#zhang xin yuan

[movielosophy]

Guardians of The Dafeng | Please be careful with your sword case!

[kdram-chjh]

Cdrama: My Journey To You (2023)

THE Iconic scene of THE Gong Brothers🔥 #RyanCheng #TianJiaRui #MyJourneyToYou

Watch this video on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/jQAhYv3CrSs

[baifengxis]

Let's get married. Here? Now? I told you. It's a beautiful, sunny day. Formal proposal. Check if the gods are on our side. Send your betrothal gifts. I didn't do any of them. Skip Them. I was always the one to not obey to dogmatic rules. I didn't think you'd be even crazier than me. Then it's a yes? Let me think about it. What am I saying? Of course. I'd love to. Look at you. You can't even perform the bowing ritual in our wedding.

[binging-asian-dramas]

Fall In Love. 9/10

Story: 10

Acting: 10

Chemistry: 10

Comparable to: Maids Revenge (cdrama) ; Cruel Romance (cdrama)

One of my favorite historical cdrama’s. It takes place in the 1920s (republican era) which is an unique era of a cdrama you don’t see many of. The storyline is executed excellently with just enough mystery, action, melodrama, and romance. The chemistry between the two main leads are brilliantly casted and oofing are they oozing with smexyness together. It does take a few episodes for the momentum to get into, but it’s overall an outstanding drama where you won’t want to stop watching. Warning there also is sensitive subjects of attempted rape and suicide.

[niteshade925]

April 14, Xi'an, China, Shaanxi History Museum, Qin and Han Dynasties Branch (Part 3 – Innovations and Philosophies):

(Edit: sorry this post came out so late, I got hit by the truck named life and had to get some rest, and this post in itself took some effort to research. But anyway it's finally up, please enjoy!)

A little background first, because this naming might lead to some confusions.....when you see location adjectives like "eastern", "western", "northern", "southern" added to the front of Zhou dynasty, Han dynasty, Song dynasty, and Jin/晋 dynasty, it just means the location of the capital city has changed. For example Han dynasty had its capital at Chang'an (Xi'an today) in the beginning, but after the very brief but not officially recognized "Xin dynasty" (9 - 23 AD; not officially recognized in traditional Chinese historiography, it's usually seen as a part of Han dynasty), Luoyang became the new capital. Because Chang'an is geographically to the west of Luoyang, the Han dynasty pre-Xin is called Western Han dynasty (202 BC - 8 AD), and the Han dynasty post-Xin is called Eastern Han dynasty (25 - 220 AD). As you can see here, in these cases this sort of adjective is simply used to indicate different time periods in the same dynasty.

Model of a dragonbone water lift/龙骨水车, Eastern Han dynasty. This is mainly used to push water up to higher elevations for the purpose of irrigation:

Model of a water-powered bellows/冶铁水排, Eastern Han dynasty. Just as the name implies, as flowing water pushes the water wheel around, the parts connected to the axle will pull and push on the bellows alternately, delivering more air to the furnace for the purpose of casting iron.

The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art/《九章算术》, Fangcheng/方程 chapter. It’s a compilation of the work of many scholars from 10 th century BC until 2 nd century AD, and while the earliest authors are unknown, it has been edited and supplemented by known scholars during Western Han dynasty (also when the final version of this book was compiled), then commented on by scholars during Three Kingdoms period (Kingdom of Wei) and Tang dynasty. The final version contains 246 example problems and solutions that focus on practical applications, for example measuring land, surveying land, construction, trading, and distributing taxes. This focus on practicality is because it has been used as a textbook to train civil servants. Note that during Han dynasty, fangcheng means the method of solving systems of linear equations; today, fangcheng simply means equation. For anyone who wants to know a little more about this book and math in ancient China, here’s an article about it. (link goes to pdf)

