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accio-victuuri · 1 year ago

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from this article & interview with Yuli studio. It’s a long but very good read and contains spoilers for the drama.

Xiao Zhan: When I played Xiao Chunsheng, I briefly experienced the happiness of Sheniu.

In June 2023, among the topics related to the actor Xiao Zhan, a Beijing boy named Xiao Chunsheng appeared more.

In the hit drama "Where Dreams Begin", Xiao Chunsheng, who lived in the 1970s, was in a hurry all day long, wearing a coat, riding a 28th pole, reading books everywhere, and complaining about injustices. But he wanted to do this, but he experienced changes one after another, such as the departure of his lover and the shattering of his dreams. The audience regretted what happened to him and worried about his fate. Looking at him, it was like seeing his parents when they were young.

Xiao Chunsheng in front of the camera is pure, proud, and high-spirited, which is completely different from the quiet, humble, and polite Xiao Zhan outside the camera. These two young people with great contrasts have formed an invisible resonance through roles as the medium, spanning nearly 40 years.

When talking with Yuli Studio, Xiao Zhan told us that although there are obvious differences in personality and region with Xiao Chunsheng, both of them have the same energy in their bones. Even if there is only a 1% probability, they will never give up their efforts. They firmly believe that as long as they persist, the future and light must be ahead.

Through Xiao Chunsheng, Xiao Zhan has completed a new challenge and experience. The sea in their dreams, even if it is frozen at low temperature, will eventually wait for the scorching sun.

From Chongqing people to Beijing people

When seeing the script of "The Sea in the Dream", Xiao Chunsheng, a young man living in Beijing in the 1970s, immediately attracted Xiao Zhan. In that high-spirited, dare-to-think and dare-to-do era, he admired Xiao Chunsheng's wantonness, freedom and persistence.

"His enthusiasm and appeal are relatively strong, so he will have a stronger sense of presence. This sense of presence comes from the fact that in Xiao Chunsheng's mind, his father is an out-and-out hero, so the influence on him is positive. Make him very optimistic, cheerful and full of hope." Xiao Zhan told Yuli Studio.

Xiao Zhan believes that in the tide of the times in the past 40 years, no matter how personnel changes, what Xiao Chunsheng sticks to is the friendship and principles in his heart. Pure love exists.

Slowly, from Xiao Chunsheng, Xiao Zhan saw Tong Xiaomei who is soft on the outside but strong on the inside, Ye Guohua who is loyal and true, He Hongling who is warm and realistic, and Chen Hongjun who is inferior and restrained. A vivid image of Beijing youth emerged in his mind. come out.

"The group portraits in the script are very well written. The growth of Xiao Chunsheng is very complete, so I want to challenge it. From the relationship between Xiao Chunsheng and every small partner in Beijing in the early stage, to his joining the army, because of some The reason is that he had to return to Beijing, and in the later stage of entrepreneurship, the relationship with the people around him changed, and his experience was very complicated, but very attractive.”

Xiao Zhan, who grew up in the factory area, has lived with his family for a long time, and often listens to his family telling stories about the past. When he walked into the set that was meticulously restored in the 1970s, wearing an old-fashioned coat and gloves, and riding a 28-bar, Xiao Zhan seemed to see the shadow of his childhood, acting and acting, he felt that he had become Xiao Chunsheng.

After the episode aired, his family members told him: "The acting is not bad, a bit like our era." This gave Xiao Zhan more confidence.

However, Xiao Chunsheng's mouthful of Beijing movies baffled Xiao Zhan, a Chongqing native who had never spoken a child's accent since he was a child.

During the script reading for the first time, Xiao Zhan stood up and introduced himself, saying, "Hello, teachers, I am Xiao Zhan, and I am a kid from Chongqing." He originally thought that he was the only one who was from the south among the leading actors, but in the end, he played Xiao Zhan. Zhang Lingxin of Chunsheng's sister said that she is from Shanghai. Seeing the "sister" and himself "sick and sympathetic", Xiao Zhan joked: "Sister, let's change the background of the story and say that we are actually children who grew up in the south, and then moved to the north."

Social Cow VS Social Terror

Compared with Xiao Chunsheng's social cow in the play, Xiao Zhan outside the play is a bit socially fearful.

When there are many people, Xiao Zhan usually sits in the corner habitually, watching everyone play and laughing. Seeing many people discussing Type E personality and Type I personality, Xiao Zhan, who doesn’t know much about MBTI, tried to think about it: “Maybe Xiao Chunsheng has Type E personality? I am I, right?

When playing Xiao Chunsheng, Xiao Zhan had to mobilize the energy of his whole body to heat up the whole scene. In the scene of fighting with Guo Heizi, in order to show his aura, Xiao Zhan yelled while jumping up and down, as if he was about to shoot a small flame from his mouth, and after the director called to turn on the phone, he changed his face at the speed of light. With a drag, the transition from "Social Horror Brother" to "Social Niu Big Brother" was completed in one second.

Every time when shooting a group scene where everyone eats together, the director always likes to say: "Let Xiao Chunsheng say a few words". In the absence of a script, Xiao Zhan could only muster all his strength and output with a crackling meal.

In the scene of sending Ye Guohua and He Hongling to the army, looking at the reluctant Ye Guohua, Xiao Zhan said impromptu: "A good man has ambitions everywhere", but the scene was a little awkward. So, Xiao Zhan tried his best to raise another glass. Although the movements of his hands were a little rusty and the wine glass almost spilled after toasting, the atmosphere was finally preserved.

During the time when he played Xiao Chunsheng, Xiao Zhan briefly experienced the happiness of She Niu. The leading actors Liu Ruilin, Cui Hang and Xiao Zhan are the same age, and all three of them happen to like singing. While waiting for the show, they simply sang together, filling the crew's daily BGM. After the episode was aired, he also saw everyone's jokes about Xiao Chunsheng on the Internet, which made him laugh so hard.

But after a year of filming, Xiao Zhan admitted frankly that the social cow attributes he learned from Xiao Chunsheng have degenerated.

In the army, in order to beat others by running, Xiao Chunsheng practiced extra hours alone in the middle of the night. Because of this, he was nicknamed "Xiao Chunjuan" by netizens.

Xiao Zhan felt that Xiao Chunsheng was born to be strong, and the "jump" came from his inner pride and unwillingness to admit defeat. But in real life, I just want to do my own thing well, and I will not entangle others or entangle me until I can't sleep, just do my best.

"In the last interview, I said that it would be good to be tired. In fact, I am still very tired, but happy tired." Xiao Zhan said.

Growing up with Xiao Chunsheng

For Xiao Zhan, the most difficult part of playing Xiao Chunsheng is his complexity.

"The complexity lies in the fact that he went from adolescence to his 40s, from a young boy to an entrepreneur. Many things happened during this process, both to make the audience feel that he is sticking to himself, and that he has grown up, That's a point I'm always measuring on the shoot."

Xiao Chunsheng in the play is faced with many major life choices. It includes not only love and friendship, but also dreams and future.

When reading the script, Xiao Zhan had a discussion with the director. He felt that it was not the script that made Xiao Chunsheng choose, but the environment and society at that time made Xiao Chunsheng actively make the choice. Whether it is the subsequent changes in fate or emotional changes, it is the result of Xiao Chunsheng's own choice.

In order to present this complexity, Xiao Zhan will carefully discuss with the director before shooting each scene, what kind of emotion is Xiao Chunsheng in this scene? Does the logic of behavior conform to his current choice? Only by understanding the logic of each character's actions can he truly make himself Xiao Chunsheng.

Xiao Zhan also designed a lot of small details for Xiao Chunsheng, such as not speaking in a positive way in the early stage, he was sloppy, he would never speak well when talking to others, his head was a little crooked, and he looked awkward. After joining the army, he has experienced more changes in the world, and has grown, and his demeanor has become more and more stable.

"I did some processing on his expression and body language. The young Xiao Chunsheng is unrestrained and extroverted, so his expression is richer, his walking steps are brisk, and he can run two steps. In the middle age , Xiao Chunsheng became calmer, more often he was introverted, his body movements would not be too many, and at this time he was walking step by step, down to earth."

In the countless crossroads of life, Xiao Chunsheng always sticks to his original aspiration and passion, and has never been knocked down by his own misfortunes. This is also the point that Xiao Zhan admires the most and wants to learn from.

After "Where Dreams Begin" was broadcast, Xiao Zhan also saw netizens' analysis of Xiao Chunsheng's choices, and these comments coincided with his own thoughts.

"The thing that impressed me the most was the point about choices. Actually, I never told anyone, and I don't believe other people would know. But in the few episodes that have only aired, everyone has felt this. The theme surprised me."

In getting along with the characters day and night, Xiao Zhan and Xiao Chunsheng also had friendship, family affection and career resonance, and completed a special growth together.

Perseverance, steadfastness, strength when encountering the strong, and difficult roads are the uphill roads. In this dialogue, Xiao Zhan repeatedly talked about these words with Yuli Studio.

"Later, he was injured, demobilized, and experienced several heavy blows, but he never gave up easily. This is worth learning or thinking about in our own lives. There will be many difficulties, but we will never be easily defeated ——This is more important.” Xiao Zhan said.

#xiao zhan #where dreams begin #where dreams begin spoilers

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nutty1005 · 1 year ago

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Xiao Zhan: When I was acting as Xiao Chunsheng, I experienced the joy of the social butterfly briefly.

Original Article: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/-SP3vAfBnmXhRVBEDXq5UA Original Author: 周矗 Translator’s note: The original author is part of Yuli Studio, this article is published in Yuli Studio’s Weixin Official Account on 13 Jun 2023 as a part of “Behind the Screens” Volume 1051.

In June 2023, in the topics related to the actor Xiao Zhan, a Beijing boy named Xiao Chunsheng appeared more frequently.

In the popular drama “Where Dreams Begin / The Youth Memories”, Xiao Chunsheng, who lived in the 1970s, bustled around for the whole day, wearing a coat, riding a 28″ bicycle, reading books everywhere, and fighting off injustices. Even though he lived recklessly, but he experienced changes one after another, such as the departure of his loved ones and the shattering of his dreams. The audience lamented about his encounters and worried about his fate. Looking at him, it was like seeing their parents when they were young.

The Xiao Chunsheng on screen was pure, proud, and high-spirited, which was completely different from the quiet, humble and polite Xiao Zhan off screen. These two young people with great contrasts, spanning nearly 40 years, had formed an invisible resonance with the role as the medium.

When talking with Yuli Studio, Xiao Zhan told us that although there are obvious personality and regional differences with Xiao Chunsheng, both of them have the same strength in their bones. Even if there were only a 1% probability, they would never give up working hard, they firmly believed that as long as they persist, ahead of them must be their future and light.

Through Xiao Chunsheng, Xiao Zhan has completed a new challenge and training. The sea in their dreams, even if it was sealed in ice at low temperatures, the scorching sun would eventually arrive for them.

01 From Chongqing people to Beijing people

When reading the script of “Where Dreams Begin / The Youth Memories”, Xiao Chunsheng, a young man living in Beijing in the 1970s, immediately attracted Xiao Zhan. In that high-spirited, dare-to-think and dare-to-do era, he admired Xiao Chunsheng’s recklessness, freedom and perseverance.

“His enthusiasm and contagious power were relatively strong, so he would have a stronger presence. This sense of presence came from the fact that in Xiao Chunsheng’s mind, his father was a hero through and through, so the influence on him was positive. This made him him very optimistic, cheerful and full of hope,” Xiao Zhan told Yuli Studio.

Xiao Zhan believed that in the tide of the times of the past 40 years, no matter how people and matters changed, Xiao Chunsheng always stuck to his friendship and principles in his heart, hence a pure land existed in his heart.

