Falling Down the Chinese Drama Rabbit Hole (Again)

 do lovers wither when separated by vast seas

in all its beauty, the past can't be held

life after life we pledge ourselves

but how long before it forever

expansive world, infinite universe

we are but emotional beings

simply watching over each other

seemingly unfathomable, we understand

may I give my all in this lifetime

as it comes from the heart, I give freely

love like a dream evocative of fine wine

I just want to stay intoxicated

I desire all the world has to offer

joy or sorrow, they all come to pass like flowing rivers

...

...

Had been inspired to attempt this English translation of a beautiful Chinese song when I finally emerged from the drama-induced haze that was Chef Hua <人间烟火花小厨>.

My first experience with obsession over a drama series was for Scarlet Heart <步步惊心>. I had binge-watched all 35 episodes very quickly often forgetting sleep, meals, even toilet breaks. I loved it so much I even bought the book that it was adapted from after the visual feast for more mental indulgence in the art of Chinese literature.

But that experience also left me so overwhelmed that I swore them off entirely. The intensity of the experience, the way it consumed my thoughts and time, shocked me. I promised myself: never to blindly follow the fad of chasing dramas again.

For nearly 10 years I had been successful. I avoided popular dramas fervently. Even if a short footage that I chanced upon intrigued me, I would strengthen my resolve to not start the series for fear of falling into that rabbit hole again.

Last year I succumbed. I had more time on hand; the hubby was out of town; I was getting interested in cooking... so when the close-up shots of cooking Chinese cuisine in Chef Hua caught my eye, I gave it a go.

It was the flint that started an inevitable forest fire.

I tried to rein myself in. When I wanted to start on Love like a Galaxy, <星汉灿烂> but saw that it had more than 50 episodes, I thought I found a good compromise when I found some "watch-it-in-one-go" YouTube videos of it. Just 2 hours is better than 50 x 45 mins right? But I was only deceiving myself and made things worse because I was so impressed and intrigued and obsessed that I watched longer and longer versions and eventually went back to watching the original series anyway! All 40+ hours and sometimes I even re-watched favourite scenes. Kill me.

With easy access via Netflix and YouTube to a wide variety of Chinese dramas that are being produced incessantly, one drama led to another with no end in sight. Over the past year, I have been sliding down the slippery slope of drama addiction once again into a world of complex story lines, historical epics, and modern rom-coms. 

For the talent that is Leo Wu, I watched The Long Ballard <长歌行> to Nothing but You <爱情而已>. I started on Amidst a Snowstorm of Love <在暴雪时分> but amazingly am not completing it because it lost its appeal. Because of the multi-talented Liu Yuning who is also a great singer and the original talent from Scarlet Heart that is Cecilia Liu, I indulged in A Journey to Love <一念关山> when I thought I would be stopping this crazy spree. In between, I completed Love Between Fairy and Devil <苍兰诀> and Only For Love <以爱为营> because of Dylan Wang. Most recently finished The Rational Life <理智派生活> with mummy, a fellow drama junkie.

My favourite of all the series thus far is A Romance of the Little Forest <两个人的小森林>. Initially I thought I would not be able to stand the over-the-top act-cuteness of Esther Yu but it appears that she is genuinely that way even in real life. Eventually even she grew on me although what kept me from abandoning it were the breathtaking scenery, the attractive Vin Zhang and the clever, smart and hilarious banter between the main lead characters who are intellectuals. Not to forget the recurring feature of one of my favourite books, The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho, and the sustainability theme which is a passion of both leads. *Swoon* So many of what I love in one series!

It really is a lighthearted and healing drama series. The cinematography often bathes scenes in warm, natural light, evoking a sense of comfort and rejuvenation. It was while *re-watching* one such scene where the female lead mistakenly assumed the male lead is leaning in for a kiss when it finally dawned on me. This was a series that I had curbed myself from watching previously! All I remember of the footage were the luminous frame of an inviting foyer, a sharp-witted dialogue, and an unusually long series title that involved greenery. The irony of my initial resistance to 'A Little Romance in the Forest' becoming my favorite drama is almost comical.

All these series have introduced me to talented actors, beautiful music, fascinating historical details, and clever storytelling. They've improved my understanding of Chinese language and culture, and provided countless hours of entertainment. As I ponder my Chinese drama obsession, I find myself in two minds. Part of me worries about the time I'm investing/wasting and the intensity of my interest. Yet another part revels in the joy, learning, and cultural exploration these dramas bring into my life.

Actually, I had not completed that translation of the song I shared at the beginning of this post. I am unable to adequately translate the last two lines which can also be encapsulated in the song's title "人间烟火". Its literal translation would be "the smoke and fire of the human world" but these four basic characters encompass so much more. It often represents the simple pleasures and small comforts of daily life. It can mean an in-depth appreciation of ordinary life. It can also symbolize the connection to humanity and the earthly realm, as opposed to the supernatural or divine. 

