本科毕业论文-浅谈苏轼诗词中的亲情美.doc

浅谈苏轼诗词中的亲情美 摘要：苏轼的词作中既有震古烁今的豪情篇，也有表现内心感情的亲情篇。在令人荡气回肠的亲情诗词中，无论是含蓄蕴籍，还是自然流露，都贯穿苏轼的真性情。这决不是匠人式的刻画与雕琢，而是一种常人不及的天才流露与真情外化。也正是这亲情美，让我们看到男人的儒雅大气，重情重义，看到了一个全方位的有血有肉的苏轼形象；也正是这亲情美，才使苏轼的诗词具有了鲜活的生命力和强烈的艺术感染力，成为我们广大人民群众当中须臾不可分离的丰厚的文化养料，像我们的血液一样，每天都流淌在我们的情感当中。 关键词：苏轼诗词 亲情 夫妻情 手足情 爱子情 正文： 注重写亲情是中国古典诗词的一大特点，“发乎情，止于礼”贯穿了中国诗词创作的始终，旷世奇才的宋代大词人苏轼更是其中的代表。当我们眺望长江时，会禁不住唱出“大江东去，浪淘尽，千古风流人物”；当我们有不如意的事情时，会用“回首向来萧瑟处，归去，也无风雨也无情”来安慰自己；当我们走近庐山时，会禁不住的说出“不识庐山真面目，只缘身在此山中”；苏轼在仕途上跌宕起伏的人生经历，使我们知道他在官场上很不得志，三次遭贬，导致他悲剧的一生，但正是这潮起潮落的政治生涯，才赋予了他非凡的艺术成就，给我们留下了两千七百多首诗词。这些词作既有震古烁今的豪情篇，也有表现内心感情的真情篇，在这些令人荡气回肠的亲情诗词中，无论是含蓄蕴籍，还是自然流露，都贯穿苏轼的真性情。这决不是匠人式的刻画与雕琢，而是一种常人不及的天才流露与真情外化。也正是这亲情美，让我们看到男人的儒雅大气，重情重义，看到了一个全方位的有血有肉的苏轼形象；也正是这亲情美，才使苏轼的诗词具有了鲜活的生命力和强烈的艺术感染力，成为我们广大人民群众当中须臾不可分离的丰厚的文化养料，像我们的血液一样，每天都流淌在我们的情感当中。 一、夫妻之情，相濡以沫。 苏轼的第一位夫人叫五王弗，十五岁便嫁给了十八岁的苏轼。在多年的生活中，王弗曾经陪伴苏轼红袖添香，熬过了寒窗苦读的寂寞，也曾经经历了苏轼春风得意、感受金榜题名的风光，他们同甘共苦、相濡以沫，不仅仅是一对少年夫妻，更是一对共同成长的伴侣。然而，人生无常，世事难料，由于身体抱病，王弗不幸于北宋英宗治平二年病逝于京城开封，年仅二十六岁。根据苏轼给王弗所做的亡妻王氏墓志铭中的记载，苏轼对王弗的评价很高，主要有两点，第一是说他夫人“敏而静”，第二是“有识”。在苏轼四十多岁的时候，他已经历尽了宦海的风波，有一天晚上他作梦，梦见他的第一位妻子王弗，非常好地感伤，写下了著名的悼亡词江城子： 十年生死两茫茫，不思量，自难忘。千里孤坟，无处话凄凉。纵使相逢应不识，尘满面，鬓如霜。 夜来幽梦忽还乡，小轩窗，正梳妆。相顾无言，惟有泪千行。料得年年肠断处，明月夜，短松冈。 十年的阴阳隔绝，都没能够断绝苏轼对他第一位妻子的深情厚谊。“十年生死两茫茫，不思量，自难忘。千里孤坟，无处话凄凉”，夫人远葬在眉山老家，再也无法跟他相见，多么地凄凉。而他自己现在要找一个可心的人、知心的人，把现在心中的苦闷讲给他听，没有了。这个时候如果他跟夫人见面，他已经变了样子了，再也不是十年前那个翩翩少年，而是一个尘满面、鬓微霜的中年人。这些年的宦海的风波、仕途上的种种的不顺利和坎坷，都一次又一次地使苏轼想起妻子是多么地宝贵。所以在晚上做梦的时候，梦到了他的妻子。永远地留在他脑海当中的，就是那小轩窗、正梳妆的妙龄的妻子，“相顾无言，惟有泪千行”，见了面之后，不知道该说些什么，只有不停地哭，不停地哭，为什么呀？千言万语说不出这些年互相之间的彼此思念。“料得年年肠断处，明月夜，短松冈。”当明月再一次地照到那一片松林的时候，照到了你的坟茔之上的时候，我禁不住再一次流下了眼泪。 苏轼的第二夫人叫王闰之，是王弗的堂妹，比苏轼小十一岁，二十岁那年嫁给了苏轼。她去世的时候只有四十六岁，苏轼在给她写的墓志铭里边对她有两个评价，一是妇职既修，母仪甚敦，三子如一，爱出于天”；二是“得失如一，随遇而安”。王闰之跟她堂姐的性格完全不一样，她没有堂姐那么聪敏、智慧、精明，但她非常温柔、体贴，她是苏轼在文学生活中最活跃时期的伴侣，一度让苏轼快乐依赖。在别徐州时，苏轼写过一首诗江城子表达了他对闰之的思念之情。 天涯流落思无穷！既相逢，却匆匆。携手佳人，和泪折残红。为问东风余几许？春纵在，与谁同！ 隋堤三月水溶溶。背归鸿，去吴中。回首彭城，清泗与淮通。欲寄相思千点泪，流不到，楚江东。此词作于元丰二年（1079）三月苏轼由徐调知湖州途中。词中化用李商隐无题诗中“相见时难别亦难，东风无力百花残。春蚕到死丝方尽，蜡炬成灰泪始干”句意，将积郁的愁思注入即事即地的景物之中，抒发了作者对徐州风物人情无限留恋之情，并在离愁别绪中融入了深沉的身世之感。别恨是全词主旨，上片写别时情景，下片想象别后境况。在王闰之过生日之际，苏轼放生鱼为她资福，并作蝶恋花纪事：泛泛东风初破五。 江柳微黄，万万千千缕。 佳气郁葱来绣户， 当年江上生奇女。 一盏寿觞谁与举。 三个明珠，膝上王文度。 放尽穷鳞看圉圉， 天公为下曼陀雨。词中“三个明珠，膝上王文度”，是赞美她对三个儿子都一视同仁，疼爱不分彼此。王闰之和王弗的家乡都是眉州青神，那里江山秀美，岷江穿境而过。在漫天曼陀花雨中，山岭青翠，碧水孱湲，佳气葱郁，生于江畔人家的王闰之，在苏轼眼里，就是世界上最美丽的女子。