Diagram of a circle in a right triangle (called “勾股容圆” in Chinese), from the book Ceyuan Haijing/《测圆海镜》 by Yuan-era mathematician Li Ye/李冶 (his name was originally Li Zhi/李治) in 1248.  Note that Pythagorean Theorem was known by the name Gougu Theorem/勾股定理 in ancient China, where gou/勾 and gu/股 mean the shorter and longer legs of the right triangle respectively, and the hypotenuse is named xian/弦 (unlike what the above linked article suggests, this naming has more to do with the ancient Chinese percussion instrument qing/磬, which is shaped similar to a right triangle).  Gougu Theorem was recorded in the ancient Chinese mathematical work Zhoubi Suanjing/《周髀算经》, and the name Gougu Theorem is still used in China today.

Diagram of the proof for Gougu Theorem in Zhoubi Suanjing. The sentence on the left translates to "gou (shorter leg) squared and gu (longer leg) squared makes up xian (hypotenuse) squared", which is basically the equation a² + b² = c². Note that the character for "squared" here (mi/幂) means "power" today.

This is a diagram of Zhang Heng’s seismoscope, called houfeng didong yi/候风地动仪 (lit. “instrument that measures the winds and the movements of the earth”).  It was invented during Eastern Han dynasty, but no artifact of houfeng didong yi has been discovered yet, this is presumably due to constant wars at the end of Eastern Han dynasty.  All models and diagrams that exist right now are what historians and seismologists think it should look like based on descriptions from Eastern Han dynasty. This diagram is based on the most popular model by Wang Zhenduo that has an inverted column at the center, but this model has been widely criticized for its ability to actually detect earthquakes. A newer model that came out in 2005 with a swinging column pendulum in the center has shown the ability to detect earthquakes, but has yet to demonstrate ability to reliably detect the direction where the waves originate, and is also inconsistent with the descriptions recorded in ancient texts. What houfeng didong yi really looks like and how it really works remains a mystery.

Xin dynasty bronze calipers, the earliest sliding caliper found as of now (not the earliest caliper btw). This diagram is the line drawing of the actual artifact (right).

Ancient Chinese "Jacquard" loom (called 提花机 or simply 花机 in Chinese, lit. "raise pattern machine"), which first appeared no later than 1st century BC. The illustration here is from the Ming-era (1368 - 1644) encyclopedia Tiangong Kaiwu/《天工开物》. Basically it's a giant loom operated by two people, the person below is the weaver, and the person sitting atop is the one who controls which warp threads should be lifted at what time (all already determined at the designing stage before any weaving begins), which creates patterns woven into the fabric. Here is a video that briefly shows how this type of loom works (start from around 1:00). For Hanfu lovers, this is how zhuanghua/妆花 fabric used to be woven, and how traditional silk fabrics like yunjin/云锦 continue to be woven. Because it is so labor intensive, real jacquard silk brocade woven this way are extremely expensive, so the vast majority of zhuanghua hanfu on the market are made from machine woven synthetic materials.

Chinese purple is a synthetic pigment with the chemical formula BaCuSi2O6. There's also a Chinese blue pigment. If anyone is interested in the chemistry of these two compounds, here's a paper on the topic. (link goes to pdf)

A list of common colors used in Qin and Han dynasties and the pigments involved. White pigment comes from chalk, lead compounds, and powdered sea shells; green pigment comes from malachite mineral; blue pigment usually comes from azurite mineral; black comes from pine soot and graphite; red comes from cinnabar; ochre comes from hematite; and yellow comes from realgar and orpiment minerals.

Also here are names of different colors and shades during Han dynasty. It's worth noting that qing/青 can mean green (ex: 青草, "green grass"), blue (ex: 青天, "blue sky"), any shade between green and blue, or even black (ex: 青丝, "black hair") in ancient Chinese depending on the context. Today 青 can mean green, blue, and everything in between.

Western Han-era bronze lamp shaped like a goose holding a fish in its beak. This lamp is interesting as the whole thing is hollow, so the smoke from the fire in the lamp (the fish shaped part) will go up into the neck of the goose, then go down into the body of the goose where there's water to catch the smoke, this way the smoke will not be released to the surrounding environment. There are also other lamps from around the same time designed like this, for example the famous gilt bronze lamp that's shaped like a kneeling person holding a lamp.

