China Studies Wiki - User contributions [en]

Jiangxi School of poetry

2013-04-16T05:19:16Z

Matt C: /* Commentary */

==Overview==

During the 1070's Su Shi created a group of young writers who associated themselves with him. This group included Huang Tingjian, Qin Guan, Chao Buzhi, Zhang lei, and Chen Shidao. From this small group two figures emerged that left a very distinct stamp on Chinese poetry. Huang Tingjian and Chen Shidao unexpectedly formed what came to be known as the Jiangxi School of poetry. While the Jinagzi School seems to have some roots with writers like Wang Anshi or Ouyang Xiu, Chen Shidao and Huang Tingjian are the ones given credit for really bringing this type of poetry into the limelight.

The Jiangxi school is named after the area that it is most often associated with, but in total only a handful of poets who wrote int he Jiangxi style were actually from the Jiangxi area. As stated before the Jiangxi school was not created on purpose. "there is little evidence that the men credited with starting it had any intention of creating a poetic school. It is only in retrospect that critics and later poets, eager to give a name to the new approach to poetry ... posited the existence of this school" (Owen 419). Although the main creators did die the influence of this style of poetry lasted as long as into the end of the Song dynasty.

Although the Jinagxi School style lasted for some time and was quite popular as well, there eventually came a time when the general populace became bored with the Jinagxi style of poetry. "doubts began to be ecpressed over the excesses of the Jiangxi style, which insluded a determination to be nocel to the point of strangeness, an overabundance of allusions, and a self-conscious crafting of language that often showed through and compromised the feeling of natural expression. On by one, the major poets of the early Southern Song would annouce themselves to be dissatisfied with the Jiangxi School style and develop new directions" (Owen 419).

Lu Benzhong, who actually coined the term "Jiangxi School of poetry" liked the poetry of Huang Tingjian, expressed his dislike of later Jiangxi School style poets, "Poems like Cao Zhi's "Seven Laments" are broad, vast, deep, and distant and are not something which we composers can attain. This is because they never directed their intention toward their language. Although the Jiangxi scholars of recent times take compass in one hand and right-angle in the other and expend all their effort, they mostly do not know [that they should] go beyond this. They have climbed a hundred-foot pole but cannot advance another inch and have failed to understand Huang Tingjian's intent" (Owen 504). This quote shows partly why the Jiangxi style waned in popularity. It seems that critics believed that Huang Tingjian had done right when it came to the writing of Jiangxi School poetry and as time went on, more writers in attempt to emulate the style, failed and created poems that were similar in nature, but far from true to the original style.

Lu Benzhong eventually came to dislike even Huang Tingjian's style of poetry and regretted composing a work titled "The Genealogy of the Jiangxi Poetry Society" and in a preface to a collection he claimed, "One must learn the method of liveliness when studying to write poetry. What is meant by the method of liveliness is that tone should be equipped with knowledge of the rules and yet be able to go beyond them, and be able to change in an unpredictable way without going against them" (Owen 520). This goes to show the even bigger downfall of the Jingxi School style when critics who had not previously criticized Huang Tingjian eventually did so.

The Jiangxi style of poetry did actually gain some form of renown later on when Fang Hui praised it in it's former glory. When criticizing the late the Four Lings and the Rivers and Lakes poets. Fang Hui wanted to bring back the past style and get rid of the current one, which he considered vulgar and overly refined. He even wrote about his attempts to write in the Jiangxi School style, "I was twenty when I started studying poetry, and now I am seventy six. As for seven syllable line verse, I certainly did practice the style of Xu Hun but I unrealistically looked toward [the standard set by] Huang Tingjian, Chen Shidao, Yuyi, and old Du; my energies were no math for theirs, so I withdrew to write in the style of Bai Juyi and Zhang Lei...As for five-syllable line verse. I envied Chen Shidao," (Owen 580). This also shows that even if the popularity of the Jiangxi school had waned over time, it still got some important attention from a gifted writer later on in history.

==Huang Tingjian==

Huang Tingjian is probably the most recognizable figure when it comes to the Jiangxi School of poetry. Regarded as on of the founders of the style, he created some of the best Jiangxi School style poetry there is to offer.

[[File:Huang_Tingjian1.jpg|200px|thumb|right| Picture of Huang Tingjian located on the wikimedia commons .]]

While Huang Tingjian and Su Shi are often coupled together as writers, ti becomes quickly noticeable that the two have incredibly different styles of writing. The reason for this is that the men lived at the same time and had a close relationship in which they often read and commented on each others writing.

A defining feature of Tingjian's poetry noticeable when realizing that his poetry was made of incredibly dense language that had to be closely examined to truly understand. Tingjian generally used very specific allusions and symbolism in his poems, and to understand them readers needed to have a very deep understanding of earlier writings and Chinese culture to get a strong understanding of his poems. Huang Tinjgian also used what would initially seemed like cliche verses of poetry in ways that yielded far more meaning and symbolism than on a first glance. Huang Tingjian also gave more attention to regulated verse including the seven syllable line. "To be able to write in the more restrictive forms and yet be true to the new preferences of the age was Huang's special accomplishment" (Owen 422).

[[File:Huang_Tingjian2.png|200px|thumb|left| Another picture of Huang Tingjian located on the wikimedia commons.]]

Huang Tingjian also held an important role beyond his poetry role. He spent a lot of time and effort writing about other peoples poetry. Through letter writing and other things Huang Tingjian set forth his view on the many aspects of writing poetry. He made it known to many people how to compose and evaluate poetry. Through this kind of writing he also gave advice to many young aspiring young writers. He had many interesting sayings about poetry including, "'Take the commonplace and make it elegant, take the old and make it new'; 'touch iron and transform it into gold'; Not a single word lacks literary provenance'; 'Change the bones and steal away the embryo;'develop an appreciation for ancient models and then express yourself in new and original ways'" (Owen 422).

Huang Tingjian also wrote importantly about the actual act of writing poetry. Claiming that the act of writing was like staging a play in the way that you put everything in its place and plan it out before you actually execute. He often praised people for having things structured in new and interesting ways. While Huang Tingjian was not the first writer to be emphasizing the importance of how to write poetry, it is important to note that one thing of importance involving the writing of poetry is to be well read. He often let his young student-like writers know that they had to be reading more for their poetry to flourish. He believed that a well read poet had far more poetic abilities than the ones who wrote poetry with lack of previous reading.

Another interesting thing about Huang Tingjian is his dislike towards works at the time being mass printed and distributed. Huang Tingjian grew up in a time where the books that he owned were hand copied during after hours of work and that his appreciation for those texts was greater than those whose texts were printed by someone else. He believed that the use of printed material had a detrimental effect to the ability of people to memorize, recite, and respect that writers held for written word. He felt that the result of students having many books available to them was that they left them at their sides tied shut for the majority of their days.

[[File:Huang_Tingjian3.jpg|200px|thumb|right| Calligraphy writing done by Huang Tingjian found on the wikimedia commons.]]

Huang Tingjian was an amazing poet, and while his particular style of poetry greatly changed in popularity, he still created some very interesting and influential poetry that survived in some way or another after his death.

==Other notable writers==

Chen Shidao- Upon discovering the writing of Huang Tingjian, Chen reportedly went home and burned all of his poetry in attempt to become a student of Huang Tingjian and refine his style.

Qin Guan- poet

Chao Buzhi- poet

Zhang Lei- poet

==Excerpts==

From Huang Tingjian's collection

"The viscount of Tube City does not have the appearance of eating meat,
Brother Square Hole has written a letter breaking off relations." (420).

The first line of this poem alludes to a biography Han Yu had written about the writing bush, while the second line holds allusion to actual money because Chinese coins literally had square holes in the middle of them.

"I live on the northern sea, you on the southern,
Too far apart even to entrust letters to wild geese to carry.
Peach and pear in spring wind, a single cup of wine,
Rivers and lakes in night rains, ten years by lamplight" (421).

While no specific literary allusions are found here this poem holds a lot of significance, "the line evokes an enjoyable setting, in which [Huang Tingjian and his friend] sat outside beneath flowering fruit trees and enjoyed a single cup of wine. Why a "single cup"? Probably to show the intimacy of the two friends, or perhaps also their impovershiment, which did not detract from their enjoyment of each other's company. The following line describes, in dismal terms, the life each has had in the ten intervening years, traveling from one dreary provincial appointment to another, plying the rivers and lakes. 'Night rains; is particularly effective, because the phrase is usually used in descriptions of reunions between friends or loved ones, who stay up talking late into the night while it is raining outside. But in Huang's usage there is no comfort or consolation to be found in the 'night rains,' and the staying up late, suggested by the mention of the lamp, is a sign of unrelieved loneliness. this couplet as been much praised by critics through the ages for its use of such ordinary language to convey such depth of meaning and emotion" (Owen 421).

==Commentary==

While the Jiangxi School of poetry eventually became ridiculed after it's time, it is clear that the style of poetry had a big effect on poetry when it was written. It is also clear that it holds importance in modern day as people are still writing and talking about it. I think it is some of the more important poetry that was written in Chinese history because of it's use of literary allusion and symbolism.

The literary allusion aspect of Jiangxi School of poetry is important because of the role that it played for readers and writers alike. It placed importance on previous works in a way that Chinese culture had not exactly done previously. While Chinese history shows that huge value was place on a writers knowledge of previous Chinese texts was important, as evidenced through the exams needed to be passed, I think that other Chinese historical texts relied on literary allusion in different ways. Generally writers mentioned other literary texts only in comparison, commentary, or other very specific modes of citation. Writers like Huang Tiangjian chose instead to refer to other texts in more subtle ways. Huang Tiangjian and other Jiangxi writers chose to use literary allusions in their poetry that were subtle enough that readers needed to either be well read for comprehension, or seek out the alluded texts as a means of creating understanding. This could have possibly created a more involved and thoughtful reading process instead of people being able to use only basic understanding of the classics or their own personal experience to relate to texts. The Jiangxi School of poetry helped along the idea of referencing other texts in ways that were not too obvious to the general audience. This created a complexity to their works that, while not exactly convenient or eventually popular, created an entirely new reading experience in some important aspects of writing at the time.

Another concept concerning the Jiangxi school of poetry was the use of heavier symbolism. When reading the poem by Huang Tiangjian that was mentioned in the earlier excerpts, it becomes clear that Huang had a talent for hiding deeper symbolism in writings that only seemed vaguely or easily symbolic. Huang and other Jiangxi School style writers were probably capable of layering the symbolism in a poem together in a way that, once again, created more active interaction with a text for people at the time it was written, as well as for people reading it in modern day. This type of symbolism had been present in previous writings, but the Jiangxi School style seems to have taken it to a bigger and better level. This dense unpacking of symbolism is in part what lead to the downfall of the Jiangxi School style of poetry. It seems that the general public found the symbolism a little too dense and abstract for the liking or understanding and seemingly shunned it. While it is true that poetry can become too dense I believe that the Jiangxi School was still doing something that was very fascinating and had a powerful affect on many poets and poetry for a long time to come as well as in modern day.

Looking at it historically the Jiangxi School of poetry was a very short lived phenomenon, but it is clear that there are ideas and concepts surrounding the style that has stuck with people until modern day. We would not be writing and talking about it if it were not important and it is clear that it made some interesting and important strides in the world of Chinese literature and things would not be the same with out it and its interesting uses of literary allusions and symbolism.

==References==

The Cambridge History of Chinese Literature Volume 1 - Kang-I Sun and Stephen Owen

==Powerpoint==
[[File:jiangxi school of poetry.pptx]]

File:A Beautiful Life.pptx

2013-04-16T05:15:32Z

Matt C:

A Beautiful Life.pptx

2013-04-16T05:15:16Z

Matt C: Created page with "File:A Beautiful Life.pptx"

[[File:A Beautiful Life.pptx]]

File:Jiangxi school of poetry.pptx

2013-04-16T05:14:17Z

Matt C:

Jiangxi School of poetry

2013-04-16T05:14:02Z

Matt C: /* Powerpoint */

==Overview==

During the 1070's Su Shi created a group of young writers who associated themselves with him. This group included Huang Tingjian, Qin Guan, Chao Buzhi, Zhang lei, and Chen Shidao. From this small group two figures emerged that left a very distinct stamp on Chinese poetry. Huang Tingjian and Chen Shidao unexpectedly formed what came to be known as the Jiangxi School of poetry. While the Jinagzi School seems to have some roots with writers like Wang Anshi or Ouyang Xiu, Chen Shidao and Huang Tingjian are the ones given credit for really bringing this type of poetry into the limelight.

The Jiangxi school is named after the area that it is most often associated with, but in total only a handful of poets who wrote int he Jiangxi style were actually from the Jiangxi area. As stated before the Jiangxi school was not created on purpose. "there is little evidence that the men credited with starting it had any intention of creating a poetic school. It is only in retrospect that critics and later poets, eager to give a name to the new approach to poetry ... posited the existence of this school" (Owen 419). Although the main creators did die the influence of this style of poetry lasted as long as into the end of the Song dynasty.

Although the Jinagxi School style lasted for some time and was quite popular as well, there eventually came a time when the general populace became bored with the Jinagxi style of poetry. "doubts began to be ecpressed over the excesses of the Jiangxi style, which insluded a determination to be nocel to the point of strangeness, an overabundance of allusions, and a self-conscious crafting of language that often showed through and compromised the feeling of natural expression. On by one, the major poets of the early Southern Song would annouce themselves to be dissatisfied with the Jiangxi School style and develop new directions" (Owen 419).

Lu Benzhong, who actually coined the term "Jiangxi School of poetry" liked the poetry of Huang Tingjian, expressed his dislike of later Jiangxi School style poets, "Poems like Cao Zhi's "Seven Laments" are broad, vast, deep, and distant and are not something which we composers can attain. This is because they never directed their intention toward their language. Although the Jiangxi scholars of recent times take compass in one hand and right-angle in the other and expend all their effort, they mostly do not know [that they should] go beyond this. They have climbed a hundred-foot pole but cannot advance another inch and have failed to understand Huang Tingjian's intent" (Owen 504). This quote shows partly why the Jiangxi style waned in popularity. It seems that critics believed that Huang Tingjian had done right when it came to the writing of Jiangxi School poetry and as time went on, more writers in attempt to emulate the style, failed and created poems that were similar in nature, but far from true to the original style.

Lu Benzhong eventually came to dislike even Huang Tingjian's style of poetry and regretted composing a work titled "The Genealogy of the Jiangxi Poetry Society" and in a preface to a collection he claimed, "One must learn the method of liveliness when studying to write poetry. What is meant by the method of liveliness is that tone should be equipped with knowledge of the rules and yet be able to go beyond them, and be able to change in an unpredictable way without going against them" (Owen 520). This goes to show the even bigger downfall of the Jingxi School style when critics who had not previously criticized Huang Tingjian eventually did so.

The Jiangxi style of poetry did actually gain some form of renown later on when Fang Hui praised it in it's former glory. When criticizing the late the Four Lings and the Rivers and Lakes poets. Fang Hui wanted to bring back the past style and get rid of the current one, which he considered vulgar and overly refined. He even wrote about his attempts to write in the Jiangxi School style, "I was twenty when I started studying poetry, and now I am seventy six. As for seven syllable line verse, I certainly did practice the style of Xu Hun but I unrealistically looked toward [the standard set by] Huang Tingjian, Chen Shidao, Yuyi, and old Du; my energies were no math for theirs, so I withdrew to write in the style of Bai Juyi and Zhang Lei...As for five-syllable line verse. I envied Chen Shidao," (Owen 580). This also shows that even if the popularity of the Jiangxi school had waned over time, it still got some important attention from a gifted writer later on in history.

==Huang Tingjian==

Huang Tingjian is probably the most recognizable figure when it comes to the Jiangxi School of poetry. Regarded as on of the founders of the style, he created some of the best Jiangxi School style poetry there is to offer.

[[File:Huang_Tingjian1.jpg|200px|thumb|right| Picture of Huang Tingjian located on the wikimedia commons .]]

While Huang Tingjian and Su Shi are often coupled together as writers, ti becomes quickly noticeable that the two have incredibly different styles of writing. The reason for this is that the men lived at the same time and had a close relationship in which they often read and commented on each others writing.

A defining feature of Tingjian's poetry noticeable when realizing that his poetry was made of incredibly dense language that had to be closely examined to truly understand. Tingjian generally used very specific allusions and symbolism in his poems, and to understand them readers needed to have a very deep understanding of earlier writings and Chinese culture to get a strong understanding of his poems. Huang Tinjgian also used what would initially seemed like cliche verses of poetry in ways that yielded far more meaning and symbolism than on a first glance. Huang Tingjian also gave more attention to regulated verse including the seven syllable line. "To be able to write in the more restrictive forms and yet be true to the new preferences of the age was Huang's special accomplishment" (Owen 422).

[[File:Huang_Tingjian2.png|200px|thumb|left| Another picture of Huang Tingjian located on the wikimedia commons.]]

Huang Tingjian also held an important role beyond his poetry role. He spent a lot of time and effort writing about other peoples poetry. Through letter writing and other things Huang Tingjian set forth his view on the many aspects of writing poetry. He made it known to many people how to compose and evaluate poetry. Through this kind of writing he also gave advice to many young aspiring young writers. He had many interesting sayings about poetry including, "'Take the commonplace and make it elegant, take the old and make it new'; 'touch iron and transform it into gold'; Not a single word lacks literary provenance'; 'Change the bones and steal away the embryo;'develop an appreciation for ancient models and then express yourself in new and original ways'" (Owen 422).

Huang Tingjian also wrote importantly about the actual act of writing poetry. Claiming that the act of writing was like staging a play in the way that you put everything in its place and plan it out before you actually execute. He often praised people for having things structured in new and interesting ways. While Huang Tingjian was not the first writer to be emphasizing the importance of how to write poetry, it is important to note that one thing of importance involving the writing of poetry is to be well read. He often let his young student-like writers know that they had to be reading more for their poetry to flourish. He believed that a well read poet had far more poetic abilities than the ones who wrote poetry with lack of previous reading.

Another interesting thing about Huang Tingjian is his dislike towards works at the time being mass printed and distributed. Huang Tingjian grew up in a time where the books that he owned were hand copied during after hours of work and that his appreciation for those texts was greater than those whose texts were printed by someone else. He believed that the use of printed material had a detrimental effect to the ability of people to memorize, recite, and respect that writers held for written word. He felt that the result of students having many books available to them was that they left them at their sides tied shut for the majority of their days.

[[File:Huang_Tingjian3.jpg|200px|thumb|right| Calligraphy writing done by Huang Tingjian found on the wikimedia commons.]]

Huang Tingjian was an amazing poet, and while his particular style of poetry greatly changed in popularity, he still created some very interesting and influential poetry that survived in some way or another after his death.

==Other notable writers==

Chen Shidao- Upon discovering the writing of Huang Tingjian, Chen reportedly went home and burned all of his poetry in attempt to become a student of Huang Tingjian and refine his style.

Qin Guan- poet

Chao Buzhi- poet

Zhang Lei- poet

==Excerpts==

From Huang Tingjian's collection

"The viscount of Tube City does not have the appearance of eating meat,
Brother Square Hole has written a letter breaking off relations." (420).

The first line of this poem alludes to a biography Han Yu had written about the writing bush, while the second line holds allusion to actual money because Chinese coins literally had square holes in the middle of them.

"I live on the northern sea, you on the southern,
Too far apart even to entrust letters to wild geese to carry.
Peach and pear in spring wind, a single cup of wine,
Rivers and lakes in night rains, ten years by lamplight" (421).

While no specific literary allusions are found here this poem holds a lot of significance, "the line evokes an enjoyable setting, in which [Huang Tingjian and his friend] sat outside beneath flowering fruit trees and enjoyed a single cup of wine. Why a "single cup"? Probably to show the intimacy of the two friends, or perhaps also their impovershiment, which did not detract from their enjoyment of each other's company. The following line describes, in dismal terms, the life each has had in the ten intervening years, traveling from one dreary provincial appointment to another, plying the rivers and lakes. 'Night rains; is particularly effective, because the phrase is usually used in descriptions of reunions between friends or loved ones, who stay up talking late into the night while it is raining outside. But in Huang's usage there is no comfort or consolation to be found in the 'night rains,' and the staying up late, suggested by the mention of the lamp, is a sign of unrelieved loneliness. this couplet as been much praised by critics through the ages for its use of such ordinary language to convey such depth of meaning and emotion" (Owen 421).

==Commentary==

While the Jiangxi School of poetry eventually became ridiculed after it's time, it is clear that the style of poetry had a big effect on poetry when it was written. It is also clear that it holds importance in modern day as people are still writing and talking about it. I think it is some of the more important poetry that was written in Chinese history because of it's use of literary allusion, symbolism, and blah

The literary allusion aspect of Jiangxi School of poetry is important because of the role that it played for readers and writers alike. It placed importance on previous works in a way that Chinese culture had not exactly done previously. While Chinese history shows that huge value was place on a writers knowledge of previous Chinese texts was important, as evidenced through the exams needed to be passed, I think that other Chinese historical texts relied on literary allusion in different ways. Generally writers mentioned other literary texts only in comparison, commentary, or other very specific modes of citation. Writers like Huang Tiangjian chose instead to refer to other texts in more subtle ways. Huang Tiangjian and other Jiangxi writers chose to use literary allusions in their poetry that were subtle enough that readers needed to either be well read for comprehension, or seek out the alluded texts as a means of creating understanding. This could have possibly created a more involved and thoughtful reading process instead of people being able to use only basic understanding of the classics or their own personal experience to relate to texts. The Jiangxi School of poetry helped along the idea of referencing other texts in ways that were not too obvious to the general audience. This created a complexity to their works that, while not exactly convenient or eventually popular, created an entirely new reading experience in some important aspects of writing at the time.

Another concept concerning the Jiangxi school of poetry was the use of heavier symbolism. When reading the poem by Huang Tiangjian that was mentioned in the earlier excerpts, it becomes clear that Huang had a talent for hiding deeper symbolism in writings that only seemed vaguely or easily symbolic. Huang and other Jiangxi School style writers were probably capable of layering the symbolism in a poem together in a way that, once again, created more active interaction with a text for people at the time it was written, as well as for people reading it in modern day. This type of symbolism had been present in previous writings, but the Jiangxi School style seems to have taken it to a bigger and better level. This dense unpacking of symbolism is in part what lead to the downfall of the Jiangxi School style of poetry. It seems that the general public found the symbolism a little too dense and abstract for the liking or understanding and seemingly shunned it. While it is true that poetry can become too dense I believe that the Jiangxi School was still doing something that was very fascinating and had a powerful affect on many poets and poetry for a long time to come as well as in modern day.

==References==

The Cambridge History of Chinese Literature Volume 1 - Kang-I Sun and Stephen Owen

==Powerpoint==
[[File:jiangxi school of poetry.pptx]]

Jiangxi School of poetry

2013-04-16T05:05:07Z

Matt C: /* Commentary */

==Overview==

During the 1070's Su Shi created a group of young writers who associated themselves with him. This group included Huang Tingjian, Qin Guan, Chao Buzhi, Zhang lei, and Chen Shidao. From this small group two figures emerged that left a very distinct stamp on Chinese poetry. Huang Tingjian and Chen Shidao unexpectedly formed what came to be known as the Jiangxi School of poetry. While the Jinagzi School seems to have some roots with writers like Wang Anshi or Ouyang Xiu, Chen Shidao and Huang Tingjian are the ones given credit for really bringing this type of poetry into the limelight.

The Jiangxi school is named after the area that it is most often associated with, but in total only a handful of poets who wrote int he Jiangxi style were actually from the Jiangxi area. As stated before the Jiangxi school was not created on purpose. "there is little evidence that the men credited with starting it had any intention of creating a poetic school. It is only in retrospect that critics and later poets, eager to give a name to the new approach to poetry ... posited the existence of this school" (Owen 419). Although the main creators did die the influence of this style of poetry lasted as long as into the end of the Song dynasty.

Although the Jinagxi School style lasted for some time and was quite popular as well, there eventually came a time when the general populace became bored with the Jinagxi style of poetry. "doubts began to be ecpressed over the excesses of the Jiangxi style, which insluded a determination to be nocel to the point of strangeness, an overabundance of allusions, and a self-conscious crafting of language that often showed through and compromised the feeling of natural expression. On by one, the major poets of the early Southern Song would annouce themselves to be dissatisfied with the Jiangxi School style and develop new directions" (Owen 419).

Lu Benzhong, who actually coined the term "Jiangxi School of poetry" liked the poetry of Huang Tingjian, expressed his dislike of later Jiangxi School style poets, "Poems like Cao Zhi's "Seven Laments" are broad, vast, deep, and distant and are not something which we composers can attain. This is because they never directed their intention toward their language. Although the Jiangxi scholars of recent times take compass in one hand and right-angle in the other and expend all their effort, they mostly do not know [that they should] go beyond this. They have climbed a hundred-foot pole but cannot advance another inch and have failed to understand Huang Tingjian's intent" (Owen 504). This quote shows partly why the Jiangxi style waned in popularity. It seems that critics believed that Huang Tingjian had done right when it came to the writing of Jiangxi School poetry and as time went on, more writers in attempt to emulate the style, failed and created poems that were similar in nature, but far from true to the original style.

Lu Benzhong eventually came to dislike even Huang Tingjian's style of poetry and regretted composing a work titled "The Genealogy of the Jiangxi Poetry Society" and in a preface to a collection he claimed, "One must learn the method of liveliness when studying to write poetry. What is meant by the method of liveliness is that tone should be equipped with knowledge of the rules and yet be able to go beyond them, and be able to change in an unpredictable way without going against them" (Owen 520). This goes to show the even bigger downfall of the Jingxi School style when critics who had not previously criticized Huang Tingjian eventually did so.

The Jiangxi style of poetry did actually gain some form of renown later on when Fang Hui praised it in it's former glory. When criticizing the late the Four Lings and the Rivers and Lakes poets. Fang Hui wanted to bring back the past style and get rid of the current one, which he considered vulgar and overly refined. He even wrote about his attempts to write in the Jiangxi School style, "I was twenty when I started studying poetry, and now I am seventy six. As for seven syllable line verse, I certainly did practice the style of Xu Hun but I unrealistically looked toward [the standard set by] Huang Tingjian, Chen Shidao, Yuyi, and old Du; my energies were no math for theirs, so I withdrew to write in the style of Bai Juyi and Zhang Lei...As for five-syllable line verse. I envied Chen Shidao," (Owen 580). This also shows that even if the popularity of the Jiangxi school had waned over time, it still got some important attention from a gifted writer later on in history.

==Huang Tingjian==

Huang Tingjian is probably the most recognizable figure when it comes to the Jiangxi School of poetry. Regarded as on of the founders of the style, he created some of the best Jiangxi School style poetry there is to offer.

[[File:Huang_Tingjian1.jpg|200px|thumb|right| Picture of Huang Tingjian located on the wikimedia commons .]]

While Huang Tingjian and Su Shi are often coupled together as writers, ti becomes quickly noticeable that the two have incredibly different styles of writing. The reason for this is that the men lived at the same time and had a close relationship in which they often read and commented on each others writing.

A defining feature of Tingjian's poetry noticeable when realizing that his poetry was made of incredibly dense language that had to be closely examined to truly understand. Tingjian generally used very specific allusions and symbolism in his poems, and to understand them readers needed to have a very deep understanding of earlier writings and Chinese culture to get a strong understanding of his poems. Huang Tinjgian also used what would initially seemed like cliche verses of poetry in ways that yielded far more meaning and symbolism than on a first glance. Huang Tingjian also gave more attention to regulated verse including the seven syllable line. "To be able to write in the more restrictive forms and yet be true to the new preferences of the age was Huang's special accomplishment" (Owen 422).

[[File:Huang_Tingjian2.png|200px|thumb|left| Another picture of Huang Tingjian located on the wikimedia commons.]]

Huang Tingjian also held an important role beyond his poetry role. He spent a lot of time and effort writing about other peoples poetry. Through letter writing and other things Huang Tingjian set forth his view on the many aspects of writing poetry. He made it known to many people how to compose and evaluate poetry. Through this kind of writing he also gave advice to many young aspiring young writers. He had many interesting sayings about poetry including, "'Take the commonplace and make it elegant, take the old and make it new'; 'touch iron and transform it into gold'; Not a single word lacks literary provenance'; 'Change the bones and steal away the embryo;'develop an appreciation for ancient models and then express yourself in new and original ways'" (Owen 422).

Huang Tingjian also wrote importantly about the actual act of writing poetry. Claiming that the act of writing was like staging a play in the way that you put everything in its place and plan it out before you actually execute. He often praised people for having things structured in new and interesting ways. While Huang Tingjian was not the first writer to be emphasizing the importance of how to write poetry, it is important to note that one thing of importance involving the writing of poetry is to be well read. He often let his young student-like writers know that they had to be reading more for their poetry to flourish. He believed that a well read poet had far more poetic abilities than the ones who wrote poetry with lack of previous reading.

Another interesting thing about Huang Tingjian is his dislike towards works at the time being mass printed and distributed. Huang Tingjian grew up in a time where the books that he owned were hand copied during after hours of work and that his appreciation for those texts was greater than those whose texts were printed by someone else. He believed that the use of printed material had a detrimental effect to the ability of people to memorize, recite, and respect that writers held for written word. He felt that the result of students having many books available to them was that they left them at their sides tied shut for the majority of their days.

[[File:Huang_Tingjian3.jpg|200px|thumb|right| Calligraphy writing done by Huang Tingjian found on the wikimedia commons.]]

Huang Tingjian was an amazing poet, and while his particular style of poetry greatly changed in popularity, he still created some very interesting and influential poetry that survived in some way or another after his death.

==Other notable writers==

Chen Shidao- Upon discovering the writing of Huang Tingjian, Chen reportedly went home and burned all of his poetry in attempt to become a student of Huang Tingjian and refine his style.

Qin Guan- poet

Chao Buzhi- poet

Zhang Lei- poet

==Excerpts==

From Huang Tingjian's collection

"The viscount of Tube City does not have the appearance of eating meat,
Brother Square Hole has written a letter breaking off relations." (420).

The first line of this poem alludes to a biography Han Yu had written about the writing bush, while the second line holds allusion to actual money because Chinese coins literally had square holes in the middle of them.

"I live on the northern sea, you on the southern,
Too far apart even to entrust letters to wild geese to carry.
Peach and pear in spring wind, a single cup of wine,
Rivers and lakes in night rains, ten years by lamplight" (421).

While no specific literary allusions are found here this poem holds a lot of significance, "the line evokes an enjoyable setting, in which [Huang Tingjian and his friend] sat outside beneath flowering fruit trees and enjoyed a single cup of wine. Why a "single cup"? Probably to show the intimacy of the two friends, or perhaps also their impovershiment, which did not detract from their enjoyment of each other's company. The following line describes, in dismal terms, the life each has had in the ten intervening years, traveling from one dreary provincial appointment to another, plying the rivers and lakes. 'Night rains; is particularly effective, because the phrase is usually used in descriptions of reunions between friends or loved ones, who stay up talking late into the night while it is raining outside. But in Huang's usage there is no comfort or consolation to be found in the 'night rains,' and the staying up late, suggested by the mention of the lamp, is a sign of unrelieved loneliness. this couplet as been much praised by critics through the ages for its use of such ordinary language to convey such depth of meaning and emotion" (Owen 421).

==Commentary==

While the Jiangxi School of poetry eventually became ridiculed after it's time, it is clear that the style of poetry had a big effect on poetry when it was written. It is also clear that it holds importance in modern day as people are still writing and talking about it. I think it is some of the more important poetry that was written in Chinese history because of it's use of literary allusion, symbolism, and blah

The literary allusion aspect of Jiangxi School of poetry is important because of the role that it played for readers and writers alike. It placed importance on previous works in a way that Chinese culture had not exactly done previously. While Chinese history shows that huge value was place on a writers knowledge of previous Chinese texts was important, as evidenced through the exams needed to be passed, I think that other Chinese historical texts relied on literary allusion in different ways. Generally writers mentioned other literary texts only in comparison, commentary, or other very specific modes of citation. Writers like Huang Tiangjian chose instead to refer to other texts in more subtle ways. Huang Tiangjian and other Jiangxi writers chose to use literary allusions in their poetry that were subtle enough that readers needed to either be well read for comprehension, or seek out the alluded texts as a means of creating understanding. This could have possibly created a more involved and thoughtful reading process instead of people being able to use only basic understanding of the classics or their own personal experience to relate to texts. The Jiangxi School of poetry helped along the idea of referencing other texts in ways that were not too obvious to the general audience. This created a complexity to their works that, while not exactly convenient or eventually popular, created an entirely new reading experience in some important aspects of writing at the time.

