2009年7月21日星期二

A Really Worthy Chinese Cartoon!




I came across a very interesting Chinese cartoon on the web recently. Its title can be roughly translated into 'Fugui the Magical Chef'. The backdrop of the story was set during the late reign of Empress Dowager Cixi and Guangxu Emperor. The general synopsis goes like this: On her way fleeing to the west from the Eight Allies invasion in Beijing in 1900, Cixi asked for a chef to cook meals for her; meanwhile, Lord K, a mysterious antagonist, sought every means to have Guangxu Emperor abdicated so that he could benefit from recommending a new Emperor. Eunuch Li would carry out his plot: Li first impressed Chef Hong from a small village to cook for Cixi, when the dish was ready, Li poisoned it and accused Chef Hong for seeking to assassinate the Empress Dowager under the secret order of Guangxu Emperor. However, this was not enough to evoke Cixi's determination of getting rid of Guangxu, nevertheless, Chef Hong was imprisoned and charged and would be executed in autumn. Fugui, grandson of Chef Hong, a filial, intelligent and optimistic boy made up his mind to save his grandfather by becoming the Imperial Chef, seeking to win Cixi's favor so that he would obtain a set of golden cookery equivalent to a death-exemption card...

The Cartoon series is not only for Chinese children, but I have found it great for foreign people to learn Chinese. The language is simple, lively and in vogue; the story is told in the most vivid manner and every character has his/her attractive facet of personality. Besides many impressively funny scenes that would make the audience laugh out their tears, the cartoon also presents the essence of the extraordinary Chinese cuisine culture through every trial endured by Fugui. Finally, and best of all, it's not a mediocre cartoon that wins laughter by vulgarity and kitsch, but by quick wit and a warm sense of humor. A main message transmitted by this cartoon is as much as positive as it is Chinese: filial piety to the elders, which was not only shown through Fugui's persistent endeavors to save his grandfather, but also through Guangxu Emperor's unconditional piety towards Cixi however the latter treated him, that he would exchange his own life for hers if necessary, which might not be acceptable by modern values but was nevertheless the true mental status of Guangxu. Therefore it denies the other assumption that Guangxu had ever plotted to murder his stepmother.

I was almost astonished to see how well Guangxu had been presented in this cartoon, so close to the his image in my imagination, so close to facts cleared off prejudices produced by Machiavellians historians who judge characters only through their conquests and 'achievements'. Besides his filial piety towards Cixi, Guangxu was also portrayed as a persevering man at core who never gave up his dream of reforming China. In a word, it seems that more and more Chinese people have begun to know the real Guangxu Emperor now, moreover, young children would get the right impression of the Emperor from the beginning, which is something I really feel happy about.

2 条评论:

  1. 神廚小福貴啊﹐沒看過呢

    Just to side track a little bit: Did you get to watch the solar eclipse?

    回复删除
  2. 'Just to side track a little bit: Did you get to watch the solar eclipse?'

    No(crying),there was no total eclipse in Nanjing(for Nanjing is situated a bit too north) and it was raining cats and dogs yesterday morning!

    回复删除