Part of a Qin-era (?) clay drainage pipe system:

A list of canals that was dug during Warring States period, Qin dynasty, and pre-Emperor Wu of Han Han dynasty (475 - 141 BC). Their purposes vary from transportation to irrigation. The name of the first canal on the list, Hong Gou/鸿沟, has already become a word in Chinese language, a metaphor for a clear separation that cannot be crossed (ex: 不可逾越的鸿沟, meaning "a gulf that cannot be crossed").

Han-era wooden boat. This boat is special in that its construction has clear inspirations from the ancient Romans, another indication of the amount of information exchange that took place along the Silk Road:

A model that shows how the Great Wall was constructed in Qin dynasty. Laborers would use bamboo to construct a scaffold (bamboo scaffolding is still used in construction today btw, though it's being gradually phased out) so people and materials (stone bricks and dirt) can get up onto the wall. Then the dirt in the middle of the wall would be compressed into rammed earth, called hangtu/夯土. A layer of stone bricks may be added to the outside of the hangtu wall to protect it from the elements. This was also the method of construction for many city walls in ancient China.

A list of the schools of thought that existed during Warring States period, their most influential figures, their scholars, and their most famous works. These include Confucianism (called Ru Jia/儒家 in Chinese; usually the suffix "家" at the end denotes a school of thought, not a religion; the suffix "教" is that one that denotes a religion), Daoism/道家, Legalism (Fa Jia/法家), Mohism/墨家, etc.

The "Five Classics" (五经) in the "Four Books and Five Classics" (四书五经) associated with the Confucian tradition, they are Shijing/《诗经》 (Classic of Poetry), Yijing/《易经》 (also known as I Ching), Shangshu/《尚书》 (Classic of History), Liji/《礼记》 (Book of Rites), and Chunqiu/《春秋》 (Spring and Autumn Annals). The "Four Books" (四书) are Daxue/《大���》 (Great Learning), Zhongyong/《中庸》 (Doctrine of the Mean), Lunyu/《论语》 (Analects), and Mengzi/《孟子》 (known as Mencius).

And finally the souvenir shop! Here's a Chinese chess (xiangqi/象棋) set where the pieces are fashioned like Western chess, in that they actually look like the things they are supposed to represent, compared to traditional Chinese chess pieces where each one is just a round wooden piece with the Chinese character for the piece on top:

A blind box set of small figurines that are supposed to mimic Shang and Zhou era animal-shaped bronze vessels. Fun fact, in Shang dynasty people revered owls, and there was a female general named Fu Hao/妇好 who was buried with an owl-shaped bronze vessel, so that's why this set has three different owls (top left, top right, and middle). I got one of these owls (I love birds so yay!)

And that concludes the museums I visited while in Xi'an!

[moonwaif]

EDIT: how TF did I forget Shang Qinghua

[thepastisalreadywritten]

“I thought (cat cafe) owners would reach out to me – now it looks like I need to take the initiative and send the (cat’s) resume out,” she lamented to CNN.

Xin says Zhang Bu’er spends her days sleeping and “parkours” at night, making a racket and disturbing her and her husband’s sleep.

More annoyingly for Xin, Zhang Bu’er would always curl up on her laptop when she was working overtime.

“He just lounged around, watching me hustle away like a workhorse,” she said, jokingly.

“(My husband and I) want him to be a working cat to get a taste of the grind and earn his own food.”

Xin said she spends about 500 yuan ($71) per month feeding her two cats.

“I think (Zhang Bu’er) gets too bored during the day,” she said. “A job would help him burn off some energy.”

China’s first cat cafe opened in the southern city of Guangzhou in 2011.

The number of similar establishments has grown by 200% per year in the country, according to CBNData, China’s state-linked financial paper.