Another concept concerning the Jiangxi school of poetry was the use of heavier symbolism. When reading the poem by Huang Tiangjian that was mentioned in the earlier excerpts, it becomes clear that Huang had a talent for hiding deeper symbolism in writings that only seemed vaguely or easily symbolic. Huang and other Jiangxi School style writers were probably capable of layering the symbolism in a poem together in a way that, once again, created more active interaction with a text for people at the time it was written, as well as for people reading it in modern day. This type of symbolism had been present in previous writings, but the Jiangxi School style seems to have taken it to a bigger and better level. This dense unpacking of symbolism is in part what lead to the downfall of the Jiangxi School style of poetry. It seems that the general public found the symbolism a little too dense and abstract for the liking or understanding and seemingly shunned it. While it is true that poetry can become too dense I believe that the Jiangxi School was still doing something that was very fascinating and had a powerful affect on many poets and poetry for a long time to come as well as in modern day.

==References==

The Cambridge History of Chinese Literature Volume 1 - Kang-I Sun and Stephen Owen

==Powerpoint==

Jiangxi School of poetry

2013-04-16T04:48:39Z

Matt C: /* Other notable writers */

==Overview==

During the 1070's Su Shi created a group of young writers who associated themselves with him. This group included Huang Tingjian, Qin Guan, Chao Buzhi, Zhang lei, and Chen Shidao. From this small group two figures emerged that left a very distinct stamp on Chinese poetry. Huang Tingjian and Chen Shidao unexpectedly formed what came to be known as the Jiangxi School of poetry. While the Jinagzi School seems to have some roots with writers like Wang Anshi or Ouyang Xiu, Chen Shidao and Huang Tingjian are the ones given credit for really bringing this type of poetry into the limelight.

The Jiangxi school is named after the area that it is most often associated with, but in total only a handful of poets who wrote int he Jiangxi style were actually from the Jiangxi area. As stated before the Jiangxi school was not created on purpose. "there is little evidence that the men credited with starting it had any intention of creating a poetic school. It is only in retrospect that critics and later poets, eager to give a name to the new approach to poetry ... posited the existence of this school" (Owen 419). Although the main creators did die the influence of this style of poetry lasted as long as into the end of the Song dynasty.

Although the Jinagxi School style lasted for some time and was quite popular as well, there eventually came a time when the general populace became bored with the Jinagxi style of poetry. "doubts began to be ecpressed over the excesses of the Jiangxi style, which insluded a determination to be nocel to the point of strangeness, an overabundance of allusions, and a self-conscious crafting of language that often showed through and compromised the feeling of natural expression. On by one, the major poets of the early Southern Song would annouce themselves to be dissatisfied with the Jiangxi School style and develop new directions" (Owen 419).

Lu Benzhong, who actually coined the term "Jiangxi School of poetry" liked the poetry of Huang Tingjian, expressed his dislike of later Jiangxi School style poets, "Poems like Cao Zhi's "Seven Laments" are broad, vast, deep, and distant and are not something which we composers can attain. This is because they never directed their intention toward their language. Although the Jiangxi scholars of recent times take compass in one hand and right-angle in the other and expend all their effort, they mostly do not know [that they should] go beyond this. They have climbed a hundred-foot pole but cannot advance another inch and have failed to understand Huang Tingjian's intent" (Owen 504). This quote shows partly why the Jiangxi style waned in popularity. It seems that critics believed that Huang Tingjian had done right when it came to the writing of Jiangxi School poetry and as time went on, more writers in attempt to emulate the style, failed and created poems that were similar in nature, but far from true to the original style.

Lu Benzhong eventually came to dislike even Huang Tingjian's style of poetry and regretted composing a work titled "The Genealogy of the Jiangxi Poetry Society" and in a preface to a collection he claimed, "One must learn the method of liveliness when studying to write poetry. What is meant by the method of liveliness is that tone should be equipped with knowledge of the rules and yet be able to go beyond them, and be able to change in an unpredictable way without going against them" (Owen 520). This goes to show the even bigger downfall of the Jingxi School style when critics who had not previously criticized Huang Tingjian eventually did so.

The Jiangxi style of poetry did actually gain some form of renown later on when Fang Hui praised it in it's former glory. When criticizing the late the Four Lings and the Rivers and Lakes poets. Fang Hui wanted to bring back the past style and get rid of the current one, which he considered vulgar and overly refined. He even wrote about his attempts to write in the Jiangxi School style, "I was twenty when I started studying poetry, and now I am seventy six. As for seven syllable line verse, I certainly did practice the style of Xu Hun but I unrealistically looked toward [the standard set by] Huang Tingjian, Chen Shidao, Yuyi, and old Du; my energies were no math for theirs, so I withdrew to write in the style of Bai Juyi and Zhang Lei...As for five-syllable line verse. I envied Chen Shidao," (Owen 580). This also shows that even if the popularity of the Jiangxi school had waned over time, it still got some important attention from a gifted writer later on in history.

==Huang Tingjian==

Huang Tingjian is probably the most recognizable figure when it comes to the Jiangxi School of poetry. Regarded as on of the founders of the style, he created some of the best Jiangxi School style poetry there is to offer.

[[File:Huang_Tingjian1.jpg|200px|thumb|right| Picture of Huang Tingjian located on the wikimedia commons .]]

While Huang Tingjian and Su Shi are often coupled together as writers, ti becomes quickly noticeable that the two have incredibly different styles of writing. The reason for this is that the men lived at the same time and had a close relationship in which they often read and commented on each others writing.

A defining feature of Tingjian's poetry noticeable when realizing that his poetry was made of incredibly dense language that had to be closely examined to truly understand. Tingjian generally used very specific allusions and symbolism in his poems, and to understand them readers needed to have a very deep understanding of earlier writings and Chinese culture to get a strong understanding of his poems. Huang Tinjgian also used what would initially seemed like cliche verses of poetry in ways that yielded far more meaning and symbolism than on a first glance. Huang Tingjian also gave more attention to regulated verse including the seven syllable line. "To be able to write in the more restrictive forms and yet be true to the new preferences of the age was Huang's special accomplishment" (Owen 422).

[[File:Huang_Tingjian2.png|200px|thumb|left| Another picture of Huang Tingjian located on the wikimedia commons.]]

Huang Tingjian also held an important role beyond his poetry role. He spent a lot of time and effort writing about other peoples poetry. Through letter writing and other things Huang Tingjian set forth his view on the many aspects of writing poetry. He made it known to many people how to compose and evaluate poetry. Through this kind of writing he also gave advice to many young aspiring young writers. He had many interesting sayings about poetry including, "'Take the commonplace and make it elegant, take the old and make it new'; 'touch iron and transform it into gold'; Not a single word lacks literary provenance'; 'Change the bones and steal away the embryo;'develop an appreciation for ancient models and then express yourself in new and original ways'" (Owen 422).

Huang Tingjian also wrote importantly about the actual act of writing poetry. Claiming that the act of writing was like staging a play in the way that you put everything in its place and plan it out before you actually execute. He often praised people for having things structured in new and interesting ways. While Huang Tingjian was not the first writer to be emphasizing the importance of how to write poetry, it is important to note that one thing of importance involving the writing of poetry is to be well read. He often let his young student-like writers know that they had to be reading more for their poetry to flourish. He believed that a well read poet had far more poetic abilities than the ones who wrote poetry with lack of previous reading.

Another interesting thing about Huang Tingjian is his dislike towards works at the time being mass printed and distributed. Huang Tingjian grew up in a time where the books that he owned were hand copied during after hours of work and that his appreciation for those texts was greater than those whose texts were printed by someone else. He believed that the use of printed material had a detrimental effect to the ability of people to memorize, recite, and respect that writers held for written word. He felt that the result of students having many books available to them was that they left them at their sides tied shut for the majority of their days.

[[File:Huang_Tingjian3.jpg|200px|thumb|right| Calligraphy writing done by Huang Tingjian found on the wikimedia commons.]]

Huang Tingjian was an amazing poet, and while his particular style of poetry greatly changed in popularity, he still created some very interesting and influential poetry that survived in some way or another after his death.

==Other notable writers==

Chen Shidao- Upon discovering the writing of Huang Tingjian, Chen reportedly went home and burned all of his poetry in attempt to become a student of Huang Tingjian and refine his style.

Qin Guan- poet

Chao Buzhi- poet

Zhang Lei- poet

==Excerpts==

From Huang Tingjian's collection

"The viscount of Tube City does not have the appearance of eating meat,
Brother Square Hole has written a letter breaking off relations." (420).

The first line of this poem alludes to a biography Han Yu had written about the writing bush, while the second line holds allusion to actual money because Chinese coins literally had square holes in the middle of them.

"I live on the northern sea, you on the southern,
Too far apart even to entrust letters to wild geese to carry.
Peach and pear in spring wind, a single cup of wine,
Rivers and lakes in night rains, ten years by lamplight" (421).

While no specific literary allusions are found here this poem holds a lot of significance, "the line evokes an enjoyable setting, in which [Huang Tingjian and his friend] sat outside beneath flowering fruit trees and enjoyed a single cup of wine. Why a "single cup"? Probably to show the intimacy of the two friends, or perhaps also their impovershiment, which did not detract from their enjoyment of each other's company. The following line describes, in dismal terms, the life each has had in the ten intervening years, traveling from one dreary provincial appointment to another, plying the rivers and lakes. 'Night rains; is particularly effective, because the phrase is usually used in descriptions of reunions between friends or loved ones, who stay up talking late into the night while it is raining outside. But in Huang's usage there is no comfort or consolation to be found in the 'night rains,' and the staying up late, suggested by the mention of the lamp, is a sign of unrelieved loneliness. this couplet as been much praised by critics through the ages for its use of such ordinary language to convey such depth of meaning and emotion" (Owen 421).

==Commentary==

==References==

The Cambridge History of Chinese Literature Volume 1 - Kang-I Sun and Stephen Owen

==Powerpoint==

A Beautiful Life

2013-04-16T04:43:51Z

Matt C: /* Plot Synopsis */

==A Beautiful Life==

[[File:A_Beautiful_Life_2011_poster.jpg|200px|thumb|right| Hong Kong Movie Poster for A Beautiful Life(2011) found on official website for film.]]

A 2011 film that follows the unlikely love story of two people living in Beijing China. Directed by Andrew Lau and starring Qi Shu, Ye Liu, Liang Tian, Danying Fen, and Anthony Wang Chau-Sang. Other titles that apply to the film are Don't Be Lonely, I Will Never Let You Be Lonely Again, and Mei LI Ren Sheng. (imdb.com)

==Plot Synopsis==

One seemingly normal night in Hong Kong at a karaoke bar quickly becomes the starting point for an unexplected and amazing love story between Feng Zhengdong and Li Peiru. After spending the night with some soon-to-be wed friends Fang Zhendong leaves early only to be puked on by Li Peiru and unwittingly becomes selected to carry her home. Fang Zhengdong, thinking their interaction will stop there, begins to unexpectedly meet the impulsive and fun woman man places throughout his life. The two become unlikely friends as Fang Zhengdong becomes increasingly infatuated with the manic woman he has befriended. Li Peiru on the other hand, seems to be too caught up with her own sexual affair with her married boss to notice.

After running into Zhengdong at the story Peiru manages to take his groceries to make dumplings for her married boss. Peiru fails to properly cook the dumplings and convinces Zhengdong to come to her apartment to help her. After Peiru's boss arrives she convinces him that Zhengdong is just a plumber there to fix something. Peiru's affair ends shortly thereafter since he begins sleeping with another of Peiru's co-workers.

Meanwhile, Zhendong struggles to keep his disabled brother afloat. Zhendong's brother, a talented artist, dresses up as a lion and hands out flyers on the street. Unbeknownst to Zangdong his own brother has fallen in love with a pretty deaf girl who works near him. The two fall in love and eventually asks to be married to Zhangdong.

Peiru and Zhangdongs relationship becomes more complicated as Peiru becomes increasingly manic and confused in her own life. Eventually she is fired from her job and becomes completely broke. Zhangdong chooses to selflessly sell his own home to provide her the money to start her own expensive business. The business quickly fails and Peiru returns to Hong Kong to live with her family.

Shortly before Zhangdong's brothers wedding things begin to go awry for the now broke police officer. As a result of a previous job related accident Fang Zhengdong's mental abilities begin to fail. He begins to forget things a little too easily and his constant reminder notes are not even enough to keep his memory on track. He then loses his job as a result of using a police vehicle to run personal errands for Peiru. He is fired from his job and left in the care of his disabled brother.

Peiru lives in Hong Kong for a short time and begins to reflect on the selfless care and love that Zhendong has shown her. She discovers a note Zhengdong left her that said "I will never let you feel lonely again." The note inspires her to track him down and express to him that she now loves him back. With hard work she finds him and tells him that she is in love with him. Zhengdong tries to get her to leave and instead the two agree to be together and work through his failing mental state together.

The two soon become married as well as pregnant despite Zhengdong's dementia-like state. The lives of these two unlikely lovers becomes more and more tumultuous as Zhangdong becomes more and more incapable living in the world around him. The two work through hard times as they attempt to work through his situation. One day, when Zhangdong chooses to go on a short morning walk, he witnesses a young man robbing a house. After Zhangdongs police instinct kick in, he begins to chase the young man. After an intense chase the young man hits Zhangdong in the head with a brick. He ends up in a coma in the hospital and Peiru refuses to leave his side. She does not eat or sleep for three days and collapses just as Zhangdong's heart unexpectedly stops. Peiru wakes up shortly after to find Zhangdong alive and well next to her. He apologizes for worrying her and the two, despite the hard work required, live happily ever after.

==Director==
Andrew Lau began his career as a cinematographer, but quickly moved into directing as well. After becoming sick of dealing with directors who brushed off poor shots, Lau decided that he wanted to have the control needed to create compelling films and also featured the cinematography that he knew they deserved. Lau has directed over forty two films, including the Infernal Affairs Trilogy which becomes some of the highest grossing films of all time in China and also won an array of awards for the films. He frequently works alongside Alan Mak and the two have worked on carious films together. He also has directed films across an array of genres and chooses not to become stuck in one specific genre.

==Actors/Characters==

[[File:Shi_Qu_Cannes_2009.jpg|200px|thumb|right| Qi Shu at Cannes Film Festival 2009, found on wikimedia commons.]]

Qi Shu- Shu plays Li Peiru in A Beautiful Life and is known for the manic acting style that she portrays in the film. Shu's career started with humble origins as she worked her way from the adult film industry up into the mainstream Chinese acting world. Her career boasts over 70 mainstream films and she will be appearing in two American films in 2013. Shi plays the part of Li Peiru as exactly what the character needed to be played as. Through her acting he creates a character that is genuinely lovable by Fang Zhengdong and the audience alike. This convinces the audience to connect with Peiru and Zhengdong in a way that few other actresses would be able to pull off. The manic acting style, which could be considered a downfall, quickly becomes one of her greatest triumphs as the manic personality quickly becomes one of the important themes in the film (as we will explore later). (imdb.com)

[[File:LiuYe_2007_2.jpg|200px|thumb|left| Ye Liu in New York 2007 Picture by Xiao1Yao found on wikimedia commons.]]

Ye Liu- Liu's acting career boasts over 36 mainstream films. The actor gained instant recognition after he received a nomination for best supporting actor at the Chinese film awards after just his first film. Known for his good looks the actor has shied away from making the easy career choice of becoming a teenage heart throb. Instead Liu is known for choosing more difficult roles over the kind that will garner more money and attention. He was even lucky enough to work along Meryl Streep in an American film in 2007. Liu plays the character of Zhangdong perfectly as well. Through his acting he is able to create a lovable character who would have become pathetic in any other actors hands. Instead of feeling pity for his character the audience instead feels acceptance and love for the never-do-wrong cop who cant help but fall in love with his manic co-star. His Mr. Nice Guy role quickly becomes important to the overall theme of the film. (Imdb.com)

Liang Tian- Tian's career only boasts four titles, but the young actor proves to be quite formidable in A Beautiful Life. Tian plays the disabled but artistically gifted younger brother of Zhangdong. His role quickly becomes an important one in the film as the concepts and stereotypes of disabled characters quickly becomes noteworthy in the film. (imdb.com)

==Western Stereotypes in A Beautiful Life==

For a western viewer one thing becomes readily apparent in A Beautiful Life. The film begins like almost any other Romantic Comedy from America. An unsuspecting man's life is turned upside down when he meets a beautiful and impulsive woman who lives life to the fullest. These usual stereotypes become important to the western viewer as they become more complicates, inverted, and changed from what usual western stereotypes dictate. A few of the stereotypes noticeable are the Manic Pixie Dream Girl, Mr. Nice Guy, Happily Ever After and the use of disabled characters.

The Manic Pixie Dream Girl-
The character of Li Peiru serves as the manic pixie dreamgirl in this particular film. The Manic Pixie Dream Girl is a film stock character that has existed in western film almost from the beginning of Hollywood films, but was not officially named until 2005 when a film reviewer named it after watching the film Elizabethtown. Examples of this characters can be found in Garden State, Whats up Doc?, Ruby Sparks, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and (500) Days of Summer. Li Peiru initially seems to fit this stereotype which quickly changes.

Mr. Nice Guy-
Fang Zhangdong serves as Mr. Nice Guy in this film. Mr. Nice Guy is another stock character (dubbed by me) which appears in many films as well. Usually paired with Manic Pixie Dream Girls, Mr. Nice Guy characters are usually the type of men who will always do the right thing no matter what. They generally fall in love with the types of girls who don't love them back and generally settle for being friends instead of lovers to these women. Examples of this character are found in The Wedding Singer, Win a Date With Tad Hamilton, (500) Days of Summer, Blast From The Past, and many others. Zhengdong also initially fits this stereotype which quickly changes.

Happily Ever After-
The Happily Ever After stereotype is generally happens in western romance movies. The guy gets the girl, they get married, they win the lottery, they never have to worry about anything in the end, and their relationship will seemingly be perfect forever. While the film A Beautiful Life seems to work up to this for quite some time, the important thing is that after the "happily ever after" moment. The movie is only about halfway done.

Use of disabled characters-
Several disabled characters appear in A Beautiful Life. The film begins with the introduction of Zhangdong's brother and then introduces his blind girlfriend, a blind character, and eventually Zhangdong himself. These characters at first glance seem to the usual western stereotype of disabled characters. This also quickly changes.

==Commentary on Western Stereotypes==

A Beautiful Life is an important Chinese film. As preciously stated, the film boldly follows western stereotypes while simultaneously breaking them down and challenging them. This plays a very important role in the film as it breaks many stereotypes in an incredibly watchable way. While many western filmgoers may believe this movie to be a copy or ripoff of general western film tropes, I argue that it uses them to specifically create a movie that opposes western stereotypes in its storytelling.

The fist aspect of western stereotypes in the film is the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. As mentioned before Li Peiru fits this stereotype, but only at first. While she in introduced as an impulsive and loveable woman who could possibly serve solely the purpose of being Zhengdong's love interest. This stereotype is almost immediately broken down. Instead of being just some impulsive girl for the protagonist to fall in love with Peiru quickly becomes a very complex character who is haunted by her own problems with alcohol as well as a troubling affair. The Manic Pixie Dream Girl also follows one important rule, which is to be tamed by the Mr. Nice Guy and live happily ever after with him as he takes care of her for the rest of their lives. This would be true for the first half of the film, but quickly the roles are reversed as Peiru becomes one of the caretakers of poor Zhengdong. Instead of being tamed and taken care of Peiru quickly breaks out of her western stereotype and becomes a character that holds far more depth than the usual Pixie girl. This is important to the overall theme of the film as it directly opposes the stereotype that is initially seemed to set up for itself.

The second western stereotype that A Beautiful Life initially seems to set up is the Mr. Nice Guy character who is Fang Zhengdong. As mentioned before Zhangdong is a character who initially seems almost too nice to be believable. He risks his job and his home for Peiru and has spent a huge portion of his life caring for his younger disabled brother. This concept quickly becomes problematic as Zhangdongs ability to have people rely on him becomes impossible because of his failing mental state. Instead of choosing to take care of his brother and his love interest for the rest of his life, illness turns him into someone who will need care for the rest of his life. His ability to be nice to everyone is also compromised as he becomes more and more frustrated with his downhill mental state. There are key scenes in the film where the audience is able to see a darker and more mean side of Zhangdong as he becomes more and more incapable of taking care of the people in his life. This is important to the film because we see a stereotypical nice guy character become something far more complicated than most western movies would allow.

The third western stereotype we see is the happily ever after moment. Most western romance movies end on a note that tells the audience that the main characters in the film will live happily ever after. This scene seems to happen in A Beautiful Life, but the audience is privileged enough to see the lives of characters AFTER their happily every after. Instead of seeing what western filmgoers might expect, the audience sees the characters in the film go through the types of hardships that would actually occur in their situation. There is no magical cure for Zhangdongs illness or his financial state. The two main characters end up together and in love, but not everything is perfect. The film shows that although they promise their lives to one another, they still have more hard work ahead of them than any western romantic couple would ever seem to have to face. This is an important aspect of the movie because while the film sets up this situation it immediately breaks it down and changes it. In the end of the film the characters still have yet another happily ever after moment, but not before the audience witnesses the hardships they will have to face.

The fourth western stereotype we see in the film appears in the use of disabled characters. Western films generally use disabled characters as a plot device. Characters like Zhangdongs brother, his brothers deaf girlfriend, and Zhangdons blind friend, are set up to simply show how kind Zhangdong is and used simply like set pieces for the main characters to interact with. Zhangdongs brother and the deaf girl seem to fit into this western stereotype at first, that is until their own love story somehow seems to take a front seat to Zhangdongs. Their love story becomes more heartfelt and interesting than the one displayed by the main characters. Most important of these disable characters is that in western movies disable characters either find some way of being independent in movies, or find convenient help for life, usually in the form of Mr. Nice Guy. In A Beautiful Life the disabled characters actually end up as the caretakers of who would usually take care of them for the rest of their lives. A Beautiful Life once again sets up a serious western stereotype and quickly breaks it down and inverts the stereotype in on itself.
Another disable character that seems to serve some importance is the blind character. Most western films would immediately define a blink character by the fact that they were blind. In A Beautiful Life the blind character does not become noticeably blind until halfway through the film. This serves an important role in that the western stereotype is again directly opposed and introduces a blind characters by their personality and friendship to the main character instead of the simple fact that they cannot see.

Over all these types of stereotypes and more build up in the film to give a western audience an initial feeling of familiarity. The western audience who view this movie might think they have an idea of where this movie is going and the movie takes twists that westerners might not expect. This film works as foreign film that gives into western stereotypes and then immediately complicates them, inverts them, or disregards them completely. While some movies attempt to complicate western stereotypes by doing the complete opposite of what might be expected, A Beautiful chooses instead to simply alter them. The audience still gets to see a happy ending, disabled side characters, and a quirky manic dream girl. But the film immediately changes those western stereotypes to be something more than just the usual romance. This film very effectively breaks down western stereotypes while also effectively creating a pleasing cinematic experience.

==Videos==

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3AKtzrSgdI

==References==

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1934335/?ref_=sr_2

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0795517/?ref_=tt_cl_t1

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1091782/?ref_=tt_cl_t2

==Powerpoint presentation==

[[A Beautiful Life.pptx]]

A Beautiful Life

2013-04-16T04:42:41Z

Matt C: /* A Beautiful Life */

==A Beautiful Life==

[[File:A_Beautiful_Life_2011_poster.jpg|200px|thumb|right| Hong Kong Movie Poster for A Beautiful Life(2011) found on official website for film.]]

A 2011 film that follows the unlikely love story of two people living in Beijing China. Directed by Andrew Lau and starring Qi Shu, Ye Liu, Liang Tian, Danying Fen, and Anthony Wang Chau-Sang. Other titles that apply to the film are Don't Be Lonely, I Will Never Let You Be Lonely Again, and Mei LI Ren Sheng. (imdb.com)

==Plot Synopsis==

One seemingly normal night in Hong Kong at a karaoke bar quickly becomes the starting point for an unexplected and amazing love story between Feng Zhengdong and Li Peiru. After spending the night with some soon-to-be wed friends Fang Zhendong leaves early only to be puked on by Li Peiru and unwittingly becomes selected to carry her home. Fang Zhengdong, thinking their interaction will stop there, begins to unexpectedly meet the impulsive and fun woman man places throughout his life. The two become unlikely friends as Fang Zhengdong becomes increasingly infatuated with the manic woman he has befriended. Li Peiru on the other hand, seems to be too caught up with her own sexual affair with her married boss to notice.

After running into Zhengdong at the story Peiru manages to take his groceries to make dumplings for her married boss. Peiru fails to properly cook the dumplings and convinces Shengdong to come to her apartment to help her. After Peiru's boss arrives she convinces him that Zhengdong is just a hired cook. Peiru's affair ends shortly thereafter since he begins sleeping with another of Peiru's co-workers.

Meanwhile, Zhendong struggles to keep his disabled brother afloat. Zhendong's brother, a talented artist, dresses up as a lion and hands out flyers on the street. Unbeknownst to Zangdong his own brother has fallen in love with a pretty deaf girl who works near him. The two fall in love and eventually asks to be married to Zhangdong.

Peiru and Zhangdongs relationship becomes more complicated as Peiru becomes increasingly manic and confused in her own life. Eventually she is fired from her job and becomes completely broke. Zhangdong chooses to selflessly sell his own home to provide her the money to start her own expensive business. The business quickly fails and Peiru returns to Hong Kong to live with her family.

Shortly before Zhangdong's brothers wedding things begin to go awry for the now broke police officer. As a result of a previous job related accident Fang Zhengdong's mental abilities begin to fail. He begins to forget things a little too easily and his constant reminder notes are not even enough to keep his memory on track. He then loses his job as a result of using a police vehicle to run shady errands for Peiru. He is fired from his job and left in the care of his disabled brother.

Peiru lives in Hong Kong for a short time and begins to reflect on the selfless care and love that Zhendong has shown her. She discovers a note Zhengdong left her that said "I will never let you feel lonely again." The note inspires her to track him down and express to him that she now loves him back. With hard work she finds him and tells him that she is in love with him. Zhengdong tries to get her to leave and instead the two agree to be together and work through his failing mental state together.

The two soon become married as well as pregnant despite Zhengdong's dementia-like state. The lives of these two unlikely lovers becomes more and more tumultuous as Zhangdong becomes more and more incapable living in the world around him. The two work through hard times as they attempt to work through his situation. One day, when Zhangdong chooses to go on a short morning walk, he witnesses a young man robbing a house. After Zhangdongs police instinct kick in, he begins to chase the young man. After an intense chase the young man hits Zhangdong in the head with a brick. He ends up in a coma in the hospital and Peiru refuses to leave his side. She does not eat or sleep for three days and collapses just as Zhangdong's heart unexpectedly stops. Peiru wakes up shortly after to find Zhangdong alive and well next to her. He apologizes for worrying her and the two, despite the hard work required, live happily ever after.

==Director==
Andrew Lau began his career as a cinematographer, but quickly moved into directing as well. After becoming sick of dealing with directors who brushed off poor shots, Lau decided that he wanted to have the control needed to create compelling films and also featured the cinematography that he knew they deserved. Lau has directed over forty two films, including the Infernal Affairs Trilogy which becomes some of the highest grossing films of all time in China and also won an array of awards for the films. He frequently works alongside Alan Mak and the two have worked on carious films together. He also has directed films across an array of genres and chooses not to become stuck in one specific genre.

==Actors/Characters==

[[File:Shi_Qu_Cannes_2009.jpg|200px|thumb|right| Qi Shu at Cannes Film Festival 2009, found on wikimedia commons.]]

Qi Shu- Shu plays Li Peiru in A Beautiful Life and is known for the manic acting style that she portrays in the film. Shu's career started with humble origins as she worked her way from the adult film industry up into the mainstream Chinese acting world. Her career boasts over 70 mainstream films and she will be appearing in two American films in 2013. Shi plays the part of Li Peiru as exactly what the character needed to be played as. Through her acting he creates a character that is genuinely lovable by Fang Zhengdong and the audience alike. This convinces the audience to connect with Peiru and Zhengdong in a way that few other actresses would be able to pull off. The manic acting style, which could be considered a downfall, quickly becomes one of her greatest triumphs as the manic personality quickly becomes one of the important themes in the film (as we will explore later). (imdb.com)

[[File:LiuYe_2007_2.jpg|200px|thumb|left| Ye Liu in New York 2007 Picture by Xiao1Yao found on wikimedia commons.]]

Ye Liu- Liu's acting career boasts over 36 mainstream films. The actor gained instant recognition after he received a nomination for best supporting actor at the Chinese film awards after just his first film. Known for his good looks the actor has shied away from making the easy career choice of becoming a teenage heart throb. Instead Liu is known for choosing more difficult roles over the kind that will garner more money and attention. He was even lucky enough to work along Meryl Streep in an American film in 2007. Liu plays the character of Zhangdong perfectly as well. Through his acting he is able to create a lovable character who would have become pathetic in any other actors hands. Instead of feeling pity for his character the audience instead feels acceptance and love for the never-do-wrong cop who cant help but fall in love with his manic co-star. His Mr. Nice Guy role quickly becomes important to the overall theme of the film. (Imdb.com)

Liang Tian- Tian's career only boasts four titles, but the young actor proves to be quite formidable in A Beautiful Life. Tian plays the disabled but artistically gifted younger brother of Zhangdong. His role quickly becomes an important one in the film as the concepts and stereotypes of disabled characters quickly becomes noteworthy in the film. (imdb.com)

==Western Stereotypes in A Beautiful Life==

For a western viewer one thing becomes readily apparent in A Beautiful Life. The film begins like almost any other Romantic Comedy from America. An unsuspecting man's life is turned upside down when he meets a beautiful and impulsive woman who lives life to the fullest. These usual stereotypes become important to the western viewer as they become more complicates, inverted, and changed from what usual western stereotypes dictate. A few of the stereotypes noticeable are the Manic Pixie Dream Girl, Mr. Nice Guy, Happily Ever After and the use of disabled characters.

The Manic Pixie Dream Girl-
The character of Li Peiru serves as the manic pixie dreamgirl in this particular film. The Manic Pixie Dream Girl is a film stock character that has existed in western film almost from the beginning of Hollywood films, but was not officially named until 2005 when a film reviewer named it after watching the film Elizabethtown. Examples of this characters can be found in Garden State, Whats up Doc?, Ruby Sparks, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and (500) Days of Summer. Li Peiru initially seems to fit this stereotype which quickly changes.

Mr. Nice Guy-
Fang Zhangdong serves as Mr. Nice Guy in this film. Mr. Nice Guy is another stock character (dubbed by me) which appears in many films as well. Usually paired with Manic Pixie Dream Girls, Mr. Nice Guy characters are usually the type of men who will always do the right thing no matter what. They generally fall in love with the types of girls who don't love them back and generally settle for being friends instead of lovers to these women. Examples of this character are found in The Wedding Singer, Win a Date With Tad Hamilton, (500) Days of Summer, Blast From The Past, and many others. Zhengdong also initially fits this stereotype which quickly changes.

Happily Ever After-
The Happily Ever After stereotype is generally happens in western romance movies. The guy gets the girl, they get married, they win the lottery, they never have to worry about anything in the end, and their relationship will seemingly be perfect forever. While the film A Beautiful Life seems to work up to this for quite some time, the important thing is that after the "happily ever after" moment. The movie is only about halfway done.

Use of disabled characters-
Several disabled characters appear in A Beautiful Life. The film begins with the introduction of Zhangdong's brother and then introduces his blind girlfriend, a blind character, and eventually Zhangdong himself. These characters at first glance seem to the usual western stereotype of disabled characters. This also quickly changes.

==Commentary on Western Stereotypes==

A Beautiful Life is an important Chinese film. As preciously stated, the film boldly follows western stereotypes while simultaneously breaking them down and challenging them. This plays a very important role in the film as it breaks many stereotypes in an incredibly watchable way. While many western filmgoers may believe this movie to be a copy or ripoff of general western film tropes, I argue that it uses them to specifically create a movie that opposes western stereotypes in its storytelling.

