19th-century Chinese edition.

The Chinese version source text of this novel is from http://www.shuku.net :8082/novels/xiyouji/xiyouji.html, accessed on 2007-04-23. The character encoding has been converted to utf-8 and the HTML code has been completely redone.

For more info about this novel, see: Journey to the West↗ or 西游记↗.

Chinese Classic TVPlays Video-《Journey to the West》 EP.2

2007-04-23T07:10:00.000-07:00

Segment 1 of Epsode 2.《Monkey King as an official of horse management》

Segment 2 of Epsode 2.《Monkey King as an official of horse management》

Chinese Classic TVPlays Video-《Story of a Journey to the West》

2007-04-22T07:36:00.000-07:00

This is the first video of this blog:
I show you one of the most famous tvplays in China even in Chinese people's community.
It's 《Story of a Journey to the West or The Pilgriage to the West》。
Segment 1 of Epsode 1:《The Monkey King's Birth》

Segment 2 of Epsode 1:《The Monkey King's Birth》

These videos are from http://v.iask.com. It's one of the most famous search engines in China.I wish you like it. And I will continue to publish many other classic videos here.