So for more than a year now, I had been grappling with its true meaning. Do I translate it as:

• "the enormity of our lives", 
• "the daily life of ordinary people", 
• "the hustle and bustle of human society", 
• "the warmth and vitality of everyday life",
• "the trivial but essential aspects of human existence"
• "The flavor of everyday life"
• "The warmth of human touch"
• "The pulse of the mortal world"
• "The heartbeat of society"?

Its complexity has me stumped. Interestingly, it is also this phrase (which kept reappearing in my series marathon) that encapsulates much of what I love about Chinese dramas - the portrayal of human living in all its everyday glory and complexity. 

So, obsession or not, I am going to allow myself to be continuously surprised and delighted by "the essence of human experience"!

Sutras and Aphorisms

Although I have been practising yoga for many years, I only learn of Patanjali and his Yoga Sutras after I embarked on the YICC with Vyasa Singapore. I have always know that yoga is more than just contorting your body into different positions and that was the main reason why I decided to dive deep into the study of yoga but I would never imagine that yoga is that much more. In fact, it feels like it is all.

When the 80 hours theory sessions of YICC came to an end, Master Manoj strongly recommended Patanjali's Yoga Sutras among a few other books. Considering how much content was covered and compressed within those hours, I was inclined to learn more on my own but also because of that brief yet overwhelming introduction, I was unsure if it would really be beneficial knowledge..

So I conveniently let it slip out of my mind until I came across an English translation of it on sale at a book fair. I hesitated on buying it, especially since I know I will easily be able to find online versions of it for free, but I decided to share this serendipitous find with my fellow Vyasa coursemates via Whatsapp. I received 7 requests to purchase on behalf. Ha! It relieved me of the decision to buy one for myself as there were only 5 books left!

However, while the books were in my possession, my curiosity got the better of me and I began to read and copy the sutras and aphorisms word for word, almost. I have never enjoy reading off a screen (thus I never had a Kindle despite my love for reading) and we all know information is better retained (and understood) when written rather than just read. Moreover, I want to practise my handwriting! =P

Over a period of about a week, I wrote down what I read into a blank notebook, marking each sutra and aphorism accordingly, sequentially. I expected not to be able to understand it fully but the choice of terms and excessive mode of writing in this particular book made the content all the more difficult to digest. I thought aphorisms are supposed to be straightforward!?! In addition to the fact that I wanted all of them to fit into the rather slim notebook, I started to summarize and drop phrases where I felt I would not be altering the original meanings.

Thankfully I succeeded in squeezing all 195 aphorisms in. But *horror*, because I was so meticulous about it, I discovered that one aphorism is missing from the book. Somehow, the 18th aphorism of the sutra II is not in the book. [15, 16, 17, 19... where is 18??] And I vaguely remembered that it was mentioned during our course that there are a total of 196 aphorisms??

In some ways, it was as incredulous as reading the Bible. The logical part of me rejects it. Which comes back to the idea of faith. On this point, Master Manoj explicitly pointed out that our education impedes our understanding and acceptance of it... a lot to unlearn for me then. However, it also reminded me of the Chinese period dramas I grew up watching. All the shifus and yaojings doing the exact incredible things as described in the sutras written some 1600 years ago. So this is where all that stemmed from...?

Today, I decided to search for that missing aphorism and found a oh-so-much-better translation of  the Yoga Sutras from the website of The Arlington Center.  Just the very first line read simply:

Now, the teachings of yoga.

vs

Assuredly, the exposition of Yoga, or Concentration, is now to be made.

Now, the former is what I would called an aphorism. Initially, I got a little frustrated that I had copied a version that I did not particularly enjoyed. Many of the terms translated in the second version appealed to me a lot more. Pure awareness, latent impressions, unsurpassed joy are but some examples. 

But as I skimmed through the second version, I slowly realised that rather than one version being better or closer to the truth, knowledge of the two versions has greatly enhanced my understanding of the original sutras. I can only imagine that further reading of other versions of the same text will similarly deepen my appreciation and interpretation of this ancient text. This is a revelation as I rarely reread a book a second time.

As with many of the rest of the aphorisms, I do not find the 18th of sutra II to be particularly outstanding or groundbreaking. I understood each individual term without gaining any insight to the "truth" within it or the necessity of it. However, comparing the two versions, I discovered that my copied version is missing another aphorism in sutra IV! Due to the difference in terms and style of writing, it took me some time before I could determined that the first version had completely skipped the 16th aphorism and only had 33 instead of 34 aphorisms. There are a total of 196 aphorisms in the 4 sutras!

But the object is not dependent on (diversity of thoughts); 

if it were, what would happen to it when nobody was looking?

The phrase within the parenthesis is from the first version as this aphorism is a continuation from the previous one so I combined the two versions for my own better understanding. And this particular aphorism speaks to me. It is a concept I debated within myself before and this somewhat clarifies. But that would be for another blog post.. =)

Really quite enjoying my yoga journey all in all. Just this reading of 2 different interpretations of Yoga Sutras has shown me that rather than looking for and only reading the one "perfect" interpretation, keep looking and keep reading to reach the "perfect" understanding. My neat and clean little notebook will have to be "improved" by ever more annotations..