The fist aspect of western stereotypes in the film is the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. As mentioned before Li Peiru fits this stereotype, but only at first. While she in introduced as an impulsive and loveable woman who could possibly serve solely the purpose of being Zhengdong's love interest. This stereotype is almost immediately broken down. Instead of being just some impulsive girl for the protagonist to fall in love with Peiru quickly becomes a very complex character who is haunted by her own problems with alcohol as well as a troubling affair. The Manic Pixie Dream Girl also follows one important rule, which is to be tamed by the Mr. Nice Guy and live happily ever after with him as he takes care of her for the rest of their lives. This would be true for the first half of the film, but quickly the roles are reversed as Peiru becomes one of the caretakers of poor Zhengdong. Instead of being tamed and taken care of Peiru quickly breaks out of her western stereotype and becomes a character that holds far more depth than the usual Pixie girl. This is important to the overall theme of the film as it directly opposes the stereotype that is initially seemed to set up for itself.

The second western stereotype that A Beautiful Life initially seems to set up is the Mr. Nice Guy character who is Fang Zhengdong. As mentioned before Zhangdong is a character who initially seems almost too nice to be believable. He risks his job and his home for Peiru and has spent a huge portion of his life caring for his younger disabled brother. This concept quickly becomes problematic as Zhangdongs ability to have people rely on him becomes impossible because of his failing mental state. Instead of choosing to take care of his brother and his love interest for the rest of his life, illness turns him into someone who will need care for the rest of his life. His ability to be nice to everyone is also compromised as he becomes more and more frustrated with his downhill mental state. There are key scenes in the film where the audience is able to see a darker and more mean side of Zhangdong as he becomes more and more incapable of taking care of the people in his life. This is important to the film because we see a stereotypical nice guy character become something far more complicated than most western movies would allow.

The third western stereotype we see is the happily ever after moment. Most western romance movies end on a note that tells the audience that the main characters in the film will live happily ever after. This scene seems to happen in A Beautiful Life, but the audience is privileged enough to see the lives of characters AFTER their happily every after. Instead of seeing what western filmgoers might expect, the audience sees the characters in the film go through the types of hardships that would actually occur in their situation. There is no magical cure for Zhangdongs illness or his financial state. The two main characters end up together and in love, but not everything is perfect. The film shows that although they promise their lives to one another, they still have more hard work ahead of them than any western romantic couple would ever seem to have to face. This is an important aspect of the movie because while the film sets up this situation it immediately breaks it down and changes it. In the end of the film the characters still have yet another happily ever after moment, but not before the audience witnesses the hardships they will have to face.

The fourth western stereotype we see in the film appears in the use of disabled characters. Western films generally use disabled characters as a plot device. Characters like Zhangdongs brother, his brothers deaf girlfriend, and Zhangdons blind friend, are set up to simply show how kind Zhangdong is and used simply like set pieces for the main characters to interact with. Zhangdongs brother and the deaf girl seem to fit into this western stereotype at first, that is until their own love story somehow seems to take a front seat to Zhangdongs. Their love story becomes more heartfelt and interesting than the one displayed by the main characters. Most important of these disable characters is that in western movies disable characters either find some way of being independent in movies, or find convenient help for life, usually in the form of Mr. Nice Guy. In A Beautiful Life the disabled characters actually end up as the caretakers of who would usually take care of them for the rest of their lives. A Beautiful Life once again sets up a serious western stereotype and quickly breaks it down and inverts the stereotype in on itself.
Another disable character that seems to serve some importance is the blind character. Most western films would immediately define a blink character by the fact that they were blind. In A Beautiful Life the blind character does not become noticeably blind until halfway through the film. This serves an important role in that the western stereotype is again directly opposed and introduces a blind characters by their personality and friendship to the main character instead of the simple fact that they cannot see.

Over all these types of stereotypes and more build up in the film to give a western audience an initial feeling of familiarity. The western audience who view this movie might think they have an idea of where this movie is going and the movie takes twists that westerners might not expect. This film works as foreign film that gives into western stereotypes and then immediately complicates them, inverts them, or disregards them completely. While some movies attempt to complicate western stereotypes by doing the complete opposite of what might be expected, A Beautiful chooses instead to simply alter them. The audience still gets to see a happy ending, disabled side characters, and a quirky manic dream girl. But the film immediately changes those western stereotypes to be something more than just the usual romance. This film very effectively breaks down western stereotypes while also effectively creating a pleasing cinematic experience.

==Videos==

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3AKtzrSgdI

==References==

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1934335/?ref_=sr_2

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0795517/?ref_=tt_cl_t1

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1091782/?ref_=tt_cl_t2

==Powerpoint presentation==

[[A Beautiful Life.pptx]]

A Beautiful Life

2013-04-16T04:40:49Z

Matt C: /* Actors/Characters */

==A Beautiful Life==

[[File:A_Beautiful_Life_2011_poster.jpg|200px|thumb|right| Hong Kong Movie Poster for A Beautiful Life(2011) found on official website for film.]]

A 2011 film that follows the unlikely love story of two people living in Beijing China. Directed by Andrew Lau and starring Qi Shu, Ye Liu, Liang Tian, Danying Fen, and Anthony Wang Chau-Sang. Other titles that apply to the film are Don't Be Lonely, I Will Never Let You Be Lonely Again, and Mei LI Ren Sheng.

==Plot Synopsis==

One seemingly normal night in Hong Kong at a karaoke bar quickly becomes the starting point for an unexplected and amazing love story between Feng Zhengdong and Li Peiru. After spending the night with some soon-to-be wed friends Fang Zhendong leaves early only to be puked on by Li Peiru and unwittingly becomes selected to carry her home. Fang Zhengdong, thinking their interaction will stop there, begins to unexpectedly meet the impulsive and fun woman man places throughout his life. The two become unlikely friends as Fang Zhengdong becomes increasingly infatuated with the manic woman he has befriended. Li Peiru on the other hand, seems to be too caught up with her own sexual affair with her married boss to notice.

After running into Zhengdong at the story Peiru manages to take his groceries to make dumplings for her married boss. Peiru fails to properly cook the dumplings and convinces Shengdong to come to her apartment to help her. After Peiru's boss arrives she convinces him that Zhengdong is just a hired cook. Peiru's affair ends shortly thereafter since he begins sleeping with another of Peiru's co-workers.

Meanwhile, Zhendong struggles to keep his disabled brother afloat. Zhendong's brother, a talented artist, dresses up as a lion and hands out flyers on the street. Unbeknownst to Zangdong his own brother has fallen in love with a pretty deaf girl who works near him. The two fall in love and eventually asks to be married to Zhangdong.

Peiru and Zhangdongs relationship becomes more complicated as Peiru becomes increasingly manic and confused in her own life. Eventually she is fired from her job and becomes completely broke. Zhangdong chooses to selflessly sell his own home to provide her the money to start her own expensive business. The business quickly fails and Peiru returns to Hong Kong to live with her family.

Shortly before Zhangdong's brothers wedding things begin to go awry for the now broke police officer. As a result of a previous job related accident Fang Zhengdong's mental abilities begin to fail. He begins to forget things a little too easily and his constant reminder notes are not even enough to keep his memory on track. He then loses his job as a result of using a police vehicle to run shady errands for Peiru. He is fired from his job and left in the care of his disabled brother.

Peiru lives in Hong Kong for a short time and begins to reflect on the selfless care and love that Zhendong has shown her. She discovers a note Zhengdong left her that said "I will never let you feel lonely again." The note inspires her to track him down and express to him that she now loves him back. With hard work she finds him and tells him that she is in love with him. Zhengdong tries to get her to leave and instead the two agree to be together and work through his failing mental state together.

The two soon become married as well as pregnant despite Zhengdong's dementia-like state. The lives of these two unlikely lovers becomes more and more tumultuous as Zhangdong becomes more and more incapable living in the world around him. The two work through hard times as they attempt to work through his situation. One day, when Zhangdong chooses to go on a short morning walk, he witnesses a young man robbing a house. After Zhangdongs police instinct kick in, he begins to chase the young man. After an intense chase the young man hits Zhangdong in the head with a brick. He ends up in a coma in the hospital and Peiru refuses to leave his side. She does not eat or sleep for three days and collapses just as Zhangdong's heart unexpectedly stops. Peiru wakes up shortly after to find Zhangdong alive and well next to her. He apologizes for worrying her and the two, despite the hard work required, live happily ever after.

==Director==
Andrew Lau began his career as a cinematographer, but quickly moved into directing as well. After becoming sick of dealing with directors who brushed off poor shots, Lau decided that he wanted to have the control needed to create compelling films and also featured the cinematography that he knew they deserved. Lau has directed over forty two films, including the Infernal Affairs Trilogy which becomes some of the highest grossing films of all time in China and also won an array of awards for the films. He frequently works alongside Alan Mak and the two have worked on carious films together. He also has directed films across an array of genres and chooses not to become stuck in one specific genre.

==Actors/Characters==

[[File:Shi_Qu_Cannes_2009.jpg|200px|thumb|right| Qi Shu at Cannes Film Festival 2009, found on wikimedia commons.]]

Qi Shu- Shu plays Li Peiru in A Beautiful Life and is known for the manic acting style that she portrays in the film. Shu's career started with humble origins as she worked her way from the adult film industry up into the mainstream Chinese acting world. Her career boasts over 70 mainstream films and she will be appearing in two American films in 2013. Shi plays the part of Li Peiru as exactly what the character needed to be played as. Through her acting he creates a character that is genuinely lovable by Fang Zhengdong and the audience alike. This convinces the audience to connect with Peiru and Zhengdong in a way that few other actresses would be able to pull off. The manic acting style, which could be considered a downfall, quickly becomes one of her greatest triumphs as the manic personality quickly becomes one of the important themes in the film (as we will explore later). (imdb.com)

[[File:LiuYe_2007_2.jpg|200px|thumb|left| Ye Liu in New York 2007 Picture by Xiao1Yao found on wikimedia commons.]]

Ye Liu- Liu's acting career boasts over 36 mainstream films. The actor gained instant recognition after he received a nomination for best supporting actor at the Chinese film awards after just his first film. Known for his good looks the actor has shied away from making the easy career choice of becoming a teenage heart throb. Instead Liu is known for choosing more difficult roles over the kind that will garner more money and attention. He was even lucky enough to work along Meryl Streep in an American film in 2007. Liu plays the character of Zhangdong perfectly as well. Through his acting he is able to create a lovable character who would have become pathetic in any other actors hands. Instead of feeling pity for his character the audience instead feels acceptance and love for the never-do-wrong cop who cant help but fall in love with his manic co-star. His Mr. Nice Guy role quickly becomes important to the overall theme of the film. (Imdb.com)

Liang Tian- Tian's career only boasts four titles, but the young actor proves to be quite formidable in A Beautiful Life. Tian plays the disabled but artistically gifted younger brother of Zhangdong. His role quickly becomes an important one in the film as the concepts and stereotypes of disabled characters quickly becomes noteworthy in the film. (imdb.com)

==Western Stereotypes in A Beautiful Life==

For a western viewer one thing becomes readily apparent in A Beautiful Life. The film begins like almost any other Romantic Comedy from America. An unsuspecting man's life is turned upside down when he meets a beautiful and impulsive woman who lives life to the fullest. These usual stereotypes become important to the western viewer as they become more complicates, inverted, and changed from what usual western stereotypes dictate. A few of the stereotypes noticeable are the Manic Pixie Dream Girl, Mr. Nice Guy, Happily Ever After and the use of disabled characters.

The Manic Pixie Dream Girl-
The character of Li Peiru serves as the manic pixie dreamgirl in this particular film. The Manic Pixie Dream Girl is a film stock character that has existed in western film almost from the beginning of Hollywood films, but was not officially named until 2005 when a film reviewer named it after watching the film Elizabethtown. Examples of this characters can be found in Garden State, Whats up Doc?, Ruby Sparks, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and (500) Days of Summer. Li Peiru initially seems to fit this stereotype which quickly changes.

Mr. Nice Guy-
Fang Zhangdong serves as Mr. Nice Guy in this film. Mr. Nice Guy is another stock character (dubbed by me) which appears in many films as well. Usually paired with Manic Pixie Dream Girls, Mr. Nice Guy characters are usually the type of men who will always do the right thing no matter what. They generally fall in love with the types of girls who don't love them back and generally settle for being friends instead of lovers to these women. Examples of this character are found in The Wedding Singer, Win a Date With Tad Hamilton, (500) Days of Summer, Blast From The Past, and many others. Zhengdong also initially fits this stereotype which quickly changes.

Happily Ever After-
The Happily Ever After stereotype is generally happens in western romance movies. The guy gets the girl, they get married, they win the lottery, they never have to worry about anything in the end, and their relationship will seemingly be perfect forever. While the film A Beautiful Life seems to work up to this for quite some time, the important thing is that after the "happily ever after" moment. The movie is only about halfway done.

Use of disabled characters-
Several disabled characters appear in A Beautiful Life. The film begins with the introduction of Zhangdong's brother and then introduces his blind girlfriend, a blind character, and eventually Zhangdong himself. These characters at first glance seem to the usual western stereotype of disabled characters. This also quickly changes.

==Commentary on Western Stereotypes==

A Beautiful Life is an important Chinese film. As preciously stated, the film boldly follows western stereotypes while simultaneously breaking them down and challenging them. This plays a very important role in the film as it breaks many stereotypes in an incredibly watchable way. While many western filmgoers may believe this movie to be a copy or ripoff of general western film tropes, I argue that it uses them to specifically create a movie that opposes western stereotypes in its storytelling.

The fist aspect of western stereotypes in the film is the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. As mentioned before Li Peiru fits this stereotype, but only at first. While she in introduced as an impulsive and loveable woman who could possibly serve solely the purpose of being Zhengdong's love interest. This stereotype is almost immediately broken down. Instead of being just some impulsive girl for the protagonist to fall in love with Peiru quickly becomes a very complex character who is haunted by her own problems with alcohol as well as a troubling affair. The Manic Pixie Dream Girl also follows one important rule, which is to be tamed by the Mr. Nice Guy and live happily ever after with him as he takes care of her for the rest of their lives. This would be true for the first half of the film, but quickly the roles are reversed as Peiru becomes one of the caretakers of poor Zhengdong. Instead of being tamed and taken care of Peiru quickly breaks out of her western stereotype and becomes a character that holds far more depth than the usual Pixie girl. This is important to the overall theme of the film as it directly opposes the stereotype that is initially seemed to set up for itself.

The second western stereotype that A Beautiful Life initially seems to set up is the Mr. Nice Guy character who is Fang Zhengdong. As mentioned before Zhangdong is a character who initially seems almost too nice to be believable. He risks his job and his home for Peiru and has spent a huge portion of his life caring for his younger disabled brother. This concept quickly becomes problematic as Zhangdongs ability to have people rely on him becomes impossible because of his failing mental state. Instead of choosing to take care of his brother and his love interest for the rest of his life, illness turns him into someone who will need care for the rest of his life. His ability to be nice to everyone is also compromised as he becomes more and more frustrated with his downhill mental state. There are key scenes in the film where the audience is able to see a darker and more mean side of Zhangdong as he becomes more and more incapable of taking care of the people in his life. This is important to the film because we see a stereotypical nice guy character become something far more complicated than most western movies would allow.

The third western stereotype we see is the happily ever after moment. Most western romance movies end on a note that tells the audience that the main characters in the film will live happily ever after. This scene seems to happen in A Beautiful Life, but the audience is privileged enough to see the lives of characters AFTER their happily every after. Instead of seeing what western filmgoers might expect, the audience sees the characters in the film go through the types of hardships that would actually occur in their situation. There is no magical cure for Zhangdongs illness or his financial state. The two main characters end up together and in love, but not everything is perfect. The film shows that although they promise their lives to one another, they still have more hard work ahead of them than any western romantic couple would ever seem to have to face. This is an important aspect of the movie because while the film sets up this situation it immediately breaks it down and changes it. In the end of the film the characters still have yet another happily ever after moment, but not before the audience witnesses the hardships they will have to face.

The fourth western stereotype we see in the film appears in the use of disabled characters. Western films generally use disabled characters as a plot device. Characters like Zhangdongs brother, his brothers deaf girlfriend, and Zhangdons blind friend, are set up to simply show how kind Zhangdong is and used simply like set pieces for the main characters to interact with. Zhangdongs brother and the deaf girl seem to fit into this western stereotype at first, that is until their own love story somehow seems to take a front seat to Zhangdongs. Their love story becomes more heartfelt and interesting than the one displayed by the main characters. Most important of these disable characters is that in western movies disable characters either find some way of being independent in movies, or find convenient help for life, usually in the form of Mr. Nice Guy. In A Beautiful Life the disabled characters actually end up as the caretakers of who would usually take care of them for the rest of their lives. A Beautiful Life once again sets up a serious western stereotype and quickly breaks it down and inverts the stereotype in on itself.
Another disable character that seems to serve some importance is the blind character. Most western films would immediately define a blink character by the fact that they were blind. In A Beautiful Life the blind character does not become noticeably blind until halfway through the film. This serves an important role in that the western stereotype is again directly opposed and introduces a blind characters by their personality and friendship to the main character instead of the simple fact that they cannot see.

Over all these types of stereotypes and more build up in the film to give a western audience an initial feeling of familiarity. The western audience who view this movie might think they have an idea of where this movie is going and the movie takes twists that westerners might not expect. This film works as foreign film that gives into western stereotypes and then immediately complicates them, inverts them, or disregards them completely. While some movies attempt to complicate western stereotypes by doing the complete opposite of what might be expected, A Beautiful chooses instead to simply alter them. The audience still gets to see a happy ending, disabled side characters, and a quirky manic dream girl. But the film immediately changes those western stereotypes to be something more than just the usual romance. This film very effectively breaks down western stereotypes while also effectively creating a pleasing cinematic experience.

==Videos==

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3AKtzrSgdI

==References==

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1934335/?ref_=sr_2

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0795517/?ref_=tt_cl_t1

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1091782/?ref_=tt_cl_t2

==Powerpoint presentation==

[[A Beautiful Life.pptx]]

A Beautiful Life

2013-04-16T04:40:04Z

Matt C: /* Actors/Characters */

==A Beautiful Life==

[[File:A_Beautiful_Life_2011_poster.jpg|200px|thumb|right| Hong Kong Movie Poster for A Beautiful Life(2011) found on official website for film.]]

A 2011 film that follows the unlikely love story of two people living in Beijing China. Directed by Andrew Lau and starring Qi Shu, Ye Liu, Liang Tian, Danying Fen, and Anthony Wang Chau-Sang. Other titles that apply to the film are Don't Be Lonely, I Will Never Let You Be Lonely Again, and Mei LI Ren Sheng.

==Plot Synopsis==

One seemingly normal night in Hong Kong at a karaoke bar quickly becomes the starting point for an unexplected and amazing love story between Feng Zhengdong and Li Peiru. After spending the night with some soon-to-be wed friends Fang Zhendong leaves early only to be puked on by Li Peiru and unwittingly becomes selected to carry her home. Fang Zhengdong, thinking their interaction will stop there, begins to unexpectedly meet the impulsive and fun woman man places throughout his life. The two become unlikely friends as Fang Zhengdong becomes increasingly infatuated with the manic woman he has befriended. Li Peiru on the other hand, seems to be too caught up with her own sexual affair with her married boss to notice.

After running into Zhengdong at the story Peiru manages to take his groceries to make dumplings for her married boss. Peiru fails to properly cook the dumplings and convinces Shengdong to come to her apartment to help her. After Peiru's boss arrives she convinces him that Zhengdong is just a hired cook. Peiru's affair ends shortly thereafter since he begins sleeping with another of Peiru's co-workers.

Meanwhile, Zhendong struggles to keep his disabled brother afloat. Zhendong's brother, a talented artist, dresses up as a lion and hands out flyers on the street. Unbeknownst to Zangdong his own brother has fallen in love with a pretty deaf girl who works near him. The two fall in love and eventually asks to be married to Zhangdong.

Peiru and Zhangdongs relationship becomes more complicated as Peiru becomes increasingly manic and confused in her own life. Eventually she is fired from her job and becomes completely broke. Zhangdong chooses to selflessly sell his own home to provide her the money to start her own expensive business. The business quickly fails and Peiru returns to Hong Kong to live with her family.

Shortly before Zhangdong's brothers wedding things begin to go awry for the now broke police officer. As a result of a previous job related accident Fang Zhengdong's mental abilities begin to fail. He begins to forget things a little too easily and his constant reminder notes are not even enough to keep his memory on track. He then loses his job as a result of using a police vehicle to run shady errands for Peiru. He is fired from his job and left in the care of his disabled brother.

Peiru lives in Hong Kong for a short time and begins to reflect on the selfless care and love that Zhendong has shown her. She discovers a note Zhengdong left her that said "I will never let you feel lonely again." The note inspires her to track him down and express to him that she now loves him back. With hard work she finds him and tells him that she is in love with him. Zhengdong tries to get her to leave and instead the two agree to be together and work through his failing mental state together.

The two soon become married as well as pregnant despite Zhengdong's dementia-like state. The lives of these two unlikely lovers becomes more and more tumultuous as Zhangdong becomes more and more incapable living in the world around him. The two work through hard times as they attempt to work through his situation. One day, when Zhangdong chooses to go on a short morning walk, he witnesses a young man robbing a house. After Zhangdongs police instinct kick in, he begins to chase the young man. After an intense chase the young man hits Zhangdong in the head with a brick. He ends up in a coma in the hospital and Peiru refuses to leave his side. She does not eat or sleep for three days and collapses just as Zhangdong's heart unexpectedly stops. Peiru wakes up shortly after to find Zhangdong alive and well next to her. He apologizes for worrying her and the two, despite the hard work required, live happily ever after.

==Director==
Andrew Lau began his career as a cinematographer, but quickly moved into directing as well. After becoming sick of dealing with directors who brushed off poor shots, Lau decided that he wanted to have the control needed to create compelling films and also featured the cinematography that he knew they deserved. Lau has directed over forty two films, including the Infernal Affairs Trilogy which becomes some of the highest grossing films of all time in China and also won an array of awards for the films. He frequently works alongside Alan Mak and the two have worked on carious films together. He also has directed films across an array of genres and chooses not to become stuck in one specific genre.

==Actors/Characters==

[[File:Shi_Qu_Cannes_2009.jpg|200px|thumb|right| Qi Shu at Cannes Film Festival 2009, found on wikimedia commons.]]

Qi Shu- Shu plays Li Peiru in A Beautiful Life and is known for the manic acting style that she portrays in the film. Shu's career started with humble origins as she worked her way from the adult film industry up into the mainstream Chinese acting world. Her career boasts over 70 mainstream films and she will be appearing in two American films in 2013. Shi plays the part of Li Peiru as exactly what the character needed to be played as. Through her acting he creates a character that is genuinely lovable by Fang Zhengdong and the audience alike. This convinces the audience to connect with Peiru and Zhengdong in a way that few other actresses would be able to pull off. The manic acting style, which could be considered a downfall, quickly becomes one of her greatest triumphs as the manic personality quickly becomes one of the important themes in the film (as we will explore later.)

[[File:LiuYe_2007_2.jpg|200px|thumb|left| Ye Liu in New York 2007 Picture by Xiao1Yao found on wikimedia commons.]]

Ye Liu- Liu's acting career boasts over 36 mainstream films. The actor gained instant recognition after he received a nomination for best supporting actor at the Chinese film awards after just his first film. Known for his good looks the actor has shied away from making the easy career choice of becoming a teenage heart throb. Instead Liu is known for choosing more difficult roles over the kind that will garner more money and attention. He was even lucky enough to work along Meryl Streep in an American film in 2007. Liu plays the character of Zhangdong perfectly as well. Through his acting he is able to create a lovable character who would have become pathetic in any other actors hands. Instead of feeling pity for his character the audience instead feels acceptance and love for the never-do-wrong cop who cant help but fall in love with his manic co-star. His Mr. Nice Guy role quickly becomes important to the overall theme of the film.

Liang Tian- Tian's career only boasts four titles, but the young actor proves to be quite formidable in A Beautiful Life. Tian plays the disabled but artistically gifted younger brother of Zhangdong. His role quickly becomes an important one in the film as the concepts and stereotypes of disabled characters quickly becomes noteworthy in the film.

==Western Stereotypes in A Beautiful Life==

For a western viewer one thing becomes readily apparent in A Beautiful Life. The film begins like almost any other Romantic Comedy from America. An unsuspecting man's life is turned upside down when he meets a beautiful and impulsive woman who lives life to the fullest. These usual stereotypes become important to the western viewer as they become more complicates, inverted, and changed from what usual western stereotypes dictate. A few of the stereotypes noticeable are the Manic Pixie Dream Girl, Mr. Nice Guy, Happily Ever After and the use of disabled characters.

The Manic Pixie Dream Girl-
The character of Li Peiru serves as the manic pixie dreamgirl in this particular film. The Manic Pixie Dream Girl is a film stock character that has existed in western film almost from the beginning of Hollywood films, but was not officially named until 2005 when a film reviewer named it after watching the film Elizabethtown. Examples of this characters can be found in Garden State, Whats up Doc?, Ruby Sparks, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and (500) Days of Summer. Li Peiru initially seems to fit this stereotype which quickly changes.

Mr. Nice Guy-
Fang Zhangdong serves as Mr. Nice Guy in this film. Mr. Nice Guy is another stock character (dubbed by me) which appears in many films as well. Usually paired with Manic Pixie Dream Girls, Mr. Nice Guy characters are usually the type of men who will always do the right thing no matter what. They generally fall in love with the types of girls who don't love them back and generally settle for being friends instead of lovers to these women. Examples of this character are found in The Wedding Singer, Win a Date With Tad Hamilton, (500) Days of Summer, Blast From The Past, and many others. Zhengdong also initially fits this stereotype which quickly changes.

Happily Ever After-
The Happily Ever After stereotype is generally happens in western romance movies. The guy gets the girl, they get married, they win the lottery, they never have to worry about anything in the end, and their relationship will seemingly be perfect forever. While the film A Beautiful Life seems to work up to this for quite some time, the important thing is that after the "happily ever after" moment. The movie is only about halfway done.

Use of disabled characters-
Several disabled characters appear in A Beautiful Life. The film begins with the introduction of Zhangdong's brother and then introduces his blind girlfriend, a blind character, and eventually Zhangdong himself. These characters at first glance seem to the usual western stereotype of disabled characters. This also quickly changes.

==Commentary on Western Stereotypes==

A Beautiful Life is an important Chinese film. As preciously stated, the film boldly follows western stereotypes while simultaneously breaking them down and challenging them. This plays a very important role in the film as it breaks many stereotypes in an incredibly watchable way. While many western filmgoers may believe this movie to be a copy or ripoff of general western film tropes, I argue that it uses them to specifically create a movie that opposes western stereotypes in its storytelling.

The fist aspect of western stereotypes in the film is the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. As mentioned before Li Peiru fits this stereotype, but only at first. While she in introduced as an impulsive and loveable woman who could possibly serve solely the purpose of being Zhengdong's love interest. This stereotype is almost immediately broken down. Instead of being just some impulsive girl for the protagonist to fall in love with Peiru quickly becomes a very complex character who is haunted by her own problems with alcohol as well as a troubling affair. The Manic Pixie Dream Girl also follows one important rule, which is to be tamed by the Mr. Nice Guy and live happily ever after with him as he takes care of her for the rest of their lives. This would be true for the first half of the film, but quickly the roles are reversed as Peiru becomes one of the caretakers of poor Zhengdong. Instead of being tamed and taken care of Peiru quickly breaks out of her western stereotype and becomes a character that holds far more depth than the usual Pixie girl. This is important to the overall theme of the film as it directly opposes the stereotype that is initially seemed to set up for itself.

The second western stereotype that A Beautiful Life initially seems to set up is the Mr. Nice Guy character who is Fang Zhengdong. As mentioned before Zhangdong is a character who initially seems almost too nice to be believable. He risks his job and his home for Peiru and has spent a huge portion of his life caring for his younger disabled brother. This concept quickly becomes problematic as Zhangdongs ability to have people rely on him becomes impossible because of his failing mental state. Instead of choosing to take care of his brother and his love interest for the rest of his life, illness turns him into someone who will need care for the rest of his life. His ability to be nice to everyone is also compromised as he becomes more and more frustrated with his downhill mental state. There are key scenes in the film where the audience is able to see a darker and more mean side of Zhangdong as he becomes more and more incapable of taking care of the people in his life. This is important to the film because we see a stereotypical nice guy character become something far more complicated than most western movies would allow.

The third western stereotype we see is the happily ever after moment. Most western romance movies end on a note that tells the audience that the main characters in the film will live happily ever after. This scene seems to happen in A Beautiful Life, but the audience is privileged enough to see the lives of characters AFTER their happily every after. Instead of seeing what western filmgoers might expect, the audience sees the characters in the film go through the types of hardships that would actually occur in their situation. There is no magical cure for Zhangdongs illness or his financial state. The two main characters end up together and in love, but not everything is perfect. The film shows that although they promise their lives to one another, they still have more hard work ahead of them than any western romantic couple would ever seem to have to face. This is an important aspect of the movie because while the film sets up this situation it immediately breaks it down and changes it. In the end of the film the characters still have yet another happily ever after moment, but not before the audience witnesses the hardships they will have to face.

The fourth western stereotype we see in the film appears in the use of disabled characters. Western films generally use disabled characters as a plot device. Characters like Zhangdongs brother, his brothers deaf girlfriend, and Zhangdons blind friend, are set up to simply show how kind Zhangdong is and used simply like set pieces for the main characters to interact with. Zhangdongs brother and the deaf girl seem to fit into this western stereotype at first, that is until their own love story somehow seems to take a front seat to Zhangdongs. Their love story becomes more heartfelt and interesting than the one displayed by the main characters. Most important of these disable characters is that in western movies disable characters either find some way of being independent in movies, or find convenient help for life, usually in the form of Mr. Nice Guy. In A Beautiful Life the disabled characters actually end up as the caretakers of who would usually take care of them for the rest of their lives. A Beautiful Life once again sets up a serious western stereotype and quickly breaks it down and inverts the stereotype in on itself.
Another disable character that seems to serve some importance is the blind character. Most western films would immediately define a blink character by the fact that they were blind. In A Beautiful Life the blind character does not become noticeably blind until halfway through the film. This serves an important role in that the western stereotype is again directly opposed and introduces a blind characters by their personality and friendship to the main character instead of the simple fact that they cannot see.

Over all these types of stereotypes and more build up in the film to give a western audience an initial feeling of familiarity. The western audience who view this movie might think they have an idea of where this movie is going and the movie takes twists that westerners might not expect. This film works as foreign film that gives into western stereotypes and then immediately complicates them, inverts them, or disregards them completely. While some movies attempt to complicate western stereotypes by doing the complete opposite of what might be expected, A Beautiful chooses instead to simply alter them. The audience still gets to see a happy ending, disabled side characters, and a quirky manic dream girl. But the film immediately changes those western stereotypes to be something more than just the usual romance. This film very effectively breaks down western stereotypes while also effectively creating a pleasing cinematic experience.

==Videos==

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3AKtzrSgdI

==References==

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1934335/?ref_=sr_2

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0795517/?ref_=tt_cl_t1

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1091782/?ref_=tt_cl_t2

==Powerpoint presentation==

[[A Beautiful Life.pptx]]

A Beautiful Life

2013-04-16T04:36:45Z

Matt C: /* A Beautiful Life */

==A Beautiful Life==

[[File:A_Beautiful_Life_2011_poster.jpg|200px|thumb|right| Hong Kong Movie Poster for A Beautiful Life(2011) found on official website for film.]]

A 2011 film that follows the unlikely love story of two people living in Beijing China. Directed by Andrew Lau and starring Qi Shu, Ye Liu, Liang Tian, Danying Fen, and Anthony Wang Chau-Sang. Other titles that apply to the film are Don't Be Lonely, I Will Never Let You Be Lonely Again, and Mei LI Ren Sheng.

==Plot Synopsis==

One seemingly normal night in Hong Kong at a karaoke bar quickly becomes the starting point for an unexplected and amazing love story between Feng Zhengdong and Li Peiru. After spending the night with some soon-to-be wed friends Fang Zhendong leaves early only to be puked on by Li Peiru and unwittingly becomes selected to carry her home. Fang Zhengdong, thinking their interaction will stop there, begins to unexpectedly meet the impulsive and fun woman man places throughout his life. The two become unlikely friends as Fang Zhengdong becomes increasingly infatuated with the manic woman he has befriended. Li Peiru on the other hand, seems to be too caught up with her own sexual affair with her married boss to notice.