Slowly, along the way, from Xiao Chunsheng, Xiao Zhan met a Tong Xiaomei, who was soft on the outside but strong on the inside, Ye Guohua, who was loyal and true, He Hongling, who was warm and realistic, and Chen Hongjun, who was inferior and restrained. From them, a vivid image of Beijing youth emerged in his mind.

“The group stories in the script were very well written. The growth of Xiao Chunsheng was very complete, so I wanted to challenge it. From the relationship between Xiao Chunsheng and all of his buddies in Beijing in the early stage, to him joining the army, because he had to return to Beijing because of some reason, and to the later stage of entrepreneurship, the relationship with the people around him changed, and his experience was very complicated, but very attractive.”

Xiao Zhan, who grew up in the factory zone, has lived with his family for a long time, and often listened to his family retelling stories about the past. When he walked into the set that was meticulously restored to the 1970s, wearing old-fashioned coat and gloves, and riding a 28″ bicycle, Xiao Zhan seemed to see the shadow of his childhood, as he acted, he felt that he had become Xiao Chunsheng.

After the episode aired, his family members told him: “The acting is not bad, felt a bit like our era.” This gave Xiao Zhan more confidence.

However, Xiao Chunsheng’s mouthful of Beijing accent stumped Xiao Zhan, who is a Chongqing native who had never spoken with Beijing accent before.

During the first script reading, Xiao Zhan stood up and introduced himself saying, “Hello to every laoshi, I am Xiao Zhan, and I am a kid from Chongqing.” He originally thought that he was the only one who was from the south among the leading actors, but in the end, Zhang Lingxin, who portrayed Chunsheng’s sister, said that she was from Shanghai. Seeing the “sister” and himself “suffering together”, Xiao Zhan joked, “Sister, let’s change the background of the story and say that we were actually children who grew up in the south and then moved to the north.”

In order to train the Beijing dialect well, he read the script like he was a student studying a text, underlining the Beijing dialects he does not understand one by one, and annotating the correct meaning next to it. In addition to studying in private, he often practiced his pronunciation with Liu Ruilin and other Beijing actors on the set, saying “heyo-eh” and “ho” every day.

“If there were behind-the-scenes released, everyone would be entertained. Because many people in the crew are from the north. The northerners have an innate advantage, that is, language advantages. The way they talk is particularly funny. I just enjoyed watching them at the scene because I have to silently think about how to say them in Beijing dialect,” Xiao Zhan said.

02 Social Butterfly vs Social Phobia

Compared with Xiao Chunsheng being a social butterfly in the drama, Xiao Zhan outside of the drama is a bit socially phobic.

If the event had many people, Xiao Zhan would usually sits in the corner habitually, laughing while watching everyone play. Seeing many people discussing Type E and Type I personalities, Xiao Zhan, who didn’t know much about MBTI, tried to think about it: “Maybe Xiao Chunsheng has Type E personality? I am an I, right?”

When playing Xiao Chunsheng, Xiao Zhan had to utilize the energy of his whole body to fire up the whole scene. In the scene where he was fighting with Guo Heizi, in order to show his presence, Xiao Zhan yelled while jumping up and down, as if he was going to throw a small flame from his mouth, but after the director shouted to start filming, he changed his face to an arrogant state at the speed of light, completing the transition from “Mr. Social Phobia” to “Mr. Social Butterfly” in one second.

Every time when shooting a group scene where everyone ate together, the director always liked to say: “Let Xiao Chunsheng say a few words”. In the absence of a script, Xiao Zhan could only muster all his strength and chattered with a series of output.

In the scene where he was sending Ye Guohua and He Hongling off to the army, looking at Ye Guohua who was reluctant to part, Xiao Zhan said impulsively: “Good men aspires far and wide”, but the resulting scene was a little awkward. So, Xiao Zhan mustered his courage a second time, and raised another glass. Although the movements of his hands were a little rusty and the wine glass almost spilled after toasting, the atmosphere was finally preserved.

During the time when he played Xiao Chunsheng, Xiao Zhan briefly experienced the happiness of a social butterfly. The leading actors Liu Ruilin, Cui Hang and Xiao Zhan were of the same age, and all three of them happened to like singing. While waiting for their scenes, they would simply sing together, filling the crew’s daily background music. After the episode was aired, he also saw everyone’s jokes about Xiao Chunsheng on the Internet, which made him laugh so hard.

But a year after the end of filming, Xiao Zhan admitted frankly that the social butterfly attributes he learned from Xiao Chunsheng had degenerated.

In the army, in order to beat others in running, Xiao Chunsheng practiced extra hours alone in the middle of the night. Because of this, he was nicknamed “Xiao Chunjuan” by netizens. (TN: Juan is the action of rolling, a slang to mean improving. Chunjuan refers to spring roll, a pun on Xiao Chunsheng’s name.)

Xiao Zhan felt that Xiao Chunsheng was someone who was born competitive, and the “improving” came from the pride in his bones and his refusal to admit defeat. But in real life, he just wants to do my own thing well, and he would not compete with others or himself until he cannot sleep, he just wants to do my best.

“In the last interview, I said that it’s quite good to be tired. In fact, I am still very tired, but happy tired.” Xiao Zhan said.

03 Growing with Xiao Chunsheng

For Xiao Zhan, the most difficult part of portraying Xiao Chunsheng was his complexity.

“The complexity lies in the fact that he went from adolescence to his 40s, from a young boy to an entrepreneur. Many things happened during this process, which needed to make the audience feel that he sticks to his guns and that he has grown up, Those are the points I’m always balancing while filming.”

Xiao Chunsheng in the drama was faced with many major life choices. These included not only love and friendship, but also dreams and future.

While reading the script, Xiao Zhan had a discussion with the director. He felt that it was not the script that made Xiao Chunsheng choose, but the environment and society at that time made Xiao Chunsheng actively make the choice. Whether it is the subsequent changes in fate or emotional changes, they were the result of Xiao Chunsheng’s own choices.

In order to present such a complexity, Xiao Zhan would carefully discuss with the director before filming each scene, what kind of emotion was Xiao Chunsheng in this scene? Did the logic of behavior comply with his current choices? Only by understanding the logic of each character’s actions can he truly become Xiao Chunsheng.

Xiao Zhan also designed many small details for Xiao Chunsheng. For example, he did not speak properly in the early stage. After joining the army, he experienced more impermanence in the world, also grew up, and his demeanor has become more and more steady.

“I did some processing on his expression and body language. The young Xiao Chunsheng was unrestrained and outgoing, so his expression is richer, when walking, his steps were brisk and he would even run a few steps. As an adult, Xiao Chunsheng became more steady, more often he was introverted, he would not have much body movements, and at this time his walking was step by step, down to earth.”

In the countless crossroads of life, Xiao Chunsheng always stuck to his original aspiration and passion, and had never been defeated by his own misfortunes. This was also the point that Xiao Zhan admired the most and wanted to learn from.

After “Where Dreams Begin / The Youth Memories” was broadcasted, Xiao Zhan also saw the analysis of internet users on Xiao Chunsheng’s choices, and these comments coincided with his own thoughts.

“The thing that impressed me the most was the point about choices. I had never spoken to anyone about it, and I was sure no one else would know. But in just the few episodes that aired, people already figured it out, which astonished me, very unexpectedly.”

While spending all day and night with the characters, Xiao Zhan and Xiao Chunsheng also had friendship, family affection and career resonance, and completed a special growth together.

Perseverance, steadfastness, gaining strength when encountering the strong, only difficult roads are uphill roads, in this conversation, Xiao Zhan repeatedly talked about these words with Yuli Studio.

“Later, he was injured, discharged militarily, and experienced several heavy blows, but he never gave up easily. This is worth learning or thinking about in our own lives. There will be many difficulties, but we will never be easily defeated — this is more important.” Xiao Zhan said.

#xiaozhan #xiao zhan #sean xiao #肖战

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mudaship39 · 11 months ago

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Zhou Zhen/Zhou Chen Bio

Dossier, Profile, Record, & Archive: Zhou Zhen/Zhou Chen:

Name: Zhou Zhen (the National S Rank Hero and Adventurer of China)/Zhou Chen (the Half Human Half Phoenix Firebird Lightning Bird Monk S Rank Adventurer and Guild Member)

Species:

Human

Metahuman with pyrokinetic fire powers and electrokinetic lightning powers

Celestial/Stellar bipedal humanoid Phoenix Firebird Fenghuang and Lightning Bird

Racial Identity: East Asian Chinese, East Asian Korean, & East Asian Japanese

Height: 5’8”

Weight: 130

Body Type: Lean and athletic

Appearance:

B,H,W: 32 B

Hairstyle:

Pre-colonial East Asian hairstyles.

Short hair

Long hair tied in a medium or long ponytail

Hair color: black

Eye Color: light brown

Skin color: terra cotta brown

Extra: Red, orange, and yellow phoenix feathers grow on her chest, back, arms, & legs. In her full phoenix fire bird form she has wings, a beak, a tail, feathers on her entire body, & she has talons on her hand and feet. She has golden raptor-like eyes.

Age: 27

Birthday: Taurus Horse

Tattoos: Celestial and stellar colored and black and white East Asian tattoos of tigers, phoenixes, dragons, fish, buddha, qilin, etc that glow when she uses her firebird and lightning bird powers especially electrical fire fusion elemental powers

Piercings: Piercings with gemstones on her ears, eyebrows, nose, tongue, & face

Markings:

Jewelry: East Asian buddhist bracelets, jade gemstones rings, Buddhist necklaces.

Features:

Sex: Female

Gender: Cis

Sexual Orientation: Lesbian

Pronouns: He him, she her

Religion: Shinto Buddhist

Languages:

Common, Undercommon, Goblinoid, Giantkin, Gnomish, Halfling, Dwarvish, Fey, Elvish, Sylvan, Underdark, Draenei, Draconic, Aarakocra, Auran, Celestial, Fiendish, Deep Speech, Serpent Tongue, & Primordial

Disabilities: Autistic.

Nuerodivergent: ADD, ADHD, OCD,

Mental Illnesses: depression, anxiety, panic attacks, & PTSD

Relatives:

Father: Lei Chen

Mother: Eun-a Choi

Aunts and Uncles: Miyoko Kobayashi, Ha-min Choi, Liya Chen

Siblings:

Brothers:

Sisters:

Cousins:

Nephews and Nieces:

Children:

Marital Status: Married

Relationship model: Polyamorous

Love Interests:

Elsa Johansson, Afro Asian half dragon Chun Hei Kim, Afro South Asian Desi Afro European Amelia Himmat Mishra, Afro West Asian Maysa Uzun, Latine Native Valerie Nadia Torres Garcia. Artist Dancer Yuli Li, Madam Brothel Manager Sunrita Maheshwari, Swordswoman Xiuli Chang, Grandmaster Weili Yang, Military Captain Soldier Chunyu Liu, Government Official Kanako Takahashi, Scholar Miyoko Kobayashi, Police captain Saruta Chaiyasan, Noble Lady Hyo-jin Jung, Warlord General Sae-hyun Park, Jonin kunoichi assassin Nanako Yamada, Samurai Lady Kiyoko Nakamura, Merchant Myeon-ji Kim, Shogun Tomiko Satou, Princess Lady Minh Nguyen

Rank:

S rank

S rank Adventurer:

S Rank Hunter

S Rank Hero

Level: 300

Stat Points:

Skills:

Traits:

Alignment: Neutral Good

Class: Monk (Magical melee and unarmed martial arts)

Subclass:

Background:

Disgraced Noble. Fallen Noble. Arranged Marriage. Exile. Academy Dropout. Unseen Academy Reject. Acolyte. Apothecary. Artisan. Attention Addict. Chef. Chosen One. Craftsman. Dauntless. Destined to be a Hero. Doctor. Duelist. Farmer. Fortune Teller. Government Official (Imperial Civil Servant). Hermit. Isekai. Lesser Scion. Librarian. Matchmaker. Merchant. Mercenary. Monk. Monotheistic. Monotheistic Traveller. Nurse. One Soul Two Bodies. Otherworlder. Poet. Primogenitor. Prodigy. Retired Hero. Roamer. Sage. Shaolin Monk. Scholar. Sealed One. Second Soul. Smith (Metal, Gemstone, Blacksmith). Soldier. Tourist. Town Apothecary. The Chosen One. Time Frozen. Time Traveller. Trader. Vendor. Wanderer. Warlord. Warrior. Weaver (Fabric). Wise One.

