Another trip to half price books!

Yesterday i realized I was getting much better at reading and writing Chinese than I was at hearing and speaking, despite my class. So I went to the half-price books about bought 8 language tapes, covering the same topics as my text book, for 10 dollars so that was a good investment. I shall have to spend lots of time practicing this afternoon while I clean the apartment.

I also bought some nice children's books, too in Chinese, one about whale's one about a little girl who wishes she had really long hair. I was pleased as I was able to understand sentences here and there. Time to go back to goat and don't touch the fire! (my previous Chinese children's book purchases) Alas it is much easier to find Children's books in Traditional characters over simplified ones.

I got a nice modern novel in French written by a Chinese immigrant, I read the first few pages. It was nice and fairly easy, they were in China and the cultural revolution was happening. At first it seemed really odd to hear Chinese people speaking French. But I got used to it pretty quickly, especially as it's no less ridiculous than all the books I have written in English. I've been feeling badly that I've spend so much time studying for my classes lately that I've completly ignored my French!

I also got the cutest French kids book, it was a little girl telling her animals about the history of the world, where they have a different time period on every page. I bought it as they had the toys bandaged and injured returning from the Napoleonic wars, it was perhaps one of the cutest and strangest things I've ever seen. I must get a picture hosting account so I can share with everyone.

Popular Han Songs and Ballads

This weekend I finished reading Popular songs and Ballads of Han China by Anne Birrell. The songs were collected by the government of the time and recorded for posterity. However many of the versions recorded in the book came from slightly later copies written a couple hundred years later, to 800 years. Still the book was a very interesting look at the culture and songs of the time. As no music notation has survived all we have are the lyrics or poetry of the songs. Later Chinese commentators divided the songs up into several topics and the author tried something similar when she presented the works. Her categories included, Hymns, Fables in Verse, The Elixir of Life, Carpe Diem, Burial Songs, Political Broadsides, Anti-war Ballads and Songs, Domestic Drama, Homeward Thoughts, Love Songs and The Ideal Home and Perfect Marriage. She covered roughly 75 songs altogether, with some having longer and shorter versions.

Not only did the author analyze each song from a poetic point of view but she also used the songs to show different aspects of the society in which they were written. The lack of superstition and religious songs were quite strong. Of course whether this is due to the government selection or what was actually popular at the time is another matter. However, the songs about the Elixir of Life did show some strong views on immortality. As the concern about immortality changed over from just concerning emperor's and princes to be involved with Taoist philosophy and religion it spread more into the popular culture.

One of the most interesting chapters for me however was the Political Broadsides. Which took the whole idea of the Mandate of Heaven to an area I'd not previously been aware of. The idea was that when a ruler was behaving badly, without the interest of the people Heaven would show it's displeasure with him in a number of ways, natural disasters being the most common. If however the ruler didn't mend his ways and take heed of Heaven's warnings then it would take away his right to rule and allow the people to rebel and install a new and fair leader on the throne. This became a very popular idea throughout Chinese history. However one way that Heaven could show it's displeasure was through prophetic children's songs. People were encouraged to give complaint about the government if they thought it was needed, Emperor's thought it good to listen to the songs of the people to learn what was in their minds. However it was taken a step further. These songs became looked on as another way Heaven was manifesting itself, they were considered to be "poetic omens". Songs written were thought to explain political turmoil that hadn't happened yet. The historian Pan Ku went through several songs describing when they were written, and which events they were supposed to foretell. It made for some very interesting reading.

The anti-war ballads made for interesting reading, as everyone was upset about the wars being fought, conscription and having to go away and fight leaving no one to farm. It was also an interesting stylistic difference as in the Zhou period no one had talked about bodies, or the dead in a war. Whereas there were many very honest images about corpses contained in these anti-war poems. Perhaps showing people becoming more jaded and practical during this period. A similar theme is shown in the love ballads. In the Zhou period most love poems concerned a young bride on her wedding day being joyful, however most of these poems dealt with love that had been abandoned. Men had either gone off to war, build construction far away, or were simply unfaithful. The only time a happy bride was used was to contrast with the way things actually are, a jilted woman abandoned and men enjoying the company of prostitutes.

It's very interesting to take a look at a historical period through songs, while I don't think it should be your only source it can definitely add flavor and realism to what your studying. The last song in the book was a picture of a perfect wife, who greeted guests and behaved perfectly. The song was written to show what should be done as opposed to what was being done. However the author's opinion was that the poet was not horrified by the new liberties being taken by "today's" wives, but rather was amused by it. I think reading this book is definitely going to add to a greater depth of understanding when we look at the Han period in my history class.