After running into Zhengdong at the story Peiru manages to take his groceries to make dumplings for her married boss. Peiru fails to properly cook the dumplings and convinces Shengdong to come to her apartment to help her. After Peiru's boss arrives she convinces him that Zhengdong is just a hired cook. Peiru's affair ends shortly thereafter since he begins sleeping with another of Peiru's co-workers.

Meanwhile, Zhendong struggles to keep his disabled brother afloat. Zhendong's brother, a talented artist, dresses up as a lion and hands out flyers on the street. Unbeknownst to Zangdong his own brother has fallen in love with a pretty deaf girl who works near him. The two fall in love and eventually asks to be married to Zhangdong.

Peiru and Zhangdongs relationship becomes more complicated as Peiru becomes increasingly manic and confused in her own life. Eventually she is fired from her job and becomes completely broke. Zhangdong chooses to selflessly sell his own home to provide her the money to start her own expensive business. The business quickly fails and Peiru returns to Hong Kong to live with her family.

Shortly before Zhangdong's brothers wedding things begin to go awry for the now broke police officer. As a result of a previous job related accident Fang Zhengdong's mental abilities begin to fail. He begins to forget things a little too easily and his constant reminder notes are not even enough to keep his memory on track. He then loses his job as a result of using a police vehicle to run shady errands for Peiru. He is fired from his job and left in the care of his disabled brother.

Peiru lives in Hong Kong for a short time and begins to reflect on the selfless care and love that Zhendong has shown her. She discovers a note Zhengdong left her that said "I will never let you feel lonely again." The note inspires her to track him down and express to him that she now loves him back. With hard work she finds him and tells him that she is in love with him. Zhengdong tries to get her to leave and instead the two agree to be together and work through his failing mental state together.

The two soon become married as well as pregnant despite Zhengdong's dementia-like state. The lives of these two unlikely lovers becomes more and more tumultuous as Zhangdong becomes more and more incapable living in the world around him. The two work through hard times as they attempt to work through his situation. One day, when Zhangdong chooses to go on a short morning walk, he witnesses a young man robbing a house. After Zhangdongs police instinct kick in, he begins to chase the young man. After an intense chase the young man hits Zhangdong in the head with a brick. He ends up in a coma in the hospital and Peiru refuses to leave his side. She does not eat or sleep for three days and collapses just as Zhangdong's heart unexpectedly stops. Peiru wakes up shortly after to find Zhangdong alive and well next to her. He apologizes for worrying her and the two, despite the hard work required, live happily ever after.

==Director==
Andrew Lau began his career as a cinematographer, but quickly moved into directing as well. After becoming sick of dealing with directors who brushed off poor shots, Lau decided that he wanted to have the control needed to create compelling films and also featured the cinematography that he knew they deserved. Lau has directed over forty two films, including the Infernal Affairs Trilogy which becomes some of the highest grossing films of all time in China and also won an array of awards for the films. He frequently works alongside Alan Mak and the two have worked on carious films together. He also has directed films across an array of genres and chooses not to become stuck in one specific genre.

==Actors/Characters==

[[File:Shi_Qu_Cannes_2009.jpg|200px|thumb|right| Qu Shi at Cannes Film Festival 2009 .]]

Qi Shu- Shu plays Li Peiru in A Beautiful Life and is known for the manic acting style that she portrays in the film. Shu's career started with humble origins as she worked her way from the adult film industry up into the mainstream Chinese acting world. Her career boasts over 70 mainstream films and she will be appearing in two American films in 2013. Shi plays the part of Li Peiru as exactly what the character needed to be played as. Through her acting he creates a character that is genuinely lovable by Fang Zhengdong and the audience alike. This convinces the audience to connect with Peiru and Zhengdong in a way that few other actresses would be able to pull off. The manic acting style, which could be considered a downfall, quickly becomes one of her greatest triumphs as the manic personality quickly becomes one of the important themes in the film (as we will explore later.)

[[File:LiuYe_2007_2.jpg|200px|thumb|left| Ye Liu in New York 2007 Picture by Xiao1Yao.]]

Ye Liu- Liu's acting career boasts over 36 mainstream films. The actor gained instant recognition after he received a nomination for best supporting actor at the Chinese film awards after just his first film. Known for his good looks the actor has shied away from making the easy career choice of becoming a teenage heart throb. Instead Liu is known for choosing more difficult roles over the kind that will garner more money and attention. He was even lucky enough to work along Meryl Streep in an American film in 2007. Liu plays the character of Zhangdong perfectly as well. Through his acting he is able to create a lovable character who would have become pathetic in any other actors hands. Instead of feeling pity for his character the audience instead feels acceptance and love for the never-do-wrong cop who cant help but fall in love with his manic co-star. His Mr. Nice Guy role quickly becomes important to the overall theme of the film.

Liang Tian- Tian's career only boasts four titles, but the young actor proves to be quite formidable in A Beautiful Life. Tian plays the disabled but artistically gifted younger brother of Zhangdong. His role quickly becomes an important one in the film as the concepts and stereotypes of disabled characters quickly becomes noteworthy in the film.

==Western Stereotypes in A Beautiful Life==

For a western viewer one thing becomes readily apparent in A Beautiful Life. The film begins like almost any other Romantic Comedy from America. An unsuspecting man's life is turned upside down when he meets a beautiful and impulsive woman who lives life to the fullest. These usual stereotypes become important to the western viewer as they become more complicates, inverted, and changed from what usual western stereotypes dictate. A few of the stereotypes noticeable are the Manic Pixie Dream Girl, Mr. Nice Guy, Happily Ever After and the use of disabled characters.

The Manic Pixie Dream Girl-
The character of Li Peiru serves as the manic pixie dreamgirl in this particular film. The Manic Pixie Dream Girl is a film stock character that has existed in western film almost from the beginning of Hollywood films, but was not officially named until 2005 when a film reviewer named it after watching the film Elizabethtown. Examples of this characters can be found in Garden State, Whats up Doc?, Ruby Sparks, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and (500) Days of Summer. Li Peiru initially seems to fit this stereotype which quickly changes.

Mr. Nice Guy-
Fang Zhangdong serves as Mr. Nice Guy in this film. Mr. Nice Guy is another stock character (dubbed by me) which appears in many films as well. Usually paired with Manic Pixie Dream Girls, Mr. Nice Guy characters are usually the type of men who will always do the right thing no matter what. They generally fall in love with the types of girls who don't love them back and generally settle for being friends instead of lovers to these women. Examples of this character are found in The Wedding Singer, Win a Date With Tad Hamilton, (500) Days of Summer, Blast From The Past, and many others. Zhengdong also initially fits this stereotype which quickly changes.

Happily Ever After-
The Happily Ever After stereotype is generally happens in western romance movies. The guy gets the girl, they get married, they win the lottery, they never have to worry about anything in the end, and their relationship will seemingly be perfect forever. While the film A Beautiful Life seems to work up to this for quite some time, the important thing is that after the "happily ever after" moment. The movie is only about halfway done.

Use of disabled characters-
Several disabled characters appear in A Beautiful Life. The film begins with the introduction of Zhangdong's brother and then introduces his blind girlfriend, a blind character, and eventually Zhangdong himself. These characters at first glance seem to the usual western stereotype of disabled characters. This also quickly changes.

==Commentary on Western Stereotypes==

A Beautiful Life is an important Chinese film. As preciously stated, the film boldly follows western stereotypes while simultaneously breaking them down and challenging them. This plays a very important role in the film as it breaks many stereotypes in an incredibly watchable way. While many western filmgoers may believe this movie to be a copy or ripoff of general western film tropes, I argue that it uses them to specifically create a movie that opposes western stereotypes in its storytelling.

The fist aspect of western stereotypes in the film is the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. As mentioned before Li Peiru fits this stereotype, but only at first. While she in introduced as an impulsive and loveable woman who could possibly serve solely the purpose of being Zhengdong's love interest. This stereotype is almost immediately broken down. Instead of being just some impulsive girl for the protagonist to fall in love with Peiru quickly becomes a very complex character who is haunted by her own problems with alcohol as well as a troubling affair. The Manic Pixie Dream Girl also follows one important rule, which is to be tamed by the Mr. Nice Guy and live happily ever after with him as he takes care of her for the rest of their lives. This would be true for the first half of the film, but quickly the roles are reversed as Peiru becomes one of the caretakers of poor Zhengdong. Instead of being tamed and taken care of Peiru quickly breaks out of her western stereotype and becomes a character that holds far more depth than the usual Pixie girl. This is important to the overall theme of the film as it directly opposes the stereotype that is initially seemed to set up for itself.

The second western stereotype that A Beautiful Life initially seems to set up is the Mr. Nice Guy character who is Fang Zhengdong. As mentioned before Zhangdong is a character who initially seems almost too nice to be believable. He risks his job and his home for Peiru and has spent a huge portion of his life caring for his younger disabled brother. This concept quickly becomes problematic as Zhangdongs ability to have people rely on him becomes impossible because of his failing mental state. Instead of choosing to take care of his brother and his love interest for the rest of his life, illness turns him into someone who will need care for the rest of his life. His ability to be nice to everyone is also compromised as he becomes more and more frustrated with his downhill mental state. There are key scenes in the film where the audience is able to see a darker and more mean side of Zhangdong as he becomes more and more incapable of taking care of the people in his life. This is important to the film because we see a stereotypical nice guy character become something far more complicated than most western movies would allow.

The third western stereotype we see is the happily ever after moment. Most western romance movies end on a note that tells the audience that the main characters in the film will live happily ever after. This scene seems to happen in A Beautiful Life, but the audience is privileged enough to see the lives of characters AFTER their happily every after. Instead of seeing what western filmgoers might expect, the audience sees the characters in the film go through the types of hardships that would actually occur in their situation. There is no magical cure for Zhangdongs illness or his financial state. The two main characters end up together and in love, but not everything is perfect. The film shows that although they promise their lives to one another, they still have more hard work ahead of them than any western romantic couple would ever seem to have to face. This is an important aspect of the movie because while the film sets up this situation it immediately breaks it down and changes it. In the end of the film the characters still have yet another happily ever after moment, but not before the audience witnesses the hardships they will have to face.

The fourth western stereotype we see in the film appears in the use of disabled characters. Western films generally use disabled characters as a plot device. Characters like Zhangdongs brother, his brothers deaf girlfriend, and Zhangdons blind friend, are set up to simply show how kind Zhangdong is and used simply like set pieces for the main characters to interact with. Zhangdongs brother and the deaf girl seem to fit into this western stereotype at first, that is until their own love story somehow seems to take a front seat to Zhangdongs. Their love story becomes more heartfelt and interesting than the one displayed by the main characters. Most important of these disable characters is that in western movies disable characters either find some way of being independent in movies, or find convenient help for life, usually in the form of Mr. Nice Guy. In A Beautiful Life the disabled characters actually end up as the caretakers of who would usually take care of them for the rest of their lives. A Beautiful Life once again sets up a serious western stereotype and quickly breaks it down and inverts the stereotype in on itself.
Another disable character that seems to serve some importance is the blind character. Most western films would immediately define a blink character by the fact that they were blind. In A Beautiful Life the blind character does not become noticeably blind until halfway through the film. This serves an important role in that the western stereotype is again directly opposed and introduces a blind characters by their personality and friendship to the main character instead of the simple fact that they cannot see.

Over all these types of stereotypes and more build up in the film to give a western audience an initial feeling of familiarity. The western audience who view this movie might think they have an idea of where this movie is going and the movie takes twists that westerners might not expect. This film works as foreign film that gives into western stereotypes and then immediately complicates them, inverts them, or disregards them completely. While some movies attempt to complicate western stereotypes by doing the complete opposite of what might be expected, A Beautiful chooses instead to simply alter them. The audience still gets to see a happy ending, disabled side characters, and a quirky manic dream girl. But the film immediately changes those western stereotypes to be something more than just the usual romance. This film very effectively breaks down western stereotypes while also effectively creating a pleasing cinematic experience.

==Videos==

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3AKtzrSgdI

==References==

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1934335/?ref_=sr_2

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0795517/?ref_=tt_cl_t1

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1091782/?ref_=tt_cl_t2

==Powerpoint presentation==

[[A Beautiful Life.pptx]]

File:Huang Tingjian3.jpg

2013-04-16T04:34:26Z

Matt C:

File:Huang Tingjian2.png

2013-04-16T04:34:05Z

Matt C:

File:Huang Tingjian1.jpg

2013-04-16T04:33:43Z

Matt C:

Jiangxi School of poetry

2013-04-16T04:33:26Z

Matt C: /* Huang Tingjian */

==Overview==

During the 1070's Su Shi created a group of young writers who associated themselves with him. This group included Huang Tingjian, Qin Guan, Chao Buzhi, Zhang lei, and Chen Shidao. From this small group two figures emerged that left a very distinct stamp on Chinese poetry. Huang Tingjian and Chen Shidao unexpectedly formed what came to be known as the Jiangxi School of poetry. While the Jinagzi School seems to have some roots with writers like Wang Anshi or Ouyang Xiu, Chen Shidao and Huang Tingjian are the ones given credit for really bringing this type of poetry into the limelight.

The Jiangxi school is named after the area that it is most often associated with, but in total only a handful of poets who wrote int he Jiangxi style were actually from the Jiangxi area. As stated before the Jiangxi school was not created on purpose. "there is little evidence that the men credited with starting it had any intention of creating a poetic school. It is only in retrospect that critics and later poets, eager to give a name to the new approach to poetry ... posited the existence of this school" (Owen 419). Although the main creators did die the influence of this style of poetry lasted as long as into the end of the Song dynasty.

Although the Jinagxi School style lasted for some time and was quite popular as well, there eventually came a time when the general populace became bored with the Jinagxi style of poetry. "doubts began to be ecpressed over the excesses of the Jiangxi style, which insluded a determination to be nocel to the point of strangeness, an overabundance of allusions, and a self-conscious crafting of language that often showed through and compromised the feeling of natural expression. On by one, the major poets of the early Southern Song would annouce themselves to be dissatisfied with the Jiangxi School style and develop new directions" (Owen 419).

Lu Benzhong, who actually coined the term "Jiangxi School of poetry" liked the poetry of Huang Tingjian, expressed his dislike of later Jiangxi School style poets, "Poems like Cao Zhi's "Seven Laments" are broad, vast, deep, and distant and are not something which we composers can attain. This is because they never directed their intention toward their language. Although the Jiangxi scholars of recent times take compass in one hand and right-angle in the other and expend all their effort, they mostly do not know [that they should] go beyond this. They have climbed a hundred-foot pole but cannot advance another inch and have failed to understand Huang Tingjian's intent" (Owen 504). This quote shows partly why the Jiangxi style waned in popularity. It seems that critics believed that Huang Tingjian had done right when it came to the writing of Jiangxi School poetry and as time went on, more writers in attempt to emulate the style, failed and created poems that were similar in nature, but far from true to the original style.

Lu Benzhong eventually came to dislike even Huang Tingjian's style of poetry and regretted composing a work titled "The Genealogy of the Jiangxi Poetry Society" and in a preface to a collection he claimed, "One must learn the method of liveliness when studying to write poetry. What is meant by the method of liveliness is that tone should be equipped with knowledge of the rules and yet be able to go beyond them, and be able to change in an unpredictable way without going against them" (Owen 520). This goes to show the even bigger downfall of the Jingxi School style when critics who had not previously criticized Huang Tingjian eventually did so.

The Jiangxi style of poetry did actually gain some form of renown later on when Fang Hui praised it in it's former glory. When criticizing the late the Four Lings and the Rivers and Lakes poets. Fang Hui wanted to bring back the past style and get rid of the current one, which he considered vulgar and overly refined. He even wrote about his attempts to write in the Jiangxi School style, "I was twenty when I started studying poetry, and now I am seventy six. As for seven syllable line verse, I certainly did practice the style of Xu Hun but I unrealistically looked toward [the standard set by] Huang Tingjian, Chen Shidao, Yuyi, and old Du; my energies were no math for theirs, so I withdrew to write in the style of Bai Juyi and Zhang Lei...As for five-syllable line verse. I envied Chen Shidao," (Owen 580). This also shows that even if the popularity of the Jiangxi school had waned over time, it still got some important attention from a gifted writer later on in history.

==Huang Tingjian==

Huang Tingjian is probably the most recognizable figure when it comes to the Jiangxi School of poetry. Regarded as on of the founders of the style, he created some of the best Jiangxi School style poetry there is to offer.

[[File:Huang_Tingjian1.jpg|200px|thumb|right| Picture of Huang Tingjian located on the wikimedia commons .]]

While Huang Tingjian and Su Shi are often coupled together as writers, ti becomes quickly noticeable that the two have incredibly different styles of writing. The reason for this is that the men lived at the same time and had a close relationship in which they often read and commented on each others writing.

A defining feature of Tingjian's poetry noticeable when realizing that his poetry was made of incredibly dense language that had to be closely examined to truly understand. Tingjian generally used very specific allusions and symbolism in his poems, and to understand them readers needed to have a very deep understanding of earlier writings and Chinese culture to get a strong understanding of his poems. Huang Tinjgian also used what would initially seemed like cliche verses of poetry in ways that yielded far more meaning and symbolism than on a first glance. Huang Tingjian also gave more attention to regulated verse including the seven syllable line. "To be able to write in the more restrictive forms and yet be true to the new preferences of the age was Huang's special accomplishment" (Owen 422).

[[File:Huang_Tingjian2.png|200px|thumb|left| Another picture of Huang Tingjian located on the wikimedia commons.]]

Huang Tingjian also held an important role beyond his poetry role. He spent a lot of time and effort writing about other peoples poetry. Through letter writing and other things Huang Tingjian set forth his view on the many aspects of writing poetry. He made it known to many people how to compose and evaluate poetry. Through this kind of writing he also gave advice to many young aspiring young writers. He had many interesting sayings about poetry including, "'Take the commonplace and make it elegant, take the old and make it new'; 'touch iron and transform it into gold'; Not a single word lacks literary provenance'; 'Change the bones and steal away the embryo;'develop an appreciation for ancient models and then express yourself in new and original ways'" (Owen 422).

Huang Tingjian also wrote importantly about the actual act of writing poetry. Claiming that the act of writing was like staging a play in the way that you put everything in its place and plan it out before you actually execute. He often praised people for having things structured in new and interesting ways. While Huang Tingjian was not the first writer to be emphasizing the importance of how to write poetry, it is important to note that one thing of importance involving the writing of poetry is to be well read. He often let his young student-like writers know that they had to be reading more for their poetry to flourish. He believed that a well read poet had far more poetic abilities than the ones who wrote poetry with lack of previous reading.

Another interesting thing about Huang Tingjian is his dislike towards works at the time being mass printed and distributed. Huang Tingjian grew up in a time where the books that he owned were hand copied during after hours of work and that his appreciation for those texts was greater than those whose texts were printed by someone else. He believed that the use of printed material had a detrimental effect to the ability of people to memorize, recite, and respect that writers held for written word. He felt that the result of students having many books available to them was that they left them at their sides tied shut for the majority of their days.

[[File:Huang_Tingjian3.jpg|200px|thumb|right| Calligraphy writing done by Huang Tingjian found on the wikimedia commons.]]

Huang Tingjian was an amazing poet, and while his particular style of poetry greatly changed in popularity, he still created some very interesting and influential poetry that survived in some way or another after his death.

==Other notable writers==

Chen Shidao- Upon discovering the writing of Huang Tingjian, Chen reportedly went home and burned all of his poetry in attempt to become a student of Huang Tingjian and refine his style.

Qin Guan-

Chao Buzhi-

Zhang Lei-

==Excerpts==

From Huang Tingjian's collection

"The viscount of Tube City does not have the appearance of eating meat,
Brother Square Hole has written a letter breaking off relations." (420).

The first line of this poem alludes to a biography Han Yu had written about the writing bush, while the second line holds allusion to actual money because Chinese coins literally had square holes in the middle of them.

"I live on the northern sea, you on the southern,
Too far apart even to entrust letters to wild geese to carry.
Peach and pear in spring wind, a single cup of wine,
Rivers and lakes in night rains, ten years by lamplight" (421).

While no specific literary allusions are found here this poem holds a lot of significance, "the line evokes an enjoyable setting, in which [Huang Tingjian and his friend] sat outside beneath flowering fruit trees and enjoyed a single cup of wine. Why a "single cup"? Probably to show the intimacy of the two friends, or perhaps also their impovershiment, which did not detract from their enjoyment of each other's company. The following line describes, in dismal terms, the life each has had in the ten intervening years, traveling from one dreary provincial appointment to another, plying the rivers and lakes. 'Night rains; is particularly effective, because the phrase is usually used in descriptions of reunions between friends or loved ones, who stay up talking late into the night while it is raining outside. But in Huang's usage there is no comfort or consolation to be found in the 'night rains,' and the staying up late, suggested by the mention of the lamp, is a sign of unrelieved loneliness. this couplet as been much praised by critics through the ages for its use of such ordinary language to convey such depth of meaning and emotion" (Owen 421).

==Commentary==

==References==

The Cambridge History of Chinese Literature Volume 1 - Kang-I Sun and Stephen Owen

==Powerpoint==

Jiangxi School of poetry

2013-04-16T04:32:46Z

Matt C: /* Huang Tingjian */

==Overview==

During the 1070's Su Shi created a group of young writers who associated themselves with him. This group included Huang Tingjian, Qin Guan, Chao Buzhi, Zhang lei, and Chen Shidao. From this small group two figures emerged that left a very distinct stamp on Chinese poetry. Huang Tingjian and Chen Shidao unexpectedly formed what came to be known as the Jiangxi School of poetry. While the Jinagzi School seems to have some roots with writers like Wang Anshi or Ouyang Xiu, Chen Shidao and Huang Tingjian are the ones given credit for really bringing this type of poetry into the limelight.

The Jiangxi school is named after the area that it is most often associated with, but in total only a handful of poets who wrote int he Jiangxi style were actually from the Jiangxi area. As stated before the Jiangxi school was not created on purpose. "there is little evidence that the men credited with starting it had any intention of creating a poetic school. It is only in retrospect that critics and later poets, eager to give a name to the new approach to poetry ... posited the existence of this school" (Owen 419). Although the main creators did die the influence of this style of poetry lasted as long as into the end of the Song dynasty.

Although the Jinagxi School style lasted for some time and was quite popular as well, there eventually came a time when the general populace became bored with the Jinagxi style of poetry. "doubts began to be ecpressed over the excesses of the Jiangxi style, which insluded a determination to be nocel to the point of strangeness, an overabundance of allusions, and a self-conscious crafting of language that often showed through and compromised the feeling of natural expression. On by one, the major poets of the early Southern Song would annouce themselves to be dissatisfied with the Jiangxi School style and develop new directions" (Owen 419).

Lu Benzhong, who actually coined the term "Jiangxi School of poetry" liked the poetry of Huang Tingjian, expressed his dislike of later Jiangxi School style poets, "Poems like Cao Zhi's "Seven Laments" are broad, vast, deep, and distant and are not something which we composers can attain. This is because they never directed their intention toward their language. Although the Jiangxi scholars of recent times take compass in one hand and right-angle in the other and expend all their effort, they mostly do not know [that they should] go beyond this. They have climbed a hundred-foot pole but cannot advance another inch and have failed to understand Huang Tingjian's intent" (Owen 504). This quote shows partly why the Jiangxi style waned in popularity. It seems that critics believed that Huang Tingjian had done right when it came to the writing of Jiangxi School poetry and as time went on, more writers in attempt to emulate the style, failed and created poems that were similar in nature, but far from true to the original style.

Lu Benzhong eventually came to dislike even Huang Tingjian's style of poetry and regretted composing a work titled "The Genealogy of the Jiangxi Poetry Society" and in a preface to a collection he claimed, "One must learn the method of liveliness when studying to write poetry. What is meant by the method of liveliness is that tone should be equipped with knowledge of the rules and yet be able to go beyond them, and be able to change in an unpredictable way without going against them" (Owen 520). This goes to show the even bigger downfall of the Jingxi School style when critics who had not previously criticized Huang Tingjian eventually did so.

The Jiangxi style of poetry did actually gain some form of renown later on when Fang Hui praised it in it's former glory. When criticizing the late the Four Lings and the Rivers and Lakes poets. Fang Hui wanted to bring back the past style and get rid of the current one, which he considered vulgar and overly refined. He even wrote about his attempts to write in the Jiangxi School style, "I was twenty when I started studying poetry, and now I am seventy six. As for seven syllable line verse, I certainly did practice the style of Xu Hun but I unrealistically looked toward [the standard set by] Huang Tingjian, Chen Shidao, Yuyi, and old Du; my energies were no math for theirs, so I withdrew to write in the style of Bai Juyi and Zhang Lei...As for five-syllable line verse. I envied Chen Shidao," (Owen 580). This also shows that even if the popularity of the Jiangxi school had waned over time, it still got some important attention from a gifted writer later on in history.

==Huang Tingjian==

Huang Tingjian is probably the most recognizable figure when it comes to the Jiangxi School of poetry. Regarded as on of the founders of the style, he created some of the best Jiangxi School style poetry there is to offer.

[[Huang_Tingjian1.jpg|200px|thumb|right| Picture of Huang Tingjian located on the wikimedia commons .]]

While Huang Tingjian and Su Shi are often coupled together as writers, ti becomes quickly noticeable that the two have incredibly different styles of writing. The reason for this is that the men lived at the same time and had a close relationship in which they often read and commented on each others writing.

A defining feature of Tingjian's poetry noticeable when realizing that his poetry was made of incredibly dense language that had to be closely examined to truly understand. Tingjian generally used very specific allusions and symbolism in his poems, and to understand them readers needed to have a very deep understanding of earlier writings and Chinese culture to get a strong understanding of his poems. Huang Tinjgian also used what would initially seemed like cliche verses of poetry in ways that yielded far more meaning and symbolism than on a first glance. Huang Tingjian also gave more attention to regulated verse including the seven syllable line. "To be able to write in the more restrictive forms and yet be true to the new preferences of the age was Huang's special accomplishment" (Owen 422).

[[File:Huang_Tingjian2.png|200px|thumb|left| Another picture of Huang Tingjian located on the wikimedia commons.]]

Huang Tingjian also held an important role beyond his poetry role. He spent a lot of time and effort writing about other peoples poetry. Through letter writing and other things Huang Tingjian set forth his view on the many aspects of writing poetry. He made it known to many people how to compose and evaluate poetry. Through this kind of writing he also gave advice to many young aspiring young writers. He had many interesting sayings about poetry including, "'Take the commonplace and make it elegant, take the old and make it new'; 'touch iron and transform it into gold'; Not a single word lacks literary provenance'; 'Change the bones and steal away the embryo;'develop an appreciation for ancient models and then express yourself in new and original ways'" (Owen 422).

Huang Tingjian also wrote importantly about the actual act of writing poetry. Claiming that the act of writing was like staging a play in the way that you put everything in its place and plan it out before you actually execute. He often praised people for having things structured in new and interesting ways. While Huang Tingjian was not the first writer to be emphasizing the importance of how to write poetry, it is important to note that one thing of importance involving the writing of poetry is to be well read. He often let his young student-like writers know that they had to be reading more for their poetry to flourish. He believed that a well read poet had far more poetic abilities than the ones who wrote poetry with lack of previous reading.

Another interesting thing about Huang Tingjian is his dislike towards works at the time being mass printed and distributed. Huang Tingjian grew up in a time where the books that he owned were hand copied during after hours of work and that his appreciation for those texts was greater than those whose texts were printed by someone else. He believed that the use of printed material had a detrimental effect to the ability of people to memorize, recite, and respect that writers held for written word. He felt that the result of students having many books available to them was that they left them at their sides tied shut for the majority of their days.

[[File:Huang_Tingjian3.jpg|200px|thumb|right| Calligraphy writing done by Huang Tingjian found on the wikimedia commons.]]

Huang Tingjian was an amazing poet, and while his particular style of poetry greatly changed in popularity, he still created some very interesting and influential poetry that survived in some way or another after his death.

==Other notable writers==

Chen Shidao- Upon discovering the writing of Huang Tingjian, Chen reportedly went home and burned all of his poetry in attempt to become a student of Huang Tingjian and refine his style.

Qin Guan-

Chao Buzhi-

Zhang Lei-

==Excerpts==

From Huang Tingjian's collection

"The viscount of Tube City does not have the appearance of eating meat,
Brother Square Hole has written a letter breaking off relations." (420).

The first line of this poem alludes to a biography Han Yu had written about the writing bush, while the second line holds allusion to actual money because Chinese coins literally had square holes in the middle of them.

"I live on the northern sea, you on the southern,
Too far apart even to entrust letters to wild geese to carry.
Peach and pear in spring wind, a single cup of wine,
Rivers and lakes in night rains, ten years by lamplight" (421).

While no specific literary allusions are found here this poem holds a lot of significance, "the line evokes an enjoyable setting, in which [Huang Tingjian and his friend] sat outside beneath flowering fruit trees and enjoyed a single cup of wine. Why a "single cup"? Probably to show the intimacy of the two friends, or perhaps also their impovershiment, which did not detract from their enjoyment of each other's company. The following line describes, in dismal terms, the life each has had in the ten intervening years, traveling from one dreary provincial appointment to another, plying the rivers and lakes. 'Night rains; is particularly effective, because the phrase is usually used in descriptions of reunions between friends or loved ones, who stay up talking late into the night while it is raining outside. But in Huang's usage there is no comfort or consolation to be found in the 'night rains,' and the staying up late, suggested by the mention of the lamp, is a sign of unrelieved loneliness. this couplet as been much praised by critics through the ages for its use of such ordinary language to convey such depth of meaning and emotion" (Owen 421).

==Commentary==

==References==

The Cambridge History of Chinese Literature Volume 1 - Kang-I Sun and Stephen Owen

==Powerpoint==

Jiangxi School of poetry

2013-04-16T04:19:18Z

Matt C: /* Other notable writers */

==Overview==

During the 1070's Su Shi created a group of young writers who associated themselves with him. This group included Huang Tingjian, Qin Guan, Chao Buzhi, Zhang lei, and Chen Shidao. From this small group two figures emerged that left a very distinct stamp on Chinese poetry. Huang Tingjian and Chen Shidao unexpectedly formed what came to be known as the Jiangxi School of poetry. While the Jinagzi School seems to have some roots with writers like Wang Anshi or Ouyang Xiu, Chen Shidao and Huang Tingjian are the ones given credit for really bringing this type of poetry into the limelight.

The Jiangxi school is named after the area that it is most often associated with, but in total only a handful of poets who wrote int he Jiangxi style were actually from the Jiangxi area. As stated before the Jiangxi school was not created on purpose. "there is little evidence that the men credited with starting it had any intention of creating a poetic school. It is only in retrospect that critics and later poets, eager to give a name to the new approach to poetry ... posited the existence of this school" (Owen 419). Although the main creators did die the influence of this style of poetry lasted as long as into the end of the Song dynasty.

Although the Jinagxi School style lasted for some time and was quite popular as well, there eventually came a time when the general populace became bored with the Jinagxi style of poetry. "doubts began to be ecpressed over the excesses of the Jiangxi style, which insluded a determination to be nocel to the point of strangeness, an overabundance of allusions, and a self-conscious crafting of language that often showed through and compromised the feeling of natural expression. On by one, the major poets of the early Southern Song would annouce themselves to be dissatisfied with the Jiangxi School style and develop new directions" (Owen 419).

Lu Benzhong, who actually coined the term "Jiangxi School of poetry" liked the poetry of Huang Tingjian, expressed his dislike of later Jiangxi School style poets, "Poems like Cao Zhi's "Seven Laments" are broad, vast, deep, and distant and are not something which we composers can attain. This is because they never directed their intention toward their language. Although the Jiangxi scholars of recent times take compass in one hand and right-angle in the other and expend all their effort, they mostly do not know [that they should] go beyond this. They have climbed a hundred-foot pole but cannot advance another inch and have failed to understand Huang Tingjian's intent" (Owen 504). This quote shows partly why the Jiangxi style waned in popularity. It seems that critics believed that Huang Tingjian had done right when it came to the writing of Jiangxi School poetry and as time went on, more writers in attempt to emulate the style, failed and created poems that were similar in nature, but far from true to the original style.

Lu Benzhong eventually came to dislike even Huang Tingjian's style of poetry and regretted composing a work titled "The Genealogy of the Jiangxi Poetry Society" and in a preface to a collection he claimed, "One must learn the method of liveliness when studying to write poetry. What is meant by the method of liveliness is that tone should be equipped with knowledge of the rules and yet be able to go beyond them, and be able to change in an unpredictable way without going against them" (Owen 520). This goes to show the even bigger downfall of the Jingxi School style when critics who had not previously criticized Huang Tingjian eventually did so.

