January 31, 2011

All over Hong Kong people are getting prepared for Chinese New Year, the festival being the most important one for the Chinese. It is the time for family reunion. The time to wear red and yellow. The time to be generous with red packets, flowers and sweets. The time to appreciate happiness and health and wish everybody prosperity with Kung Hei Fat Choi.

Part of the celebration, so it seems to me, is watching the annual CCTV New Year Gala broadcast on the eve of the Chinese New Year. The Gala features well-known performers and the programme includes drama, song, dance and the typical Chinese xiangsheng (Stand-up Comedy). Some find the programme cliche or outdated, but in fact many of the acts do in a way represent Chinese culture.

Apart from the family gatherings, there are many events held in Hong Kong to celebrate the incoming Year of the Rabbit. There are the traditional flower markets which can be found in fourteen parks and playgrounds all over the territory, probably the most popular at Victoria Park in Causeway Bay. Then there is the fireworks display at Victoria Harbour between Wan Chai and Tsim Sha Tsui at 8 pm on 4 February 2011. There are also flower parades and lantern carnivals. More details, see the website of the Hong Kong Tourism Board. Happy New Year!

Written by: Audrey

January 26, 2011

For one of my upcoming classes I was rereading Lu Xun’s short story ‘New Year’s Sacrifice’. A very unsettling story. But it does describe the Chinese New Year’s rituals and taboos. And it does show the skills of the author. The story—in which a poor widow tries to make a living but eventually is driven to suicide—is said to show the failure of traditional Confucian values, and at the same time it shows that the narrator—educated in modern western thought—was unable to offer any help.

As Julia Lovell indicates in the introduction to her translation of Lu Xun’s complete fiction: ‘In his movement between irony, despair and hope, and with his talent for diagnosis but refusal to prescribe, he engineered a meditation on the ethics of reading and writing—and laid bare the dilemmas of China’s modern literature.’ (xxv)

It seems to me that many of the Chinese customs still apply but people nowadays are much more aware of their cultural heritage and don’t necessarily look at traditional values as something negative. Either way, it is important to read these works and I am definitely planning to reread some more of Lu Xun’s stories over the Chinese New Year break.

Written by: Audrey

January 11, 2011

Last week I read an announcement of the play The Empress of China. The play, which is not about the imperial family and court activities, recaptures the story of an American vessel which set sail for China on 22 February 1784, the birthday of the first American President George Washington (1732-1799).

The description on the website of the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre explains: ‘This play is based on the first voyage of The Empress of China. Blending significant historical figures and fictional characters, it examines the initial encounter of two peoples of drastically diverse experience and exceedingly different ways of looking at themselves and at the world, with their hopes and aspirations, good will and wariness, misconceptions and biases, miscommunication and frustrations, but always with mutual fascination and admiration that continue to this very day. In the forbidden encounter between the dashing Supercargo of The Empress of China, Samuel Shaw (played by New York guest actor Andrei Drooz), and the young beautiful Purple Lotus, daughter of a rich Chinese merchant (played by HKRep actress Lin Xiawei), a common language was found in their belief in trust, honor and integrity.’

A total of fifteen performances are scheduled for the period 15-30 January 2011 (evening and matinee) at the Hong Kong City Hall Theatre. Tickets are available from Urbtix. For more information please visit www.hkrep.com of the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre.

Written by: Audrey

January 5, 2011

The opening ceremony of the exhibition ‘Everlasting Splendor of the Chinese Brushes: The Recent Works of Zhang Sen’ will be held on Wednesday 12 January 2011. The artist Mr Zhang Sen, Mr Che Pengfei (Vice-president of the Shanghai Chinese Painting Academy), Mr Chan Mong-biu (Chairman of the Hong Kong Calligraphers Association) and Professor Cheng Pei-kai (Director of the Chinese Civilisation Centre) will officiate at the opening.

Zhang Sen is a renowned Chinese calligrapher, ‘one of China’s leading Neo-Classical calligraphers. The elegant rhythms and balances of his brushwork and the magic quality of the poetry he quotes have made his work very popular in China. Besides being a professor at the Shanghai Institute of Chinese Painting, he is also a leading member of the Chinese Calligraphers Association.’

The exhibition will run from 13 January to 13 February 2011 (closed 3-5 February) at the CityU Gallery, 6/F Amenities Building, City University of Hong Kong.

Written by: Audrey