Cultivation:

Martial Arts:

Magical martial arts (imagine bak mei, wushu, changquan, hung gar, xingyiquan, shuai jiao, wing chun, san da, choy li fut, shaolin kung fu, & wuzuquan)

magical mixed martial arts (imagine karate, capoeira, krav maga, savate, muay thai, jiu jitsu, kickboxing, hapkido, judo, aikido, taekwondo

magical kendo, sai, kobudo, spear, kalaripayattu, escrima stick fighting, bo staff, silat, tonfa, & nunchucks

Patron: Sun Wukong

Titles:

Sage of the Stars. Young Master of the Chen Family. Grandmaster of the Way of the Fire Fist Lightning Fist Martial Arts School. Sword Empress. Sword Saint. Owner of the Auctionhouse. Owner of the Lotus Medicinal Pills Apothecary. Marquis of the Imperial Military.

Homebase:

Shanghai, China. Kyoto, Japan. Seoul, Korea. Human Federation of Magical Human Kingdoms and Indigenous Magical Human Confederacy of Nations

Affiliation:

Murim Alliance. Xiao Lei: Poison Master (Master in poison arts). Jonin (assassination, ninjutsu, & shadow arts). Yuan Jian: Swordmaster (Melee Martial Arts Mentor). Himi Satomi: Array Master. Shimada Tokuma: Pills Sage (Medicinal Pills mentor). Grandmaster Ch’u Min-Hee (Martial Arts mentor).

Education:

High School Graduate

High School Diploma

Associates Degree in Biology

Bachelor's Degree in Medicine

Masters Degree in Anatomy and Physiology

Certificate in Calligraphy

Certificate in Arrays

Certificate in Pill Making

Seoul National University. The University of Tokyo. Peking University

Korea Military Academy

U 13 or Under 13 for full contact Magical mixed martial arts

U 15 or Under 15 for magical melee combat with tonfa, escrima sticks, sai, nunchucks, & bo staff

Under 18 or U 18 for magical melee combat with magical swords, spears, clubs, axes, and sledgehammers

Occupation:

Earth:

Military. Conscript. Drafted. Grunt. Soldier. Officer. Gym trainer. Olympic Level Athlete. Martial Arts World Champion. Stunt person. Producer. Stunt double. Director. Stunt coordinator. Martial arts actress. Fighting game voice actress. Celebrity.

Isekai:

Beggar. Bandit. Farmer. Fisherman. Gardener. Courtesan. Matchmaker. Fortune Teller. Chef. Painter. Dancer. Artist. Actor. Musician. Flute, Piano, Violin. Chinese Stringed Instruments. Craftsman. Artisan. Poet. Smith. Shaolin Monk. Monotheistic. Monotheistic Traveller. Martial Arts Grandmaster. Doctor. Nurse. Scientist. Cartographer. Astronomer. Librarian. Apothecary. Conscript. Drafted. Grunt. Soldier. Swordsman. Archer. Calvary. Officer. Warlord. Merchant. City Guard. City Watch. Trader. Vendor. Business person. Mercenary. Armed Escort. Shinobi/Kunoichi assassin. Genin. Chunin. Jonin. Samurai. Ronin. Shogun. Professor. Scholar. Sage. Philosopher. Government Official. Aristocrat. Noble. Lady. Hired Guard. Bodyguard. Royal Guard (Human Empress) Lady in Waiting. Judge. Royal Advisor.

Economic Class: Aristocratic

Base of Operations: Firebird Fire Fist and Lightning Bird Lightning Fist Style Martial Arts School and Shaolin Monastery

Place of Residence: Manor of her Noble Chen Family

Transportation: Horse drawn carriage. Car. Plane.

Mounts: Qinlin, Dragon, Griffin

Familiars:

Firebird

Lightning bird

Pets: Hellhound, shadow cat, phoenix, kitsune nine tailed fox demon

Companions:

Apparel:

Facemask and bandana, spiked arm gauntlets, t-shirt, martial arts gi uniform, vest, obi belt, fingerless gloves, kung fu pants, spiked knee gauntlets, & combat boots

Red blue Silk uniform and Qingdai guanmao or mandarin hat with phoenix feathers as an imperial officer. Accessories to denote rank such as a phoenix and qilin.

Close fitting top with elbow length sleeves that is fairly tight fitting but allow room for movement. It is a kind-of-faded saffron color similar to the breast color of the Fenghuang. Over which she wears her leather and metal armor. Then over that, layers of very thin (almost diaphanous cloth) that are very loose fitting so it is easy to slip out of or just shuck off when needed. That builds up in colors until the outer layer where the skirt section splits off into separated 'tails' of colors. That way, in terms of movement and flow, the clothing picks up the slightest breeze and floats. Creating the illusion of effortless gliding and flight while allowing the character's movement with her clothes to punctuate her body language as she herself moves. The idea being that just the act of movement portrays elegance and effortless poise. When Zhou Chen moves with purpose all the outer layers will immediately flows behind her. Also heightening the impression of a hunting bird striking at its target. The robes are made of two layers of thicker material that doesn’t have the same flow to it. The upper layer would be smaller than the lower layer to create a two-tone color effect. The robe could be belted at the waist. It is form-fitting so that it contours to the body down to the waist. The upper section would be held in place by the armor over the top. As opposed to Zhou Zhen who would have the armor underneath the robe and the skirt of the robes flared somewhat so that when Zhou Chen moves it forms something of a sem-circle around his/her calves. In terms of color maybe the robes for Zhou Chen could have the lower layer the same blue as the second and fourth tail plumage on a Fenghuang with the upper layer the blue/gray/green of the outer feathers in the wings.

Hoodie, t-shirt, jeans, high top sneakers

Equipment:

Items:

Weapons: Great Sword, bojutsu bo staff, nunchucks, long swords, daggers, short sword, sai, escrima sticks, broadsword, tonfa, magical composite bow, & spear

Armor:

Leather and metal medium class armor

Plated chainmail military armor with helmet with Phoenix firebird and lightning bird feathers (based on the helmet of her patron Sun Wukong the Monkey King)

Power origin:

Earth:

Fire accident as a superhero. When saving civilians from a house fire caused by fire magic.

Lightning accident as a superhero. When being attacked by a supervillain with electrical lightning powers.

Isekai:

Firebird

Lightning bird

Abilities:

Electrical Fire Fusion

Fire manipulation

Lightning manipulation

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zhwj · 1 year ago

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Springs and Autumns

Lately I’ve been dipping into scholar-beauty romances. A recent favorite is Jin xiang ting 錦香亭 (“Pavilion of Fragrant Brocade”) by Guwu su’an zhuren 古吳素庵主人 (Master of the Simple Hut of Suzhou), which dates to the early Qing.

It’s a short novel that fits a surprising amount of action into its sixteen chapters. The main love story between Zhong Jingqi 鍾景期 and Ge Mingxia 葛明霞 is standard scholar-beauty stuff—imperial exam success, an exchange of poetry, a scheming rival, missed connections, a helpful nun, resourceful concubines, mistaken identity resolving into a wedding, and a happily-ever-after conclusion—but it’s embedded in a larger historical narrative: the An Lushan Rebellion erupts midway through the book. Court intrigue, battlefield strategizing, and tides of refugees heighten the tension of the romantic plot and somehow make the bizarre coincidences the genre relies on seem more believable.

But the plot’s not the reason for this post. A version of the same story is told in the lost Yuan-dynasty play 孟月梅寫恨錦香亭 (“Meng Yuemei Writes of Regrets in the Pavilion of Fragrant Brocade”) about characters named Chen Gui 陳珪 and Meng Yuemei. Songs memorable enough to be preserved in other sources can be found in Song Yuan xiwen jiyi, a 1956 collection of play fragments compiled by Qian Nanyang. Here’s a delightful aria about spring, assembled from quotations of older poems; a quick translation follows:

【中呂過曲】【古山花子】賞春倦倚春風裡，春色釀成和氣。春滿人間，春綻萬紅千翠。春晴雅宜，春燕銜春壘。春心戀春如醉。春心熙熙，春景正遲遲。春來早起，滿目春山麗。仲春時，問春有幾？春及三之二。莫惹春愁，一分塵土，二分流水。春暖春煙，春雨濺春池。春夢里藹然春意，對這春草池塘賦春試。賞春花，春酒泛春杯，春果簇春桃春梨。聽得春鶯囀春啼，春在春花裡。假青春，春夜悞春期，春去後留春無計。春知我，愛春傷春春信稀。（錢南揚輯錄《宋元戲文輯佚》76）

Spent on spring pleasure, ease back into the spring wind: spring colors mix into an amiable mood. Spring fills the mortal realm, spring bursts with red and green. Spring clarity is graceful and inviting, spring swallows build spring nests. Spring hearts get drunk on spring love. Spring minds make merry, spring vistas linger. On a new spring morn, rise early to a vision of gorgeous spring mountains. By mid-spring, think how long spring may last. Spring is two-thirds gone. Refrain from spring melancholy; one part returns to dust, two parts to water. Spring warmth and spring mist, spring rain splashes into spring pools. Spring dreams harbor pleasing spring desires, bringing spring exams to these spring grasses and ponds. Enjoy spring flowers as spring wine overflows spring cups; spring fruits: clusters of spring peaches and spring pears. Hear the spring oriole sing a plaintive spring song. Spring lies within spring flowers. Fresh green spring means missed spring rendezvous on spring nights; when spring departs, spring cannot be retained. Spring gets me: spring love, spring heartache, and rare spring tidings.

I love this—the hypnotic repetition of “spring” transports me back to a class on early 20th century literature, when our professor read aloud the opening to Chapter 19 of Xu Zhenya’s bestselling 1912 sentimental romance novel in parallel prose, Yuli hun 玉梨魂 (“The Soul of Yuli” or “The Jade Pear Spirit”). For the last two decades, the lines of 秋心 “Autumn Heart” have often come to mind when the weather turns and the leaves start changing color.

黃葉聲多。蒼苔色死。海棠開後。鴻雁來時。雨雨風風。催遍幾番秋信。淒淒切切。送來一片秋聲。秋館空空。秋燕已為秋客。秋窗寂寂。秋蟲偏惱秋魂。秋色荒涼。秋容慘淡。秋情綿邈。秋興闌珊。此日秋閨。獨尋秋夢。何時秋月。雙照秋人。秋愁疊疊。並為秋恨綿綿；秋景匆匆。惱煞秋期負負。盡無限風光到眼。阿儂總覺魂銷。最難堪節序催人。客子能無感集。

Yellow leaves rustle, green moss fades. When the begonia has flowered and the snow geese have arrived, wind and rain hasten autumn’s signs, cold and chill carry autumn’s sounds. Autumn halls are vacant, autumn swallows turned sorrowful autumn travelers. Autumn windows are empty, autumn insects vex the autumn soul. Autumn’s scenes are bleak, autumn’s visage is desolate. Autumn emotion grows distant, autumn elation lies heavy. Today’s autumn boudoir holds a solitary quest for an autumn dream. What day will an autumn moon shine on an autumn pair? Layered autumn melancholy comes with unending autumn regret. Fleeting autumn vistas spur shameful autumn trysts. At the boundless vision before us, our souls take flight. In the unbearable draw of the seasons, can the sojourner remain unmoved?