The Jiangxi style of poetry did actually gain some form of renown later on when Fang Hui praised it in it's former glory. When criticizing the late the Four Lings and the Rivers and Lakes poets. Fang Hui wanted to bring back the past style and get rid of the current one, which he considered vulgar and overly refined. He even wrote about his attempts to write in the Jiangxi School style, "I was twenty when I started studying poetry, and now I am seventy six. As for seven syllable line verse, I certainly did practice the style of Xu Hun but I unrealistically looked toward [the standard set by] Huang Tingjian, Chen Shidao, Yuyi, and old Du; my energies were no math for theirs, so I withdrew to write in the style of Bai Juyi and Zhang Lei...As for five-syllable line verse. I envied Chen Shidao," (Owen 580). This also shows that even if the popularity of the Jiangxi school had waned over time, it still got some important attention from a gifted writer later on in history.

==Huang Tingjian==

Huang Tingjian is probably the most recognizable figure when it comes to the Jiangxi School of poetry. Regarded as on of the founders of the style, he created some of the best Jiangxi School style poetry there is to offer.

While Huang Tingjian and Su Shi are often coupled together as writers, ti becomes quickly noticeable that the two have incredibly different styles of writing. The reason for this is that the men lived at the same time and had a close relationship in which they often read and commented on each others writing.

A defining feature of Tingjian's poetry noticeable when realizing that his poetry was made of incredibly dense language that had to be closely examined to truly understand. Tingjian generally used very specific allusions and symbolism in his poems, and to understand them readers needed to have a very deep understanding of earlier writings and Chinese culture to get a strong understanding of his poems. Huang Tinjgian also used what would initially seemed like cliche verses of poetry in ways that yielded far more meaning and symbolism than on a first glance. Huang Tingjian also gave more attention to regulated verse including the seven syllable line. "To be able to write in the more restrictive forms and yet be true to the new preferences of the age was Huang's special accomplishment" (Owen 422).

Huang Tingjian also held an important role beyond his poetry role. He spent a lot of time and effort writing about other peoples poetry. Through letter writing and other things Huang Tingjian set forth his view on the many aspects of writing poetry. He made it known to many people how to compose and evaluate poetry. Through this kind of writing he also gave advice to many young aspiring young writers. He had many interesting sayings about poetry including, "'Take the commonplace and make it elegant, take the old and make it new'; 'touch iron and transform it into gold'; Not a single word lacks literary provenance'; 'Change the bones and steal away the embryo;'develop an appreciation for ancient models and then express yourself in new and original ways'" (Owen 422).

Huang Tingjian also wrote importantly about the actual act of writing poetry. Claiming that the act of writing was like staging a play in the way that you put everything in its place and plan it out before you actually execute. He often praised people for having things structured in new and interesting ways. While Huang Tingjian was not the first writer to be emphasizing the importance of how to write poetry, it is important to note that one thing of importance involving the writing of poetry is to be well read. He often let his young student-like writers know that they had to be reading more for their poetry to flourish. He believed that a well read poet had far more poetic abilities than the ones who wrote poetry with lack of previous reading.

Another interesting thing about Huang Tingjian is his dislike towards works at the time being mass printed and distributed. Huang Tingjian grew up in a time where the books that he owned were hand copied during after hours of work and that his appreciation for those texts was greater than those whose texts were printed by someone else. He believed that the use of printed material had a detrimental effect to the ability of people to memorize, recite, and respect that writers held for written word. He felt that the result of students having many books available to them was that they left them at their sides tied shut for the majority of their days.

Huang Tingjian was an amazing poet, and while his particular style of poetry greatly changed in popularity, he still created some very interesting and influential poetry that survived in some way or another after his death.

==Other notable writers==

Chen Shidao- Upon discovering the writing of Huang Tingjian, Chen reportedly went home and burned all of his poetry in attempt to become a student of Huang Tingjian and refine his style.

Qin Guan-

Chao Buzhi-

Zhang Lei-

==Excerpts==

From Huang Tingjian's collection

"The viscount of Tube City does not have the appearance of eating meat,
Brother Square Hole has written a letter breaking off relations." (420).

The first line of this poem alludes to a biography Han Yu had written about the writing bush, while the second line holds allusion to actual money because Chinese coins literally had square holes in the middle of them.

"I live on the northern sea, you on the southern,
Too far apart even to entrust letters to wild geese to carry.
Peach and pear in spring wind, a single cup of wine,
Rivers and lakes in night rains, ten years by lamplight" (421).

While no specific literary allusions are found here this poem holds a lot of significance, "the line evokes an enjoyable setting, in which [Huang Tingjian and his friend] sat outside beneath flowering fruit trees and enjoyed a single cup of wine. Why a "single cup"? Probably to show the intimacy of the two friends, or perhaps also their impovershiment, which did not detract from their enjoyment of each other's company. The following line describes, in dismal terms, the life each has had in the ten intervening years, traveling from one dreary provincial appointment to another, plying the rivers and lakes. 'Night rains; is particularly effective, because the phrase is usually used in descriptions of reunions between friends or loved ones, who stay up talking late into the night while it is raining outside. But in Huang's usage there is no comfort or consolation to be found in the 'night rains,' and the staying up late, suggested by the mention of the lamp, is a sign of unrelieved loneliness. this couplet as been much praised by critics through the ages for its use of such ordinary language to convey such depth of meaning and emotion" (Owen 421).

==Commentary==

==References==

The Cambridge History of Chinese Literature Volume 1 - Kang-I Sun and Stephen Owen

==Powerpoint==

Jiangxi School of poetry

2013-04-16T04:16:42Z

Matt C: /* Excerpts */

==Overview==

During the 1070's Su Shi created a group of young writers who associated themselves with him. This group included Huang Tingjian, Qin Guan, Chao Buzhi, Zhang lei, and Chen Shidao. From this small group two figures emerged that left a very distinct stamp on Chinese poetry. Huang Tingjian and Chen Shidao unexpectedly formed what came to be known as the Jiangxi School of poetry. While the Jinagzi School seems to have some roots with writers like Wang Anshi or Ouyang Xiu, Chen Shidao and Huang Tingjian are the ones given credit for really bringing this type of poetry into the limelight.

The Jiangxi school is named after the area that it is most often associated with, but in total only a handful of poets who wrote int he Jiangxi style were actually from the Jiangxi area. As stated before the Jiangxi school was not created on purpose. "there is little evidence that the men credited with starting it had any intention of creating a poetic school. It is only in retrospect that critics and later poets, eager to give a name to the new approach to poetry ... posited the existence of this school" (Owen 419). Although the main creators did die the influence of this style of poetry lasted as long as into the end of the Song dynasty.

Although the Jinagxi School style lasted for some time and was quite popular as well, there eventually came a time when the general populace became bored with the Jinagxi style of poetry. "doubts began to be ecpressed over the excesses of the Jiangxi style, which insluded a determination to be nocel to the point of strangeness, an overabundance of allusions, and a self-conscious crafting of language that often showed through and compromised the feeling of natural expression. On by one, the major poets of the early Southern Song would annouce themselves to be dissatisfied with the Jiangxi School style and develop new directions" (Owen 419).

Lu Benzhong, who actually coined the term "Jiangxi School of poetry" liked the poetry of Huang Tingjian, expressed his dislike of later Jiangxi School style poets, "Poems like Cao Zhi's "Seven Laments" are broad, vast, deep, and distant and are not something which we composers can attain. This is because they never directed their intention toward their language. Although the Jiangxi scholars of recent times take compass in one hand and right-angle in the other and expend all their effort, they mostly do not know [that they should] go beyond this. They have climbed a hundred-foot pole but cannot advance another inch and have failed to understand Huang Tingjian's intent" (Owen 504). This quote shows partly why the Jiangxi style waned in popularity. It seems that critics believed that Huang Tingjian had done right when it came to the writing of Jiangxi School poetry and as time went on, more writers in attempt to emulate the style, failed and created poems that were similar in nature, but far from true to the original style.

Lu Benzhong eventually came to dislike even Huang Tingjian's style of poetry and regretted composing a work titled "The Genealogy of the Jiangxi Poetry Society" and in a preface to a collection he claimed, "One must learn the method of liveliness when studying to write poetry. What is meant by the method of liveliness is that tone should be equipped with knowledge of the rules and yet be able to go beyond them, and be able to change in an unpredictable way without going against them" (Owen 520). This goes to show the even bigger downfall of the Jingxi School style when critics who had not previously criticized Huang Tingjian eventually did so.

The Jiangxi style of poetry did actually gain some form of renown later on when Fang Hui praised it in it's former glory. When criticizing the late the Four Lings and the Rivers and Lakes poets. Fang Hui wanted to bring back the past style and get rid of the current one, which he considered vulgar and overly refined. He even wrote about his attempts to write in the Jiangxi School style, "I was twenty when I started studying poetry, and now I am seventy six. As for seven syllable line verse, I certainly did practice the style of Xu Hun but I unrealistically looked toward [the standard set by] Huang Tingjian, Chen Shidao, Yuyi, and old Du; my energies were no math for theirs, so I withdrew to write in the style of Bai Juyi and Zhang Lei...As for five-syllable line verse. I envied Chen Shidao," (Owen 580). This also shows that even if the popularity of the Jiangxi school had waned over time, it still got some important attention from a gifted writer later on in history.

==Huang Tingjian==

Huang Tingjian is probably the most recognizable figure when it comes to the Jiangxi School of poetry. Regarded as on of the founders of the style, he created some of the best Jiangxi School style poetry there is to offer.

While Huang Tingjian and Su Shi are often coupled together as writers, ti becomes quickly noticeable that the two have incredibly different styles of writing. The reason for this is that the men lived at the same time and had a close relationship in which they often read and commented on each others writing.

A defining feature of Tingjian's poetry noticeable when realizing that his poetry was made of incredibly dense language that had to be closely examined to truly understand. Tingjian generally used very specific allusions and symbolism in his poems, and to understand them readers needed to have a very deep understanding of earlier writings and Chinese culture to get a strong understanding of his poems. Huang Tinjgian also used what would initially seemed like cliche verses of poetry in ways that yielded far more meaning and symbolism than on a first glance. Huang Tingjian also gave more attention to regulated verse including the seven syllable line. "To be able to write in the more restrictive forms and yet be true to the new preferences of the age was Huang's special accomplishment" (Owen 422).

Huang Tingjian also held an important role beyond his poetry role. He spent a lot of time and effort writing about other peoples poetry. Through letter writing and other things Huang Tingjian set forth his view on the many aspects of writing poetry. He made it known to many people how to compose and evaluate poetry. Through this kind of writing he also gave advice to many young aspiring young writers. He had many interesting sayings about poetry including, "'Take the commonplace and make it elegant, take the old and make it new'; 'touch iron and transform it into gold'; Not a single word lacks literary provenance'; 'Change the bones and steal away the embryo;'develop an appreciation for ancient models and then express yourself in new and original ways'" (Owen 422).

Huang Tingjian also wrote importantly about the actual act of writing poetry. Claiming that the act of writing was like staging a play in the way that you put everything in its place and plan it out before you actually execute. He often praised people for having things structured in new and interesting ways. While Huang Tingjian was not the first writer to be emphasizing the importance of how to write poetry, it is important to note that one thing of importance involving the writing of poetry is to be well read. He often let his young student-like writers know that they had to be reading more for their poetry to flourish. He believed that a well read poet had far more poetic abilities than the ones who wrote poetry with lack of previous reading.

Another interesting thing about Huang Tingjian is his dislike towards works at the time being mass printed and distributed. Huang Tingjian grew up in a time where the books that he owned were hand copied during after hours of work and that his appreciation for those texts was greater than those whose texts were printed by someone else. He believed that the use of printed material had a detrimental effect to the ability of people to memorize, recite, and respect that writers held for written word. He felt that the result of students having many books available to them was that they left them at their sides tied shut for the majority of their days.

Huang Tingjian was an amazing poet, and while his particular style of poetry greatly changed in popularity, he still created some very interesting and influential poetry that survived in some way or another after his death.

==Other notable writers==

==Excerpts==

From Huang Tingjian's collection

"The viscount of Tube City does not have the appearance of eating meat,
Brother Square Hole has written a letter breaking off relations." (420).

The first line of this poem alludes to a biography Han Yu had written about the writing bush, while the second line holds allusion to actual money because Chinese coins literally had square holes in the middle of them.

"I live on the northern sea, you on the southern,
Too far apart even to entrust letters to wild geese to carry.
Peach and pear in spring wind, a single cup of wine,
Rivers and lakes in night rains, ten years by lamplight" (421).

While no specific literary allusions are found here this poem holds a lot of significance, "the line evokes an enjoyable setting, in which [Huang Tingjian and his friend] sat outside beneath flowering fruit trees and enjoyed a single cup of wine. Why a "single cup"? Probably to show the intimacy of the two friends, or perhaps also their impovershiment, which did not detract from their enjoyment of each other's company. The following line describes, in dismal terms, the life each has had in the ten intervening years, traveling from one dreary provincial appointment to another, plying the rivers and lakes. 'Night rains; is particularly effective, because the phrase is usually used in descriptions of reunions between friends or loved ones, who stay up talking late into the night while it is raining outside. But in Huang's usage there is no comfort or consolation to be found in the 'night rains,' and the staying up late, suggested by the mention of the lamp, is a sign of unrelieved loneliness. this couplet as been much praised by critics through the ages for its use of such ordinary language to convey such depth of meaning and emotion" (Owen 421).

==Commentary==

==References==

The Cambridge History of Chinese Literature Volume 1 - Kang-I Sun and Stephen Owen

==Powerpoint==

Jiangxi School of poetry

2013-04-16T04:07:03Z

Matt C: /* Huang Tingjian */

Jiangxi School of poetry

2013-04-16T03:55:51Z

Matt C: /* Huang Tingjian */

Jiangxi School of poetry

2013-04-16T03:32:46Z

Matt C: /* References */

Jiangxi School of poetry

2013-04-16T03:31:16Z

Matt C: /* Huang Tingjian */

Jiangxi School of poetry

2013-04-16T03:24:31Z

Matt C: /* Overview */

Jiangxi School of poetry

2013-04-16T02:48:34Z

Matt C: /* Overview */

Jiangxi School of poetry

2013-04-16T01:16:24Z

Matt C: Created page with "==Overview== ==Huang Tingjian== ==Other notable writers== ==Excerpts== ==Commentary== ==References== ==Powerpoint=="

==Overview==

==Huang Tingjian==

==Other notable writers==

==Excerpts==

==Commentary==

==References==

==Powerpoint==

Jiangxi School of Poetry

2013-04-16T01:12:24Z

Matt C:

Redirected to:

http://wiki.vm.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/uvu/index.php?title=Jiangxi_School_of_poetry&action=edit&redlink=1

Classical Chinese Literature

2013-04-16T01:11:39Z

Matt C: /* Song Dynasty */

[https://wiki.vm.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/uvu/index.php/uvu:Community_Portal Click here to learn how to use this Wiki.] [[User:Root|Root]] 11:42, 10 January 2012 (UTC)

'''Overview on Final Papers'''
<span style="color:red">Dear students, thank you very much for putting your articles here online. Here is a quick link to all the articles of all students in class. You may want to check if you have commented on all of them.</span>
*Kami W - final paper: [[Zhu Xi and Neo-Confucianism]], (midterm paper was: [[The 5 Canonized Classics]])
*Samantha S - final paper: [[Wang Anshi]], (midterm paper was: [[Qu Yuan]])
*Tara F - final paper: [[Jin Ping Mei]], (midterm paper was: [[Philosophical Discourses]])
*Jenny R - final paper: [[Urban Literature and the Fall of the Southern Song]], (midterm paper was: [[Tao Yuanming]])
*Lela S - final paper: [[Usurpation]], (mid-term paper was: [[Writing with your own blood]])
*Matt C - final paper: [[Jiangxi School of Poetry]], (midterm paper was: [[6th century Literature in the south]])
*Josh B - final paper: [[Li Zhi]], (midterm paper was: [[Li Bai]])
*Brandon H - final paper: [[The Merchant Elite and Vernacular Writing]], (midterm paper was: [[Du Fu]])

= Beginnings =
* [[The development of oral literature forms]] -- [[User:Alexis Sagen|Alexis Sagen]] 13:48, 18 April 2012 (UTC) [https://wiki.vm.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/uvu/index.php/File:CHIN_LIT_-5.pptx]

== Xia Dynasty ==
Mythical dynasty before the invention of script.

== Shang Dynasty ==
* The emergence of script - Oracle Bones (turtle shells, cow shoulder blades)
* The emergence of Written Literature (1200 BC)

== Zhou Dynasty and Warring States Period ==
* [[Confucius]] -- [[User:Licia K|Licia K]] 05:36, 6 February 2012 (UTC)
* [[Mencius]] -- [[User:Delon Lier|Delon Lier]] [https://learn-uvu.uen.org/courses/98968/files/10489162/download?wrap=1 Powerpoint presentation]
* [[The 5 Canonized Classics]] -- [[User:ArnoldQ|ArnoldQ]] 04:35, 20 January 2012 (UTC); enriched by Kami W
* [[Qu Yuan]] - Samantha S.
*[[Philosophical Discourses]] -- Tara F

== Han Dynasty ==
* [[Cai Yong]] [https://learn-uvu.uen.org/courses/98968/files/10489270/download?wrap=1 Powerpoint presentation]
* [[Songs from India]] -- [[User:Licia K|Licia K]] 06:44, 28 February 2012 (UTC)

== 16 Kingdoms and 6 Dynasties ==
* [[Tao Yuanming]] -- [[User:ArnoldQ|ArnoldQ]] 23:06, 4 February 2012 (UTC); [[User:Jenny R|Jenny R]] ([[User talk:Jenny R|talk]]) 21:37, 26 February 2013 (CET)

= The Golden Age =
* [[6th century Literature in the south]] -- Matt C.
== Tang Dynasty ==
* [[Examples of authors unknown in their lifetime, but famous after their death]] -- [[User:Licia K|Licia K]] 02:32, 4 April 2012 (UTC)
* [[Du Fu]] (712 - 770) [https://wiki.vm.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/uvu/images/d/da/Du_Fu_%28wiki%29.pptx Powerpoint presentation] -- ''Mid Term Paper'' -- [[User:Wantong|Wantong]] 20:18, 2 March 2012 (UTC); enriched by Brandon H
* [[Li Bai]] -- ''Mid Term Paper'' -- [[User:ArnoldQ|ArnoldQ]] 22:30, 1 March 2012 (UTC); enriched by Joshua B

== Song Dynasty ==
* [[Ouyang Xiu]] -- ''Mid Term Paper'' -- [[User:Licia K|Licia K]] 06:44, 28 February 2012 (UTC)
* [[Wang Anshi]] [[User:Samantha S|Samantha S]] ([[User talk:Samantha S|talk]]) 04:23, 5 April 2013 (CEST)
* [[Su Shi (Su Dongpo)]] -- ''Mid Term Paper'' -- [[User:Alexis Sagen|Alexis Sagen]] 17:48, 27 February 2012 (UTC)
* [[Zhu Xi and Neo-Confucianism]] -- ''Final Paper'' --[[User:Root|Root]] ([[User talk:Root|talk]]) 18:36, 26 March 2013 (CET)
* [[Urban Literature and the Fall of the Southern Song]] -- ''Final Paper'' -- [[User:Jenny R|Jenny R]] ([[User talk:Jenny R|talk]]) 21:38, 1
* [[Jiangxi School of poetry]] --"Final Paper'' -- [[User:Matt C|Matt C]] ([[User talk:Matt C|talk]]) 03:11, 16 April 2013 (CEST)

April 2013 (CEST)

= The Foreign Dynasties the Liao (Khitan), the Jin (Jurchen) and the Yuan (Mongols) =
== Yuan ==
* [[Yuan Literature I]] -- [[User:ArnoldQ|ArnoldQ]] 05:53, 19 April 2012 (UTC)
* [[Yuan Literature II]] -- [[User:Wantong|Wantong]] 04:43, 19 April 2012 (UTC)

= Ming Dynasty =
* [[Literary Societies]] -- Delon L
* [[Ming Literature I]] -- Delon L
* [[Ming literature]] -- [[User:Wantong|Wantong]] 04:43, 19 April 2012 (UTC)
* [[The predecessors of newspapers]] -- [[User:Alexis Sagen|Alexis Sagen]] 21:55, 15 April 2012 (UTC) [https://wiki.vm.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/uvu/index.php/File:CHIN_LIT_-4.pptx]
* [[Novel 'Jin Ping Mei']] -- [[User:Licia K|Licia K]] 07:15, 19 April 2012 (UTC),[[User:TaraDFroisland|Tara F]] 02:22, 14 April 2013 (CCL)
* [[Novel 'Journey to the West']] -- [[User:ArnoldQ|ArnoldQ]] 04:17, 18 April 2012 (UTC)
* [[Novel 'Water Margin']] -- [[User:Alexis Sagen|Alexis Sagen]] 22:04, 15 April 2012 (UTC)
* [[Feng Menglong]] -- [[User:Wantong|Wantong]] 04:42, 19 April 2012 (UTC)
* [[The Merchant Elite and Vernacular Writing]] -- [[User:Brandon H|Brandon H]] ([[User talk:Brandon H|talk]]) 04:50, 13 April 2013 (CEST)

= Preview: Qing (Manchu)-Dynasty =
* [[Middlebrow Literature]] [https://learn-uvu.uen.org/courses/98968/files/10489082/download?wrap=1 Powerpoint presentation]

= Timeless Presentations =

* [[Canonization of Chinese Literature in the East and West]] -- ''Mid Term Paper'' -- [[User:Delon Lier|Delon Lier]]
* [[Writing with your own blood]] -- [[User:Alexis Sagen|Alexis Sagen]] 03:43, 8 February 2012 (UTC); enriched by Lela S
* [[Saying A and meaning B - Several examples of double layer literature]] -- [[User:Licia K|Licia K]] 02:32, 4 April 2012 (UTC)
* [[Which emperor had killed close relatives to ascend the throne?]] -- [[User:Alexis Sagen|Alexis Sagen]] 22:13, 15 April 2012 (UTC) [https://wiki.vm.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/uvu/index.php/File:CHIN_LIT_-2.pptx]
* [[Poetry Genres]] [https://wiki.vm.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/uvu/images/4/43/Poetry_Genres.pptx Powerpoint presentation] -- [[User:Wantong|Wantong]] 19:46, 4 April 2012 (UTC)

Classical Chinese Literature

2013-04-16T01:11:02Z

Matt C: /* Song Dynasty */

[https://wiki.vm.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/uvu/index.php/uvu:Community_Portal Click here to learn how to use this Wiki.] [[User:Root|Root]] 11:42, 10 January 2012 (UTC)

'''Overview on Final Papers'''
<span style="color:red">Dear students, thank you very much for putting your articles here online. Here is a quick link to all the articles of all students in class. You may want to check if you have commented on all of them.</span>
*Kami W - final paper: [[Zhu Xi and Neo-Confucianism]], (midterm paper was: [[The 5 Canonized Classics]])
*Samantha S - final paper: [[Wang Anshi]], (midterm paper was: [[Qu Yuan]])
*Tara F - final paper: [[Jin Ping Mei]], (midterm paper was: [[Philosophical Discourses]])
*Jenny R - final paper: [[Urban Literature and the Fall of the Southern Song]], (midterm paper was: [[Tao Yuanming]])
*Lela S - final paper: [[Usurpation]], (mid-term paper was: [[Writing with your own blood]])
*Matt C - final paper: [[Jiangxi School of Poetry]], (midterm paper was: [[6th century Literature in the south]])
*Josh B - final paper: [[Li Zhi]], (midterm paper was: [[Li Bai]])
*Brandon H - final paper: [[The Merchant Elite and Vernacular Writing]], (midterm paper was: [[Du Fu]])

= Beginnings =
* [[The development of oral literature forms]] -- [[User:Alexis Sagen|Alexis Sagen]] 13:48, 18 April 2012 (UTC) [https://wiki.vm.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/uvu/index.php/File:CHIN_LIT_-5.pptx]

== Xia Dynasty ==
Mythical dynasty before the invention of script.

== Shang Dynasty ==
* The emergence of script - Oracle Bones (turtle shells, cow shoulder blades)
* The emergence of Written Literature (1200 BC)

== Zhou Dynasty and Warring States Period ==
* [[Confucius]] -- [[User:Licia K|Licia K]] 05:36, 6 February 2012 (UTC)
* [[Mencius]] -- [[User:Delon Lier|Delon Lier]] [https://learn-uvu.uen.org/courses/98968/files/10489162/download?wrap=1 Powerpoint presentation]
* [[The 5 Canonized Classics]] -- [[User:ArnoldQ|ArnoldQ]] 04:35, 20 January 2012 (UTC); enriched by Kami W
* [[Qu Yuan]] - Samantha S.
*[[Philosophical Discourses]] -- Tara F

== Han Dynasty ==
* [[Cai Yong]] [https://learn-uvu.uen.org/courses/98968/files/10489270/download?wrap=1 Powerpoint presentation]
* [[Songs from India]] -- [[User:Licia K|Licia K]] 06:44, 28 February 2012 (UTC)

== 16 Kingdoms and 6 Dynasties ==
* [[Tao Yuanming]] -- [[User:ArnoldQ|ArnoldQ]] 23:06, 4 February 2012 (UTC); [[User:Jenny R|Jenny R]] ([[User talk:Jenny R|talk]]) 21:37, 26 February 2013 (CET)

= The Golden Age =
* [[6th century Literature in the south]] -- Matt C.
== Tang Dynasty ==
* [[Examples of authors unknown in their lifetime, but famous after their death]] -- [[User:Licia K|Licia K]] 02:32, 4 April 2012 (UTC)
* [[Du Fu]] (712 - 770) [https://wiki.vm.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/uvu/images/d/da/Du_Fu_%28wiki%29.pptx Powerpoint presentation] -- ''Mid Term Paper'' -- [[User:Wantong|Wantong]] 20:18, 2 March 2012 (UTC); enriched by Brandon H
* [[Li Bai]] -- ''Mid Term Paper'' -- [[User:ArnoldQ|ArnoldQ]] 22:30, 1 March 2012 (UTC); enriched by Joshua B

== Song Dynasty ==
* [[Ouyang Xiu]] -- ''Mid Term Paper'' -- [[User:Licia K|Licia K]] 06:44, 28 February 2012 (UTC)
* [[Wang Anshi]] [[User:Samantha S|Samantha S]] ([[User talk:Samantha S|talk]]) 04:23, 5 April 2013 (CEST)
* [[Su Shi (Su Dongpo)]] -- ''Mid Term Paper'' -- [[User:Alexis Sagen|Alexis Sagen]] 17:48, 27 February 2012 (UTC)
* [[Zhu Xi and Neo-Confucianism]] -- ''Final Paper'' --[[User:Root|Root]] ([[User talk:Root|talk]]) 18:36, 26 March 2013 (CET)
* [[Urban Literature and the Fall of the Southern Song]] -- ''Final Paper'' -- [[User:Jenny R|Jenny R]] ([[User talk:Jenny R|talk]]) 21:38, 1
* [[Jiangxi school of poetry]] --"Final Paper'' -- [[User:Matt C|Matt C]] ([[User talk:Matt C|talk]]) 03:11, 16 April 2013 (CEST)

April 2013 (CEST)

= The Foreign Dynasties the Liao (Khitan), the Jin (Jurchen) and the Yuan (Mongols) =
== Yuan ==
* [[Yuan Literature I]] -- [[User:ArnoldQ|ArnoldQ]] 05:53, 19 April 2012 (UTC)
* [[Yuan Literature II]] -- [[User:Wantong|Wantong]] 04:43, 19 April 2012 (UTC)

= Ming Dynasty =
* [[Literary Societies]] -- Delon L
* [[Ming Literature I]] -- Delon L
* [[Ming literature]] -- [[User:Wantong|Wantong]] 04:43, 19 April 2012 (UTC)
* [[The predecessors of newspapers]] -- [[User:Alexis Sagen|Alexis Sagen]] 21:55, 15 April 2012 (UTC) [https://wiki.vm.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/uvu/index.php/File:CHIN_LIT_-4.pptx]
* [[Novel 'Jin Ping Mei']] -- [[User:Licia K|Licia K]] 07:15, 19 April 2012 (UTC),[[User:TaraDFroisland|Tara F]] 02:22, 14 April 2013 (CCL)
* [[Novel 'Journey to the West']] -- [[User:ArnoldQ|ArnoldQ]] 04:17, 18 April 2012 (UTC)
* [[Novel 'Water Margin']] -- [[User:Alexis Sagen|Alexis Sagen]] 22:04, 15 April 2012 (UTC)
* [[Feng Menglong]] -- [[User:Wantong|Wantong]] 04:42, 19 April 2012 (UTC)
* [[The Merchant Elite and Vernacular Writing]] -- [[User:Brandon H|Brandon H]] ([[User talk:Brandon H|talk]]) 04:50, 13 April 2013 (CEST)

= Preview: Qing (Manchu)-Dynasty =
* [[Middlebrow Literature]] [https://learn-uvu.uen.org/courses/98968/files/10489082/download?wrap=1 Powerpoint presentation]

= Timeless Presentations =

* [[Canonization of Chinese Literature in the East and West]] -- ''Mid Term Paper'' -- [[User:Delon Lier|Delon Lier]]
* [[Writing with your own blood]] -- [[User:Alexis Sagen|Alexis Sagen]] 03:43, 8 February 2012 (UTC); enriched by Lela S
* [[Saying A and meaning B - Several examples of double layer literature]] -- [[User:Licia K|Licia K]] 02:32, 4 April 2012 (UTC)
* [[Which emperor had killed close relatives to ascend the throne?]] -- [[User:Alexis Sagen|Alexis Sagen]] 22:13, 15 April 2012 (UTC) [https://wiki.vm.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/uvu/index.php/File:CHIN_LIT_-2.pptx]
* [[Poetry Genres]] [https://wiki.vm.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/uvu/images/4/43/Poetry_Genres.pptx Powerpoint presentation] -- [[User:Wantong|Wantong]] 19:46, 4 April 2012 (UTC)

Jiangxi School of Poetry

2013-04-16T01:09:34Z

Matt C: Created page with "blah"

blah

A Beautiful Life

2013-04-16T01:01:36Z

Matt C: /* References */

==A Beautiful Life==

[[File:A_Beautiful_Life_2011_poster.jpg|200px|thumb|right| Hong Kong Movie Poster for A Beautiful Life(2011).]]

A 2011 film that follows the unlikely love story of two people living in Beijing China. Directed by Andrew Lau and starring Qi Shu, Ye Liu, Liang Tian, Danying Fen, and Anthony Wang Chau-Sang. Other titles that apply to the film are Don't Be Lonely, I Will Never Let You Be Lonely Again, and Mei LI Ren Sheng.

==Plot Synopsis==

One seemingly normal night in Hong Kong at a karaoke bar quickly becomes the starting point for an unexplected and amazing love story between Feng Zhengdong and Li Peiru. After spending the night with some soon-to-be wed friends Fang Zhendong leaves early only to be puked on by Li Peiru and unwittingly becomes selected to carry her home. Fang Zhengdong, thinking their interaction will stop there, begins to unexpectedly meet the impulsive and fun woman man places throughout his life. The two become unlikely friends as Fang Zhengdong becomes increasingly infatuated with the manic woman he has befriended. Li Peiru on the other hand, seems to be too caught up with her own sexual affair with her married boss to notice.

After running into Zhengdong at the story Peiru manages to take his groceries to make dumplings for her married boss. Peiru fails to properly cook the dumplings and convinces Shengdong to come to her apartment to help her. After Peiru's boss arrives she convinces him that Zhengdong is just a hired cook. Peiru's affair ends shortly thereafter since he begins sleeping with another of Peiru's co-workers.

Meanwhile, Zhendong struggles to keep his disabled brother afloat. Zhendong's brother, a talented artist, dresses up as a lion and hands out flyers on the street. Unbeknownst to Zangdong his own brother has fallen in love with a pretty deaf girl who works near him. The two fall in love and eventually asks to be married to Zhangdong.

Peiru and Zhangdongs relationship becomes more complicated as Peiru becomes increasingly manic and confused in her own life. Eventually she is fired from her job and becomes completely broke. Zhangdong chooses to selflessly sell his own home to provide her the money to start her own expensive business. The business quickly fails and Peiru returns to Hong Kong to live with her family.