As of 2023, there were more than 4,000 cat cafe-related companies in the country.

Editor’s Note: CNN’s Joyce Jiang contributed reporting.

[maggiecheungs]

poems in episode one of the story of kunning palace

in episode 1 of kunning palace, xuening grabs a book of poems in order to trick her maids into thinking she keeps a ledger. my knowledge of classical chinese isn't particularly high level, but it's good enough to at least identify which poems are on the page that she opens to, and i'm certain they were deliberately chosen because of their relevance to the characters and themes of the show 👀 so i thought i'd do a post about them :)

this page contains three poems by the tang dynasty poet wang changling (698–756): 芙蓉樓送辛漸 (farewell to xin jian at lotus tower); 閨怨 (boudoir lament); and 春宮曲 (spring palace song). detailed analyses under the cut:

1 - 芙蓉樓送辛漸 (farewell to xin jian at lotus tower):

my translation

poem summary: the poet's friend came to wu on a night when cold rain was pouring into the river, and departs again at dawn. the poet accompanies him on his journey as far as the chu mountains [but cannot carry on journeying with him because he must stay at his official post in wu]. as he bids goodbye, he asks his friend to tell his family back in luoyang that his heart is still pure and resolute.

key themes: loneliness and solitude; duty; having a pure heart and noble character

analysis: this one is a fairly famous poem about parting before setting off on a long journey. it's particularly notable for its final line, 一片冰心在玉壺, which roughly translates to "my heart is as pure as a piece of ice within a vessel of jade"... which could easily have been written as a summary of zhang zhe's character.

however! while there's a definite emphasis on having a pure and guiltless heart, when you combine with the previous line, the couplet as a whole also gives a sense that the speaker wishes to be remembered by those they love as someone pure and righteous ("tell my family back in luoyang that my heart is still pure etc"). this seems to be a theme of xuening's second life: wanting to correct her past wrongs and treat the people she cares for better, and to prove to zhang zhe that she can be a good person in future

in particular, this poem makes me think of xuening's last moments in her first life. the poet's final request before he bids farewell to his friend? for his companion to tell his family that he is still noble at heart. xuening's final request before she dies? for xie wei to take her life in exchange for that of zhang zhe, as her way of repenting for being dishonourable and ruining his life... 🤔🤔🤔

2 - 閨怨 (boudoir lament):

poem summary: the young wife in her boudoir knows nothing of sorrow, but as she completes her toilette and ascends the emerald tower, she suddenly sees the hue of poplars and willows on the roadside and regrets letting her husband leave home to pursue official position and power.

key themes: love and marriage; abandonment; ambition (and the effect that ambition has on love)

analysis: it's essentially about how the husband's ambition causes him to abandon his wife to grief and loneliness, which seems like a clear parallel with xuening's willingness to abandon her faithful lovers for the sake of her ambition; there's also the implication that political status is ultimately less meaningful than a loving marriage.

i think it's worth noting that the character 怨 (yuan) in the title is fairly hard to translate, as it implies a mixture of grief and anger/resentment, or even hatred. it's fairly common in boudoir poems about women left behind by their husbands, and in that context it's often translated as 'lament' or 'grief', but i think the ambivalence of the term is fairly important, particularly if you apply it to kunning palace and the mix of grief and anger that xuening inspires in her old lovers in her first life.

3 - 春宮曲 (spring palace song):

poem summary: the wind is mild, the flowers are in full bloom, the moon is full and bright. the emperor has fallen in love with one of his sister's singing serving women, and is showering her with imperial favour and bestowing brocade robes upon her to keep out the spring chill.

key themes: happiness, success, security. (however, with contextual knowledge, there's also the implication of future doom, and that nobody can stay on top of the world forever)

analysis: i didn't quite catch the full significance of this one until i googled it and realised it's a poem about a real historical figure: wei zifu, a song-and-dance girl serving the princess pingyang, who wins the favour of pingyang’s brother, emperor wu of the han dynasty, eventually becoming his second empress (the second-longest serving empress in chinese history!).

wei zifu's story is essentially about a young woman of humble origins who survives numerous palace intrigues and eventually manages to ascend to the position of empress, trusted by the emperor to the extent that she was allowed to rule in his absence. however, after maintaining her position for over three decades, she eventually fell afoul of a conspiracy against her and her son, and committed suicide rather than allowing herself to be deposed.

i mean… the way this links to jiang xuening's first life is so obvious i don't even feel the need to explain it.