I have to say I prefer the freer lines of the Yuan lyric to the constrained pulse of four- and six-character phrases that makes up the pianwen style. Here I’ve prioritized the repetition of “autumn” and tried to capture at least at least some of the parallelism, and while this approach does manage to set a mood, the amount of amplification necessary in English would, I feel, make for excruciatingly verbose prose whenever anything actually had to happen. I’m not sure I could keep it up for more than a paragraph or two, or be capable of reading much more than that, to be honest—and the novel runs to 30 chapters. But someone’s given it a try: an English translation by Gong Xiaohui under the title The Death of Yuli was published earlier this year. I’m honestly curious about the translator’s approach.

But I’m more keen to find additional examples of this type of dense repetition in Chinese writing. Any suggestions?

#poetry #spring #autumn #repetition

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goalhofer · 4 months ago

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2024 olympics Taiwan roster

Archery

Yu-Hsuan Tai (Taipei)

Chih-Chun Tang (Taipei)

Zih-Siang Lin (Taipei)

Tsai-Chi Li (Taipei)

Yi-Ching Chiu (Taipei)

Chien-Ying Lei (Taipei)

Athletics

Chun-Han Yang (Yuli Xiāng)

Ming-Yang Peng (Hsinchu Xiàn)

Yu-Tang Lin (Penghu)

Bo-Ya Zhang (Hsinchu)

Badminton

Tien-Chen Chou (Taipei)

Yang Lee (Kaohsiung)

Chi-Lin Wang (Taipei)

Hong-Wei Ye (Taichung)

Tzu-Ying Tai (Kaohsiung)

Chia-Hsin Lee (Kaohsiung)

Boxing

Chia-Wei Kan (Taipei)

Chu-En Lai (Pingtung Xiàn)

Hsiao-Wen Huang (Taipei)

Yu-Ting Lin (Taipei Xiàn)

Shih-Yi Wu (Taipei)

Nien-Chin Chen (Hualien Xiàn)

Breakdancing

Chen Sun (Taipei)

Canoeing

Shao-Hsuan Wu (Taipei)

Kuan-Chieh Lai (Taipei)

Chu-Han Chang (Taichung)

Fencing

Yi-Tung Chen (Taipei)

Golf

Cheng-Tsung Pan (Bellevue, Washington)

Chun-An Yu (Scottsdale, Arizona)

Pei-Yun Chien (Taipei)

Wei-Ling Hsu (Taipei)

Gymnastics

Chia-Hung Tang (Taipei)

Hua-Tien Ting (Taipei)

Judo

Yung-Wei Yang (Taichung)

Chen-Hao Lin (Taipei)

Chen-Ling Lien (Taipei)

Shooting

Meng-Yuan Lee (Taipei)

Kun-Pi Yang (Taipei)

Heng-Yu Liu (Taipei)

Wan-Yu Liu (Taipei)

Ai-Wen Yu (Taoyuan)

Chia-Chen Tien (Hsinchu)

Chia-Ying Wu (Taipei)

Yi-Chun Lin (Taoyuan)

Swimming

Kuan-Hung Wang (Taipei)

An-Chi Han (Taipei)

Table tennis

Cheng-Jui Kao (Taipei)

Yun-Ju Lin (Taipei)

Chih-Yuan Chuang (Kaohsiung)

Tung-Chuan Chien (Taipei)

I-Ching Cheng (Tainan Chéngshì)

Szu-Yu Chen (Taipei)

Taekwondo

Chia-Ling Lo (Taipei)

Tennis

Su-Wei Hsieh (Taipei)

Chia-Yi Tsao (Taipei)

Hao-Ching Chan (Taipei)

Yung-Jan Chan (Taipei)

Weightlifting

Wan-Ling Fang (Taipei)

Hsing-Chun Kuo (Yilan Chéngshì)

Wen-Huei Chen (Taipei)

#Sports #National Teams #Taiwan #Celebrities #Races #Fights #Boxing #Boats #Golf #Washington #Arizona #Tennis

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lizzymayi · 2 years ago

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List of things to love about Love and Destiny

You already know my number 1: Chang Chen

Second most important reason: Ni Ni

THE SET -- these sets look expensive and well made; not perfect but for a drama, hella good; you can tell they spent money on this

Lovable support characters that are not used as plot devices only

Ling Xi and Jiu Chen contrast each other and complement each other and have chemistry to outdo the sun

There is not just romantic chemistry, but at all levels. Their funny moments are killing me. (I need to find their movie with Eng subs asap.)

Even the baddies are rounded characters. Even that Yuli has a multitude of characteristics and not just a love-obsession.

The ruler of the kingdom actually both knowledgeable and has good judgment; is not driven by jealousy or pettiness. This Emperor is the most fictional thing about this drama lol.

Side Note: I'm convinced they killed of Xiao Bai because trying to get that dog to act was too time-consuming. They had to switch to cgi pet to save time.

#love and destiny #started my 2nd watch today

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starboyshoyo · 1 year ago

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Of Masks and Men

Pairing: Yuli Chen (OC) x ???

Fandom: Twisted Wonderland

Genre: fluff

Word Count: 1k

A/N: I listened to this soundtrack while writing this! Jaxon belongs to @ryker-writes

A time spent with friends at Night Raven College's masquerade ball leads to the discovery of a secret admirer.

Despite Crowley’s refusal to spend a single madol more than necessary, Night Raven College’s annual Masquerade Ball was nothing if not lavish. The high ceilings of the cafeteria had been transformed into a cathedral-like grandeur, and ambient golden lights beamed down from the chandeliers, illuminating the partygoers as they danced and chatted.

Yuli leaned against a pillar near the western wall, sipping a flute of apple cider. The cape of her masquerade dress hung over her shoulder in a wave, the pink silk shimmering in the light. She was sure that if she stood still enough, she would blend into the checkered floors and arched windows; just another piece of the glorious scenery around her.

“Don’t eat too much all at once,” she reminded Grim, nudging his side with her boot. “Leave some food for the others to enjoy.”

Grim was stuffing his face at the party table, his own small suit matching hers in color and design. She had worked diligently on their costumes for weeks, only just finishing them that very night. While she was careful and considerate of her own hard work, she couldn’t say the same for her rascal of a dorm member.

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Grim mumbled around a mouthful of something-or-other. He grinned at her. “I’m just making use of the resources available to us here. Free food here means that we won’t have to pay for groceries for a while, right?”

He went to wipe his paws on the mini ruffled top he was wearing. Yuli pulled them away and made him use a napkin instead. “Yes, eating now means less madol on groceries later- but that doesn’t give you the excuse to stain your shirt.”

“Grim! Yuli!” A familiar voice with a playful lilt to it called out Yuli looked up, eyes brightening. Even with the masks obscuring the top halves of their faces, she would know these two anywhere.

“Ace, and Deuce!” she waved as they approached, bickering as usual.

“I thought you said the masks kept us from anyone recognizing us? But Yuli knew it was us right away…”

“Ha! I can’t believe you actually fell for that!”

Oh, Deuce… Yuli shook her head, smiling fondly. “Did you get those outfits from Sam’s shop?” she asked. “They look wonderful!”

“Yep!” Ace gave her a crooked grin. “Cater helped me and Juice here score a sweet discount thanks to a Magicam sponsorship. Check ‘em out!”

Yuli rounded the two boys, taking in their costumes. They both wore dark musketeer-style suits with fringed capes and felt hats with feathers protruding from the top. The only difference between the two was the tint of the fabric, with Ace’s being a deep red, while Deuce’s was dark blue. “Hold on.” She tugged Ace’s collar up. “There, it’s aligned now.”

“We waited for you at the entrance for a while,” Deuce informed her. “But you never showed up. Did something happen back at Ramshackle Dorm that made you late for the party?”

“No, I was just finishing up mine and Grim’s outfits,” she explained. She spun around. “Aren’t they pretty? I didn’t think I’d have any use for that roll of silk that Vil gave me after the VDC, but I’m glad I kept it.”

Ace whistled, smirking. “If you were gonna show off for us, you could have just done it in private, you know?”

Deuce went red as Yuli rolled her eyes. “Oh, shut up, you little shit-”

“Indeed, our Child of Man looks quite radiant tonight.” A deep voice rumbled in her ear. Ace and Deuce fell silent beside her. Only one person could have that effect on the students of NRC- Yuli knew exactly who it would be before she turned around.

“Tsunotarou! You’re here!”

The great Malleus Draconia smiled down at her, the dark jewels of his mask perfectly complimented his green eyes. “Child of Man,” he greeted, and nodded at Ace and Deuce, who returned it nervously. “Lilia was kind enough to remind me of this little rendezvous tonight, so I made it on time.” He paused. “I didn’t see you at the opening ceremony. Did you perhaps get lost? You haven’t had much time to get used to Night Raven College’s sprawling campus.”

“No, I was finishing up Grim’s costume,” she explained again. Yuli didn’t bother to mention that she’d been here for over half a year now. A few months was trivial to an ancient Fae like Malleus. “Speaking of Lilia… he must be here as well, then?” She glanced around.

“Yes, he was performing some peculiar dance that he referred to as the ‘WAP’ on the far side of the room just a few minutes ago-”

“GET AWAY FROM LORD MALLEUS, FOUL HUMAN!” Sebek appeared, pushing his way through the crowd.

“Aaaand, there goes the peace,” Ace muttered under his breath, frowning. His scowl only deepened when Silver followed soon after, along with a tall boy with dark hair. Yuli recognized him as Jaxon, the headmage’s son and Savanaclaw student- and Ace’s perpetual rival.

“Sebek, the Prefect is only making polite conversation with our Lord,” Silver sighed, stepping to Malleus’s side. “The Students of Night Raven College are here today to foster goodwill among themselves, not stay solitary.” He gave a fond glance to Jaxon, whose arm was linked with his.

“But no human is worthy to stand near his side! Especially when I, Sebek Zigvolt, humble servant of Briar Valley, am not nearby to monitor their behavior!” Sebek insisted, face red from the exertion of yelling. Silver sighed, resigned, while Ace plugged his ears. Yuli didn’t miss how he flipped off the loud first year- and Jaxon, too- behind his back. She pinched Ace in the side, making him yelp. “Be nice,” she hissed to him.

Malleus watched the whole situation play out, amused. “I must take my leave now,” he mused, “Lilia will be wondering where I’ve gone by now. But I wish you well, Child of Man.” He paused. “And just so you know, a certain King of Roses has been watching you from across the room this whole time. Perhaps he is too shy to approach you first?”

With a sweep of his cape, he was gone.

Comments and reblogs are greatly appreciated!

#twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland x reader #twst wonderland #twst #birdie.oc #yuli chen #birdie.mutuals

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starboyshoyo · 1 year ago

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I need to do this with Yuli if anyone has ideas-

Jaxon Crowley's masterlist

hahahaha...

they have a playlist now

most of the songs fir because lyrics and stuff and it's so fun

if you have a song you think fits them, feel free to send it so I can listen

#birdie.reblog #birdie.mutuals #yuli chen

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fuyonggu · 4 years ago

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Preface to the Biographies of the Eight Princes (Book of Jin 59)

自古帝王之臨天下也，皆欲廣樹蕃屏，崇固維城。唐、虞以前，憲章蓋闕，夏、殷以後，遺跡可知。然而玉帛會于塗山，雖云萬國，至於分疆胙土，猶或未詳。泊乎周室，粲焉可觀，封建親賢，並為列國。當其興也，周、召贊其升平；及其衰也，桓、文輔其危亂。故得卜世之祚克昌，卜年之基惟永。逮王赧即世，天祿已終，虛位無主，三十餘載。爰及暴秦，併吞天下，戒衰周之削弱，忽帝業之遠圖，謂王室之陵遲，由諸候之強大。於是罷侯置守，獨尊諸己，至乎子弟，並為匹夫，惟欲肆虐陵威，莫顧謀孫翼子。枝葉微弱，宗祐孤危，內無社稷之臣，外闕籓維之助。陳、項一呼，海內沸騰，隕身於望夷，系頸於軹道。事不師古，二世而滅。漢祖勃興，爰革斯弊。於是分王子弟，列建功臣，錫之山川，誓以帶礪。然而矯枉過直，懲羹吹齏，土地封疆，逾越往古。始則韓、彭菹醢，次乃吳、楚稱亂。然雖克滅權偪，猶足維翰王畿。洎成、哀之後，戚籓陵替，君臣乘茲間隙，竊位偷安。光武雄略緯天，慷慨下國，遂能除凶靜亂，復禹配天，休祉盛於兩京，鼎祚隆於四百，宗支繼絕之力，可得而言。魏武忘經國之宏規，行忌刻之小數，功臣無立錐之地，子弟君不使之人，徒分茅社，實傳虛爵，本根無所庇廕，遂乃三葉而亡。

Ever since ancient times, kings and emperors who presided over the realm wished to provide security and protection for their rule by appointing trusted people as feudal lords and placing them in command of strategic locations, like protecting a city by expanding and fortifying its walls.

Though we know little of what took place in the mists of time prior to the sage rulers Tang (Yao) and Yu (Shun), by the time of the Xia and Yin (Shang) dynasties, we see some evidence of this principle already emerging. But although we read that jade and silk were distributed by Yu the Great (the founder of Xia) at Tushan and the records speak of "the myriad fiefs", so that we know that in principle there was a splitting of the land and a distribution of territory, still we do not know the precise details.

Matters become brighter by the dawn of the Zhou dynasty, where all becomes clear; we find the precise details of the organization of the feudal lords and how titles were granted to this relative or that worthy person, and that the realm was divided into particular fiefs and domains. When Zhou was ascendant and peaceful, we see the admirable conduct of the Dukes of Zhou and Shao; when Zhou was in decline, still we find Duke Huan of Qi and Duke Wen of Jin supporting the royal family through times of turmoil and danger. And thus their rulers were blessed with prosperity and success through the ages and the span of their rule was long indeed.

By the time of the last ruler of Zhou, King Nan, the blessings of Heaven had already expired. King Nan perished (in 256 BC), and then the realm had an empty throne and no sovereign for more than thirty years, until in the end the state of Qin conquered and annexed all the realm (in 221) through its violent barbarity. It was the belief of the First Emperor of Qin that the downfall of Zhou had been brought about because of the weakness and isolation of its kings, who had forgotten the farsightedness needed for the imperial enterprise, and that the royal house had become the plaything of the feudal lords, who took advantage to become great and powerful. Thus he did away with the whole feudal system and organized the realm into commandaries under the central control of the court, and he reserved all honor and majesty for himself alone, so that even his brothers and sons were no greater than commoners. In doing these things, it was the First Emperor himself who sought only to indulge his cruelty and flaunt his tyranny, for he gave no consideration of what might happen to his descendants after him. The branches and leaves of the tree of state were flimsy and weak, and the crown had few friends to turn to for aid; within, there were no subjects who would preserve the altars of state, and without, there were no lords who would guard and defend the imperial family. One cry of rebellion from Chen Sheng and Xiang Yu was all it took to set the whole realm within the Seas roiling like a cauldron; the Second Emperor of Qin lost his life at Wangyi Palace, and Ying Ziying surrendered at Zhidao with his seal around his neck. Qin failed to heed the teachings of the ancients, and thus their dynasty perished within two generations.

When Gaozu of Han (Liu Bang) rose to the fore, he made changes to correct these faults. He divided the realm and restored the system of the feudal lords, making princes of his younger relatives and granting fiefs to his accomplished ministers. Rivers and mountains were they granted, to serve as their belts and grindstones. The error of the early Han sovereigns was that they went too far in the other direction, like one who blows on hot soup so much that it grows cold; in the granting of lands and fiefs, they went beyond what the ancients had done. Thus they first had to execute Han Xin and pickle Peng Yue and afterwards experienced the crisis brought on by the Princes of Wu and Chu. But though they eventually stripped the feudal lords of the power to threaten the dynasty, the princes and nobles still retained enough power to protect the royal family from harm. Yet by the time of Emperors Cheng and Ai, again the situation had pivoted to the other extreme; the imperial relatives and feudal lords were oppressed and weak, allowing the great minister (Wang Mang) to take advantage of the opportunity and usurp the throne. Luckily, once Emperor Guangwu stitched the realm back together through his boldness and cunning, he once again generously distributed fiefs across the realm. Thus was he able to purge the wicked and quell the chaos. Han once more received the blessings of Heaven; they enjoyed peace and repose, flourishing between the two capitals (at Luoyang and Chang'an), and their legacy endured for four centuries. One could certainly say that it was because the extended royal clan once again exerted on the dynasty's behalf the strength that they had lost.

We may contrast this with Emperor Wu of Wei (Cao Cao), who was ignorant of the generosity needed to sustain the state and who through his suspicion cut those who might have supported his state down to size. His accomplished subjects never received even a spade of land to call their own, and his younger relatives reigned rather than ruled their domains; they were divvied up and sent off to pitiful dwellings, and their titles were form rather than substance. Wei had no foundation to grant it shelter, and thus it lasted no more than three eras.

有晉思改覆車，復隆磐石，或出擁旄節，蒞岳牧之榮；入踐臺階，居端揆之重。然而付託失所，授任乖方，政令不恆，賞罰斯濫。或有材而不任，或無罪而見誅，朝為伊、周，夕為莽、卓。機權失於上，禍亂作於下。楚、趙諸王，相仍構釁，徒興晉陽之甲，竟匪勤王之師。始則為身擇利，利未加而害及；初乃無心憂國，國非憂而奚拯！遂使昭陽興廢，有甚弈棋；乘輿幽縶，更同羑裏。胡羯陵侮，宗廟丘墟，良可悲也。

The Jin dynasty might have learned from these earlier examples. They were like drivers of a cart in a convoy which, seeing the carts in front of it topple and fall, might have profited by steering clear of the same danger. They could have laid a foundation for themselves solid as a rock. Some of their relatives and accomplished subjects might have been empowered with banner and scepter to lead troops out to the borders and carry out the labor of governing the land and protecting the capital, while others remained behind to serve in the government ministries and provide continuity in the administration.

Instead, the opposite took place. Positions and appointments once granted were as soon withdrawn, and people were chosen for this role or that based only on the expediency of the moment; the government and its policies were inconstant, and rewards and punishments swirled together. Some with talent were never employed; some innocent of any crime were executed regardless. Those who in the morning were honored as the peers of Yi Yin or the Duke of Zhou were denounced by the same evening as the equals of Wang Mang or Dong Zhuo. Power and authority were surrendered above, while chaos and disaster spread below.

The Princes of Chu, Zhao, and all the rest sought one after another to sow dissension; they acted righteous as though they were imitating the old "call to arms at Jinyang", but they never exhibited the conduct of cautious lords. They undertook their designs to grasp at profit for themselves, yet before the gains were in hand, doom overtook them; they never showed any concern for the state, so how could the state help but suffer calamity? Power changed hands more drastically than the pieces flip in a game of weiqi; men rose to power and were cast into prison with more dizzying speed than King Wen of Zhou's stint in the jail at Yuli. And in the end, the Xiongnu and the Jie pillaged and plundered the realm and the dynasty's ancestral temples were left empty and bare. Truly, a pitiful thought.

夫為國之有籓屏，猶濟川之有舟楫，安危成敗，義實相資。舟楫且完，波濤不足稱其險；籓屏式固，禍亂何以成其階！向使八王之中，一籓繄賴，如梁王之禦大故，若硃虛之除大憝，則外寇焉敢憑陵，內難奚由竊發！縱令天子暗劣，鼎臣奢放，雖或顛沛，未至土崩。何以言之？琅邪譬彼諸王，權輕眾寡，度長絜大，不可同年。遂能匹馬濟江，奄有吳會，存重宗社，百有餘年。雖曰天時，抑亦人事。豈如趙倫、齊冏之輩，河間、東海之徒，家國俱亡，身名並滅。善惡之數，此非其效歟！西晉之政亂朝危，雖由時主，然而煽其風，速其禍者，咎在八王，故序而論之，總為其傳云耳。

For those who serve the state by acting as its shield and screen are like the rowers on a boat crossing a river. Whether the boat enjoys peace or suffers calamity is entirely up to the collective efforts of the rowers. If they dip their oars in unison, though the river might have waves, they will not be enough to threaten the ship. And if the feudal lords act in unison to protect the state, how could turmoil ever grow so dire as to bring down the dynasty?

During the Han dynasty, there were the examples of the Prince of Liang (Liu Wu), who served without to oppose the treason of the Princes of Wu and Chu in their effort to overthrow the dynasty, and the Marquis of Zhuxu (Liu Zhang), who acted within to purge the Lü clan in their attempt to usurp the throne. If only these Eight Princes of Jin had done as they did! Though there might be foreign threats, if the Princes were united, how could such threats dare to despoil the realm? Or if there were internal dangers, even so, how could they have seized power? Even if the Son of Heaven was a blind fool or the chief ministers were arrogant and unrestrained, such things could have been dealt with; there might be shocks and quakes, but it would not have caused the mountain to collapse.

What is the proof of this? Consider how the Prince of Langye (Sima Rui) compared to the Eight Princes. His authority was less than theirs, and he had fewer troops than they did; he was a more distant relative than they, nor did he have their seniority. Yet he was able to cross south of the Yangzi by himself, take control of the regions of Wu and Kuaiji, and preserve and revive the imperial family, thus prolonging the dynasty for another century and more. Though one could argue that Heaven was helping him, still it required his own efforts to make it so. He was far different from the likes of Sima Lun or Sima Jiong or the ilk of Sima Yong or Sima Yue, who brought about the destruction of their families and their state and the annihilation of their lives and their honor! Could there be any clearer examples of the differences between good and evil?

Circumstance itself may have been the primary factor that caused the turmoil in Western Jin and the instability of its court. Yet it was these Eight Princes who fanned the flames of its destruction and hastened its demise. And having prefaced the discussion with these remarks, we have gathered their biographies here to illustrate our argument.

#Book of Jin #Jinshu #Eight Princes #War of the Eight Princes

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architectnews · 4 years ago

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Floating House Concursos AG360 Competition

Floating House Ideas Contest, Concursos AG360 Competition, Architecture 2020

Floating House Ideas Competition

2 Feb 2021

Floating House Ideas Competition Winners

1st Place – Valencia, Spain

Yuly Andrea Gallo Villena

Merari Tovar Pena

Sonia Carolina Mayer Reyes

Christian Cruz Luna

1st Mention – México City, Mexico

Alejandra Martínez Robles

José Angel Durán Xolot

2nd Mention – Shenyang, China

Lin Chen

Haiming Pang

Zehui Wang

Ruiming Zhang

3rd Mention – Bogotá, Colombia

Juan Felipe Pinto Lara

Julian Olaya Rojas

Camilo Rodríguez Monroy

3 rd Mention – Jiangxi, Chin (tie)

Hao Suen

Ding Wang

Mingxuan Wu

Xianyuan Gao

Shugi Caiy

9 Oct 2020

Floating House Ideas Contest: Concursos AG360 Competition

A floating house prototype (FLOATING HOUSE) will be conceptualized, which functions as an independent element and that, thanks to its shape, can be formed into a set of 10 units, adding value to the natural environment.