Shortly before Zhangdong's brothers wedding things begin to go awry for the now broke police officer. As a result of a previous job related accident Fang Zhengdong's mental abilities begin to fail. He begins to forget things a little too easily and his constant reminder notes are not even enough to keep his memory on track. He then loses his job as a result of using a police vehicle to run shady errands for Peiru. He is fired from his job and left in the care of his disabled brother.

Peiru lives in Hong Kong for a short time and begins to reflect on the selfless care and love that Zhendong has shown her. She discovers a note Zhengdong left her that said "I will never let you feel lonely again." The note inspires her to track him down and express to him that she now loves him back. With hard work she finds him and tells him that she is in love with him. Zhengdong tries to get her to leave and instead the two agree to be together and work through his failing mental state together.

The two soon become married as well as pregnant despite Zhengdong's dementia-like state. The lives of these two unlikely lovers becomes more and more tumultuous as Zhangdong becomes more and more incapable living in the world around him. The two work through hard times as they attempt to work through his situation. One day, when Zhangdong chooses to go on a short morning walk, he witnesses a young man robbing a house. After Zhangdongs police instinct kick in, he begins to chase the young man. After an intense chase the young man hits Zhangdong in the head with a brick. He ends up in a coma in the hospital and Peiru refuses to leave his side. She does not eat or sleep for three days and collapses just as Zhangdong's heart unexpectedly stops. Peiru wakes up shortly after to find Zhangdong alive and well next to her. He apologizes for worrying her and the two, despite the hard work required, live happily ever after.

==Director==
Andrew Lau began his career as a cinematographer, but quickly moved into directing as well. After becoming sick of dealing with directors who brushed off poor shots, Lau decided that he wanted to have the control needed to create compelling films and also featured the cinematography that he knew they deserved. Lau has directed over forty two films, including the Infernal Affairs Trilogy which becomes some of the highest grossing films of all time in China and also won an array of awards for the films. He frequently works alongside Alan Mak and the two have worked on carious films together. He also has directed films across an array of genres and chooses not to become stuck in one specific genre.

==Actors/Characters==

[[File:Shi_Qu_Cannes_2009.jpg|200px|thumb|right| Qu Shi at Cannes Film Festival 2009 .]]

Qi Shu- Shu plays Li Peiru in A Beautiful Life and is known for the manic acting style that she portrays in the film. Shu's career started with humble origins as she worked her way from the adult film industry up into the mainstream Chinese acting world. Her career boasts over 70 mainstream films and she will be appearing in two American films in 2013. Shi plays the part of Li Peiru as exactly what the character needed to be played as. Through her acting he creates a character that is genuinely lovable by Fang Zhengdong and the audience alike. This convinces the audience to connect with Peiru and Zhengdong in a way that few other actresses would be able to pull off. The manic acting style, which could be considered a downfall, quickly becomes one of her greatest triumphs as the manic personality quickly becomes one of the important themes in the film (as we will explore later.)

[[File:LiuYe_2007_2.jpg|200px|thumb|left| Ye Liu in New York 2007 Picture by Xiao1Yao.]]

Ye Liu- Liu's acting career boasts over 36 mainstream films. The actor gained instant recognition after he received a nomination for best supporting actor at the Chinese film awards after just his first film. Known for his good looks the actor has shied away from making the easy career choice of becoming a teenage heart throb. Instead Liu is known for choosing more difficult roles over the kind that will garner more money and attention. He was even lucky enough to work along Meryl Streep in an American film in 2007. Liu plays the character of Zhangdong perfectly as well. Through his acting he is able to create a lovable character who would have become pathetic in any other actors hands. Instead of feeling pity for his character the audience instead feels acceptance and love for the never-do-wrong cop who cant help but fall in love with his manic co-star. His Mr. Nice Guy role quickly becomes important to the overall theme of the film.

Liang Tian- Tian's career only boasts four titles, but the young actor proves to be quite formidable in A Beautiful Life. Tian plays the disabled but artistically gifted younger brother of Zhangdong. His role quickly becomes an important one in the film as the concepts and stereotypes of disabled characters quickly becomes noteworthy in the film.

==Western Stereotypes in A Beautiful Life==

For a western viewer one thing becomes readily apparent in A Beautiful Life. The film begins like almost any other Romantic Comedy from America. An unsuspecting man's life is turned upside down when he meets a beautiful and impulsive woman who lives life to the fullest. These usual stereotypes become important to the western viewer as they become more complicates, inverted, and changed from what usual western stereotypes dictate. A few of the stereotypes noticeable are the Manic Pixie Dream Girl, Mr. Nice Guy, Happily Ever After and the use of disabled characters.

The Manic Pixie Dream Girl-
The character of Li Peiru serves as the manic pixie dreamgirl in this particular film. The Manic Pixie Dream Girl is a film stock character that has existed in western film almost from the beginning of Hollywood films, but was not officially named until 2005 when a film reviewer named it after watching the film Elizabethtown. Examples of this characters can be found in Garden State, Whats up Doc?, Ruby Sparks, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and (500) Days of Summer. Li Peiru initially seems to fit this stereotype which quickly changes.

Mr. Nice Guy-
Fang Zhangdong serves as Mr. Nice Guy in this film. Mr. Nice Guy is another stock character (dubbed by me) which appears in many films as well. Usually paired with Manic Pixie Dream Girls, Mr. Nice Guy characters are usually the type of men who will always do the right thing no matter what. They generally fall in love with the types of girls who don't love them back and generally settle for being friends instead of lovers to these women. Examples of this character are found in The Wedding Singer, Win a Date With Tad Hamilton, (500) Days of Summer, Blast From The Past, and many others. Zhengdong also initially fits this stereotype which quickly changes.

Happily Ever After-
The Happily Ever After stereotype is generally happens in western romance movies. The guy gets the girl, they get married, they win the lottery, they never have to worry about anything in the end, and their relationship will seemingly be perfect forever. While the film A Beautiful Life seems to work up to this for quite some time, the important thing is that after the "happily ever after" moment. The movie is only about halfway done.

Use of disabled characters-
Several disabled characters appear in A Beautiful Life. The film begins with the introduction of Zhangdong's brother and then introduces his blind girlfriend, a blind character, and eventually Zhangdong himself. These characters at first glance seem to the usual western stereotype of disabled characters. This also quickly changes.

==Commentary on Western Stereotypes==

A Beautiful Life is an important Chinese film. As preciously stated, the film boldly follows western stereotypes while simultaneously breaking them down and challenging them. This plays a very important role in the film as it breaks many stereotypes in an incredibly watchable way. While many western filmgoers may believe this movie to be a copy or ripoff of general western film tropes, I argue that it uses them to specifically create a movie that opposes western stereotypes in its storytelling.

The fist aspect of western stereotypes in the film is the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. As mentioned before Li Peiru fits this stereotype, but only at first. While she in introduced as an impulsive and loveable woman who could possibly serve solely the purpose of being Zhengdong's love interest. This stereotype is almost immediately broken down. Instead of being just some impulsive girl for the protagonist to fall in love with Peiru quickly becomes a very complex character who is haunted by her own problems with alcohol as well as a troubling affair. The Manic Pixie Dream Girl also follows one important rule, which is to be tamed by the Mr. Nice Guy and live happily ever after with him as he takes care of her for the rest of their lives. This would be true for the first half of the film, but quickly the roles are reversed as Peiru becomes one of the caretakers of poor Zhengdong. Instead of being tamed and taken care of Peiru quickly breaks out of her western stereotype and becomes a character that holds far more depth than the usual Pixie girl. This is important to the overall theme of the film as it directly opposes the stereotype that is initially seemed to set up for itself.

The second western stereotype that A Beautiful Life initially seems to set up is the Mr. Nice Guy character who is Fang Zhengdong. As mentioned before Zhangdong is a character who initially seems almost too nice to be believable. He risks his job and his home for Peiru and has spent a huge portion of his life caring for his younger disabled brother. This concept quickly becomes problematic as Zhangdongs ability to have people rely on him becomes impossible because of his failing mental state. Instead of choosing to take care of his brother and his love interest for the rest of his life, illness turns him into someone who will need care for the rest of his life. His ability to be nice to everyone is also compromised as he becomes more and more frustrated with his downhill mental state. There are key scenes in the film where the audience is able to see a darker and more mean side of Zhangdong as he becomes more and more incapable of taking care of the people in his life. This is important to the film because we see a stereotypical nice guy character become something far more complicated than most western movies would allow.

The third western stereotype we see is the happily ever after moment. Most western romance movies end on a note that tells the audience that the main characters in the film will live happily ever after. This scene seems to happen in A Beautiful Life, but the audience is privileged enough to see the lives of characters AFTER their happily every after. Instead of seeing what western filmgoers might expect, the audience sees the characters in the film go through the types of hardships that would actually occur in their situation. There is no magical cure for Zhangdongs illness or his financial state. The two main characters end up together and in love, but not everything is perfect. The film shows that although they promise their lives to one another, they still have more hard work ahead of them than any western romantic couple would ever seem to have to face. This is an important aspect of the movie because while the film sets up this situation it immediately breaks it down and changes it. In the end of the film the characters still have yet another happily ever after moment, but not before the audience witnesses the hardships they will have to face.

The fourth western stereotype we see in the film appears in the use of disabled characters. Western films generally use disabled characters as a plot device. Characters like Zhangdongs brother, his brothers deaf girlfriend, and Zhangdons blind friend, are set up to simply show how kind Zhangdong is and used simply like set pieces for the main characters to interact with. Zhangdongs brother and the deaf girl seem to fit into this western stereotype at first, that is until their own love story somehow seems to take a front seat to Zhangdongs. Their love story becomes more heartfelt and interesting than the one displayed by the main characters. Most important of these disable characters is that in western movies disable characters either find some way of being independent in movies, or find convenient help for life, usually in the form of Mr. Nice Guy. In A Beautiful Life the disabled characters actually end up as the caretakers of who would usually take care of them for the rest of their lives. A Beautiful Life once again sets up a serious western stereotype and quickly breaks it down and inverts the stereotype in on itself.
Another disable character that seems to serve some importance is the blind character. Most western films would immediately define a blink character by the fact that they were blind. In A Beautiful Life the blind character does not become noticeably blind until halfway through the film. This serves an important role in that the western stereotype is again directly opposed and introduces a blind characters by their personality and friendship to the main character instead of the simple fact that they cannot see.

Over all these types of stereotypes and more build up in the film to give a western audience an initial feeling of familiarity. The western audience who view this movie might think they have an idea of where this movie is going and the movie takes twists that westerners might not expect. This film works as foreign film that gives into western stereotypes and then immediately complicates them, inverts them, or disregards them completely. While some movies attempt to complicate western stereotypes by doing the complete opposite of what might be expected, A Beautiful chooses instead to simply alter them. The audience still gets to see a happy ending, disabled side characters, and a quirky manic dream girl. But the film immediately changes those western stereotypes to be something more than just the usual romance. This film very effectively breaks down western stereotypes while also effectively creating a pleasing cinematic experience.

==Videos==

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3AKtzrSgdI

==References==

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1934335/?ref_=sr_2

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0795517/?ref_=tt_cl_t1

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1091782/?ref_=tt_cl_t2

==Powerpoint presentation==

[[A Beautiful Life.pptx]]

I will never let you feel lonely again

2013-04-16T00:53:15Z

Matt C: Created page with "==Redirect== You have been redirected to article A Beautiful Life by ~~~~ http://wiki.vm.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/uvu/index.php/A_Beautiful_Life"

==Redirect==

You have been redirected to article A Beautiful Life by [[User:Matt C|Matt C]] ([[User talk:Matt C|talk]]) 02:53, 16 April 2013 (CEST)

http://wiki.vm.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/uvu/index.php/A_Beautiful_Life

File:Shi Qu Cannes 2009.jpg

2013-04-16T00:47:43Z

Matt C:

A Beautiful Life

2013-04-16T00:47:28Z

Matt C: /* Actors/Characters */

File:LiuYe 2007 2.jpg

2013-04-16T00:31:06Z

Matt C:

A Beautiful Life

2013-04-16T00:30:48Z

Matt C: /* Actors/Characters */

==A Beautiful Life==

[[File:A_Beautiful_Life_2011_poster.jpg|200px|thumb|right| Hong Kong Movie Poster for A Beautiful Life(2011).]]

A 2011 film that follows the unlikely love story of two people living in Beijing China. Directed by Andrew Lau and starring Qi Shu, Ye Liu, Liang Tian, Danying Fen, and Anthony Wang Chau-Sang. Other titles that apply to the film are Don't Be Lonely, I Will Never Let You Be Lonely Again, and Mei LI Ren Sheng.

==Plot Synopsis==

One seemingly normal night in Hong Kong at a karaoke bar quickly becomes the starting point for an unexplected and amazing love story between Feng Zhengdong and Li Peiru. After spending the night with some soon-to-be wed friends Fang Zhendong leaves early only to be puked on by Li Peiru and unwittingly becomes selected to carry her home. Fang Zhengdong, thinking their interaction will stop there, begins to unexpectedly meet the impulsive and fun woman man places throughout his life. The two become unlikely friends as Fang Zhengdong becomes increasingly infatuated with the manic woman he has befriended. Li Peiru on the other hand, seems to be too caught up with her own sexual affair with her married boss to notice.

After running into Zhengdong at the story Peiru manages to take his groceries to make dumplings for her married boss. Peiru fails to properly cook the dumplings and convinces Shengdong to come to her apartment to help her. After Peiru's boss arrives she convinces him that Zhengdong is just a hired cook. Peiru's affair ends shortly thereafter since he begins sleeping with another of Peiru's co-workers.

Meanwhile, Zhendong struggles to keep his disabled brother afloat. Zhendong's brother, a talented artist, dresses up as a lion and hands out flyers on the street. Unbeknownst to Zangdong his own brother has fallen in love with a pretty deaf girl who works near him. The two fall in love and eventually asks to be married to Zhangdong.

Peiru and Zhangdongs relationship becomes more complicated as Peiru becomes increasingly manic and confused in her own life. Eventually she is fired from her job and becomes completely broke. Zhangdong chooses to selflessly sell his own home to provide her the money to start her own expensive business. The business quickly fails and Peiru returns to Hong Kong to live with her family.

Shortly before Zhangdong's brothers wedding things begin to go awry for the now broke police officer. As a result of a previous job related accident Fang Zhengdong's mental abilities begin to fail. He begins to forget things a little too easily and his constant reminder notes are not even enough to keep his memory on track. He then loses his job as a result of using a police vehicle to run shady errands for Peiru. He is fired from his job and left in the care of his disabled brother.

Peiru lives in Hong Kong for a short time and begins to reflect on the selfless care and love that Zhendong has shown her. She discovers a note Zhengdong left her that said "I will never let you feel lonely again." The note inspires her to track him down and express to him that she now loves him back. With hard work she finds him and tells him that she is in love with him. Zhengdong tries to get her to leave and instead the two agree to be together and work through his failing mental state together.

The two soon become married as well as pregnant despite Zhengdong's dementia-like state. The lives of these two unlikely lovers becomes more and more tumultuous as Zhangdong becomes more and more incapable living in the world around him. The two work through hard times as they attempt to work through his situation. One day, when Zhangdong chooses to go on a short morning walk, he witnesses a young man robbing a house. After Zhangdongs police instinct kick in, he begins to chase the young man. After an intense chase the young man hits Zhangdong in the head with a brick. He ends up in a coma in the hospital and Peiru refuses to leave his side. She does not eat or sleep for three days and collapses just as Zhangdong's heart unexpectedly stops. Peiru wakes up shortly after to find Zhangdong alive and well next to her. He apologizes for worrying her and the two, despite the hard work required, live happily ever after.

==Director==
Andrew Lau began his career as a cinematographer, but quickly moved into directing as well. After becoming sick of dealing with directors who brushed off poor shots, Lau decided that he wanted to have the control needed to create compelling films and also featured the cinematography that he knew they deserved. Lau has directed over forty two films, including the Infernal Affairs Trilogy which becomes some of the highest grossing films of all time in China and also won an array of awards for the films. He frequently works alongside Alan Mak and the two have worked on carious films together. He also has directed films across an array of genres and chooses not to become stuck in one specific genre.

==Actors/Characters==

Qi Shu- Shu plays Li Peiru in A Beautiful Life and is known for the manic acting style that she portrays in the film. Shu's career started with humble origins as she worked her way from the adult film industry up into the mainstream Chinese acting world. Her career boasts over 70 mainstream films and she will be appearing in two American films in 2013. Shi plays the part of Li Peiru as exactly what the character needed to be played as. Through her acting he creates a character that is genuinely lovable by Fang Zhengdong and the audience alike. This convinces the audience to connect with Peiru and Zhengdong in a way that few other actresses would be able to pull off. The manic acting style, which could be considered a downfall, quickly becomes one of her greatest triumphs as the manic personality quickly becomes one of the important themes in the film (as we will explore later.)

[[File:LiuYe_2007_2.jpg|200px|thumb|left| Ye Liu in New York 2007 Picture by Xiao1Yao.]]

Ye Liu- Liu's acting career boasts over 36 mainstream films. The actor gained instant recognition after he received a nomination for best supporting actor at the Chinese film awards after just his first film. Known for his good looks the actor has shied away from making the easy career choice of becoming a teenage heart throb. Instead Liu is known for choosing more difficult roles over the kind that will garner more money and attention. He was even lucky enough to work along Meryl Streep in an American film in 2007. Liu plays the character of Zhangdong perfectly as well. Through his acting he is able to create a lovable character who would have become pathetic in any other actors hands. Instead of feeling pity for his character the audience instead feels acceptance and love for the never-do-wrong cop who cant help but fall in love with his manic co-star. His Mr. Nice Guy role quickly becomes important to the overall theme of the film.

Liang Tian- Tian's career only boasts four titles, but the young actor proves to be quite formidable in A Beautiful Life. Tian plays the disabled but artistically gifted younger brother of Zhangdong. His role quickly becomes an important one in the film as the concepts and stereotypes of disabled characters quickly becomes noteworthy in the film.

==Western Stereotypes in A Beautiful Life==

For a western viewer one thing becomes readily apparent in A Beautiful Life. The film begins like almost any other Romantic Comedy from America. An unsuspecting man's life is turned upside down when he meets a beautiful and impulsive woman who lives life to the fullest. These usual stereotypes become important to the western viewer as they become more complicates, inverted, and changed from what usual western stereotypes dictate. A few of the stereotypes noticeable are the Manic Pixie Dream Girl, Mr. Nice Guy, Happily Ever After and the use of disabled characters.

The Manic Pixie Dream Girl-
The character of Li Peiru serves as the manic pixie dreamgirl in this particular film. The Manic Pixie Dream Girl is a film stock character that has existed in western film almost from the beginning of Hollywood films, but was not officially named until 2005 when a film reviewer named it after watching the film Elizabethtown. Examples of this characters can be found in Garden State, Whats up Doc?, Ruby Sparks, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and (500) Days of Summer. Li Peiru initially seems to fit this stereotype which quickly changes.

Mr. Nice Guy-
Fang Zhangdong serves as Mr. Nice Guy in this film. Mr. Nice Guy is another stock character (dubbed by me) which appears in many films as well. Usually paired with Manic Pixie Dream Girls, Mr. Nice Guy characters are usually the type of men who will always do the right thing no matter what. They generally fall in love with the types of girls who don't love them back and generally settle for being friends instead of lovers to these women. Examples of this character are found in The Wedding Singer, Win a Date With Tad Hamilton, (500) Days of Summer, Blast From The Past, and many others. Zhengdong also initially fits this stereotype which quickly changes.

Happily Ever After-
The Happily Ever After stereotype is generally happens in western romance movies. The guy gets the girl, they get married, they win the lottery, they never have to worry about anything in the end, and their relationship will seemingly be perfect forever. While the film A Beautiful Life seems to work up to this for quite some time, the important thing is that after the "happily ever after" moment. The movie is only about halfway done.

Use of disabled characters-
Several disabled characters appear in A Beautiful Life. The film begins with the introduction of Zhangdong's brother and then introduces his blind girlfriend, a blind character, and eventually Zhangdong himself. These characters at first glance seem to the usual western stereotype of disabled characters. This also quickly changes.

==Commentary on Western Stereotypes==

A Beautiful Life is an important Chinese film. As preciously stated, the film boldly follows western stereotypes while simultaneously breaking them down and challenging them. This plays a very important role in the film as it breaks many stereotypes in an incredibly watchable way. While many western filmgoers may believe this movie to be a copy or ripoff of general western film tropes, I argue that it uses them to specifically create a movie that opposes western stereotypes in its storytelling.

The fist aspect of western stereotypes in the film is the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. As mentioned before Li Peiru fits this stereotype, but only at first. While she in introduced as an impulsive and loveable woman who could possibly serve solely the purpose of being Zhengdong's love interest. This stereotype is almost immediately broken down. Instead of being just some impulsive girl for the protagonist to fall in love with Peiru quickly becomes a very complex character who is haunted by her own problems with alcohol as well as a troubling affair. The Manic Pixie Dream Girl also follows one important rule, which is to be tamed by the Mr. Nice Guy and live happily ever after with him as he takes care of her for the rest of their lives. This would be true for the first half of the film, but quickly the roles are reversed as Peiru becomes one of the caretakers of poor Zhengdong. Instead of being tamed and taken care of Peiru quickly breaks out of her western stereotype and becomes a character that holds far more depth than the usual Pixie girl. This is important to the overall theme of the film as it directly opposes the stereotype that is initially seemed to set up for itself.

The second western stereotype that A Beautiful Life initially seems to set up is the Mr. Nice Guy character who is Fang Zhengdong. As mentioned before Zhangdong is a character who initially seems almost too nice to be believable. He risks his job and his home for Peiru and has spent a huge portion of his life caring for his younger disabled brother. This concept quickly becomes problematic as Zhangdongs ability to have people rely on him becomes impossible because of his failing mental state. Instead of choosing to take care of his brother and his love interest for the rest of his life, illness turns him into someone who will need care for the rest of his life. His ability to be nice to everyone is also compromised as he becomes more and more frustrated with his downhill mental state. There are key scenes in the film where the audience is able to see a darker and more mean side of Zhangdong as he becomes more and more incapable of taking care of the people in his life. This is important to the film because we see a stereotypical nice guy character become something far more complicated than most western movies would allow.

The third western stereotype we see is the happily ever after moment. Most western romance movies end on a note that tells the audience that the main characters in the film will live happily ever after. This scene seems to happen in A Beautiful Life, but the audience is privileged enough to see the lives of characters AFTER their happily every after. Instead of seeing what western filmgoers might expect, the audience sees the characters in the film go through the types of hardships that would actually occur in their situation. There is no magical cure for Zhangdongs illness or his financial state. The two main characters end up together and in love, but not everything is perfect. The film shows that although they promise their lives to one another, they still have more hard work ahead of them than any western romantic couple would ever seem to have to face. This is an important aspect of the movie because while the film sets up this situation it immediately breaks it down and changes it. In the end of the film the characters still have yet another happily ever after moment, but not before the audience witnesses the hardships they will have to face.

The fourth western stereotype we see in the film appears in the use of disabled characters. Western films generally use disabled characters as a plot device. Characters like Zhangdongs brother, his brothers deaf girlfriend, and Zhangdons blind friend, are set up to simply show how kind Zhangdong is and used simply like set pieces for the main characters to interact with. Zhangdongs brother and the deaf girl seem to fit into this western stereotype at first, that is until their own love story somehow seems to take a front seat to Zhangdongs. Their love story becomes more heartfelt and interesting than the one displayed by the main characters. Most important of these disable characters is that in western movies disable characters either find some way of being independent in movies, or find convenient help for life, usually in the form of Mr. Nice Guy. In A Beautiful Life the disabled characters actually end up as the caretakers of who would usually take care of them for the rest of their lives. A Beautiful Life once again sets up a serious western stereotype and quickly breaks it down and inverts the stereotype in on itself.
Another disable character that seems to serve some importance is the blind character. Most western films would immediately define a blink character by the fact that they were blind. In A Beautiful Life the blind character does not become noticeably blind until halfway through the film. This serves an important role in that the western stereotype is again directly opposed and introduces a blind characters by their personality and friendship to the main character instead of the simple fact that they cannot see.

Over all these types of stereotypes and more build up in the film to give a western audience an initial feeling of familiarity. The western audience who view this movie might think they have an idea of where this movie is going and the movie takes twists that westerners might not expect. This film works as foreign film that gives into western stereotypes and then immediately complicates them, inverts them, or disregards them completely. While some movies attempt to complicate western stereotypes by doing the complete opposite of what might be expected, A Beautiful chooses instead to simply alter them. The audience still gets to see a happy ending, disabled side characters, and a quirky manic dream girl. But the film immediately changes those western stereotypes to be something more than just the usual romance. This film very effectively breaks down western stereotypes while also effectively creating a pleasing cinematic experience.

==Videos==

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3AKtzrSgdI

==References==

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1934335/?ref_=sr_2

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0795517/?ref_=tt_cl_t1

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1091782/?ref_=tt_cl_t2

A Beautiful Life

2013-04-16T00:27:58Z

Matt C: /* Commentary on Western Stereotypes */

==A Beautiful Life==

[[File:A_Beautiful_Life_2011_poster.jpg|200px|thumb|right| Hong Kong Movie Poster for A Beautiful Life(2011).]]

A 2011 film that follows the unlikely love story of two people living in Beijing China. Directed by Andrew Lau and starring Qi Shu, Ye Liu, Liang Tian, Danying Fen, and Anthony Wang Chau-Sang. Other titles that apply to the film are Don't Be Lonely, I Will Never Let You Be Lonely Again, and Mei LI Ren Sheng.

==Plot Synopsis==

One seemingly normal night in Hong Kong at a karaoke bar quickly becomes the starting point for an unexplected and amazing love story between Feng Zhengdong and Li Peiru. After spending the night with some soon-to-be wed friends Fang Zhendong leaves early only to be puked on by Li Peiru and unwittingly becomes selected to carry her home. Fang Zhengdong, thinking their interaction will stop there, begins to unexpectedly meet the impulsive and fun woman man places throughout his life. The two become unlikely friends as Fang Zhengdong becomes increasingly infatuated with the manic woman he has befriended. Li Peiru on the other hand, seems to be too caught up with her own sexual affair with her married boss to notice.

After running into Zhengdong at the story Peiru manages to take his groceries to make dumplings for her married boss. Peiru fails to properly cook the dumplings and convinces Shengdong to come to her apartment to help her. After Peiru's boss arrives she convinces him that Zhengdong is just a hired cook. Peiru's affair ends shortly thereafter since he begins sleeping with another of Peiru's co-workers.

Meanwhile, Zhendong struggles to keep his disabled brother afloat. Zhendong's brother, a talented artist, dresses up as a lion and hands out flyers on the street. Unbeknownst to Zangdong his own brother has fallen in love with a pretty deaf girl who works near him. The two fall in love and eventually asks to be married to Zhangdong.

Peiru and Zhangdongs relationship becomes more complicated as Peiru becomes increasingly manic and confused in her own life. Eventually she is fired from her job and becomes completely broke. Zhangdong chooses to selflessly sell his own home to provide her the money to start her own expensive business. The business quickly fails and Peiru returns to Hong Kong to live with her family.

Shortly before Zhangdong's brothers wedding things begin to go awry for the now broke police officer. As a result of a previous job related accident Fang Zhengdong's mental abilities begin to fail. He begins to forget things a little too easily and his constant reminder notes are not even enough to keep his memory on track. He then loses his job as a result of using a police vehicle to run shady errands for Peiru. He is fired from his job and left in the care of his disabled brother.

Peiru lives in Hong Kong for a short time and begins to reflect on the selfless care and love that Zhendong has shown her. She discovers a note Zhengdong left her that said "I will never let you feel lonely again." The note inspires her to track him down and express to him that she now loves him back. With hard work she finds him and tells him that she is in love with him. Zhengdong tries to get her to leave and instead the two agree to be together and work through his failing mental state together.

The two soon become married as well as pregnant despite Zhengdong's dementia-like state. The lives of these two unlikely lovers becomes more and more tumultuous as Zhangdong becomes more and more incapable living in the world around him. The two work through hard times as they attempt to work through his situation. One day, when Zhangdong chooses to go on a short morning walk, he witnesses a young man robbing a house. After Zhangdongs police instinct kick in, he begins to chase the young man. After an intense chase the young man hits Zhangdong in the head with a brick. He ends up in a coma in the hospital and Peiru refuses to leave his side. She does not eat or sleep for three days and collapses just as Zhangdong's heart unexpectedly stops. Peiru wakes up shortly after to find Zhangdong alive and well next to her. He apologizes for worrying her and the two, despite the hard work required, live happily ever after.

==Director==
Andrew Lau began his career as a cinematographer, but quickly moved into directing as well. After becoming sick of dealing with directors who brushed off poor shots, Lau decided that he wanted to have the control needed to create compelling films and also featured the cinematography that he knew they deserved. Lau has directed over forty two films, including the Infernal Affairs Trilogy which becomes some of the highest grossing films of all time in China and also won an array of awards for the films. He frequently works alongside Alan Mak and the two have worked on carious films together. He also has directed films across an array of genres and chooses not to become stuck in one specific genre.

==Actors/Characters==

Qi Shu- Shu plays Li Peiru in A Beautiful Life and is known for the manic acting style that she portrays in the film. Shu's career started with humble origins as she worked her way from the adult film industry up into the mainstream Chinese acting world. Her career boasts over 70 mainstream films and she will be appearing in two American films in 2013. Shi plays the part of Li Peiru as exactly what the character needed to be played as. Through her acting he creates a character that is genuinely lovable by Fang Zhengdong and the audience alike. This convinces the audience to connect with Peiru and Zhengdong in a way that few other actresses would be able to pull off. The manic acting style, which could be considered a downfall, quickly becomes one of her greatest triumphs as the manic personality quickly becomes one of the important themes in the film (as we will explore later.)

Ye Liu- Liu's acting career boasts over 36 mainstream films. The actor gained instant recognition after he received a nomination for best supporting actor at the Chinese film awards after just his first film. Known for his good looks the actor has shied away from making the easy career choice of becoming a teenage heart throb. Instead Liu is known for choosing more difficult roles over the kind that will garner more money and attention. He was even lucky enough to work along Meryl Streep in an American film in 2007. Liu plays the character of Zhangdong perfectly as well. Through his acting he is able to create a lovable character who would have become pathetic in any other actors hands. Instead of feeling pity for his character the audience instead feels acceptance and love for the never-do-wrong cop who cant help but fall in love with his manic co-star. His Mr. Nice Guy role quickly becomes important to the overall theme of the film.

Liang Tian- Tian's career only boasts four titles, but the young actor proves to be quite formidable in A Beautiful Life. Tian plays the disabled but artistically gifted younger brother of Zhangdong. His role quickly becomes an important one in the film as the concepts and stereotypes of disabled characters quickly becomes noteworthy in the film.

==Western Stereotypes in A Beautiful Life==

For a western viewer one thing becomes readily apparent in A Beautiful Life. The film begins like almost any other Romantic Comedy from America. An unsuspecting man's life is turned upside down when he meets a beautiful and impulsive woman who lives life to the fullest. These usual stereotypes become important to the western viewer as they become more complicates, inverted, and changed from what usual western stereotypes dictate. A few of the stereotypes noticeable are the Manic Pixie Dream Girl, Mr. Nice Guy, Happily Ever After and the use of disabled characters.

The Manic Pixie Dream Girl-
The character of Li Peiru serves as the manic pixie dreamgirl in this particular film. The Manic Pixie Dream Girl is a film stock character that has existed in western film almost from the beginning of Hollywood films, but was not officially named until 2005 when a film reviewer named it after watching the film Elizabethtown. Examples of this characters can be found in Garden State, Whats up Doc?, Ruby Sparks, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and (500) Days of Summer. Li Peiru initially seems to fit this stereotype which quickly changes.

Mr. Nice Guy-
Fang Zhangdong serves as Mr. Nice Guy in this film. Mr. Nice Guy is another stock character (dubbed by me) which appears in many films as well. Usually paired with Manic Pixie Dream Girls, Mr. Nice Guy characters are usually the type of men who will always do the right thing no matter what. They generally fall in love with the types of girls who don't love them back and generally settle for being friends instead of lovers to these women. Examples of this character are found in The Wedding Singer, Win a Date With Tad Hamilton, (500) Days of Summer, Blast From The Past, and many others. Zhengdong also initially fits this stereotype which quickly changes.