[dangermousie]

In support of Hot General Summer (tm)

I realized that my recent poll not only lacked visual support but also left out a lot of my fave cdrama generals. So, in support of my Hot General Summer agenda:

Xiao Qi, Rebel Princess

Wei Wu Ji, Sound of the Desert

Ling Buyi, Love Like the Galaxy

Zhousheng Chen, One and Only

Zhao Yun, God of War Zhao Yun

Sima Yi, Secret of Three Kingdoms

Han De Rang, The Legend of Xiao Chuo

Zhan Beiye, Legend of Fuyao

Gao Chang Gong, Lan Ling Wang

Xiang Yu, Story of Han Dynasty

Cao Pi, The Advisors’ Alliance

Meng Tiang Fang, Ancient Terracotta War Situation

Chu Bei Jie, General and I

Zhu Zan, Jin Jiu Ling

Wolfie, The Wolf

Xiang Yu, Legend of Chu and Han

Cheng Yi, The Promise of Chang’an

Liu Xiu, Singing All Along

Huo Xin, Painted Skin the Resurrection

Meng Qi You, Glamorous Imperial Concubine

Yang Bros, The Young Warriors

Weng Gui, Princess Jieyou

Xiao Ping Zhang, Nirvana in Fire 2

Pei Zhao, Maiden Holmes

Ji Ye, Novoland Eagle Flag

Zhu Qi Zhen, Imperial Doctress (it’s a reach he’s an emperor. But he leads his force in battle and I wanted Wallace Huo there so...)

Yuan Ling, Lost Love in Times

Yi Xiao Chuan, The Myth

Gu Tingye, The Story of Ming Lan

Lu Bu, Three Kingdoms 2010

Xu Lingyi, The Sword and the Brocade

Yue Fei, Patriot Yue Fei

Xiang Yu, The Myth

Ping Zhang, Nirvana in Fire 2

Guo Jing, Legend of Condor Heroes 2008

Xiang Yu, The Legend of Qin

[stanwixbuster]

did frame by frame for the dw trailer because i'm ill so here you go come get your officers:

SHU

Liu Bei/Zhang Fei/Guan Yu: the second shot confirms our favourite boat fights at Chi Bi. Final shot looks like an aged-up version of Guan Yu.

WU

Lu Su/Cheng Pu

Lu Meng(?): fairly certain that's him on the right but we don't get another good shot of him.

Sun Jian: i have to. i have to go.

Sun Quan/Zhou Yu: Gang Ning is visible in the bottom left. Lu Su and Cheng Pu are also visible behind Zhou Yu. I have a feeling that this is the same cinematic as the panning shot of Lu Meng/Cheng Pu/Lu Su. This definitely looks like the prelude to Chi Bi.

WEI

Cao Cao/Xiahou Dun: Dian Wei and Xu Chu are in the first shot, and Zhang Liao is in the second.

Dian Wei: rip. Looks like the ending of Wancheng.

Xun You: my boy. Interestingly looks to be wearing the exact same outfit as DW9 with some colour swaps. Cheng Pu appears to be the same.

OTHER

Zhang Jiao: hi

Dong Zhuo: Looks like they're ditching the silly side to his design and I really hope they make him an actual terror and not a punchline.

Hua Xiong: with this and Cheng Pu + Xun You I think it pretty much confirms everyone from DW9's made it in*, including the unique NPCs.