The FLOATING HOUSE, as an independent element and together, will function as tourist accommodation villas and may be part of a complex on land that complements the services (which will not be screened).

Concursos AG360 Calls For Ideas Contest: FLOATING HOUSE

PRIZES

1º PRIZE US $ 2,500

+ Exhibition and diffusion in the main architecture sites worldwide.

+ Virtual booklet of the best proposals.

3 HONORABLE MENTIONS

+ Exhibition and diffusion in the main architecture sites worldwide.

+ Virtual booklet of the best proposals.

RATES

Special Register: From September 28 to October 27: US $ 52.00

Early Registration: From October 28 to November 24: US $ 72.00

Late Registration: From November 25 to December 19: US $ 97.00

Check the calendar on the official page.

CALENDAR

September 21, 2020 | Launch of the call

September 21-27, 2020 | Pre – registration

September 28, 2020 | Registration start

October 27, 2020 | Completion of the first registration stage

November 19, 2020 | Jury members announcement

November 23, 2020 | End of consultation period

November 24, 2020 | Completion of the second registration stage

December 19, 2020 | End of registration period

January 16, 2021 | Proposal submission deadline

January 22, 2021 | Jury ruling

January 27, 2021 | Dissemination of results

January 29, 2021 | Awards

vimeo

Floating House from Concursos AG on Vimeo.

AG360, organizing company of Architecture Ideas Contests, is pleased to welcome all architects and architecture students from around the world to the International Architecture Competition “FLOATING HOUSE”, to be held from September 2020 until the month of January of the year 2021. We invite you to consult the complete RULES.

Download the information related to this competition here. www.concursosag360.com

Floating House Concursos AG360 Competition information / image received 091020

Architecture Competitions

Current Architectural Competitions Selection

Camden Highline Competition, London, UK

Camden Highline Architecture Competition

Pandemic Dwelling – Home in times of Pandemic design contest

Pandemic Dwelling Design Competition

Leeds City Square Redevelopment Competition, England, UK

Leeds City Square Redevelopment Competition

Architecture Competition for Q-Village, Guangzhou, China

photo © Guangdong Hengguang Investment Co., Ltd.

Q-Village Architecture Competition

Photodemic Architecture Photography Competition 2020

Photodemic Architecture Photography Competition

Tomb of Waste Architecture Competition

Kaizhou New City International Young Designer Competition, Sichuan, China

Kaizhou New City International Young Designer Competition

Comments / photos for the Floating House Concursos AG360 Competition page welcome

The post Floating House Concursos AG360 Competition appeared first on e-architect.

#e-architect

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sickymag-archive · 6 years ago

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INDIVIDUALITY STYLE for sickymag.com

Photography Jing Yi Fashion Xuxu Model Aijia Gu Hair & Make-Up Ted Luo Clothes LAB30515, Simon Gao, Lanneret, Rains, Yuly, Diddi Studio, Thing In Thing and Chen Yiyuan

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nutty1005 · 4 years ago

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Exclusive Visit of 72 Hours! Full Record of “A Dream Like A Dream” Behind the Scenes

Original Article: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/yI4arm9P9nJwE3RMSUW-5Q Original Author: 杨晋亚 Translator’s note: The original author is part of Yuli Studio, this article is published in Yuli Studio’s Weixin Official Account on 23 Apr 2021 as a part of “Behind the Screens” Volume 640.

On 22 Apr, “A Dream Like A Dream” Wuhan Charity show was still in the midst, countless related topics were already on Weibo Hot Search.

This is probably the hottest play on the internet till date.

A big intellectual property that lasted for 21 years, and now with the addition of the hottest celebrity, debuted for the first time as a Charity Show in honor of the heroes of the pandemic last year, “A Dream Like A Dream” contained stories on stage and backstage.

Before the official start of the play, Yuli Studio walked into the backstage of “A Dream Like A Dream”, and entered the dream in advance.

“A Dream Like A Dream”

Celebrity Cast

On 19 Apr noon, 15 minutes before the first full dress rehearsal for “A Dream Like A Dream”, there were not much audiences, they were all in the lotus pond seats.

Overall producer Wang Keran was suddenly notified that there was someone recording secretly, he immediately called the executive producer Da Shan to check, who had already expressed multiple times that audiences were not the take pictures. Wang Keran face turned gloomy, loudly accused Da Shan of incompetency, stood up, “Trusted friends who are currently seated, I hope that everyone would protect the actors, stop filming.”

Afterwards Wang Keran told us, his anger then was actually “for show”, that situation needed him to make a stand, scold Da Shan so as to alert everyone else, “I needed to kill two birds with one stone, control the scene, protect the actors.”

Xu Qing, Xiao Zhan, Zhang Liang, Huang Lu… the addition of many celebrity actors, caused the interest in “A Dream Like A Dream” to increase.

Protecting his actors, was something that Wang Keran always did ever since he built this group.

Yanghua Theatre and Baoli Theatrical Center collaborated and did some massive and intricate work, in order to ensure that protection project was as per usual, “The theaters put in a lot, the meager profits that this project is giving them, can’t completely cover their massive investment.”

Wang Keran also helped to block countless signature and photograph requests for Xiao Zhan, his good friend had came from afar to Wuhan just for a photograph with Xiao Zhan, but Wang Keran did not agree, “I promised a clean creative environment for my actors.”

The “A Dream Like A Dream” group tried their best to give all the actors an equal, harmonious creative environment, and in here, there is no celebrity actor Xiao Zhan, only Patient No. 5 B.

In the backstage of the Wuhan Qintai Theatre, the plaque on the door of Xiao Zhan’s resting room was not labelled “Xiao Zhan”, but “No. 5”.

Director Chen Limei and Zhang Rui said that the group did not treat Xiao Zhan specially as a celebrity; Actress Huang Lu, who portrayed the role Jiang Hong, had the most scenes with Xiao Zhan, she said that everyone was just actors.

Privately, Xiao Zhan would treat Huang Lu fruits, as well as recommend good motives to her, Huang Lu said, working with Xiao Zhan was not much different from working with other partners, the only difference was that there were suddenly a lot of Xiao Zhan fans leaving messages on her Weibo, most of them were messages of encouragement and support.

“A Dream Like A Dream” , Xiao Zhan, Huang Lu

During the very initial rehearsals, the director closed Huang Lu and Xiao Zhan into a small practice room, in order to cultivate tacit understanding.

“When we were rehearsing the French portion of the play, I knew he was from Chongqing, I would suddenly use French translated to Wuhan dialect to talk to him, what d’ya wanna eat what d’ya wanna eat, and then he would suddenly reply me in Chongqing dialect.”

Huang Lu remembered, when Xiao Zhan entered the group, he had already memorized all of his lines, the tacit understanding between them were built up within 3 or 4 days, and on the details of the performance, they would also inspire each other.

For example, the biggest reaction from the audience in the Wuhan show was the scene in the Parisian apartment, actually contained Xiao Zhan’s designs, when they spoke the lines “Monday Wednesday Friday Tuesday Thursday Saturday and Sunday”, Xiao Zhan suggested that the two of them would lean their heads on each other, so as to give a better effect.

When the two of them were conversing in comedic Japanese scene, there were traces of the old version of the play, but there were new creativity as well, “Pikachu” was from the old version, whereas “sleeping” was an idea that Xiao Zhan came up with.

“A Dream Like A Dream”, Xiao Zhan, Huang Lu

The duration for “A Dream Like A Dream” was long, the lines voluminous, there was once during rehearsal, one of the actors had a sudden breakage and his lines became more and more scattered, voice lower and lower, that day Director Chen Limei gave him a stern talking to, but in the director’s memory, this problem never occurred to Xiao Zhan.

“Xiao Zhan was very serious, we could all feel that, every night after he went back, he definitely thought through his scenes once more, so that he would not make this kind of mistake.”

Xiao Zhan expressed that his familiarity with the lines had gone to the state that he could say it “whenever”, he was more focused on the “current feeling and the chemistry with his partners.”

Xiao Zhan was very strict with his own expectations, on the 19th after the first full dress rehearsal, there were many audiences who gave his performance good reviews, but he said, “I’m not quite satisfied with today, it wasn’t as good as yesterday.” Although the audiences did not spot any problems with the lines from the scene ”Monday Wednesday Friday Tuesday Thursday Saturday and Sunday”, but after the performance ended, Xiao Zhan himself felt that there were some slight flaws.

“A Dream Like A Dream”, Xiao Zhan

The lotus pond seats in “A Dream Like A Dream” to Xiao Zhan was a challenge, it made it easy for him to lose concentration, and once you had lost it, it would be easy for the scene to scatter, he described, “the feeling in concerts is that you need to interact simultaneously, plays to me meant that I need to make myself lonely”, so he needed to make sure he could ignore the audiences.

Wang Keran invited theater critics to view the play for the 19th’s full dress rehearsal, after the upper half ended, they were exclaiming in praise of Xiao Zhan’s acting, Wang Keran also proudly recommended this newly found actor to people around him: “He had a different layer of creativity process, the first day we’ve finished the script, he surprised me onstage the second day, it was green but came with a lot of accurate instincts. He constructed the character to be intricate and abundant, but yet layered, not just emotional scenes, everyone could burst into emotions, but he was intricate, lively and entertaining, he conveyed the soul of the character, his sense of pace was this good.”

“A Dream Like A Dream” Performance Stage

The story of “A Dream Like A Dream” and Xiao Zhan had to begin with the Cao Yu 110 Anniversary Special Event last year.

In 2019, Wang Keran heard of Xiao Zhan’s name, but he quickly forgot about it. “Then I was in Wuxi, there was a large excited crowd of people, said that the hottest actor, Xiao Zhan, was in there.”

Until 2020, a psychiatrist friend told Wang Keran, to take note of this actor Xiao Zhan.

“Before then I was an older person, I’ve always picked actors above 35, but after the psychiatrist finished talking, I started subconsciously noticing this person, and then I found out that this person was really interesting.

How interesting? There were a lot of people attacking him, I thought I’d understand what these attacks were, I found out that these people were a contradiction of the most realistic things and most hypocritical things, this era’s idols were different from 5 years ago, they are now placed on a pedestal as a symbol, as something to be fought over or stepped upon. Via Xiao Zhan I noticed the new pulse in the development of society, understood this movement, art should be something that is most compatible with the times, my personal view on plays is just like this, plays should be the current drama action of this moment, and the emotional relationship of the people here and now.”

“A Dream Like A Dream”, Xiao Zhan

The commemoration event for Cao Yu, Wang Keran needed to find a young guest who could have a conversation with Wan Fang, a colleague suggested Xiao Zhan, Wang Keran suddenly realized, this was perfect, “The complexity on Xiao Zhan would fully represent the complexity of plays.”

The first time he met Xiao Zhan, Wang Keran captured the mysterious sense of fate behind his back, but yet he also gave a sense of youthful obtrusiveness, gentle and warm. Wang Keran gave Xiao Zhan a list of books and asked him to go back and read, after which Xiao Zhan finished the books in a few days, even wrote some 10 over questions to Wan Fang, the questions were simple but deep, and moved Wang Keran.

On the Cao Yu Commemoration Event, Wang Keran studied Xiao Zhan, and found that his sense of stage was fantastic, and immediately invited him to join “A Dream Like A Dream”.

