July 16, 2005
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Kang Xi Dynasty
I’m rewatching Kang Xi Dynasty, a 50-episode Chinese drama about the
life of the great Emperor Kang Xi of the Qing dynasty. Two of my
favorite passages occur in the very first episode and I would like to
share them with you (so you don’t have to learn Mandarin then watch the
drama).Opening scene
Little Xuan Ye (who will become Emperor Kang Xi): “What’s harder? Farming or studying?”
Eunuch: “Scholars say studying is harder; farmers say farming is harder.”
Little Xuan Ye: “Ha! If I become the emperor, I’ll get them to switch
places: let the scholars go farm and the farmers go study; and see who
still dares to complain of hardship.”
Ci-Ning Palace, about parents and children
Note: Ci-Ning Palace is the living quarter of the Queen Mother Xiao
Zhuang (the mother of Emperor Shun Zhi and grandmother of little Xuan
Ye). The scene starts with Xuan Ye’s mother complaining to the Queen
Mother about the Emperor’s decision to make little Xuan Ye the son of
another concubine.“The common people only know the pain and hardships of the mother
raising a child. But who understands the story of people like us? You
bear a child but you are not allowed to raise the child. Now THAT’s
pain and hardships.” – Queen Mother Xiao Zhuang, about the fact that
women in the Manchurian royalties are not allowed to raise their own
children, each child being put into the care of a wet mother soon after
birth.- SwordAngel