在苏轼的情感生活里，还有一人也很重要，就是他的侍妾朝云，朝云比苏轼小二十五岁。苏轼关于朝云留下来的文字，是最多的，纪念朝云的文字也是最多的。苏轼给朝云的评价，一个叫做“敏而好义”，一个叫做“忠敬如一”。朝云让苏轼的人生充满也浪漫，给苏轼精神上的理解和愉悦。“不合时宜，唯朝云能识我；独弹古调，每逢暮雨，更思卿。”朝云一直陪苏轼宦海沉浮，在朝云身怀六甲时，苏轼欣喜之余写下了一首蝶恋花：玉枕冰寒消暑气。碧簟纱厨，向午朦胧睡。莺舌惺忪如会意，无端画扇惊飞起。雨后初凉生水际。人面桃花，的的遥相似。眼看红芳犹抱蕊，丛中已结新莲子。朝云与东坡相知之深，一举手、一投足，都可知道对方的用意，东坡所写的诗词，哪怕轻描淡写地涉及往事，也会引起朝云的感伤。最典型的，就是苏轼在岭南所写的蝶恋花：花褪残红青杏小。燕子飞时，绿水人家绕。枝上柳绵吹又少，天涯何处无芳草！墙里秋千墙外道。墙外行人，墙里佳人笑。笑渐不闻声渐悄，多情却被无情恼。据说苏轼写了这首词后，请朝云唱，朝云还没开始唱就泪流满面，说“奴所不能歌者，惟枝上柳绵吹又少，天涯何处无芳草二句”。这首词透露出的对生命的、深刻的、一种无常的感觉，触动了朝云的心思，让她感觉到自己的生命、包括自己和苏轼都将是生命中的一个过客，因此她不愿意唱。她觉得唱这个东西好像是唱自己的哀歌一样，没过多久朝云就去世了。去世以后，苏轼在写给她的祭文里边，没有一句话表达出来男女之间那样一种非常柔情的、非常思念的儿女情长的话，而是写得更象是给一个同道者、给一个知己、给一个朋友的祭文，这非常充分地说明了朝云在苏轼心目当中的一个重要的位置和独特的位置。苏轼生命中的三位女子，各个不同却又个个精彩，正因为她们对苏轼的爱，苏轼才得以成为我们今天所推崇的苏东坡。二、手足之情，相知相勉。苏洵实际上香生过三男三女，苏轼是老五，苏辙是老六，苏轼前面的哥哥姐姐早年都去世了，因此，苏轼拥有了唯一一个母同胞，就是他的弟弟苏辙。据不完全统计，苏轼、苏辙兄弟相互间往来的诗词多达200多首。苏辙在东坡先生墓志铭中写到：“抚我则兄，诲我则师”。苏轼说苏辙：“岂独为吾弟，要是贤友生。”苏轼兄弟二人从小生活在一起，从没一日分离过，“手脚之爱，平生一人，幼而无师，受业先君。兄敏我愚，赖以有闻。寒暑相从，逮壮而分”。苏轼与苏辙兄弟的手中之情，与他们在文学上的成就一样，永远是历史长卷中璀璨的华章。苏轼将这种患难与共、肝胆相照、并肩携手的手中之情，融入到自己的创作之中，一首首，贯发着充沛真情实感的、发自肺腑的抒写兄弟亲情的词便如汩汩清泉喷涌而出。这些词与当时笼罩在文坛的艳科词比起来，不管在思想上，还是艺术上，都给人以耳目一新的感觉。著名的满江红：清颍东流，愁目断、孤帆明灭。宦游处，青山白浪，万重千叠。孤负当年林下意，对床夜雨听萧瑟。恨此生、长向别离中，添华发。一尊酒，黄河侧。无限事，从头说。相看恍如昨，许多年月。衣上旧痕余苦泪，眉间喜气添黄色。便与君、池上觅残春，花如雪。这首词的内容是，清澈的颍水向东流淌，我满怀愁绪地看着江上若隐若现的孤帆远去。在这凄清的贬谪之地，青山之下白浪飞翻，你我万里相隔实难望见。想到就这样白白辜负当年的归隐之约，如今卧床听雨也是这般萧瑟。唉！深憾此生总与你匆匆相别，这种无奈的感觉不禁让我白发虚增。我在这黄河岸边祭下一樽美酒，将你我那无尽的过往从头细数。你我二人那日相见恍若眼前，但在不知不觉间却已过去了悠悠岁月。我衣襟上愁苦的泪痕隐约还在，但眉间喜气却已暗示你我重逢在即。待到重逢日，我定要和你同游池上，到如雪落花中寻觅春天的痕迹。苏轼苏辙兄弟走上仕途之后，是天各一方，聚少离多。公元1074年，三十九岁的苏轼在结束了杭州通判的任期之后，为了能够和在济南做官的弟弟离得近一点，以便两个人能够经常见面，便主动向朝廷申请到山东密州做官。苏轼到密州后做了知州，中秋节到了，他想跟苏辙见面，就绕道济南去看他的弟弟。没想到冬天的时候，航道被封了，在后来的岁月里边因为彼此之间公务都很繁忙，一直没有机会见面。所以当宋神宗熙宁九年这个中秋节到来的时候，苏轼想起五年没有见面的弟弟，民中非常地感慨，喝了许多酒，写下了一首千古名篇水调歌头 中秋：明月几时有?把酒问青天。不知天上宫阙，今夕是何年。我欲乘风归去，又恐琼楼玉宇，高处不胜寒。起舞弄清影，何似在人间! 转朱阁，低绮户，照无眠。不应有恨，何事长向别时圆?人有悲欢离合，月有阴晴圆缺，此事古难全。但愿人长久，千里共婵娟。这首词立意高远、情理具佳、构思新颖、意境清新如画，以明月为线索，处处咏月，同时也处处在抒发人的主观感情，生发人生感慨，对人生宇宙哲理的深深思考，贯穿着情感与理智的矛盾，特别是词的下片怀念亲人，抒写的是亲人无由相会的怨恨愁情。“不应有恨，何事偏向别时圆。”这句话借问月写出词人满心的凄凉。月亮啊，你不应有什么怨恨吧，为什么总是在人们骨肉分离之时，用你团圆的光辉来牵动人们的愁肠呢？谁应有恨？词人自己。恨什么？恨人生不得志，恨月圆人不圆！中秋月夜，词人独在异乡，仕途失意，痛饮达旦，一夜无眠。满怀愁情苦绪，问月话凄凉。一句“不应有恨”，含不尽之意，见于言外。宋神宗熙宁十年，也就是苏轼写了水调歌头 中秋的第二年，苏辙也写了一首水调歌头 徐州中秋来回赠其兄。