To Wang Keran, the similarity between Xiao Zhan and Patient No. 5 was that they were both trapped in the uncertainties of fate.

Xiao Zhan’s portrayal of Patient No. 5 gave Wang Keran a pleasant surprise, as to whether he would continue as Patient No. 5 after this year’s shows, they had not spoken about it, but Wang Keran felt that “A Dream Like A Dream” already gave Xiao Zhan some rewards, “I feel that via this play, he can prove that he is a good actor, I feel that ‘A Dream Like A Dream’ gave him a power.”

“A Dream Like A Dream”, Xiao Zhan

Entering the Dream Again

Not only Xiao Zhan was a new addition, the Yanghua version of “A Dream Like A Dream” had almost a brand new cast.

Zhang Liang and Yanghua had collaborated for 2 plays, they were old friends; Huang Lu was recommended by Xu Qing, she was also the only actress that was confirmed without meeting Wang Keran.

Director Zhang Rui was in-charged of arranging actors, but because of the pandemic, the Taiwanese actress who was supposed to play the role of the wife could not arrive, another actress had to take on this role. “A Dream Like A Dream” had a total of 31 actors and actresses, many times one would take on multiple roles, any adjustment of actors would have big ramifications.

Zhang Rui created many versions of the casting chart, “This casting chart was an intricate process, move an actor, we might need to reallocate every scene, whether they could make the scene in time, whether they were suitable, reasonable, I’m so frustrated my hair’s dropping.”

Starting from 2013 when “A Dream Like A Dream” premiered in Mainland China, Director Chen Limei and Zhang Rui grew with this play for 9 years. Chen Lipai previously also handled the role of Stage Executive, Zhang Rui was with the crew everyday, there were the two who were most familiar with “A Dream Like A Dream”.

In their memory, the first rehearsal for 2013 lasted 3+ months, after which if there were not much changes with the actors, repeat rehearsals would last 1 week. Some years they had to change an actor, but yet they did not give sufficient rehearsal time and almost drove the actor insane, “Because the crowd actor had to act as multiple roles, the management of every role was complex, he needed to remember his position, his clothes, and he had to depend on himself, there would be no one backstage to inform him, he had to take care of himself.”

“A Dream Like A Dream”

This year, more than half of the cast was changed, theoretically they needed one and a half months, but to gather 31 actors to rehearse at the same time was not easy, the group merely squeezed out 17 days for practice time.

Practice time started officially from 9 Mar, the group settled in Hebei Tangshan, the time was tight, the mission was heavy.

Lai Shengchuan, who was faraway in Taiwan, gave instructions via video conferencing to the actors, to help answer their questions. Wang Keran, Chen Limei and Zhang Rui handled the task of direction.

Wang Keran mainly handled the mini classes to the new actors to the group, every actor had different classes to attend.

Huang Lu was a movie actress, her method for lines was to say to herself, but “A Dream Like A Dream” was to say them to 1200 audiences, Wang Keran gave her a training method, “He made me rehearse only with Xiao Zhan, each of us would stand at the furthest corner, but we must be able to hear each other’s lines, that is we needed to get used to speaking loudly, I felt that this method was actually quite crucial.”

“A Dream Like A Dream”, Xiao Zhan and Huang Lu during practice

When he first entered the group, Zhang Liang was tortured by the role of the Baron for 3 days, he totally could not find the sensation, Wang Keran gave him 3 days of progressive classes. The first class was to control the micro expressions and movements, “For example, the first day I reached Tianxian Court, he requested that when I did gestures, my hands could not be higher than my chest, when we normally spoke my palm would face up, but he said that the Baron could not have a moment where his palm was facing up, his palm would forever be facing down.”

The second class was culture class, discussing European culture, politics and artistic background, so as to understand the motives behind Baron’s actions. “Baron would not let Xianglan draw abstract art, made her start from still life, it actually had political connotations. Classical realism represented calm and control, whereas abstraction and symbolism, etc, developed from the lowest of the masses, represented the destruction to order, Baron hoped from the bottom of his heart that Xianglan would live with him, if you liked something he didn’t like, that represented betrayal to Baron, that’s where the cracks in their relationship started.”

Chen Limei and Zhang Rui understood every detail of “A Dream Like A Dream”, when the actors gave any small questions, they would immediately solve them.

For example, how to swiftly get into positions, what to wear after changing out, both directors could immediately give the correct answer, “We found that this time round that one of the new actors was slow in moving, he would say he could not make it, I would say you definitely could make it, you tell me why you couldn’t make it, I would know where you did wrong. He said it was very dark and he couldn’t find his bag, and he needed to take the gun from 2nd floor to the 1st floor, I said there’s another prop gun downstairs, you don’t have to carry it down, he said he didn’t know. We actually spoke to him after observing him for a few days, because we knew that the 2nd floor was very dark, we definitely had to ensure the safety of our actors first.”

“A Dream Like A Dream”, Xu Qing, Xiao Zhan, Zhang Liang, Huang Lu, Lan Nan, etc.

The time left for the directors was not much, rehearsal, costume, positions, etc, all had to be done simultaneously, the volume of “A Dream Like A Dream” was supposed to be large, there were pressures on progress, the experience for the whole group was basically demonic scheduling.

For example, for 22 Apr Charity Show, the schedule for the actors that day was like this —

10:30 to 11:30 Actors and actresses would set of from their hotels to the theater for make up and costume; 12:30 Lunch; 12:30 Microphone testing; 13:10 Warm up; 13:30 Audience entry; 14:00 Start of Charity Show.

After nearly 8 hours of performance, when the actors were having their media session it was already 30 minutes past midnight.

Everyday they worked for around 12 hours, that would be the normal hours for the group for the month, during practice they did not wear their make up and costume, but they still had to set out by 12:00, practice starts 13:00, 17:00 was dinner, 18:00 was practice again, and they end at 22:00.

“This time round we really went for it, we didn’t work this hard previously, because we changed very few people then, we could probably get to the practice at 2pm,” Chen Limei said.

“A Dream Like A Dream”, actors practicing

The tight rehearsal schedule was a challenge physically to the actors, as they practiced day and night everyday, even Huang Lu felt lost once.

“Because we would be acting the same thing everyday, everyday when you went in, it was day, but when you left, it was night, that period of time I really craved a normal life. There was once we were video conferencing with Teacher Lai, I just said that after this play, I suddenly feel that plays, movies weren’t that important, what’s important was our real life, I especially wanted to experience communicating with people, the feeling of being with family, friends and loved ones.

When you filmed dramas, you would still be outside, after you knock off you could be in touch with a more realistic life. When I was in the same play group as Zhang Ruoyun, we practiced in Beijing, everyday we practiced for around 3 hours, we could still meet friends in the afternoon and night, but this play was concentrated practice, when we left it would already be midnight.”

“A Dream Like A Dream”, Xu Qing and Huang Lu during practice

Wang Keran could foresee, that actors would experience this type of lethargy, so the arrangement from the very beginning was that after the 17 days of practice, the group would briefly rest for a period of time, until a week before the Wuhan Show, where he would recall them.

This method of working was not easily seen in plays, but to actors, this was a good time to rest and digest.

“The first day we returned, Keran said that was the best time I’ve acted with Xiao Zhan,” Huang Lu said. “Perhaps in-between I had time to digest, get in touch with real life, and had a new understanding.”

In comparison with “A Dream Like A Dream” from 8 years ago, besides the changes in actors, this year’s Yanghua version also shortened the script by around 15 minutes or so, without affecting the foundation of the script.

The adjustment was mainly on the pace of the actors. For example, at the end of the upper half, the housekeeper of the castle would talk about the past of Baron and Gu Xianglan, it used to use a slow and narrative tone, Wang Keran felt that it was not right, “This type of expression seemed to cause Grandpa, who just arrived at Shanghai, to seem unfamiliar with his surroundings, but in fact, Grandpa was very familiar with the castle, he could have returned frequently, like the feeling of a tour guide,” so he adjusted the tone and pace, and made the play richer and more layered.

“A Dream Like A Dream”, Xu Qing, Zhang Liang, Lan Nan

Every improvement in detail, came from written notes from everyday.

When rehearsing, both directors would sit in the middle of the lotus pond, with a small table, and a faint table lamp, the actors would be acting while the directors discover problems and mark it in the script, or write furiously on white paper, after the end of a day’s rehearsal, the paper would be littered with over 200 to 300 notes.

After the rehearsal ends, actors would sit together in the lotus pond and listen to the directors reading the notes one by one, every actor would record down their respective portions.

Xiao Zhan’s phone memo was full of everyday’s notes, for example there were around 10 notes for 19 Apr, Xiao Zhan’s note taking method was simple and concise, note down the scene, or a point, with the remarks of watch out for emotion or pace.

In Zhang Liang’s memory, with regards to his notes, there were up to 20 notes a day, but later on as the problems lessened, the notes also reduced.

Director Chen Limei said, some actors would be confused, why were there always 200 to 300 new notes everyday during the note session, did that mean that they had not improved, but actually everyone was getting better on the basis that they were already getting better.

“A Dream Like A Dream”, the directors at the rehearsal

There was a process in practicing, at the start you might not have memorized all the lines, that note would be about lines, when the lines passed, it could have been about wrong position or movement, at the last part when the acting was getting better, I might notice intricate details such as costume, hairstyle, which you needed to notice carefully. Every stage had its own set of problems discovered, only when you walked from Step 1 to Step 2 that I can see the problems of the current step, otherwise my focus would not be that.”

For example, on the last day before the official show, the note for Xiao Zhan became “the singing before the curtain call, stand slightly westwards” this type of small details.

After experiencing the full dress rehearsal of 18, 19 and 20 Apr, the last day of rehearsal became “note rehearsal”, that is to repeatedly rehearse based on the problems in the notes so as to affirm the scenes that could easily cause issues, including the group scene at Tianxian Court, the scenes between Baron and Young Xianglan, etc. For Xiao Zhan and Huang Lu, the scene they rehearsed was the propless scene around the staircase, which needed to take note of the eye contact as they two of them went up and down the stairs, entering by pushing the door.

After the premiere on 22nd ended, the notes continued, so as to have new improvements for the consecutive shows.

“A Dream Like A Dream”, Xu Qing, Zhang Liang, etc.

Idealism

After the full dress rehearsal ended on 19 Apr, all of the actors gathered backstage, surrounding the directors, quietly standing, it seemed like a special ceremony.

For the new actors who joined this year, this was their first time witnessing this ceremony, but to the actors who had been with “A Dream Like A Dream” before, this had already became a habit.

Director Chen Limei introduced that this ending ceremony was called “Echo”, it was a habit from Lai Shengchuan — a habit that existed since the first premiere in 2013, “When we finish a show, and gain the applause from our audiences, as well as new empathy for our roles, we must return this feelings out, give them to more people, you can imagine that there was a large crowd of people, we would send out these blessings and share them.”

After “A Dream Like A Dream” came to Mainland China, it had always been well acclaimed, it used to show in Beijing and another specific city. Starting the 9 Cities Tour, especially adding the Wuhan Charity Show, was also a form of “Echo”, to share this play with even more audiences.

“A Dream Like A Dream”, Wuhan Charity Show inside view

2 years ago, in Chongqing Theatre, Wang Keran came up with the idea to get more people to understand theater, experience theater. He started conceptualizing the 9th Anniversary 9 Cities Tour for “A Dream Like A Dream”.

When they heard of this plan, Chen Limei and Zhang Rui thought it was an impossible wish.

“Because ‘A Dream Like A Dream’ was such a large play, we would actually lose money by doing a tour. Such a big group, there’s about 130 people in the group, so many people’s living expenditures, including putting up the set for each location, it takes a week to put it up, only for a few shows.

