13) Mulan: Five Versions of an Ancient Chinese Legend edited and translated by Shiamin Kwa and Wilt L. Idema I’m embarrassed to admit that if it weren’t for Disney, I probably would have never heard of the story of Mulan which is an odd thing because I’m fairly well versed in many Chinese classics despite the fact that I only speak it and not read it. These are translations of five versions of the story of the girl who disguised herself as a man to fight for China against foreign invaders in her elderly father’s place as she at 17 and the oldest of the family with a younger brother not yet old enough to fight in his place (Disney’s version has her as an only child, perhaps keeping with modern China’s one child policy). Also much like other Disney movies it deviates a little from the original material. Personally I much preferred the poem to the play versions of the story.
14) A Holy Mountain: A Journey in the Shadow of Byzantium by William Dalrymple Combining history with travel the author recreates a journey eastward made by 2 Byzantine monks 1500 years ago from modern day Turkey to Alexandria in Egypt. This one reminded me of a well known story about a Chinese monk named Xuanzang whose journey westward from China is not only immortalised in Tang Dynasty records, but also a famed Chinese novel called Journey to the West (probably better known to western audiences as Monkey). Insightful and also he does well to tread lightly when it comes to the area’s political turmoil at the moment
Last edited by Crazy_Babe; 02/15/2007:24 AM.
The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched they must be felt with the heart