当时苏轼出任徐州知府，四月离家赴任，苏辙与之同行，并在徐州停留百余日，临别之际，适逢中秋佳节，他们一同泛舟赏月，苏辙就写了水调歌头 徐州中秋来告别其兄。苏轼读了，也即席写了一首同调和韵之作水调歌头 安石在东海，序中写到： 余去岁在东武，作水调歌头以寄子由。今年子由相从彭门居百余日，过中秋而去，作此曲以别。余以其语过悲，乃为和之，其意以不早退为戒，以退而相从之乐为慰云耳。这首词写道： 安石在东海，从事鬓惊秋。中年亲友难别，丝竹缓离愁。一旦功成名遂，准拟东还海道，扶病入西州。雅志困轩冕，遗恨寄沧洲。岁云暮，须早计，要褐裘。故乡归去千里，佳处辄迟留。我醉歌时君和，醉倒须君扶我，惟酒可忘忧。一任刘玄德，相对卧高楼。该词上阙借谢安事，作为不及时引退的鉴戒;下阙设想兄弟二人退而相从之乐，以安慰苏辙，尤其我醉歌时君和，醉倒须君扶我两句，温情脉脉，又让人忍俊不住。苏辙仿佛已经看到两兄弟相互扶持在路上走得东倒西歪了，不禁一扫离愁，绝尘而去。在苏轼第三次遭贬官，被贬到位于海南的儋州，而苏辙也因为哥而牵连被贬雷州，东坡居海南，子由居雷州，正是一南一北，隔海相望。苏轼在这个时候写下了著名的西江月：世事一场大梦，人生几度秋凉？夜来风叶已鸣廊，看取眉头鬓上。酒贱常愁客少，月明多被云妨。中秋谁与共孤光，把盏凄凉北望。此词反映了作者谪居后的苦闷心情，词调较为低沉、哀惋，充满了人生空幻的深沉喟叹。上片写感伤，寓情于景，咏人生之短促，叹壮志之难酬;下片写悲愤，借景抒情，感世道之险恶，悲人生之寥落。全词以景寓情，情景交融，通过对新凉风叶、孤光明月等景物的描写，将吟咏节序与感慨身世、抒发悲情紧密结合起来，由秋思及人生，触景生情，感慨悲歌，情真意切，令人回味无穷。在中国古代的作家中，正是由于有了苏轼和苏辙兄弟，才使得中国的文学史上出现了耀眼和光彩的一段；也正是因为有了这两个人，我们才真切体会到患难知己、休戚与共的真正含义，才明白什么叫做最为真实的、真诚的人心，他们两个人就像两盏明灯，永远照亮着我们未来的路途，照亮着我们每个人的人心。三、爱子之情，堪比海深。苏轼一生，共有四个儿子，老大苏迈，是苏轼二十四岁时王弗所生；老二苏迨，是苏轼三十五岁时王闰之所生；老三苏过，是苏轼三十七岁时王闰之所生；老四苏遁，是苏轼四十九岁时待妾朝云所生。可第四个儿子在半岁时就夭亡了。苏轼对待三个儿子在教育方面有个总的原则，这个总的原则是基于自己自身的教训而提出来的。在洗儿一诗中写到：人皆养子望聪明，我被聪明误一生。惟愿孩儿愚且鲁，无灾无难到公卿。正是因为苏轼希望他的孩子慢慢的、笨笨的、不要显示出聪明来，无病无灾地长大成人，所以在他被贬惠州、儋州的时候，都不希望连累孩子。尽管苏轼这一辈子遭受了很多很多的苦难，但他从不愿意让这种苦难让自己的儿子来分担，反而尽可能减轻儿子的痛苦。老大苏迈很淳朴、很治实，不是那么聪明，但是都干的是实事，苏轼对他的评价是“天资朴鲁”。在苏轼的天石砚铭（并叙中记载了这样一个故事：苏轼12岁时，一天与几位小朋友在自家纺织后院的空地上挖地做游戏。挖着，挖着，他们忽然挖到一块奇异的石头。苏轼拿起来一看，形状像一条鱼，肤色温润，呈浅绿色。小朋友翻来翻去，发现表里均有星星点点银色的细花纹，用手敲敲，石头竟能然发出铿锵悦耳的声音，大家惊呼，高兴极了。一会儿，小朋友们赶快拥到屋子里，把这一惊奇的发现立即报告了苏轼的父亲苏洵。苏洵拈量着孩子们挖到的石头，又仔细审视着，心想，这块怎么好的砚石不知埋藏在地下多少年，沒被人发现，今日被苏轼他们所得，也许是一段奇綠。苏轼试着把它作砚台来写字，很能发墨，可惜沒有储水的地方。苏洵的心中也激起阵阵浪花，他说:“这是一方天砚啊!凡是好的石材，不在乎外形怎么样！”随后苏洵就把这块砚石它送给了苏轼，并在后来在这块石砚上雕刻了砚池，并做了盒子。苏轼得到这块砚头，也认为这是文字吉祥的象征。于是，把它当成宝贝来使用，并在上面刻上铭文说:“既然我接受了上天的赐予，今后不可以使其易主。物品或內者品德好，或许外形好，这两者我要取其砚台物品的德行。苏轼由这块砚石还联想到做人的道理:一个人要像这块砚石一样，注意内修自已的品德，不要仰人鼻息，跪人脚下。苏轼不仅把这个块石砚也成了苏东坡家的传家宝，而且让其精神代代相传。苏轼的大儿子苏迈二十四岁时，被朝廷任命为饶州德兴县县尉。这是苏迈第一次赴任，苏轼与儿子苏迈在江西湖口分别。临行，苏轼赠送一方砚给苏迈，砚底刻有铭文两句“以此进道常若渴，以此求进常若惊。以此治财常思予，以此书狱常思生。”意思是，用他来学习圣贤的道理要如饥似渴；用他来习写文章，要不停地进步，时出新意令人吃惊；用他来记录和治理财务要时常想着给予他人；用他来书写狱讼公文要时时想着放人生路。这是苏轼对即将赴任的儿子的勉励。苏迈也未负父亲的厚望，康熙版德兴县志载其“文学优赡，政事精敏，鞭朴不得已而加之，民不忍欺，后人仰之”。德兴旧志将苏迈列入名宦之列，宋时造有苏堂，以示对苏迈的怀念。老二苏迨，从小发育有点慢，到四岁时还不会跑。苏轼请了和尚为苏迨落发摩顶，一落发摩顶，这了孩子立刻跑得跟别的孩子一样快了。后来娶了欧阳修的孙女为妻，两家是世交。苏轼曾写过将至广州用过韵寄迈迨二子：皇天遣出家，临老乃学道。北归为儿子，破戒堪一笑。披云见天眼，回首失海潦。蛮唱与黎歌，余音犹杳杳。大儿牧众稚，四岁守孤峤。次子病学医，三折乃粗晓。小儿耕且养，得暇为书绕。我亦困诗酒，去道愈茫渺。纷纷何时定，所至皆可老。