Until the start of last year, Keran told us that we would still do it, I said we really had to do it? How could we do this in the pandemic? Last year he said that we could definitely do it the next year. This might had to do with his view of life, he would do what he set out to do, just like then when he did his first play, he sold 4 houses.”

In comparison with previous “A Dream Like A Dream”, the investment of this tour was obviously bigger. More touring cities meant that there was more costs with transfer of set, when they rehearsed in Tangshan it was not as good as Beijing, all the actors had to be in Tangshan with their living expenditures.

On the other hand, the seats in the theaters were fixed, there’s a ceiling to the ticket prices, in the face that it was not profitable, Wang Keran included a not-for-sale charity show, “The cost is too high, after completing the charity show, we basically have no profits for this stop,” Wang Keran said.

“A Dream Like A Dream”, Xu Qing and Xiao Zhan during rehearsal

Early last year during the pandemic period, Wang Keran already thought of doing a charity show in Wuhan.

Then, he spoke on the phone with the person in-charge of the theater, and asked about the situation in Wuhan, “He had always stuck to Wuhan, and told me that if you really cared about us, then you should bring your best show over, I asked which one did you mean? He said ‘A Dream Like A Dream’. I just felt that if ‘A Dream Like A Dream’ did not come, it would not fully express our special respect for Wuhan, and we would do a charity show, free.”

The actors had the same idealism.

Wang Keran said, theater would definitely be tough, the rehearsal time was long, and while they would perform for 3 days in every stop, they had to allocate 1 week for practice, a popular artist’s time would be calculated in days, but they were willing to allocate their schedule for the play.

Sun Zhongyi, who played roles such as the old housekeeper and professor, was one of the core actors for Yanghua Theatre, he was given the rare opportunity for a lead role in a movie, it was very important to him, but the schedule collided with one of the shows for “A Dream Like A Dream”, and for the play, he gave up this rare opportunity.

“A Dream Like A Dream”, actors rehearsing.

Plays do not earn as much as dramas and movies, no matter how popular the celebrity is, the profits from plays will never match up with the value of the drama, an actor’s rehearsal fee for “A Dream Like A Dream” is 100RMB a day, but all of the actors cooperated seriously.

Huang Lu said, sometimes we would joke that we “missed money making opportunities”, but everyone felt that this was especially fine, it was rare that we had a whole year to focus on doing one thing, the period where we practiced in Tangshan was very much like return to school.

“Everyone basically didn’t come here for money,” Huang Lu said, she viewed “A Dream Like A Dream” as a rare opportunity, it was a training for acting, also like a chance for self improvement.

After the “A Dream Like A Dream” Wuhan Charity Show ended, Huang Lu came to the front lobby for a photo.

Every actor gave their best performance.

Newly added actress for Young Gu Xianglan, Ge Xinyi, worked hard to match her senior; seasoned actress Feng Xianzhen controlled her character with grace and power, all 3 Gu Xianglan had an overall soul; Zhang Liang performed a Baron who was different from Jin Shijie’s version, but it was still accurate and layered; Fu Xing as the representative of the original group, became the foundation, their steady and down-to-earth performance assisted every new actor in building up their steady and accurate system of performance.

After performing for 9 years, Xu Qing had already embodied the blood and soul of Gu Xianglan, she also followed the progress of the group, and participated in all of the practices. Wang Keran expressed his thanks to Xu Qing once in Tangshan, “I say I really thank you for appearing in the practice, because your every practice would always accurately complete every detail, even if it was the most basic practice, you always put your heart to it, never held back, completely constructing the character.”

Xu Qing constantly improved her performance, frequently discussing how to handle every word with Wang Keran, for example after Baron had his car accident, Gu Xianglan would run up hurriedly to the police to say “I saw your incompetence” that kind of transition scenes, she would repeatedly try different expressions, after 9 years of “A Dream Like A Dream”, she is still pondering over it repeatedly, searching for the best method to handle every detail.

“A Dream Like A Dream”, Xu Qing and Zhang Liang during rehearsal.

During the rehearsal in Wuhan, Yuli Studio also witnessed how Xu Qing gave all of her emotions in every rehearsal, especially the important scene where Gu Xianglan took off her Cheongsam and walked through the lotus pond in sleeping garments, everytime Xu Qing finished that performance, her eyes would be filled with tears.

Xu Qing told Wang Keran one sentence later, and hoped that he would share that with the new actors, “Just tell them this point, 1 minute onstage, 9 years of effort offstage.”

Theater people always had this persistence in idealism and passion for the stage, with so much interest in “A Dream Like A Dream” this time round, Wang Keran hoped that with this play, more audiences would understand plays and love plays.

He especially prepared a live broadcast after the charity show ended, so that people beyond that 1200 audiences could see “A Dream Like A Dream”, hear the words from the actors’ hearts, he hoped that the other actors besides Xu Qing and Xiao Zhan would also be noticed.

“I know that the rules of news broadcast, if it wasn’t live broadcast, you would definitely cut away the people who weren’t important, right, but I hoped that everybody could see everyone’s effort. Xu Qing, Xiao Zhan, they were also very happy to have this method, I think that this is also a faith in collaboration equality built upon plays for them.”

“A Dream Like A Dream” would continue to tour 9 cities, Wang Keran hoped that through this play, it would encourage more youths to enter theaters, “I had this thought a long time ago, I just needed to find the right opportunity. For all of our lives we had hoped that plays would have more influence, could have more people entering theaters, if this worked out, then actors and actresses such as Xu Qing, Xiao Zhan, Zhang Liang etc, would have great contribution.”

#xiao zhan #sean xiao #xiaozhan #肖战

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mudaship39 · 10 months ago

Text

Character Bio of the East Asian Half Human Half Firebird and Stormbird Monk character

Dossier, Profile, Record, & Archive: Zhou Zhen/Zhou Chen:

Name:

Chinese name:

Zhou Zhen (the National S Rank Hero of Korea and S rank Adventurer of China)

Zhou Chen (the Half Human Half Phoenix Firebird and Lightning Bird Monk the S Rank Adventurer and Guild Member)

Korean name: Che Hae-Sook

Japanese name: Miyoko Takahashi

Species:

Human

Metahuman with pyrokinetic fire powers and electrokinetic lightning powers

Celestial/Stellar bipedal humanoid Phoenix Firebird Fenghuang and Lightning Bird

Ethnicity: Asian

Racial Identity: East Asian Chinese Han, East Asian Korean, & East Asian Japanese Yamato

Cultural Identity: Zhuang ethnicity, Ryukyuan/Luchuan Indigenous, and Manchurian ethnicity

Height: 5’8”

Weight: 130

Body Type: Lean, lithe, slender, & and athletic. Body type similar to a martial artist or gymnast.

Appearance:

B,H,W:

Hairstyle:

Pre-colonial East Asian hairstyles.

Short hair

Long hair tied in a medium or long ponytail

Hair color: black

Hair texture:

Hair look/state:

Eye Color: light brown

Skin color: terra cotta brown

Age: 27

Birthday: Taurus Horse

Shoe Size: 8

Piercings: Facial Piercings with gemstones on her face on her ears, eyebrows, nose, tongue, forehead, chin, & cheeks

Body Piercings with gemstones on her body on her chest, nipples, navel, & genitalia

Markings:

Jewelry: East Asian buddhist bracelets, jade gemstones rings, Buddhist necklaces.

Features:

Sex: Female

Gender: Cis

Sexual Orientation: Lesbian

Pronouns: He him, she her

Religion: Shinto Buddhist

Languages:

Chinese, Korean, Japanese

Disabilities: Autistic.

Nuerodivergent: ADD, ADHD, OCD,

Mental Illnesses: depression, anxiety, panic attacks, & PTSD

Relatives:

Father: Lei Chen

Mother: Eun-a Choi

Aunts and Uncles: Miyoko Kobayashi, Ha-min Choi, Liya Chen

Siblings:

Brothers: Yun Chen

Sisters: Yan Chen, Xiuying Chen

Cousins: Nanami Kobayashi, Takeo Kobayashi

Nephews and Nieces:

Children:

Adoptive children:

Biological children:

Marital Status: Married

Relationship model: Polyamorous

Love Interests:

Character traits:

Positive character traits:

Negative character traits:

Vices:

Virtues:

Voice:

Rank:

S rank

S rank Adventurer:

S Rank Hunter

S Rank Hero

Level: 300

Stat Points:

Skills:

Traits:

Alignment: Neutral Good

Class: Monk (Magical melee and unarmed martial arts)

Subclass:

Background:

Cultivation:

Martial Arts:

Magical martial arts (imagine bak mei, wushu, changquan, hung gar, xingyiquan, shuai jiao, wing chun, san da, choy li fut, shaolin kung fu, & wuzuquan)

magical mixed martial arts (imagine karate, capoeira, krav maga, savate, muay thai, jiu jitsu, kickboxing, hapkido, judo, aikido, taekwondo

magical kendo, sai, kobudo, spear, kalaripayattu, escrima stick fighting, bo staff, silat, tonfa, & nunchucks

Patron: Sun Wukong

Titles:

Homebase:

Shanghai, China. Kyoto, Japan. Seoul, Korea. Human Federation of Magical Human Kingdoms and Indigenous Magical Human Confederacy of Nations

Affiliation:

Education:

High School Graduate

High School Diploma

Associates Degree in Biology

Bachelor's Degree in Medicine

Masters Degree in Anatomy and Physiology

Certificate in Calligraphy

Certificate in Arrays

Certificate in Pill Making

Seoul National University. The University of Tokyo. Peking University

Korea Military Academy

U 13 or Under 13 for full contact Magical mixed martial arts

U 15 or Under 15 for magical melee combat with tonfa, escrima sticks, sai, nunchucks, & bo staff

Under 18 or U 18 for magical melee combat with magical swords, spears, clubs, axes, and sledgehammers

Occupation:

Earth:

Isekai:

Economic Class: Aristocratic

Base of Operations: Firebird Fire Fist and Lightning Bird Lightning Fist Style Martial Arts School and Shaolin Monastery

Place of Residence: Manor of her Noble Chen Family

Transportation: Horse drawn carriage. Car. Plane.

Mounts: Qinlin, Dragon, Griffin

Familiars:

Firebird

Lightning bird

Pets: Hellhound, shadow cat, phoenix, kitsune nine tailed fox demon

Companions:

Apparel:

Facemask and bandana, spiked arm gauntlets, t-shirt, martial arts gi uniform, vest, obi belt, fingerless gloves, kung fu pants, spiked knee gauntlets, & combat boots

Red blue Silk uniform and Qingdai guanmao or mandarin hat with phoenix feathers as an imperial officer. Accessories to denote rank such as a phoenix and qilin.

Hoodie, t-shirt, jeans, high top sneakers

Equipment:

Items:

Weapons: Great Sword, bojutsu bo staff, nunchucks, long swords, daggers, short sword, sai, escrima sticks, broadsword, tonfa, magical composite bow, & spear

Armor:

Leather and metal medium class armor

Plated chainmail military armor with helmet with Phoenix firebird and lightning bird feathers (based on the helmet of her patron Sun Wukong the Monkey King)

Power origin:

Earth:

Fire accident as a superhero. When saving civilians from a house fire caused by fire magic.

Lightning accident as a superhero. When being attacked by a supervillain with electrical lightning powers.

Isekai:

Firebird

Lightning bird

Abilities:

Electrical Fire Fusion

Fire manipulation

Lightning manipulation

#indigenous artist #indigenous writer #character of color #poc artist #poc characters #writer of color #trans artist #trans writer #trans creator #native creator #native writer #queer creator #queer character #queer writer

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