覆水難收 (fu4 shui3 nan2 shou1)

You can’t take back what you’ve already done. Literally, spilt water is hard to retrieve. This saying came from the 2,000 year old folk story “Zhu Maichen Divorces his Wife.” The play I saw on Sunday, Rotten Helve Mountain (爛柯山), is based on this story. I was lucky to read the synopsis of the play online just before leaving the house that day.

When I bought the tickets I didn’t know what play it was. I just wanted to see a Chinese opera. Next to our seats (I went with 王咪, my crazy Taiwanese friend who studied some opera when he was younger) sat some elderly ladies who could speak English. They went to the States at an early age and grew up in California. The first character to come out on stage was the clown (he was a thief in this scene but still had clown like gestures). This I wanted to see. But when he started talking I couldn’t understand a word he was saying. I knew this was going to happen but when you’re sitting there not knowing whether to just watch him or to read the subtitles (off to sides of the stage), it was a little unsettling at first. After a while I got used to it, reading the subtitles and just enjoying the show. I could read about half of the characters but I could get the jist of what was happening.

I like the story and the lesson it teaches. (Read the synopsis here and/or here which also has it in Chinese.) I like the clown character. He had this 5 minute improvisation skit that had everyone laughing. I read the subtitles for what he was supposed to say next, but then he didn’t say it and started improvising. Five minutes later he finally said that line.

From what I was told, the three main performers in the play are currently and have been China’s best in Kunqu for a while now. They’ve been peforming together since their teens. Between them they have a combined age of 200 years old. I couldn’t believe the two that played the husband and wife were that old. The way they moved and how they can still sing those songs. Amazing. The clown (he doesn’t always have a white painted face) doesn’t sing and speaks Mandarin, so you can understand him, or everyone else can but me.

I love the sounds of the Chinese flute (笛子) and especially the sheng (笙), a mouth blown organ. There was a cello in the band. It all sounded beautiful. I need to get back to the club (票房) and take in some more opera. It’s been a while.

Smile…it’s a new year. I spent New Year’s with 吳媽 (Wúmā) on the rooftop of one of her apartment buildings. It’s nearby Taipei 101 and the view was awesome. We were on the 10th floor. There were no other buildings blocking our view. The sky was clear and being up there was the best getaway. There’s a concrete slab that’s works perfectly as a table for picnicking, or for laying out flat and looking at the stars. We both agreed to come back one day. To describe the rooftop getaway she called it, “世外桃源 (shì wài táo yuán),” a haven of peace and happiness, or an imaginary getaway. She always speaks to me in idioms.

After the fireworks started all we saw was a cloud of smoke because the wind was blowing towards us. My co-worker Matt said the fireworks looked great from the east side. Hehe…

要活要動 yao huo yao dong

“If you want to live you have to move.”

On Sunday I didn’t want to move. You have to move if you want to live. To work, to play, to live. My older sister from wushu (師姐) taught me this proverb. It’s true.

誰知道這個中國成語故事？

Who knows this Chinese proverb? What’s the story with it?
What are the characters?

“Learning is a treasure that follows its owner everywhere.”