Flowers in the Mirror: A Really Fun Chinese Novel!
relrel
December 20, 2007, 11:29 PM posted in General DiscussionHi All! I just want to share my excitement about this novel I'm reading, translated as Flowers in the Mirror. I highly recommend this book for anyone looking for a fun, quick read, and a small slice of Chinese culture.
Flowers in the Mirror was written by a scholar Li Ruzhen, who in the early 19th century was a bit of a renegade. The novel is both "social commentary and human satire", and has been likened to a combination of Gulliver's Travels and Alice in Wonderland.
The story is set in the time of Empress Wu (Tang Dynasty, r.684-705). Being incredibly power-hungry, the Empress one winter morning orders all the flowers in the kingdom to bloom. Thus sets off a string of consequences which are faced by a small group of travelers as they journey through many strange lands, including such places as the Country of Women and the Country of Two-Faced People. The story culminates as Empress Wu orders the first Imperial Examinations for women, and women from throughout the lands gather for this epic event.
Flowers in the Mirror has a curious feature that has received much modern day attention: most of its heroes are women. It's interesting for me to imagine what the author thought about the social structure between men and women as I read through the pages of this entertaining, insightful, and at times laugh-out-loud funny book.
p.s. This is probably best found in a library, as it is out of print and an expensive buy. If you want to read it in chinese (Jinghua Yuan) it might be cheaper.
helenaoutloud
December 23, 2007, 03:09 AMflower spirits....I've heard about this before in a Taiwanese drama. I wonder if it's common for Chinese people to believe in this.
bingge
December 21, 2007, 04:39 AMYes, that sounds like a great book. Thanks for letting us know about it! I looked it up and Amazon had some used books for about $50. yikes :) Wish I could read it in chinese, but, alas, that day is far off...
ambition
December 21, 2007, 08:53 AM镜花水月 is the metaphor of beauty things but only illusion,and make people to pursue,at the end they find they got nothing after great efforts Flower in mirror ,moon inverted in the warter are only illusion 竹篮打水一场空 也是这个意思
bazza
December 21, 2007, 04:55 PMLooks like readnovel.com only has an extract: http://www.readnovel.com/novel/22369.html
GreyPhoenix
December 21, 2007, 03:55 AMThis sounds neat! What is the Chinese name? I'm still at the beginning stages of learning characters, but it might make for an interesting read after I get some more characters stamped into this brain of mine. :-P Thanks in advance for the help! And thanks for posting about this!
RJ
December 21, 2007, 06:52 PMThe story takes place during the reign of Empress Wu. She was not only hot looking and very smart, but quite famous for being so ruthless. As a concubine she murdered her own daughter in order to frame Empress Wang and replace her as Empress. It worked because no one believed a mother would kill her own daughter. Brilliantly ruthless. As for this novel - Im going to look into it.
daizi
December 21, 2007, 08:11 PMBrooke: 《镜花缘》written by 李汝珍. It is available online on many sites in it's entirety. A word of warning, though: it's written in old vernacular Chinese (of the mid-late Qing Dynasty) and so you'll need a background in classical Chinese to make much sense out of it. I haven't seen a modern version （白话文）of it online but they're available in print form.
helenaoutloud
December 22, 2007, 04:10 AMo well....just let me know when the movie comes out then...I'm sure there will be a movie before I am able to understand it. *sigh...
relrel
December 22, 2007, 11:36 PMThe English translation has been pared down a bit and is a couple hundred pages. It's not a children's book, but it's a pretty easy read. Don't try to buy it on Amazon!! (Tai gui le) Check it out of a library. I'm definitely not ready for the Chinese version yet, but sometimes reading a translation gives an insight into the original language. For example, one feature of the translation I really like are the names of all the women. The surnames remain Chinese while the given names are translated for meaning...like Ying Purple Flower. Thanks AMBITION for your explanation of Jinghua Yuan. One of the characters begins his journey in pursuit of the dao after he has been refused his ministerial title by the empress when she discovers that he was part of a previous rebellion against her. At the beginning of his journey he has a vision that tells him the story of the flower spirits that have been banished to earth and he is directed to help find some of them that have scattered. So it is interesting to think of a metaphor of beautiful things that are only an illusion, things that people pursue but in the end reveal nothing for their efforts. However, it seems to me that this character got many things for his efforts. He brings many people together and helps solve many problems through his journey. What is the meaning of the yuan character? (sorry for the pinyin, I can't write characters right now!)
bazza
December 21, 2007, 04:57 PMUnless it's a very short story.
helenaoutloud
December 21, 2007, 02:39 AMOh dear....I would love to read it in Chinese, but I really can't read much Chinese yet. Is it some sort of childrens book? If it is, then I'd like to give it a shot. If not, then how many pages does it have? Better yet, when does the movie come out? Unless there is a pinyin translation of the book...wait...they don't make pinyin books do they?