Happily Ever After-
The Happily Ever After stereotype is generally happens in western romance movies. The guy gets the girl, they get married, they win the lottery, they never have to worry about anything in the end, and their relationship will seemingly be perfect forever. While the film A Beautiful Life seems to work up to this for quite some time, the important thing is that after the "happily ever after" moment. The movie is only about halfway done.

Use of disabled characters-
Several disabled characters appear in A Beautiful Life. The film begins with the introduction of Zhangdong's brother and then introduces his blind girlfriend, a blind character, and eventually Zhangdong himself. These characters at first glance seem to the usual western stereotype of disabled characters. This also quickly changes.

==Commentary on Western Stereotypes==

A Beautiful Life is an important Chinese film. As preciously stated, the film boldly follows western stereotypes while simultaneously breaking them down and challenging them. This plays a very important role in the film as it breaks many stereotypes in an incredibly watchable way. While many western filmgoers may believe this movie to be a copy or ripoff of general western film tropes, I argue that it uses them to specifically create a movie that opposes western stereotypes in its storytelling.

The fist aspect of western stereotypes in the film is the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. As mentioned before Li Peiru fits this stereotype, but only at first. While she in introduced as an impulsive and loveable woman who could possibly serve solely the purpose of being Zhengdong's love interest. This stereotype is almost immediately broken down. Instead of being just some impulsive girl for the protagonist to fall in love with Peiru quickly becomes a very complex character who is haunted by her own problems with alcohol as well as a troubling affair. The Manic Pixie Dream Girl also follows one important rule, which is to be tamed by the Mr. Nice Guy and live happily ever after with him as he takes care of her for the rest of their lives. This would be true for the first half of the film, but quickly the roles are reversed as Peiru becomes one of the caretakers of poor Zhengdong. Instead of being tamed and taken care of Peiru quickly breaks out of her western stereotype and becomes a character that holds far more depth than the usual Pixie girl. This is important to the overall theme of the film as it directly opposes the stereotype that is initially seemed to set up for itself.

The second western stereotype that A Beautiful Life initially seems to set up is the Mr. Nice Guy character who is Fang Zhengdong. As mentioned before Zhangdong is a character who initially seems almost too nice to be believable. He risks his job and his home for Peiru and has spent a huge portion of his life caring for his younger disabled brother. This concept quickly becomes problematic as Zhangdongs ability to have people rely on him becomes impossible because of his failing mental state. Instead of choosing to take care of his brother and his love interest for the rest of his life, illness turns him into someone who will need care for the rest of his life. His ability to be nice to everyone is also compromised as he becomes more and more frustrated with his downhill mental state. There are key scenes in the film where the audience is able to see a darker and more mean side of Zhangdong as he becomes more and more incapable of taking care of the people in his life. This is important to the film because we see a stereotypical nice guy character become something far more complicated than most western movies would allow.

The third western stereotype we see is the happily ever after moment. Most western romance movies end on a note that tells the audience that the main characters in the film will live happily ever after. This scene seems to happen in A Beautiful Life, but the audience is privileged enough to see the lives of characters AFTER their happily every after. Instead of seeing what western filmgoers might expect, the audience sees the characters in the film go through the types of hardships that would actually occur in their situation. There is no magical cure for Zhangdongs illness or his financial state. The two main characters end up together and in love, but not everything is perfect. The film shows that although they promise their lives to one another, they still have more hard work ahead of them than any western romantic couple would ever seem to have to face. This is an important aspect of the movie because while the film sets up this situation it immediately breaks it down and changes it. In the end of the film the characters still have yet another happily ever after moment, but not before the audience witnesses the hardships they will have to face.

The fourth western stereotype we see in the film appears in the use of disabled characters. Western films generally use disabled characters as a plot device. Characters like Zhangdongs brother, his brothers deaf girlfriend, and Zhangdons blind friend, are set up to simply show how kind Zhangdong is and used simply like set pieces for the main characters to interact with. Zhangdongs brother and the deaf girl seem to fit into this western stereotype at first, that is until their own love story somehow seems to take a front seat to Zhangdongs. Their love story becomes more heartfelt and interesting than the one displayed by the main characters. Most important of these disable characters is that in western movies disable characters either find some way of being independent in movies, or find convenient help for life, usually in the form of Mr. Nice Guy. In A Beautiful Life the disabled characters actually end up as the caretakers of who would usually take care of them for the rest of their lives. A Beautiful Life once again sets up a serious western stereotype and quickly breaks it down and inverts the stereotype in on itself.
Another disable character that seems to serve some importance is the blind character. Most western films would immediately define a blink character by the fact that they were blind. In A Beautiful Life the blind character does not become noticeably blind until halfway through the film. This serves an important role in that the western stereotype is again directly opposed and introduces a blind characters by their personality and friendship to the main character instead of the simple fact that they cannot see.

Over all these types of stereotypes and more build up in the film to give a western audience an initial feeling of familiarity. The western audience who view this movie might think they have an idea of where this movie is going and the movie takes twists that westerners might not expect. This film works as foreign film that gives into western stereotypes and then immediately complicates them, inverts them, or disregards them completely. While some movies attempt to complicate western stereotypes by doing the complete opposite of what might be expected, A Beautiful chooses instead to simply alter them. The audience still gets to see a happy ending, disabled side characters, and a quirky manic dream girl. But the film immediately changes those western stereotypes to be something more than just the usual romance. This film very effectively breaks down western stereotypes while also effectively creating a pleasing cinematic experience.

==Videos==

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3AKtzrSgdI

==References==

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1934335/?ref_=sr_2

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0795517/?ref_=tt_cl_t1

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1091782/?ref_=tt_cl_t2

A Beautiful Life

2013-04-16T00:21:31Z

Matt C: /* References */

==A Beautiful Life==

[[File:A_Beautiful_Life_2011_poster.jpg|200px|thumb|right| Hong Kong Movie Poster for A Beautiful Life(2011).]]

A 2011 film that follows the unlikely love story of two people living in Beijing China. Directed by Andrew Lau and starring Qi Shu, Ye Liu, Liang Tian, Danying Fen, and Anthony Wang Chau-Sang. Other titles that apply to the film are Don't Be Lonely, I Will Never Let You Be Lonely Again, and Mei LI Ren Sheng.

==Plot Synopsis==

One seemingly normal night in Hong Kong at a karaoke bar quickly becomes the starting point for an unexplected and amazing love story between Feng Zhengdong and Li Peiru. After spending the night with some soon-to-be wed friends Fang Zhendong leaves early only to be puked on by Li Peiru and unwittingly becomes selected to carry her home. Fang Zhengdong, thinking their interaction will stop there, begins to unexpectedly meet the impulsive and fun woman man places throughout his life. The two become unlikely friends as Fang Zhengdong becomes increasingly infatuated with the manic woman he has befriended. Li Peiru on the other hand, seems to be too caught up with her own sexual affair with her married boss to notice.

After running into Zhengdong at the story Peiru manages to take his groceries to make dumplings for her married boss. Peiru fails to properly cook the dumplings and convinces Shengdong to come to her apartment to help her. After Peiru's boss arrives she convinces him that Zhengdong is just a hired cook. Peiru's affair ends shortly thereafter since he begins sleeping with another of Peiru's co-workers.

Meanwhile, Zhendong struggles to keep his disabled brother afloat. Zhendong's brother, a talented artist, dresses up as a lion and hands out flyers on the street. Unbeknownst to Zangdong his own brother has fallen in love with a pretty deaf girl who works near him. The two fall in love and eventually asks to be married to Zhangdong.

Peiru and Zhangdongs relationship becomes more complicated as Peiru becomes increasingly manic and confused in her own life. Eventually she is fired from her job and becomes completely broke. Zhangdong chooses to selflessly sell his own home to provide her the money to start her own expensive business. The business quickly fails and Peiru returns to Hong Kong to live with her family.

Shortly before Zhangdong's brothers wedding things begin to go awry for the now broke police officer. As a result of a previous job related accident Fang Zhengdong's mental abilities begin to fail. He begins to forget things a little too easily and his constant reminder notes are not even enough to keep his memory on track. He then loses his job as a result of using a police vehicle to run shady errands for Peiru. He is fired from his job and left in the care of his disabled brother.

Peiru lives in Hong Kong for a short time and begins to reflect on the selfless care and love that Zhendong has shown her. She discovers a note Zhengdong left her that said "I will never let you feel lonely again." The note inspires her to track him down and express to him that she now loves him back. With hard work she finds him and tells him that she is in love with him. Zhengdong tries to get her to leave and instead the two agree to be together and work through his failing mental state together.

The two soon become married as well as pregnant despite Zhengdong's dementia-like state. The lives of these two unlikely lovers becomes more and more tumultuous as Zhangdong becomes more and more incapable living in the world around him. The two work through hard times as they attempt to work through his situation. One day, when Zhangdong chooses to go on a short morning walk, he witnesses a young man robbing a house. After Zhangdongs police instinct kick in, he begins to chase the young man. After an intense chase the young man hits Zhangdong in the head with a brick. He ends up in a coma in the hospital and Peiru refuses to leave his side. She does not eat or sleep for three days and collapses just as Zhangdong's heart unexpectedly stops. Peiru wakes up shortly after to find Zhangdong alive and well next to her. He apologizes for worrying her and the two, despite the hard work required, live happily ever after.

==Director==
Andrew Lau began his career as a cinematographer, but quickly moved into directing as well. After becoming sick of dealing with directors who brushed off poor shots, Lau decided that he wanted to have the control needed to create compelling films and also featured the cinematography that he knew they deserved. Lau has directed over forty two films, including the Infernal Affairs Trilogy which becomes some of the highest grossing films of all time in China and also won an array of awards for the films. He frequently works alongside Alan Mak and the two have worked on carious films together. He also has directed films across an array of genres and chooses not to become stuck in one specific genre.

==Actors/Characters==

Qi Shu- Shu plays Li Peiru in A Beautiful Life and is known for the manic acting style that she portrays in the film. Shu's career started with humble origins as she worked her way from the adult film industry up into the mainstream Chinese acting world. Her career boasts over 70 mainstream films and she will be appearing in two American films in 2013. Shi plays the part of Li Peiru as exactly what the character needed to be played as. Through her acting he creates a character that is genuinely lovable by Fang Zhengdong and the audience alike. This convinces the audience to connect with Peiru and Zhengdong in a way that few other actresses would be able to pull off. The manic acting style, which could be considered a downfall, quickly becomes one of her greatest triumphs as the manic personality quickly becomes one of the important themes in the film (as we will explore later.)

Ye Liu- Liu's acting career boasts over 36 mainstream films. The actor gained instant recognition after he received a nomination for best supporting actor at the Chinese film awards after just his first film. Known for his good looks the actor has shied away from making the easy career choice of becoming a teenage heart throb. Instead Liu is known for choosing more difficult roles over the kind that will garner more money and attention. He was even lucky enough to work along Meryl Streep in an American film in 2007. Liu plays the character of Zhangdong perfectly as well. Through his acting he is able to create a lovable character who would have become pathetic in any other actors hands. Instead of feeling pity for his character the audience instead feels acceptance and love for the never-do-wrong cop who cant help but fall in love with his manic co-star. His Mr. Nice Guy role quickly becomes important to the overall theme of the film.

Liang Tian- Tian's career only boasts four titles, but the young actor proves to be quite formidable in A Beautiful Life. Tian plays the disabled but artistically gifted younger brother of Zhangdong. His role quickly becomes an important one in the film as the concepts and stereotypes of disabled characters quickly becomes noteworthy in the film.

==Western Stereotypes in A Beautiful Life==

For a western viewer one thing becomes readily apparent in A Beautiful Life. The film begins like almost any other Romantic Comedy from America. An unsuspecting man's life is turned upside down when he meets a beautiful and impulsive woman who lives life to the fullest. These usual stereotypes become important to the western viewer as they become more complicates, inverted, and changed from what usual western stereotypes dictate. A few of the stereotypes noticeable are the Manic Pixie Dream Girl, Mr. Nice Guy, Happily Ever After and the use of disabled characters.

The Manic Pixie Dream Girl-
The character of Li Peiru serves as the manic pixie dreamgirl in this particular film. The Manic Pixie Dream Girl is a film stock character that has existed in western film almost from the beginning of Hollywood films, but was not officially named until 2005 when a film reviewer named it after watching the film Elizabethtown. Examples of this characters can be found in Garden State, Whats up Doc?, Ruby Sparks, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and (500) Days of Summer. Li Peiru initially seems to fit this stereotype which quickly changes.

Mr. Nice Guy-
Fang Zhangdong serves as Mr. Nice Guy in this film. Mr. Nice Guy is another stock character (dubbed by me) which appears in many films as well. Usually paired with Manic Pixie Dream Girls, Mr. Nice Guy characters are usually the type of men who will always do the right thing no matter what. They generally fall in love with the types of girls who don't love them back and generally settle for being friends instead of lovers to these women. Examples of this character are found in The Wedding Singer, Win a Date With Tad Hamilton, (500) Days of Summer, Blast From The Past, and many others. Zhengdong also initially fits this stereotype which quickly changes.

Happily Ever After-
The Happily Ever After stereotype is generally happens in western romance movies. The guy gets the girl, they get married, they win the lottery, they never have to worry about anything in the end, and their relationship will seemingly be perfect forever. While the film A Beautiful Life seems to work up to this for quite some time, the important thing is that after the "happily ever after" moment. The movie is only about halfway done.

Use of disabled characters-
Several disabled characters appear in A Beautiful Life. The film begins with the introduction of Zhangdong's brother and then introduces his blind girlfriend, a blind character, and eventually Zhangdong himself. These characters at first glance seem to the usual western stereotype of disabled characters. This also quickly changes.

==Commentary on Western Stereotypes==

A Beautiful Life is an important Chinese film. As preciously stated, the film boldly follows western stereotypes while simultaneously breaking them down and challenging them. This plays a very important role in the film as it breaks many stereotypes in an incredibly watchable way. While many western filmgoers may believe this movie to be a copy or ripoff of general western film tropes, I argue that it uses them to specifically create a movie that opposes western stereotypes in its storytelling.

The fist aspect of western stereotypes in the film is the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. As mentioned before Li Peiru fits this stereotype, but only at first. While she in introduced as an impulsive and loveable woman who could possibly serve solely the purpose of being Zhengdong's love interest. This stereotype is almost immediately broken down. Instead of being just some impulsive girl for the protagonist to fall in love with Peiru quickly becomes a very complex character who is haunted by her own problems with alcohol as well as a troubling affair. The Manic Pixie Dream Girl also follows one important rule, which is to be tamed by the Mr. Nice Guy and live happily ever after with him as he takes care of her for the rest of their lives. This would be true for the first half of the film, but quickly the roles are reversed as Peiru becomes one of the caretakers of poor Zhengdong. Instead of being tamed and taken care of Peiru quickly breaks out of her western stereotype and becomes a character that holds far more depth than the usual Pixie girl. This is important to the overall theme of the film as it directly opposes the stereotype that is initially seemed to set up for itself.

The second western stereotype that A Beautiful Life initially seems to set up is the Mr. Nice Guy character who is Fang Zhengdong. As mentioned before Zhangdong is a character who initially seems almost too nice to be believable. He risks his job and his home for Peiru and has spent a huge portion of his life caring for his younger disabled brother. This concept quickly becomes problematic as Zhangdongs ability to have people rely on him becomes impossible because of his failing mental state. Instead of choosing to take care of his brother and his love interest for the rest of his life, illness turns him into someone who will need care for the rest of his life. His ability to be nice to everyone is also compromised as he becomes more and more frustrated with his downhill mental state. There are key scenes in the film where the audience is able to see a darker and more mean side of Zhangdong as he becomes more and more incapable of taking care of the people in his life. This is important to the film because we see a stereotypical nice guy character become something far more complicated than most western movies would allow.

The third western stereotype we see is the happily ever after moment. Most western romance movies end on a note that tells the audience that the main characters in the film will live happily ever after. This scene seems to happen in A Beautiful Life, but the audience is privileged enough to see the lives of characters AFTER their happily every after. Instead of seeing what western filmgoers might expect, the audience sees the characters in the film go through the types of hardships that would actually occur in their situation. There is no magical cure for Zhangdongs illness or his financial state. The two main characters end up together and in love, but not everything is perfect. The film shows that although they promise their lives to one another, they still have more hard work ahead of them than any western romantic couple would ever seem to have to face. This is an important aspect of the movie because while the film sets up this situation it immediately breaks it down and changes it. In the end of the film the characters still have yet another happily ever after moment, but not before the audience witnesses the hardships they will have to face.

The fourth western stereotype we see in the film appears in the use of disabled characters. Western films generally use disabled characters as a plot device. Characters like Zhangdongs brother, his brothers deaf girlfriend, and Zhangdons blind friend, are set up to simply show how kind Zhangdong is and used simply like set pieces for the main characters to interact with. Zhangdongs brother and the deaf girl seem to fit into this western stereotype at first, that is until their own love story somehow seems to take a front seat to Zhangdongs. Their love story becomes more heartfelt and interesting than the one displayed by the main characters. Most important of these disable characters is that in western movies disable characters either find some way of being independent in movies, or find convenient help for life, usually in the form of Mr. Nice Guy. In A Beautiful Life the disabled characters actually end up as the caretakers of who would usually take care of them for the rest of their lives. A Beautiful Life once again sets up a serious western stereotype and quickly breaks it down and inverts the stereotype in on itself.
Another disable character that seems to serve some importance is the blind character. Most western films would immediately define a blink character by the fact that they were blind. In A Beautiful Life the blind character does not become noticeably blind until halfway through the film. This serves an important role in that the western stereotype is again directly opposed and introduces a blind characters by their personality and friendship to the main character instead of the simple fact that they cannot see.

==Videos==

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3AKtzrSgdI

==References==

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1934335/?ref_=sr_2

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0795517/?ref_=tt_cl_t1

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1091782/?ref_=tt_cl_t2

A Beautiful Life

2013-04-16T00:16:28Z

Matt C: /* Videos */

==A Beautiful Life==

[[File:A_Beautiful_Life_2011_poster.jpg|200px|thumb|right| Hong Kong Movie Poster for A Beautiful Life(2011).]]

A 2011 film that follows the unlikely love story of two people living in Beijing China. Directed by Andrew Lau and starring Qi Shu, Ye Liu, Liang Tian, Danying Fen, and Anthony Wang Chau-Sang. Other titles that apply to the film are Don't Be Lonely, I Will Never Let You Be Lonely Again, and Mei LI Ren Sheng.

==Plot Synopsis==

One seemingly normal night in Hong Kong at a karaoke bar quickly becomes the starting point for an unexplected and amazing love story between Feng Zhengdong and Li Peiru. After spending the night with some soon-to-be wed friends Fang Zhendong leaves early only to be puked on by Li Peiru and unwittingly becomes selected to carry her home. Fang Zhengdong, thinking their interaction will stop there, begins to unexpectedly meet the impulsive and fun woman man places throughout his life. The two become unlikely friends as Fang Zhengdong becomes increasingly infatuated with the manic woman he has befriended. Li Peiru on the other hand, seems to be too caught up with her own sexual affair with her married boss to notice.

After running into Zhengdong at the story Peiru manages to take his groceries to make dumplings for her married boss. Peiru fails to properly cook the dumplings and convinces Shengdong to come to her apartment to help her. After Peiru's boss arrives she convinces him that Zhengdong is just a hired cook. Peiru's affair ends shortly thereafter since he begins sleeping with another of Peiru's co-workers.

Meanwhile, Zhendong struggles to keep his disabled brother afloat. Zhendong's brother, a talented artist, dresses up as a lion and hands out flyers on the street. Unbeknownst to Zangdong his own brother has fallen in love with a pretty deaf girl who works near him. The two fall in love and eventually asks to be married to Zhangdong.

Peiru and Zhangdongs relationship becomes more complicated as Peiru becomes increasingly manic and confused in her own life. Eventually she is fired from her job and becomes completely broke. Zhangdong chooses to selflessly sell his own home to provide her the money to start her own expensive business. The business quickly fails and Peiru returns to Hong Kong to live with her family.

Shortly before Zhangdong's brothers wedding things begin to go awry for the now broke police officer. As a result of a previous job related accident Fang Zhengdong's mental abilities begin to fail. He begins to forget things a little too easily and his constant reminder notes are not even enough to keep his memory on track. He then loses his job as a result of using a police vehicle to run shady errands for Peiru. He is fired from his job and left in the care of his disabled brother.

Peiru lives in Hong Kong for a short time and begins to reflect on the selfless care and love that Zhendong has shown her. She discovers a note Zhengdong left her that said "I will never let you feel lonely again." The note inspires her to track him down and express to him that she now loves him back. With hard work she finds him and tells him that she is in love with him. Zhengdong tries to get her to leave and instead the two agree to be together and work through his failing mental state together.

The two soon become married as well as pregnant despite Zhengdong's dementia-like state. The lives of these two unlikely lovers becomes more and more tumultuous as Zhangdong becomes more and more incapable living in the world around him. The two work through hard times as they attempt to work through his situation. One day, when Zhangdong chooses to go on a short morning walk, he witnesses a young man robbing a house. After Zhangdongs police instinct kick in, he begins to chase the young man. After an intense chase the young man hits Zhangdong in the head with a brick. He ends up in a coma in the hospital and Peiru refuses to leave his side. She does not eat or sleep for three days and collapses just as Zhangdong's heart unexpectedly stops. Peiru wakes up shortly after to find Zhangdong alive and well next to her. He apologizes for worrying her and the two, despite the hard work required, live happily ever after.

==Director==
Andrew Lau began his career as a cinematographer, but quickly moved into directing as well. After becoming sick of dealing with directors who brushed off poor shots, Lau decided that he wanted to have the control needed to create compelling films and also featured the cinematography that he knew they deserved. Lau has directed over forty two films, including the Infernal Affairs Trilogy which becomes some of the highest grossing films of all time in China and also won an array of awards for the films. He frequently works alongside Alan Mak and the two have worked on carious films together. He also has directed films across an array of genres and chooses not to become stuck in one specific genre.

==Actors/Characters==

Qi Shu- Shu plays Li Peiru in A Beautiful Life and is known for the manic acting style that she portrays in the film. Shu's career started with humble origins as she worked her way from the adult film industry up into the mainstream Chinese acting world. Her career boasts over 70 mainstream films and she will be appearing in two American films in 2013. Shi plays the part of Li Peiru as exactly what the character needed to be played as. Through her acting he creates a character that is genuinely lovable by Fang Zhengdong and the audience alike. This convinces the audience to connect with Peiru and Zhengdong in a way that few other actresses would be able to pull off. The manic acting style, which could be considered a downfall, quickly becomes one of her greatest triumphs as the manic personality quickly becomes one of the important themes in the film (as we will explore later.)

Ye Liu- Liu's acting career boasts over 36 mainstream films. The actor gained instant recognition after he received a nomination for best supporting actor at the Chinese film awards after just his first film. Known for his good looks the actor has shied away from making the easy career choice of becoming a teenage heart throb. Instead Liu is known for choosing more difficult roles over the kind that will garner more money and attention. He was even lucky enough to work along Meryl Streep in an American film in 2007. Liu plays the character of Zhangdong perfectly as well. Through his acting he is able to create a lovable character who would have become pathetic in any other actors hands. Instead of feeling pity for his character the audience instead feels acceptance and love for the never-do-wrong cop who cant help but fall in love with his manic co-star. His Mr. Nice Guy role quickly becomes important to the overall theme of the film.

Liang Tian- Tian's career only boasts four titles, but the young actor proves to be quite formidable in A Beautiful Life. Tian plays the disabled but artistically gifted younger brother of Zhangdong. His role quickly becomes an important one in the film as the concepts and stereotypes of disabled characters quickly becomes noteworthy in the film.

==Western Stereotypes in A Beautiful Life==

For a western viewer one thing becomes readily apparent in A Beautiful Life. The film begins like almost any other Romantic Comedy from America. An unsuspecting man's life is turned upside down when he meets a beautiful and impulsive woman who lives life to the fullest. These usual stereotypes become important to the western viewer as they become more complicates, inverted, and changed from what usual western stereotypes dictate. A few of the stereotypes noticeable are the Manic Pixie Dream Girl, Mr. Nice Guy, Happily Ever After and the use of disabled characters.

The Manic Pixie Dream Girl-
The character of Li Peiru serves as the manic pixie dreamgirl in this particular film. The Manic Pixie Dream Girl is a film stock character that has existed in western film almost from the beginning of Hollywood films, but was not officially named until 2005 when a film reviewer named it after watching the film Elizabethtown. Examples of this characters can be found in Garden State, Whats up Doc?, Ruby Sparks, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and (500) Days of Summer. Li Peiru initially seems to fit this stereotype which quickly changes.

Mr. Nice Guy-
Fang Zhangdong serves as Mr. Nice Guy in this film. Mr. Nice Guy is another stock character (dubbed by me) which appears in many films as well. Usually paired with Manic Pixie Dream Girls, Mr. Nice Guy characters are usually the type of men who will always do the right thing no matter what. They generally fall in love with the types of girls who don't love them back and generally settle for being friends instead of lovers to these women. Examples of this character are found in The Wedding Singer, Win a Date With Tad Hamilton, (500) Days of Summer, Blast From The Past, and many others. Zhengdong also initially fits this stereotype which quickly changes.

Happily Ever After-
The Happily Ever After stereotype is generally happens in western romance movies. The guy gets the girl, they get married, they win the lottery, they never have to worry about anything in the end, and their relationship will seemingly be perfect forever. While the film A Beautiful Life seems to work up to this for quite some time, the important thing is that after the "happily ever after" moment. The movie is only about halfway done.

Use of disabled characters-
Several disabled characters appear in A Beautiful Life. The film begins with the introduction of Zhangdong's brother and then introduces his blind girlfriend, a blind character, and eventually Zhangdong himself. These characters at first glance seem to the usual western stereotype of disabled characters. This also quickly changes.

==Commentary on Western Stereotypes==

A Beautiful Life is an important Chinese film. As preciously stated, the film boldly follows western stereotypes while simultaneously breaking them down and challenging them. This plays a very important role in the film as it breaks many stereotypes in an incredibly watchable way. While many western filmgoers may believe this movie to be a copy or ripoff of general western film tropes, I argue that it uses them to specifically create a movie that opposes western stereotypes in its storytelling.

The fist aspect of western stereotypes in the film is the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. As mentioned before Li Peiru fits this stereotype, but only at first. While she in introduced as an impulsive and loveable woman who could possibly serve solely the purpose of being Zhengdong's love interest. This stereotype is almost immediately broken down. Instead of being just some impulsive girl for the protagonist to fall in love with Peiru quickly becomes a very complex character who is haunted by her own problems with alcohol as well as a troubling affair. The Manic Pixie Dream Girl also follows one important rule, which is to be tamed by the Mr. Nice Guy and live happily ever after with him as he takes care of her for the rest of their lives. This would be true for the first half of the film, but quickly the roles are reversed as Peiru becomes one of the caretakers of poor Zhengdong. Instead of being tamed and taken care of Peiru quickly breaks out of her western stereotype and becomes a character that holds far more depth than the usual Pixie girl. This is important to the overall theme of the film as it directly opposes the stereotype that is initially seemed to set up for itself.

The second western stereotype that A Beautiful Life initially seems to set up is the Mr. Nice Guy character who is Fang Zhengdong. As mentioned before Zhangdong is a character who initially seems almost too nice to be believable. He risks his job and his home for Peiru and has spent a huge portion of his life caring for his younger disabled brother. This concept quickly becomes problematic as Zhangdongs ability to have people rely on him becomes impossible because of his failing mental state. Instead of choosing to take care of his brother and his love interest for the rest of his life, illness turns him into someone who will need care for the rest of his life. His ability to be nice to everyone is also compromised as he becomes more and more frustrated with his downhill mental state. There are key scenes in the film where the audience is able to see a darker and more mean side of Zhangdong as he becomes more and more incapable of taking care of the people in his life. This is important to the film because we see a stereotypical nice guy character become something far more complicated than most western movies would allow.

The third western stereotype we see is the happily ever after moment. Most western romance movies end on a note that tells the audience that the main characters in the film will live happily ever after. This scene seems to happen in A Beautiful Life, but the audience is privileged enough to see the lives of characters AFTER their happily every after. Instead of seeing what western filmgoers might expect, the audience sees the characters in the film go through the types of hardships that would actually occur in their situation. There is no magical cure for Zhangdongs illness or his financial state. The two main characters end up together and in love, but not everything is perfect. The film shows that although they promise their lives to one another, they still have more hard work ahead of them than any western romantic couple would ever seem to have to face. This is an important aspect of the movie because while the film sets up this situation it immediately breaks it down and changes it. In the end of the film the characters still have yet another happily ever after moment, but not before the audience witnesses the hardships they will have to face.

The fourth western stereotype we see in the film appears in the use of disabled characters. Western films generally use disabled characters as a plot device. Characters like Zhangdongs brother, his brothers deaf girlfriend, and Zhangdons blind friend, are set up to simply show how kind Zhangdong is and used simply like set pieces for the main characters to interact with. Zhangdongs brother and the deaf girl seem to fit into this western stereotype at first, that is until their own love story somehow seems to take a front seat to Zhangdongs. Their love story becomes more heartfelt and interesting than the one displayed by the main characters. Most important of these disable characters is that in western movies disable characters either find some way of being independent in movies, or find convenient help for life, usually in the form of Mr. Nice Guy. In A Beautiful Life the disabled characters actually end up as the caretakers of who would usually take care of them for the rest of their lives. A Beautiful Life once again sets up a serious western stereotype and quickly breaks it down and inverts the stereotype in on itself.
Another disable character that seems to serve some importance is the blind character. Most western films would immediately define a blink character by the fact that they were blind. In A Beautiful Life the blind character does not become noticeably blind until halfway through the film. This serves an important role in that the western stereotype is again directly opposed and introduces a blind characters by their personality and friendship to the main character instead of the simple fact that they cannot see.

==Videos==

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3AKtzrSgdI

==References==

A Beautiful Life

2013-04-16T00:13:40Z

Matt C: /* Commentary on Western Stereotypes */

==A Beautiful Life==

[[File:A_Beautiful_Life_2011_poster.jpg|200px|thumb|right| Hong Kong Movie Poster for A Beautiful Life(2011).]]

A 2011 film that follows the unlikely love story of two people living in Beijing China. Directed by Andrew Lau and starring Qi Shu, Ye Liu, Liang Tian, Danying Fen, and Anthony Wang Chau-Sang. Other titles that apply to the film are Don't Be Lonely, I Will Never Let You Be Lonely Again, and Mei LI Ren Sheng.

==Plot Synopsis==

One seemingly normal night in Hong Kong at a karaoke bar quickly becomes the starting point for an unexplected and amazing love story between Feng Zhengdong and Li Peiru. After spending the night with some soon-to-be wed friends Fang Zhendong leaves early only to be puked on by Li Peiru and unwittingly becomes selected to carry her home. Fang Zhengdong, thinking their interaction will stop there, begins to unexpectedly meet the impulsive and fun woman man places throughout his life. The two become unlikely friends as Fang Zhengdong becomes increasingly infatuated with the manic woman he has befriended. Li Peiru on the other hand, seems to be too caught up with her own sexual affair with her married boss to notice.

After running into Zhengdong at the story Peiru manages to take his groceries to make dumplings for her married boss. Peiru fails to properly cook the dumplings and convinces Shengdong to come to her apartment to help her. After Peiru's boss arrives she convinces him that Zhengdong is just a hired cook. Peiru's affair ends shortly thereafter since he begins sleeping with another of Peiru's co-workers.

Meanwhile, Zhendong struggles to keep his disabled brother afloat. Zhendong's brother, a talented artist, dresses up as a lion and hands out flyers on the street. Unbeknownst to Zangdong his own brother has fallen in love with a pretty deaf girl who works near him. The two fall in love and eventually asks to be married to Zhangdong.

Peiru and Zhangdongs relationship becomes more complicated as Peiru becomes increasingly manic and confused in her own life. Eventually she is fired from her job and becomes completely broke. Zhangdong chooses to selflessly sell his own home to provide her the money to start her own expensive business. The business quickly fails and Peiru returns to Hong Kong to live with her family.

Shortly before Zhangdong's brothers wedding things begin to go awry for the now broke police officer. As a result of a previous job related accident Fang Zhengdong's mental abilities begin to fail. He begins to forget things a little too easily and his constant reminder notes are not even enough to keep his memory on track. He then loses his job as a result of using a police vehicle to run shady errands for Peiru. He is fired from his job and left in the care of his disabled brother.

