Having been cold for two days, maybe girls in illness are very fragile-hearted, I am very down recently!

    Finally, today I have the courage of writing down this article about the new TV version of Dreams of the Red Chamber, directed by Li Shaohong. Ever since it has been broadcast on PPS, I began to follow it almost every day, except days without access to the Internet. Although being criticised very heavily by some media, I still have to say, I am in favor of this version.

    The first time I contacted this masterpiece was more than ten years ago, when I saw the 1987 TV version, and I suddenly had a crush on it. I can still remember when I saw the scene with Blue Ridge Peak in the Baseless Cliff of Great Waste Mountain, matching the touching, melodious music, I was deeply moved and attracted!

    Then the book. Having read it for about tive times, I remain taking this great works as a pure love story, leaving alone the struggle between the aristocratic families, the declines and falls of typical Chinese feudal family through a couple of young lovers and many girls' tragic life. Although having seen some programmes about the exposition of what behind their history, yet I don't think I am that kind of guy who have interest in those more professional knowledge, which may ruin my mood of appreciating the purity of their love. I love the language Mr. Cao uses and the dialogues he writes. But I don't know how to express my feelings about this masterpiece in English precisely.

    Yesterday, I finished the 42~45 episodes, which happened to be the plot of The Death of Lin Daiyu, and I almost cried to death. The strong contrast between the "happy" wedding of Baoyu & Baochai and the dying of Daiyu touches me so much. What surprises me a lot is that those young actors and actresses performs very well, and their personalities are perfectly submerged into the characters they play, in spite that some people think they are not as good as the actors and actresses of the 87 version. Although many people don't like the version of last 40 episodes which is said to be written by Gao' E, I still want to applause to their performance.

    As for the incidental music, which draws the inspiration from Kunqu Opera, I think it is acceptable and get used to it after a few episodes. However, I have to admit that, adding the heavy metal music or the occasional smile of a female is indeed not that appropriate. And the Song of the Burial of Flowers composed by Wang Liping for the 87 version is definitely a classic, which hasn't been surpassed by now and will not be surpassed in the long future. I remember in 2006, one day I was watching TV, and I happened to find that one graduating class of Central Conservatory Of Music played this song all together, and I couldn't help crying for so long.

    Whether Chen Xiaoxu or Jiang Mengjie, they are all very suitable and excellent actresses of playing Lin Daiyu. It's weird that when I read Dreams of the Red Chamber, I don't consider Lin Daiyu as a so acrid and harsh girl, and Baochai as a hypocritical and slick girl. They all have their own charms, their own understandings about love, about life. Just like what Baoyu said, "Girls are made of water, while men of mud".

    Furthmore, I like the asides and the actor's lines, which is said to overly adhere to the original novel. And I think for those who have read the original novel, they would be very glad to hear the original words, comparing to the funny new version of Three Kingdoms!

    But, there are indeed many problems that are not very satisfiying. For example, many characters can't interpret their roles well and don't say the lines very fluently; the training of traditional culture and customs are not adequate. Nevertheless, to be honest, the new version has its own taste.

    Since this new version has already aroused my eager heart of reviewing this novel, so I decided to finish it one more time this summer vacation.

    What's more, I also borrowed the book Moment in Peking written by Lin Yutang. As we all know, at the very first beginning, Mr Lin Yutang was planning to translate Dreams of the Red Chamber into English and introduce our rich cultural history to the world. However, for some reason, he didn't make it. So he decided to write a similar book, and then Moment in Peking came out.The novel covers the turbulent events in China from 1900 to 1938, including the Boxer Uprising, the Republican Revolution of 1911, the Warlord Era, the rise of nationalism and communism, and the origins of the Sino-Japanese War of 1937-1945. It's reallllllllly worth it!

     I believe my summer vacation will be very meaningful!