莫学柳仪曹，诗书教氓獠。亦莫事登陟，溪山有何好。安居与我游，闭户净洒扫。苏轼最喜欢的是老三苏过，这个孩子性情最像苏轼，外号叫小坡。因为苏过后来是唯一陪伴苏轼在海南度过了那几年最艰苦的生活，所以苏轼对这个最小的儿子最感情，苏轼对过有三个方面的教育，一是人格修养，二是学业文章，最后一个是办事能力。元丰六年，二十一岁的朝云为苏轼生下了一个儿子，这孩子眉眼和额角看上去很像苏轼，令苏轼非常高兴。给儿子起了个名字叫苏遁，“遁”是远离政治旋涡、消遁、归隐的意思，这名字包含着对儿子的诸多美好祝愿。可后来，这个儿子在苏轼赴京西上任的船上中暑夭亡。苏轼痛苦地写了去岁九月二十七日在黄州生子名遁小名干儿颀：吾年四十九，羁旅失幼子。幼子真吾儿，眉角生已似。未期观所好，蹁跹逐书史。摇头却梨栗，似识非分耻。吾老常鲜欢，赖此一笑喜。忽然遭夺去，恶业我累尔。衣薪那免俗，变灭须臾耳。归来怀抱空，老泪如泻水。我泪犹可拭，日远当日忘。母哭不可闻，欲与汝俱亡。故衣尚悬架，涨乳已流床。感此欲忘生，一卧终日僵。中年忝闻道，梦幻讲已详。储药如丘山，临病更求方。仍将恩爱刃，割此衰老肠。知迷欲自反，一恸送余伤。从这首诗中，可以看出东坡对儿子的喜爱：看到孩子对他的诗书感兴趣，便以为他将来又是块读书的料；孩子摇头不要梨果，即认为是像孔融那样懂得仁让之礼。仕途多绛的苏轼在年近半百时，添了这个儿子，让他郁郁寡欢的心得到了莫大的慰藉，可是刚半岁，爱子就意外夭亡，让苏轼陷入极度悲恸之中。苏轼也为此深深地自责，甚至认为儿子之死，是受到自己的连累。苏轼的悲痛已近极至，朝云的哀伤更是可想而知，正如诗中写的“我泪犹可拭，日远当日忘。母哭不可闻，欲与汝俱亡。故衣尚悬架，涨乳已流床”。这诗句让人哀毁，写下了人生的苦难，也写出了苏轼与朝云相知相慰的恩爱，十七后，苏轼也在七月二十八日仙逝，他与儿子苏遁共担着一个忌日。一千年来，中国历代许许多多的人热爱苏轼，这与苏轼的为人，情至深，义至重是分不开的，特别是为丈夫、为兄长、为父亲，他都有一份诚挚的关爱之心，无情则不能成文，也正是亲情成就了苏轼词作的巨大魅力。参考书目：1、宋词鉴赏辞典主编：贺新辉2、苏东坡传作者：林语堂3、东坡选集主编：徐永年、曹慕樊4、东坡诗选注您好，为你提供优秀的毕业论文参考资料，请您删除以下内容，O(_)O谢谢！A large group of tea merchants on camels and horses from Northwest Chinas Shaanxi province pass through a stop on the ancient Silk Road, Gansus Zhangye city during their journey to Kazakhstan, May 5, 2015. The caravan, consisting of more than 100 camels, three horse-drawn carriages and four support vehicles, started the trip from Jingyang county in Shaanxi on Sept 19, 2014. It will pass through Gansu province and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, and finally arrive in Almaty, formerly known as Alma-Ata, the largest city in Kazakhstan, and Dungan in Zhambyl province. The trip will cover about 15,000 kilometers and take the caravan more than one year to complete. The caravan is expected to return to Jingyang in March 2016. Then they will come back, carrying specialty products from Kazakhstan A small art troupe founded six decades ago has grown into a household name in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region. In the 1950s, Ulan Muqir Art Troupe was created by nine young musicians, who toured remote villages on horses and performed traditional Mongolian music and dances for nomadic families. The 54-year-old was born in Tongliao, in eastern Inner Mongolia and joined the troupe in 1975.He says there are 74 branch troupes across Inner Mongolia and actors give around 100 shows every year to local nomadic people. I can still recall the days when I toured with the troupe in the early 80s. We sat on the back of pickup trucks for hours. The sky was blue, and we couldnt help but sing the folk songs, Nasun says. The vastness of Inner Mongolia and the lack of entertainment options for people living there, made their lives lonely. The nomadic people were very excited about our visits, Nasun recalls. We didnt have a formal stage. The audience just sat on the grass. Usually, the performances became a big party with local people joining in. For him, the rewarding part about touring isnt just about sharing art with nomadic families but also about gaining inspiration for the music and dance. Ulan Muqir literally translates as red burgeon, and todays performers of the troupe still tour the regions villages and entertain nomadic families, but their fame has spread around the world. On May 16 and 17, nearly 100 singers and dancers from the troupe performed at Beijings Poly Theater. Their show, titled Ulan Muqir on the Grassland, depicted the history and development of the art troupe. Being from the region allowed me to embrace the culture of Inner Mongolia and being a member of the troupe showed me where I belonged, Nasun, the art troupes president, who is also a renowned tenor, tells China Daily. During a tour in 1985, he went to a village and met an elderly local man, who told him a story about his friendship with a solider from Shenyang, capital of Northeast Chinas Liaoning province, decades ago. The solider gave the old man a handmade saddle when they bid farewell. The story inspired Nasun to write Carved Saddle, a song that later became one of his most popular numbers. Now, every year, Nasun recruits young singers and dancers for the troupe. The troupe has also designed a new repertoire, which is mostly based on the daily lives of Mongolian people, especially the lives of nomadic families, and has combined contemporary musical elements with folk songs of the region. Haimu, a 25-year-old khoomei (a local variant of overtone singing) singer, joined the troupe three years ago. Along with a six-member band, he performs fast songs and soft ones that he writesall while playing the horse-head fiddle.Although I learned the piano since childhood and grew up listening to various kinds of music, to me, the folk music of Inner Mongolia is the root, he says. Performing in remote villages is pleasant. I feel at home on the boundless grasslands, and the warm people there make me feel fulfilled. The first round of spring auction season in Beijing ended last week, but it failed to create much spring in the art market. Although two pieces of Chinese painting fetched more than 100 million yuan, the decline in trading volume and sale rate showed a downturn this year. In the “Grand View: Chinese Painting Highlight” session at China Guardian 2015 spring auctions, Pan Tianshous representative work Eagle, Rock and Flora hit a record auction price of 279 million yuan, while Li Kerans masterwork Jinggang Mountain fetched 126.5 million yuan, an unexpected high in recent years. However, the trading volume fells to 1.87 billion yuan from 2.22 billion yuan in the same period the year before. The Huangchen 2015 Spring Auctions, which recorded 42.5 million yuan in total sales, experienced the same. The section number went down to 5 from 12 compared to last year. According to expert Shao Jianwu, the art market did not attract much excitement this year due to the booming stock market and the persistent problems of forgery and fake deals. The two pieces of Chinese painting notched up high price this spring due to their own value not due to a revival in the market. The successful transaction of two works with a hammer price of more than 100 million yuan once again confirms that valuable and rare works of high quality always earn the long-lasting high price. Chinese painting and calligraphy is still the pillar of the market. However, the overall sales rate has dropped slightly, which reflects the demand for the ordinary auction goods has weakened,” said the president of China Guardians Hu Yanyan. Besides, the entry of new buyers also makes certain changes to the direction of purchasing. In a word, the overall market trend is very unpredictable. Although China Guardian 2015 Spring Auctions has achieved remarkable results, it does not mean that the market has walked out of the predicament. We still have to wait for the big economic boom to invigorate the art market.” Even so, the hot pursuit of some special items appeared this spring. A special session of China Guardian Spring Auctions titled “Fine GiltBronze Buddhist Images” achieved a great deal with total sales volume of 41.89 million yuan and 92 percent sale rate. The 5th Shamar Rinpoche Statue from 16-17th century of Tibet was sold for 5.06 million yuan. The Beijing Chengxuan Auctions featured almost 2,800 items of coins and stamps in three sessions with good sale rate. The Huachen Auctions also set a special session of photographs under the condition of large-scale decline of auction sessions. There was a palpable dull thud of disappointment that accompanied the return of the imperial entourage of Zhen Huan to her homeland. It followed a couple years of hushed excitement as Chinese fans were fed tidbits about their proud concubine who was supposed to conquer the high ground of the North American market. Zhen Huan is, of course, the title character of The Legend of Zhen Huan, a 2011 television series that swept China off its feet and later took other Asian countries by storm. Two years ago, it was reported that HBO, a premium cable service headquartered in the United States, was going to air it in North America after some modification. Now, a condensed version that provides English subtitles but no dubbing has finally been made available on Netflix for online streaming. This version, highly anticipated as a milestone in Chinas cultural foray overseas, has been widely panned by its home audience. Retitled Empresses in the Palace, the American version has been shortened from its original 76 episodes at 45 minutes each, to six 90-minute episodes. The quick pacing threw off many native viewers, who are accustomed to a more leisurely daytime-soap-style narrative rhythm. (Chinese TV stations would run two or three episodes every day.) I did not finish the full-length version and found the truncated one not difficult to follow. Whats lost, I believe, are the interesting setups and pauses that illuminate the Chinese art of storytelling. Much of the plot is still there. It is the flavor that was sacrificed. The American edition uses the framework of the Empress Dowager in her senior years reminiscing at the beginning and the end of each episode, hinting at whats to come and recapping the key points. This device, not used in the original, is culturally understandable but artistically mediocre. What puzzles me is the two new songs for the opening and end credits. They were written in English, but sung by Chinese with an uncomfortable accent. They were obviously designed to appeal to an English-speaking base, but do not jibe with the Chinese dialogue. Speaking of the dialogue, the English translation, picked apart by some Chinese, is too literal for my taste. I can imagine a typical American hit by a flurry of royal ranks, addresses and greetings, even multiple names and titles for the same person. The first half hour must be a swamp to wade through, very much like my experience of getting through a Tolstoy tome with its endless inflections of names transliterated into lengthy Chinese. I see the choice of verbatim translation as an effort for conveying exotica. It is fairly competent, with no error that I could detect, but fails to rise above words or capture the essence of the language. A cultural product usually crosses over to a foreign territory first by an emphasis on the commonalities. But whether inside or outside China, the temptation to sell it for the differences is just too great. Sure, the sumptuous sets and costumes are a big attraction, but the narrative technique has becomehow shall I put it?a bit anglicized, which is necessary for cultural export. Judging by the responses, this legend, which, contrary to the claim of the English trailer, is totally fictitious, has departed from China but not yet landed on American shores. I am a big fan of Ralph Waldo Emersons essay titled Self-Reliance. If youve not yet read it, I strongly encourage you to do so. In this essay, the venerable Emerson talks about eschewing the trappings of society and finding ones own path. He urges the reader to find rectitude and lead a moral life. He professes that, only by being self reliant, as opposed to relying on the government and b