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A dear friend gave me this book before leaving for England. She thought maybe I would like it because I like oriental culture.
At first, I did indeed like it. It is based on the history of Wu Zetian, the only de facto woman ruler of China to assume the title of Empress Regnant. At the time, I was looking for some nice sources about her, and this book was a gift from heavens, so i was very pleased. But with time I began to get bored. Seriously. Shang Sa’s writing is too much poetic. Too much. And she doesn’t make a single critic to Wu’s reign. Ok, it is a novel, and it is told in first person by Wu herself. Still, what’s with the whole unstoppable praising? I’d rather see the empress as a person who had ambitions and did whatever she thought necessary to achieve them. Let’s stop that women-never-want-power thing, please.
Also, one last thing that displeased very much: in the beginning of the novel, Wu has a number of affairs with women. Nice. I liked it. Until she had an affair with a man, later in life, that changed everything. Ok, that happens. But is the omg-I-didn’t-know-what-was-real-sex-until-now really necessary? (I was going to reproduce the original part here, but I can’t find it now; sorry) It’s very disappointing.
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SA, Shan. Empress : a novel. New York, N.Y.: Harper Perennial, 2006. 324 p. ISBN: 978-0-06-114787-6.
Ying Xiong, also known as Hero, is a 2002 Chinese movie directed by Zhang Yimou and starred by Jet Li.
It was inspired by the story of Jing Ke, a man who in 227 b.C. attempted to murder the king of the State of Qin, Qin Shi Huang, but failed. Qin Shi Huang would later unify China and become its first emperor.
The movie is obviously only losely based on the real facts. The three assassins weren’t real. The man Jing Ke killed to have the chance to get near Qin Shi Huang was Fan Yu Qi, a Qin army general, who at the time had lost favor with the king.
What I find most amazing about this story is the great fear the king had of being murdered, and that his palace officials were not allowed to carry weapons. A fact that, ironically, could have helped Jing Ke.
It’s an excellent movie, just like every other Zhang Yimou’s. The photography is absolutely breathtaking and the soundtrack, by Tan Dun, is also great.
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Nameless: Geart calligraphy.
Broken Sword: Great swordsmanship.
Nameless: You didn’t see my swordsmanship.
Broken Sword: Without it, I couldn’t have written this calligraphy.