Yuan Shao: includes a shot without his helmet, shock and horror. The second shot looks to be at Hulao after the three brothers join. There's a generic officer hanging around them here and in the first shot of the three brothers earlier, which is interesting.

Diao Chan: queen

Lu Bu: honestly stunned they didn't give him a more prominent shot.

Unknown: this guy doesn't turn around so I can't tell who he is. He's playable against the Yellow Turbans, and seems to be in Lu Bu's colours and using claws as his weapon. On second look it might be Hua Xiong again?

Unknown: the PC seems to be mourning someone who's dying in a burning building. No idea who this could be or if it's another fictional addition. Seems feminine, could be a female relative of the PC?

Other things of interest

Zhao Yun didn't show up at all, not even in the background

The Guan babies didn't show up once

Cao Cao no longer seems to be voiced by Douglas Rye, fucking rip

This confirms you can play as regular officers and not just the PC; unsure if that's freeplay-exclusive

The music whips

We've seen our PC fighting with the Yellow Turbans, fighting with Shu, fighting with Wei, and fighting against Liu Bei at Chi Bi, which makes me think there is a lot of choice to how you can progress in this

Since we know Jin is deconfirmed and we haven't seen any late-game battles, and there seems to be a lot of branches to replay, I'm wondering if the game ends as early as Chi Bi; my current bet is on Fan Castle

*Because of the early ending I'm betting that Xin Xianying has been cut

[welcometothejianghu]

A little Legend of Fei In Real Life tonight, because I feel like looking at pictures of attractive people. (Skipping the two mains, because it's well-documented what they look like out of costume.)

Zhang Hui Wen / Wu Chuchu

Chen Ruo Xuan / Li Sheng

Zhang Xin Yu / Yang Jin

Leng Ji Yuan / Ying Hecong

Sun Jian / Yin Pei

Zhou Jie Qiong / Li Yan

Geng Le / Shen Tianshu

Guo Xin / Mu Xiaoqiao

Dong Xuan / Duan Jiuniang

[movielosophy]

A Journey To Love | Who are you?

[kdram-chjh]

Cdrama: The Story of Pearl Girl (2024?)

【珠帘玉幕 THE STORY OF PEARL GIRL】 杀青特辑：几经磨砺，明珠绮丽现光华！| 赵露思/刘宇宁 | 剧情 爱情 | 优酷 YOUKU

Watch this video on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEwBvk0o3Hw

[compneuropapers]

Interesting Papers for Week 33, 2024

A sparse quantized hopfield network for online-continual memory. Alonso, N., & Krichmar, J. L. (2024). Nature Communications, 15, 3722.

An edge-simplicity bias in the visual input to young infants. Anderson, E. M., Candy, T. R., Gold, J. M., & Smith, L. B. (2024). Science Advances, 10(19).

Running together influences where you look. Brenner, E., Janssen, M., de Wit, N., Smeets, J. B. J., Mann, D. L., & Ghiani, A. (2024). Perception, 53(5–6), 397–400.

Dopamine D2 Receptor Modulates Exercise Related Effect on Cortical Excitation/Inhibition and Motor Skill Acquisition. Curtin, D., Taylor, E. M., Bellgrove, M. A., Chong, T. T.-J., & Coxon, J. P. (2024). Journal of Neuroscience, 44(19), e2028232024.

Control of working memory by phase–amplitude coupling of human hippocampal neurons. Daume, J., Kamiński, J., Schjetnan, A. G. P., Salimpour, Y., Khan, U., Kyzar, M., … Rutishauser, U. (2024). Nature, 629(8011), 393–401.

Drift of neural ensembles driven by slow fluctuations of intrinsic excitability. Delamare, G., Zaki, Y., Cai, D. J., & Clopath, C. (2024). eLife, 12, e88053.3.

A stochastic world model on gravity for stability inference. Huang, T., & Liu, J. (2024). eLife, 12, e88953.3.

Specific exercise patterns generate an epigenetic molecular memory window that drives long-term memory formation and identifies ACVR1C as a bidirectional regulator of memory in mice. Keiser, A. A., Dong, T. N., Kramár, E. A., Butler, C. W., Chen, S., Matheos, D. P., … Wood, M. A. (2024). Nature Communications, 15, 3836.

Cholecystokinin facilitates motor skill learning by modulating neuroplasticity in the motor cortex. Li, H., Feng, J., Chen, M., Xin, M., Chen, X., Liu, W., … He, J. (2024). eLife, 13, e83897.

Wagers for work: Decomposing the costs of cognitive effort. Master, S. L., Curtis, C. E., & Dayan, P. (2024). PLOS Computational Biology, 20(4), e1012060.

Recurrent neural networks that learn multi-step visual routines with reinforcement learning. Mollard, S., Wacongne, C., Bohte, S. M., & Roelfsema, P. R. (2024). PLOS Computational Biology, 20(4), e1012030.

Human mutations in high-confidence Tourette disorder genes affect sensorimotor behavior, reward learning, and striatal dopamine in mice. Nasello, C., Poppi, L. A., Wu, J., Kowalski, T. F., Thackray, J. K., Wang, R., … Tischfield, M. A. (2024). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 121(19), e2307156121.

Representational drift as a result of implicit regularization. Ratzon, A., Derdikman, D., & Barak, O. (2024). eLife, 12, e90069.3.

Abnormal multisensory temporal discrimination in Parkinson’s disease. Rostami, Z., Salari, M., Mahdavi, S., & Etemadifar, M. (2024). Brain Research, 1834, 148901.

Motivated with joy or anxiety: Does approach-avoidance goal framing elicit differential reward-network activation in the brain? Sakaki, M., Murayama, K., Izuma, K., Aoki, R., Yomogita, Y., Sugiura, A., … Matsumoto, K. (2024). Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 24(3), 469–490.

A non-image-forming visual circuit mediates the innate fear of heights in male mice. Shang, W., Xie, S., Feng, W., Li, Z., Jia, J., Cao, X., … Yuan, X.-B. (2024). Nature Communications, 15, 3746.

A dynamic neural resource model bridges sensory and working memory. Tomić, I., & Bays, P. M. (2024). eLife, 12, e91034.3.

A Neural Decision Signal during Internal Sampling from Working Memory in Humans. van Ede, F., & Nobre, A. C. (2024). Journal of Neuroscience, 44(19), e1475232024.

Increased flexibility of CA3 memory representations following environmental enrichment. Ventura, S., Duncan, S., & Ainge, J. A. (2024). Current Biology, 34(9), 2011-2019.e7.

Multiplexed representation of others in the hippocampal CA1 subfield of female mice. Zhang, X., Cao, Q., Gao, K., Chen, C., Cheng, S., Li, A., … Miao, C. (2024). Nature Communications, 15, 3702.

[binging-asian-dramas]

Double Love. 6

Story: 6

Acting: 10

Chemistry: 10

Comparable to: Love 020 (cdrama) ; Go Go Squid! (cdrama); You Are My Glory (cdrama)

Another drama that starts off nicely and goes downhill midway and never recovers. It’s your basic predictable romcom with the added on cheesy cliches. It actually works pretty well in the first half, the acting is good and main leads have excellent chemistry together. The drama suffers from choppy editing and terrible writing in the later half. It seemed like sometimes the writers wanted to drag on scenarios over and over again or then completely left out storylines they were building up since the beginning (*cough* the whole brother situation) Nonetheless it’s still a watchable drama. I will add in the characters played by Zhang Xue Ying and Dylan Kuo are one of my favorite brother and sisterly duo performances.

[the-monkey-ruler]

Xuanzang's Cassock (2012) 玄奘袈裟

Director: Zhang Xin Screenwriter: Wu Huaijie Starring : Song Tao / Ji Wen Genre: Drama Country/Region of Production: Mainland China Language: Mandarin Chinese Date: 2012 Duration: 83 minutes Type: Crossover

Summary:

The movie "Xuan Zang's Kasaya" tells the story of the treasure "Hundred Gold Clouds and Water Moji Kasaya" left by Master Xuanzang, an eminent monk of the Tang Dynasty, who was dedicated in Mogao Grottoes on the eve of the Revolution of 1911. Suddenly, various forces gathered in Dunhuang, each with different purposes in search of the treasure cassock. Rongqing, the Minister of Academic Affairs, strongly recommended Yao Kun, a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, to go to Dunhuang to search for Xuanzang's cassock, hoping to use the magic power of the treasure to save the precarious Qing Dynasty. Yao Kun and his cousin, antique businessman Xia Zifeng, disguised themselves as businessmen and headed to the desert. Yao and Xia went to the "Sihai Inn" and met the proprietress Yu Niang. They also met Guan Yanfei and Guan Yanruo, brothers and sisters, sons of the Gansu General Soldier. The Guan brothers and sisters also came here to find the cassock. His elder brother Guan Yanfei was secretly coerced by Yuan Shikai.

In order to protect the family from Yuan Shikai's persecution, he secretly assisted the commander Cang Lang sent by Yuan Shikai to snatch Xuanzang's cassock and sell it to foreigners in exchange for arms. The simple and reckless Guan Yanruo thought he was looking for the cassock. It was for the sake of the imperial court, and out of eagerness to protect the treasure. He was afraid that something might happen if the cassock fell into the hands of a merchant, so he wanted to find the cassock before Yao and Xia, so he opposed them at every turn. The clues to find the cassock were so intertwined and obscure that everyone racked their brains and couldn't find the way. In the end, the knowledgeable Yao Kun first found the clue. Guan Yanfei took advantage of his plan and simply used Yao Kun to follow him to gradually get closer to the treasure cassock.

In the confrontation with Yao Kun, Guan Yanruo was gradually moved by Yao Kun's integrity and kindness and developed a good impression. In the process of searching for Kasaya, he discovered that his family was being controlled by Yuan Shikai's special envoy, Cang Lang. The search for the cassock was also ordered by Yuan Shikai, not to protect the national treasure. As everyone gets closer and closer to the cassock, Cang Lang forces Guan Yanfei to do whatever it takes to get the cassock as soon as possible. In order to get the final clue, Guan Yanfei puts Yao and Xia into a dungeon. After being tortured, Xia Zifeng told Guan Yanfei where the cassock was buried in order to save his cousin Yao Kun. So Canglang took Guan Yanfei and his men straight to Baobogou. At this time, Guan Yanruo used a trick to kill Yao Kun and Xia Zifeng. During the escape, the three were discovered by the Qing soldiers guarding them, and they were assisted by Yu Niang at the critical moment.

After defeating the Qing soldiers and rescuing them, it turned out that Yu Niang was a private treasure-protecting organization that had been operating near Dunhuang. After learning that Yao Kun was ordered to protect the cassocks, she had already sent people to observe secretly. In the end, while protecting the treasure With the help of others, Yao Kun and others got the cassocks first, but were surrounded by soldiers brought by Cang Lang and Guan Yanfei. When they were desperate, Yu Niang and her men arrived again. It turns out that Yu Niang and Xia Zifeng are both folk treasure protectors, and they lurked in the desert to protect the national treasure. A melee broke out between good and evil. Guan Yanfei tried to protect his sister and had a dispute with Canglang. Guan Yanruo was injured by Canglang in the melee. Guan Yanfei also died under Canglang's knife while trying to save his sister. In the end, Yao Kun killed the wolf and ended the melee. Yao Kun returned to the capital with the treasure cassock. Looking back on what he saw and heard during the treasure hunt, he deeply felt that the Qing government could no longer save the country. And the Qing Empire that he worked hard for ended its 268-year rule in depression... No so-called "divine power" can withstand the rolling tide of history.

Source: https://movie.douban.com/subject/20427158/

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