Peiru lives in Hong Kong for a short time and begins to reflect on the selfless care and love that Zhendong has shown her. She discovers a note Zhengdong left her that said "I will never let you feel lonely again." The note inspires her to track him down and express to him that she now loves him back. With hard work she finds him and tells him that she is in love with him. Zhengdong tries to get her to leave and instead the two agree to be together and work through his failing mental state together.

The two soon become married as well as pregnant despite Zhengdong's dementia-like state. The lives of these two unlikely lovers becomes more and more tumultuous as Zhangdong becomes more and more incapable living in the world around him. The two work through hard times as they attempt to work through his situation. One day, when Zhangdong chooses to go on a short morning walk, he witnesses a young man robbing a house. After Zhangdongs police instinct kick in, he begins to chase the young man. After an intense chase the young man hits Zhangdong in the head with a brick. He ends up in a coma in the hospital and Peiru refuses to leave his side. She does not eat or sleep for three days and collapses just as Zhangdong's heart unexpectedly stops. Peiru wakes up shortly after to find Zhangdong alive and well next to her. He apologizes for worrying her and the two, despite the hard work required, live happily ever after.

==Director==
Andrew Lau began his career as a cinematographer, but quickly moved into directing as well. After becoming sick of dealing with directors who brushed off poor shots, Lau decided that he wanted to have the control needed to create compelling films and also featured the cinematography that he knew they deserved. Lau has directed over forty two films, including the Infernal Affairs Trilogy which becomes some of the highest grossing films of all time in China and also won an array of awards for the films. He frequently works alongside Alan Mak and the two have worked on carious films together. He also has directed films across an array of genres and chooses not to become stuck in one specific genre.

==Actors/Characters==

Qi Shu- Shu plays Li Peiru in A Beautiful Life and is known for the manic acting style that she portrays in the film. Shu's career started with humble origins as she worked her way from the adult film industry up into the mainstream Chinese acting world. Her career boasts over 70 mainstream films and she will be appearing in two American films in 2013. Shi plays the part of Li Peiru as exactly what the character needed to be played as. Through her acting he creates a character that is genuinely lovable by Fang Zhengdong and the audience alike. This convinces the audience to connect with Peiru and Zhengdong in a way that few other actresses would be able to pull off. The manic acting style, which could be considered a downfall, quickly becomes one of her greatest triumphs as the manic personality quickly becomes one of the important themes in the film (as we will explore later.)

Ye Liu- Liu's acting career boasts over 36 mainstream films. The actor gained instant recognition after he received a nomination for best supporting actor at the Chinese film awards after just his first film. Known for his good looks the actor has shied away from making the easy career choice of becoming a teenage heart throb. Instead Liu is known for choosing more difficult roles over the kind that will garner more money and attention. He was even lucky enough to work along Meryl Streep in an American film in 2007. Liu plays the character of Zhangdong perfectly as well. Through his acting he is able to create a lovable character who would have become pathetic in any other actors hands. Instead of feeling pity for his character the audience instead feels acceptance and love for the never-do-wrong cop who cant help but fall in love with his manic co-star. His Mr. Nice Guy role quickly becomes important to the overall theme of the film.

Liang Tian- Tian's career only boasts four titles, but the young actor proves to be quite formidable in A Beautiful Life. Tian plays the disabled but artistically gifted younger brother of Zhangdong. His role quickly becomes an important one in the film as the concepts and stereotypes of disabled characters quickly becomes noteworthy in the film.

==Western Stereotypes in A Beautiful Life==

For a western viewer one thing becomes readily apparent in A Beautiful Life. The film begins like almost any other Romantic Comedy from America. An unsuspecting man's life is turned upside down when he meets a beautiful and impulsive woman who lives life to the fullest. These usual stereotypes become important to the western viewer as they become more complicates, inverted, and changed from what usual western stereotypes dictate. A few of the stereotypes noticeable are the Manic Pixie Dream Girl, Mr. Nice Guy, Happily Ever After and the use of disabled characters.

The Manic Pixie Dream Girl-
The character of Li Peiru serves as the manic pixie dreamgirl in this particular film. The Manic Pixie Dream Girl is a film stock character that has existed in western film almost from the beginning of Hollywood films, but was not officially named until 2005 when a film reviewer named it after watching the film Elizabethtown. Examples of this characters can be found in Garden State, Whats up Doc?, Ruby Sparks, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and (500) Days of Summer. Li Peiru initially seems to fit this stereotype which quickly changes.

Mr. Nice Guy-
Fang Zhangdong serves as Mr. Nice Guy in this film. Mr. Nice Guy is another stock character (dubbed by me) which appears in many films as well. Usually paired with Manic Pixie Dream Girls, Mr. Nice Guy characters are usually the type of men who will always do the right thing no matter what. They generally fall in love with the types of girls who don't love them back and generally settle for being friends instead of lovers to these women. Examples of this character are found in The Wedding Singer, Win a Date With Tad Hamilton, (500) Days of Summer, Blast From The Past, and many others. Zhengdong also initially fits this stereotype which quickly changes.

Happily Ever After-
The Happily Ever After stereotype is generally happens in western romance movies. The guy gets the girl, they get married, they win the lottery, they never have to worry about anything in the end, and their relationship will seemingly be perfect forever. While the film A Beautiful Life seems to work up to this for quite some time, the important thing is that after the "happily ever after" moment. The movie is only about halfway done.

Use of disabled characters-
Several disabled characters appear in A Beautiful Life. The film begins with the introduction of Zhangdong's brother and then introduces his blind girlfriend, a blind character, and eventually Zhangdong himself. These characters at first glance seem to the usual western stereotype of disabled characters. This also quickly changes.

==Commentary on Western Stereotypes==

A Beautiful Life is an important Chinese film. As preciously stated, the film boldly follows western stereotypes while simultaneously breaking them down and challenging them. This plays a very important role in the film as it breaks many stereotypes in an incredibly watchable way. While many western filmgoers may believe this movie to be a copy or ripoff of general western film tropes, I argue that it uses them to specifically create a movie that opposes western stereotypes in its storytelling.

The fist aspect of western stereotypes in the film is the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. As mentioned before Li Peiru fits this stereotype, but only at first. While she in introduced as an impulsive and loveable woman who could possibly serve solely the purpose of being Zhengdong's love interest. This stereotype is almost immediately broken down. Instead of being just some impulsive girl for the protagonist to fall in love with Peiru quickly becomes a very complex character who is haunted by her own problems with alcohol as well as a troubling affair. The Manic Pixie Dream Girl also follows one important rule, which is to be tamed by the Mr. Nice Guy and live happily ever after with him as he takes care of her for the rest of their lives. This would be true for the first half of the film, but quickly the roles are reversed as Peiru becomes one of the caretakers of poor Zhengdong. Instead of being tamed and taken care of Peiru quickly breaks out of her western stereotype and becomes a character that holds far more depth than the usual Pixie girl. This is important to the overall theme of the film as it directly opposes the stereotype that is initially seemed to set up for itself.

The second western stereotype that A Beautiful Life initially seems to set up is the Mr. Nice Guy character who is Fang Zhengdong. As mentioned before Zhangdong is a character who initially seems almost too nice to be believable. He risks his job and his home for Peiru and has spent a huge portion of his life caring for his younger disabled brother. This concept quickly becomes problematic as Zhangdongs ability to have people rely on him becomes impossible because of his failing mental state. Instead of choosing to take care of his brother and his love interest for the rest of his life, illness turns him into someone who will need care for the rest of his life. His ability to be nice to everyone is also compromised as he becomes more and more frustrated with his downhill mental state. There are key scenes in the film where the audience is able to see a darker and more mean side of Zhangdong as he becomes more and more incapable of taking care of the people in his life. This is important to the film because we see a stereotypical nice guy character become something far more complicated than most western movies would allow.

The third western stereotype we see is the happily ever after moment. Most western romance movies end on a note that tells the audience that the main characters in the film will live happily ever after. This scene seems to happen in A Beautiful Life, but the audience is privileged enough to see the lives of characters AFTER their happily every after. Instead of seeing what western filmgoers might expect, the audience sees the characters in the film go through the types of hardships that would actually occur in their situation. There is no magical cure for Zhangdongs illness or his financial state. The two main characters end up together and in love, but not everything is perfect. The film shows that although they promise their lives to one another, they still have more hard work ahead of them than any western romantic couple would ever seem to have to face. This is an important aspect of the movie because while the film sets up this situation it immediately breaks it down and changes it. In the end of the film the characters still have yet another happily ever after moment, but not before the audience witnesses the hardships they will have to face.

The fourth western stereotype we see in the film appears in the use of disabled characters. Western films generally use disabled characters as a plot device. Characters like Zhangdongs brother, his brothers deaf girlfriend, and Zhangdons blind friend, are set up to simply show how kind Zhangdong is and used simply like set pieces for the main characters to interact with. Zhangdongs brother and the deaf girl seem to fit into this western stereotype at first, that is until their own love story somehow seems to take a front seat to Zhangdongs. Their love story becomes more heartfelt and interesting than the one displayed by the main characters. Most important of these disable characters is that in western movies disable characters either find some way of being independent in movies, or find convenient help for life, usually in the form of Mr. Nice Guy. In A Beautiful Life the disabled characters actually end up as the caretakers of who would usually take care of them for the rest of their lives. A Beautiful Life once again sets up a serious western stereotype and quickly breaks it down and inverts the stereotype in on itself.
Another disable character that seems to serve some importance is the blind character. Most western films would immediately define a blink character by the fact that they were blind. In A Beautiful Life the blind character does not become noticeably blind until halfway through the film. This serves an important role in that the western stereotype is again directly opposed and introduces a blind characters by their personality and friendship to the main character instead of the simple fact that they cannot see.

==Videos==

==References==

A Beautiful Life

2013-04-14T06:59:17Z

Matt C: /* Commentary on Western Stereotypes */

==A Beautiful Life==

[[File:A_Beautiful_Life_2011_poster.jpg|200px|thumb|right| Hong Kong Movie Poster for A Beautiful Life(2011).]]

A 2011 film that follows the unlikely love story of two people living in Beijing China. Directed by Andrew Lau and starring Qi Shu, Ye Liu, Liang Tian, Danying Fen, and Anthony Wang Chau-Sang. Other titles that apply to the film are Don't Be Lonely, I Will Never Let You Be Lonely Again, and Mei LI Ren Sheng.

==Plot Synopsis==

One seemingly normal night in Hong Kong at a karaoke bar quickly becomes the starting point for an unexplected and amazing love story between Feng Zhengdong and Li Peiru. After spending the night with some soon-to-be wed friends Fang Zhendong leaves early only to be puked on by Li Peiru and unwittingly becomes selected to carry her home. Fang Zhengdong, thinking their interaction will stop there, begins to unexpectedly meet the impulsive and fun woman man places throughout his life. The two become unlikely friends as Fang Zhengdong becomes increasingly infatuated with the manic woman he has befriended. Li Peiru on the other hand, seems to be too caught up with her own sexual affair with her married boss to notice.

After running into Zhengdong at the story Peiru manages to take his groceries to make dumplings for her married boss. Peiru fails to properly cook the dumplings and convinces Shengdong to come to her apartment to help her. After Peiru's boss arrives she convinces him that Zhengdong is just a hired cook. Peiru's affair ends shortly thereafter since he begins sleeping with another of Peiru's co-workers.

Meanwhile, Zhendong struggles to keep his disabled brother afloat. Zhendong's brother, a talented artist, dresses up as a lion and hands out flyers on the street. Unbeknownst to Zangdong his own brother has fallen in love with a pretty deaf girl who works near him. The two fall in love and eventually asks to be married to Zhangdong.

Peiru and Zhangdongs relationship becomes more complicated as Peiru becomes increasingly manic and confused in her own life. Eventually she is fired from her job and becomes completely broke. Zhangdong chooses to selflessly sell his own home to provide her the money to start her own expensive business. The business quickly fails and Peiru returns to Hong Kong to live with her family.

Shortly before Zhangdong's brothers wedding things begin to go awry for the now broke police officer. As a result of a previous job related accident Fang Zhengdong's mental abilities begin to fail. He begins to forget things a little too easily and his constant reminder notes are not even enough to keep his memory on track. He then loses his job as a result of using a police vehicle to run shady errands for Peiru. He is fired from his job and left in the care of his disabled brother.

Peiru lives in Hong Kong for a short time and begins to reflect on the selfless care and love that Zhendong has shown her. She discovers a note Zhengdong left her that said "I will never let you feel lonely again." The note inspires her to track him down and express to him that she now loves him back. With hard work she finds him and tells him that she is in love with him. Zhengdong tries to get her to leave and instead the two agree to be together and work through his failing mental state together.

The two soon become married as well as pregnant despite Zhengdong's dementia-like state. The lives of these two unlikely lovers becomes more and more tumultuous as Zhangdong becomes more and more incapable living in the world around him. The two work through hard times as they attempt to work through his situation. One day, when Zhangdong chooses to go on a short morning walk, he witnesses a young man robbing a house. After Zhangdongs police instinct kick in, he begins to chase the young man. After an intense chase the young man hits Zhangdong in the head with a brick. He ends up in a coma in the hospital and Peiru refuses to leave his side. She does not eat or sleep for three days and collapses just as Zhangdong's heart unexpectedly stops. Peiru wakes up shortly after to find Zhangdong alive and well next to her. He apologizes for worrying her and the two, despite the hard work required, live happily ever after.

==Director==
Andrew Lau began his career as a cinematographer, but quickly moved into directing as well. After becoming sick of dealing with directors who brushed off poor shots, Lau decided that he wanted to have the control needed to create compelling films and also featured the cinematography that he knew they deserved. Lau has directed over forty two films, including the Infernal Affairs Trilogy which becomes some of the highest grossing films of all time in China and also won an array of awards for the films. He frequently works alongside Alan Mak and the two have worked on carious films together. He also has directed films across an array of genres and chooses not to become stuck in one specific genre.

==Actors/Characters==

Qi Shu- Shu plays Li Peiru in A Beautiful Life and is known for the manic acting style that she portrays in the film. Shu's career started with humble origins as she worked her way from the adult film industry up into the mainstream Chinese acting world. Her career boasts over 70 mainstream films and she will be appearing in two American films in 2013. Shi plays the part of Li Peiru as exactly what the character needed to be played as. Through her acting he creates a character that is genuinely lovable by Fang Zhengdong and the audience alike. This convinces the audience to connect with Peiru and Zhengdong in a way that few other actresses would be able to pull off. The manic acting style, which could be considered a downfall, quickly becomes one of her greatest triumphs as the manic personality quickly becomes one of the important themes in the film (as we will explore later.)

Ye Liu- Liu's acting career boasts over 36 mainstream films. The actor gained instant recognition after he received a nomination for best supporting actor at the Chinese film awards after just his first film. Known for his good looks the actor has shied away from making the easy career choice of becoming a teenage heart throb. Instead Liu is known for choosing more difficult roles over the kind that will garner more money and attention. He was even lucky enough to work along Meryl Streep in an American film in 2007. Liu plays the character of Zhangdong perfectly as well. Through his acting he is able to create a lovable character who would have become pathetic in any other actors hands. Instead of feeling pity for his character the audience instead feels acceptance and love for the never-do-wrong cop who cant help but fall in love with his manic co-star. His Mr. Nice Guy role quickly becomes important to the overall theme of the film.

Liang Tian- Tian's career only boasts four titles, but the young actor proves to be quite formidable in A Beautiful Life. Tian plays the disabled but artistically gifted younger brother of Zhangdong. His role quickly becomes an important one in the film as the concepts and stereotypes of disabled characters quickly becomes noteworthy in the film.

==Western Stereotypes in A Beautiful Life==

For a western viewer one thing becomes readily apparent in A Beautiful Life. The film begins like almost any other Romantic Comedy from America. An unsuspecting man's life is turned upside down when he meets a beautiful and impulsive woman who lives life to the fullest. These usual stereotypes become important to the western viewer as they become more complicates, inverted, and changed from what usual western stereotypes dictate. A few of the stereotypes noticeable are the Manic Pixie Dream Girl, Mr. Nice Guy, Happily Ever After and the use of disabled characters.

The Manic Pixie Dream Girl-
The character of Li Peiru serves as the manic pixie dreamgirl in this particular film. The Manic Pixie Dream Girl is a film stock character that has existed in western film almost from the beginning of Hollywood films, but was not officially named until 2005 when a film reviewer named it after watching the film Elizabethtown. Examples of this characters can be found in Garden State, Whats up Doc?, Ruby Sparks, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and (500) Days of Summer. Li Peiru initially seems to fit this stereotype which quickly changes.

Mr. Nice Guy-
Fang Zhangdong serves as Mr. Nice Guy in this film. Mr. Nice Guy is another stock character (dubbed by me) which appears in many films as well. Usually paired with Manic Pixie Dream Girls, Mr. Nice Guy characters are usually the type of men who will always do the right thing no matter what. They generally fall in love with the types of girls who don't love them back and generally settle for being friends instead of lovers to these women. Examples of this character are found in The Wedding Singer, Win a Date With Tad Hamilton, (500) Days of Summer, Blast From The Past, and many others. Zhengdong also initially fits this stereotype which quickly changes.

Happily Ever After-
The Happily Ever After stereotype is generally happens in western romance movies. The guy gets the girl, they get married, they win the lottery, they never have to worry about anything in the end, and their relationship will seemingly be perfect forever. While the film A Beautiful Life seems to work up to this for quite some time, the important thing is that after the "happily ever after" moment. The movie is only about halfway done.

Use of disabled characters-
Several disabled characters appear in A Beautiful Life. The film begins with the introduction of Zhangdong's brother and then introduces his blind girlfriend, a blind character, and eventually Zhangdong himself. These characters at first glance seem to the usual western stereotype of disabled characters. This also quickly changes.

==Commentary on Western Stereotypes==

A Beautiful Life is an important Chinese film. As preciously stated, the film boldly follows western stereotypes while simultaneously breaking them down and challenging them. This plays a very important role in the film as it breaks many stereotypes in an incredibly watchable way. While many western filmgoers may believe this movie to be a copy or ripoff of general western film tropes, I argue that it uses them to specifically create a movie that opposes western stereotypes in its storytelling.
The fist aspect of western stereotypes in the film is the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. As mentioned before Li Peiru fits this stereotype, but only at first. While she in introduced as an impulsive and loveable woman who could possibly serve solely the purpose of being Zhengdong's love interest. This stereotype is almost immediately broken down. Instead of being just some impulsive girl for the protagonist to fall in love with Peiru quickly becomes a very complex character who is haunted by her own problems with alcohol as well as a troubling affair. The Manic Pixie Dream Girl also follows one important rule, which is to be tamed by the Mr. Nice Guy and live happily ever after with him as he takes care of her for the rest of their lives. This would be true for the first half of the film, but quickly the roles are reversed as Peiru becomes one of the caretakers of poor Zhengdong. Instead of being tamed and taken care of Peiru quickly breaks out of her western stereotype and becomes a character that holds far more depth than the usual Pixie girl. This is important to the overall theme of the film as it directly opposes the stereotype that is initially seemed to set up for itself.
The second western stereotype that A Beautiful Life initially seems to set up is the Mr. Nice Guy character who is Fang Zhengdong. As mentioned before Zhangdong is a character who initially seems almost too nice to be believable. He risks his job and his home for Peiru and has spent a huge portion of his life caring for his younger disabled brother. This concept quickly becomes problematic as Zhangdongs ability to have people rely on him becomes impossible because of his failing mental state. Instead of choosing to take care of his brother and his love interest for the rest of his life, illness turns him into someone who will need care for the rest of his life. His ability to be nice to everyone is also compromised as he becomes more and more frustrated with his downhill mental state. There are key scenes in the film where the audience is able to see a darker and more mean side of Zhangdong as he becomes more and more incapable of taking care of the people in his life. This is important to the film because we see a stereotypical nice guy character become something far more complicated than most western movies would allow.
The third western stereotype we see is the happily ever after moment. Most western romance movies end on a note that tells the audience that the main characters in the film will live happily ever after. This scene seems to happen in A Beautiful Life, but the audience is privileged enough to see the lives of characters AFTER their happily every after. Instead of seeing what western filmgoers might expect, the audience sees the characters in the film go through the types of hardships that would actually occur in their situation. There is no magical cure for Zhangdongs illness or his financial state. The two main characters end up together and in love, but not everything is perfect. The film shows that although they promise their lives to one another, they still have more hard work ahead of them than any western romantic couple would ever seem to have to face. This is an important aspect of the movie because while the film sets up this situation it immediately breaks it down and changes it. In the end of the film the characters still have yet another happily ever after moment, but not before the audience witnesses the hardships they will have to face.
The fourth western stereotype we see in the film appears in the use of disabled characters. Western films generally use disabled characters as a plot device. Characters like Zhangdongs brother, his brothers deaf girlfriend, and Zhangdons blind friend, are set up to simply show how kind Zhangdong is and used simply like set pieces for the main characters to interact with. Zhangdongs brother and the deaf girl seem to fit into this western stereotype at first, that is until their own love story somehow seems to take a front seat to Zhangdongs. Their love story becomes more heartfelt and interesting than the one displayed by the main characters. Most important of these disable characters is that in western movies disable characters either find some way of being independent in movies, or find convenient help for life, usually in the form of Mr. Nice Guy. In A Beautiful Life the disabled characters actually end up as the caretakers of who would usually take care of them for the rest of their lives. A Beautiful Life once again sets up a serious western stereotype and quickly breaks it down and inverts the stereotype in on itself.
Another disable character that seems to serve some importance is the blind character. Most western films would immediately define a blink character by the fact that they were blind. In A Beautiful Life the blind character does not become noticeably blind until halfway through the film. This serves an important role in that the western stereotype is again directly opposed and introduces a blind characters by their personality and friendship to the main character instead of the simple fact that they cannot see.

==Videos==

==References==

A Beautiful Life

2013-04-14T06:46:50Z

Matt C: /* Commentary on Western Stereotypes */

==A Beautiful Life==

[[File:A_Beautiful_Life_2011_poster.jpg|200px|thumb|right| Hong Kong Movie Poster for A Beautiful Life(2011).]]

A 2011 film that follows the unlikely love story of two people living in Beijing China. Directed by Andrew Lau and starring Qi Shu, Ye Liu, Liang Tian, Danying Fen, and Anthony Wang Chau-Sang. Other titles that apply to the film are Don't Be Lonely, I Will Never Let You Be Lonely Again, and Mei LI Ren Sheng.

==Plot Synopsis==

One seemingly normal night in Hong Kong at a karaoke bar quickly becomes the starting point for an unexplected and amazing love story between Feng Zhengdong and Li Peiru. After spending the night with some soon-to-be wed friends Fang Zhendong leaves early only to be puked on by Li Peiru and unwittingly becomes selected to carry her home. Fang Zhengdong, thinking their interaction will stop there, begins to unexpectedly meet the impulsive and fun woman man places throughout his life. The two become unlikely friends as Fang Zhengdong becomes increasingly infatuated with the manic woman he has befriended. Li Peiru on the other hand, seems to be too caught up with her own sexual affair with her married boss to notice.

After running into Zhengdong at the story Peiru manages to take his groceries to make dumplings for her married boss. Peiru fails to properly cook the dumplings and convinces Shengdong to come to her apartment to help her. After Peiru's boss arrives she convinces him that Zhengdong is just a hired cook. Peiru's affair ends shortly thereafter since he begins sleeping with another of Peiru's co-workers.

Meanwhile, Zhendong struggles to keep his disabled brother afloat. Zhendong's brother, a talented artist, dresses up as a lion and hands out flyers on the street. Unbeknownst to Zangdong his own brother has fallen in love with a pretty deaf girl who works near him. The two fall in love and eventually asks to be married to Zhangdong.

Peiru and Zhangdongs relationship becomes more complicated as Peiru becomes increasingly manic and confused in her own life. Eventually she is fired from her job and becomes completely broke. Zhangdong chooses to selflessly sell his own home to provide her the money to start her own expensive business. The business quickly fails and Peiru returns to Hong Kong to live with her family.

Shortly before Zhangdong's brothers wedding things begin to go awry for the now broke police officer. As a result of a previous job related accident Fang Zhengdong's mental abilities begin to fail. He begins to forget things a little too easily and his constant reminder notes are not even enough to keep his memory on track. He then loses his job as a result of using a police vehicle to run shady errands for Peiru. He is fired from his job and left in the care of his disabled brother.

Peiru lives in Hong Kong for a short time and begins to reflect on the selfless care and love that Zhendong has shown her. She discovers a note Zhengdong left her that said "I will never let you feel lonely again." The note inspires her to track him down and express to him that she now loves him back. With hard work she finds him and tells him that she is in love with him. Zhengdong tries to get her to leave and instead the two agree to be together and work through his failing mental state together.

The two soon become married as well as pregnant despite Zhengdong's dementia-like state. The lives of these two unlikely lovers becomes more and more tumultuous as Zhangdong becomes more and more incapable living in the world around him. The two work through hard times as they attempt to work through his situation. One day, when Zhangdong chooses to go on a short morning walk, he witnesses a young man robbing a house. After Zhangdongs police instinct kick in, he begins to chase the young man. After an intense chase the young man hits Zhangdong in the head with a brick. He ends up in a coma in the hospital and Peiru refuses to leave his side. She does not eat or sleep for three days and collapses just as Zhangdong's heart unexpectedly stops. Peiru wakes up shortly after to find Zhangdong alive and well next to her. He apologizes for worrying her and the two, despite the hard work required, live happily ever after.

==Director==
Andrew Lau began his career as a cinematographer, but quickly moved into directing as well. After becoming sick of dealing with directors who brushed off poor shots, Lau decided that he wanted to have the control needed to create compelling films and also featured the cinematography that he knew they deserved. Lau has directed over forty two films, including the Infernal Affairs Trilogy which becomes some of the highest grossing films of all time in China and also won an array of awards for the films. He frequently works alongside Alan Mak and the two have worked on carious films together. He also has directed films across an array of genres and chooses not to become stuck in one specific genre.

==Actors/Characters==

Qi Shu- Shu plays Li Peiru in A Beautiful Life and is known for the manic acting style that she portrays in the film. Shu's career started with humble origins as she worked her way from the adult film industry up into the mainstream Chinese acting world. Her career boasts over 70 mainstream films and she will be appearing in two American films in 2013. Shi plays the part of Li Peiru as exactly what the character needed to be played as. Through her acting he creates a character that is genuinely lovable by Fang Zhengdong and the audience alike. This convinces the audience to connect with Peiru and Zhengdong in a way that few other actresses would be able to pull off. The manic acting style, which could be considered a downfall, quickly becomes one of her greatest triumphs as the manic personality quickly becomes one of the important themes in the film (as we will explore later.)

Ye Liu- Liu's acting career boasts over 36 mainstream films. The actor gained instant recognition after he received a nomination for best supporting actor at the Chinese film awards after just his first film. Known for his good looks the actor has shied away from making the easy career choice of becoming a teenage heart throb. Instead Liu is known for choosing more difficult roles over the kind that will garner more money and attention. He was even lucky enough to work along Meryl Streep in an American film in 2007. Liu plays the character of Zhangdong perfectly as well. Through his acting he is able to create a lovable character who would have become pathetic in any other actors hands. Instead of feeling pity for his character the audience instead feels acceptance and love for the never-do-wrong cop who cant help but fall in love with his manic co-star. His Mr. Nice Guy role quickly becomes important to the overall theme of the film.

Liang Tian- Tian's career only boasts four titles, but the young actor proves to be quite formidable in A Beautiful Life. Tian plays the disabled but artistically gifted younger brother of Zhangdong. His role quickly becomes an important one in the film as the concepts and stereotypes of disabled characters quickly becomes noteworthy in the film.

==Western Stereotypes in A Beautiful Life==

For a western viewer one thing becomes readily apparent in A Beautiful Life. The film begins like almost any other Romantic Comedy from America. An unsuspecting man's life is turned upside down when he meets a beautiful and impulsive woman who lives life to the fullest. These usual stereotypes become important to the western viewer as they become more complicates, inverted, and changed from what usual western stereotypes dictate. A few of the stereotypes noticeable are the Manic Pixie Dream Girl, Mr. Nice Guy, Happily Ever After and the use of disabled characters.

The Manic Pixie Dream Girl-
The character of Li Peiru serves as the manic pixie dreamgirl in this particular film. The Manic Pixie Dream Girl is a film stock character that has existed in western film almost from the beginning of Hollywood films, but was not officially named until 2005 when a film reviewer named it after watching the film Elizabethtown. Examples of this characters can be found in Garden State, Whats up Doc?, Ruby Sparks, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and (500) Days of Summer. Li Peiru initially seems to fit this stereotype which quickly changes.

Mr. Nice Guy-
Fang Zhangdong serves as Mr. Nice Guy in this film. Mr. Nice Guy is another stock character (dubbed by me) which appears in many films as well. Usually paired with Manic Pixie Dream Girls, Mr. Nice Guy characters are usually the type of men who will always do the right thing no matter what. They generally fall in love with the types of girls who don't love them back and generally settle for being friends instead of lovers to these women. Examples of this character are found in The Wedding Singer, Win a Date With Tad Hamilton, (500) Days of Summer, Blast From The Past, and many others. Zhengdong also initially fits this stereotype which quickly changes.

Happily Ever After-
The Happily Ever After stereotype is generally happens in western romance movies. The guy gets the girl, they get married, they win the lottery, they never have to worry about anything in the end, and their relationship will seemingly be perfect forever. While the film A Beautiful Life seems to work up to this for quite some time, the important thing is that after the "happily ever after" moment. The movie is only about halfway done.

Use of disabled characters-
Several disabled characters appear in A Beautiful Life. The film begins with the introduction of Zhangdong's brother and then introduces his blind girlfriend, a blind character, and eventually Zhangdong himself. These characters at first glance seem to the usual western stereotype of disabled characters. This also quickly changes.

==Commentary on Western Stereotypes==

A Beautiful Life is an important Chinese film. As preciously stated, the film boldly follows western stereotypes while simultaneously breaking them down and challenging them. This plays a very important role in the film as it breaks many stereotypes in an incredibly watchable way. While many western filmgoers may believe this movie to be a copy or ripoff of general western film tropes, I argue that it uses them to specifically create a movie that opposes western stereotypes in its storytelling.
The fist aspect of western stereotypes in the film is the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. As mentioned before Li Peiru fits this stereotype, but only at first. While she in introduced as an impulsive and loveable woman who could possibly serve solely the purpose of being Zhengdong's love interest. This stereotype is almost immediately broken down. Instead of being just some impulsive girl for the protagonist to fall in love with Peiru quickly becomes a very complex character who is haunted by her own problems with alcohol as well as a troubling affair. The Manic Pixie Dream Girl also follows one important rule, which is to be tamed by the Mr. Nice Guy and live happily ever after with him as he takes care of her for the rest of their lives. This would be true for the first half of the film, but quickly the roles are reversed as Peiru becomes one of the caretakers of poor Zhengdong. Instead of being tamed and taken care of Peiru quickly breaks out of her western stereotype and becomes a character that holds far more depth than the usual Pixie girl. This is important to the overall theme of the film as it directly opposes the stereotype that is initially seemed to set up for itself.
The second western stereotype that A Beautiful Life initially seems to set up is the Mr. Nice Guy character who is Fang Zhengdong. As mentioned before Zhangdong is a character who initially seems almost too nice to be believable. He risks his job and his home for Peiru and has spent a huge portion of his life caring for his younger disabled brother. This concept quickly becomes problematic as Zhangdongs ability to have people rely on him becomes impossible because of his failing mental state. Instead of choosing to take care of his brother and his love interest for the rest of his life, illness turns him into someone who will need care for the rest of his life. His ability to be nice to everyone is also compromised as he becomes more and more frustrated with his downhill mental state. There are key scenes in the film where the audience is able to see a darker and more mean side of Zhangdong as he becomes more and more incapable of taking care of the people in his life. This is important to the film because we see a stereotypical nice guy character become something far more complicated than most western movies would allow.
The third western stereotype we see

==Videos==

==References==

A Beautiful Life

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Matt C: /* Western Stereotypes in A Beautiful Life */

A Beautiful Life

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Matt C: /* Western Stereotypes in A Beautiful Life */

A Beautiful Life

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Matt C: /* Actors/Characters */

A Beautiful Life

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Matt C: /* Actors/Characters */

A Beautiful Life

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Matt C: /* Director */

A Beautiful Life

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Matt C: /* Plot Synopsis */

A Beautiful Life

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Matt C: /* Plot Synopsis */

File:A Beautiful Life 2011 poster.jpg

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Matt C: