For the AP Literature and Composition Class of 2008-2009.
Monday, December 01, 2008
Legend and Philosophy in "The Woman Warrior"
Research Qigong, Qi and Brave Orchid in "Shaman"...
or The Legend of the Two Empresses and "At the Western Palace"...
or the "Tao Te Ching" and "A Song for a Barbarian Reed Pipe...
11 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Qigong is a variety of traditional practices similar to purpose of other martial arts. These practices involve working with Qi, or the energy within the body. Qi in this practice menas breath or air in Chinese, so together it is the breath of work or energy work. These practices area ssociated with spirituality becasue it deals with the concept of "natural" versus "supernatural." The origins of this practices come from Taoist and Buddhist monasteries. Quigong Qi relates to story of Brave Orchid because she has to deal with the Ghost and controlling the energy. Brave Orchid tells the Ghost that he can not cuase her any pain. This phrase is an attempt to psycologically prepare herself to fight the energy surrounding her. In the whole event, she is under teh spiritual belief of her Chinese culture that Ghosts exist. Brave Orchid uses Qigong beliefs to control her mind, remain conscious, and defeat the Ghost. On the other ahnd, even if the Ghost is just a struggle with her mind, she still uses the spirituality and Qigong to get rid of the confusion in her mind.
The Tao Te Ching goes to early English transliterations into the late 19th century. It is said to be the most influential books in history. It includes famous Chinese sayings. It was written by a man called Lao Tzu over two thousand years ago. The first word mentioned, Tao means "The Way" and the book talks about the way of life and how we should live life.
In chapeter five of The woman Warrior Kingston tells how, when she was a baby, her mother cut her tongue so that she would not be tongue-tied, but Kingston thinks she cut too much because now she has a terrible time overcoming her shyness and talking. She realizes that silence has something to do with being a Chinese girl, as all the Chinese girls in school are quiet. Kingston grows to hate one particularly silent girl, seeing her as an embodiment of her own weakness and silence.
Qigong is a set of exercises that contain meditative and physical movements. These exercises are used to move Qi, thereby maintaining and regaining physical, emotional and spiritual health. Qi is the vital energy or life force which runs through the meridians and is used to guard, change and warm the body. These are seen in Brave Orchid in “Shaman,” because she uses some sort of meditation which is what Qigong is. She is meditating to understand that ghosts, which are a very important part of the Chinese culture.
The legend of the two empresses refers to two sisters that marry the same man at different times. He first marries Zhou Qiang and later falls in love with her younger sister, Zhou Wei. Neither sister achieves the future that they greatly desire with him. Qiang learns about her husband's love affair with Wei. Shortly later, she dies and Wei becomes the new empress. As time passes, the emperor is murdered for an act he commits. Wei cannot tolerate the pain and eventually committs suicide. It ends with the destruction of all involved. This legend connects to Chapter 4 of The Woman Warrior. Brave, while attempting to persuade Moon to "reclaim" her husband, tells her a story very similar to the one mentioned above. It ultimately shows the negative outcomes that are caused by desire. When a person craves something that is not rightfully his or hers, it is never attained to a level of full satisfaction and eventually results in disappointment.
Emperor Li Yu married two empresses. He first marriesd Empress Zhou Qiang Senior. She was invovled with the arts, music, and literature of life. Then, one day she became ill and her sister stayed behind to take care of her. Eventually Emperor Li Yu fell in love with the sister named Zhou Wei. Empress Qiang found out that her husband is in love with her sister and later died through anger. Zhou Wei became Empress Zhou Wei Junior and married him at the same age that her sister did, 19. Later, the country is invaded by anothe emperor and Emperor Li Yu died. Empress Zhou Wei found out that her husband had died and hun herself. Both sisters died at the age of 29. This relates to Chapter, At the Western Palace, in The Woman Warrior. Brave Orchid waits for her sister Moon Orchid to come to America from Hong Kong. Brave Orchid is stubborn and tells her niece that she is the only one who can truly recognize her. This demonstrates the close relationship they must have. When they meet, they criticize each other, presenting a bond building after years of not seeing each other. Brave Orchid encourages Moon Orchid to confront her husband who had left her. This relates to how Emperor Li Yu loved another woman and how betrayal can destroy relationships. The difference is the husband is not in love with Brave Orchid, but the concept applies. Brave Orchid provides a hold for her, to show her love and care. This is similar to how Zhou Wei took care of Zhou Qiang when she was sick and everyone else left her behind. The two empresses died at the same age, revealing how sisters are alike. They do everything that is the similar to each other. Sisters are friends forever even during death. No matter how much a sister betrays the other sister, they will be together. The distance between them ,like Brave Orchid and Moon Orchid, will bring them closer when they come together to remember the good times and share new stories. Such conversations serve to show the instant bond that sisters make when they are together. They become closer when they fight, like how Moon Orchid refuses to see her husband when Brave Orchid is advising her to do so. When Moon Orchid turns crazy, Brave Orchid is there to save her from the world that corrupts her sister. She puts her into an asylum to keep her away from harm. She takes care of her during her illness the way Zhou Wei takes care of her older sister. The love of a man is temporal, but the love between sisters are forver.
The Legend of the Two Empresses connects to Moon Orchid's story. Brave Orchid encourages Moon Orchid to confront her husband.Moon Orchid does confront her husband, but her major surprise is that her husband has married another woman. Of coarse she does not convice him to return. She becomes mentally uncapable and she dies. This can relate to the empress that died, leaving her husband married to another woman.
Li Yu is the emperor and is married to Zhou Qiang. His wife eventually becomes ill and can no longer care for herself. Her sister comes along and takes the responsibility of helping her and taking care of her. Li Yu finds himself to fall in love with Zhou Wei, Zhou Qiang's younger sister, and marries her. Zhou Qiang dies of the anger she feels. Eventually Li Yu dies and when his current wife finds out she dies by hanging herself. In "At the Western Palace" Brave Orchid stands by her sister at all times. When finding that Moon Orchid's husband has a new life in America she feels alone and can no longer care for herself. Brave like Zhou Wei stands by her sister and takes care of her in troubled times. In the end Zhou Wei and Brave Orchid have no choice but to let go of their sisters due to their conditions. Both characters continue their lives. Zhou Wei continues her life by marring Li Yu and Brave Orchid continues her life with her family.
The Legend of The Two Empresses is similar to Moon Orchid's story. They both represent the passion that a woman loves with. In The Legend, Zhou Qiang loves her husband deeply and passionatly. Once she finds out his betrayal she dies of deception. Her sister attempts to help her, but finally discovers she is unable to. Zhou Wei, Zhou Qiang's sister, marries her husband and betrays her sister. Moon Orchid is also faced with the deception of finding out her husband has a double life. The pain of the betrayal affects her deeply. Similarly Brave Orchid, her sister, attempts to help Moon Orchid, but is unable to. In a sence she gives up and betrays her for her own family. Both stories show the intense love a woman undergoes, and the tragic end of the love due to betrayal.
Quigong is a combination of Qui or Chi and Gong or Kung. Qui is the energy that unifies all living things like The Force. In the original Chinese, Qui means air, breath or gas. Gong means discipline and effort. Together, Quigong means the work of breath. It is a breathing technique used for meditation or martial arts. Also, Qui is associated with acupuncture points. The ancient Chinese devised acupuncture for medical purposes. Any illness can be healed if you stick a needle in the right place in your body. In Shaman, Brave Orchid is faced with the sitting ghost. She says that she has to focus and control her breathing in order to survive the ghost. She meditates and she controls her state of mind in order to win out, so she uses a form of Quigong. She also uses the idea of Qui in that she uses the ghost’s weakness against it when she smokes the ghost out. Another way is that, she is studying to be a doctor, and acupuncture is used for medical remedies using Qui to concentrate the energy and heal.
The Legend of the two Empresses is actually based on the true life of two Chinese empresses that came into power after the ruling emperor died without an heir of sufficient age. One of them was Empress Dowager Cixi, who was also known as the empress of the western palace, and the other was Empress Dowager Ci'an, who was known as the empress of the Eastern palace. Cixi was the new empress who had recently risen through the ranks while empress Ci’an was the already established first wife. The two governed the country in two palaces, one in the west and one in the east. Over time West Empress Cixi gained influence and eventually overcame the other empress in order to gain control over the entire nation despite doing so from the shadows. This reflects the situation in “At the Western Palace” because the Moon Orchid and the other wife are much like the empresses. Moon Orchid is similar to Empresses Dowager Ci’an because they were both the first wives to the man they were married to. The other wife and Empress Dowager Cixi are similar because they are the “little wife”s of the married man. Much like in the legend Moon Orchid loses her power to the other woman. The other woman takes everything from Ochid except for money that is sent as a way of making Orchid believe that she is still the one that is in power. When Moon Orchid finally leaves her “palace” in the east she finds that the other woman has gotten complete control and that there is no way that she can get her husband back which drives her insane.
11 comments:
Qigong is a variety of traditional practices similar to purpose of other martial arts. These practices involve working with Qi, or the energy within the body. Qi in this practice menas breath or air in Chinese, so together it is the breath of work or energy work. These practices area ssociated with spirituality becasue it deals with the concept of "natural" versus "supernatural." The origins of this practices come from Taoist and Buddhist monasteries.
Quigong Qi relates to story of Brave Orchid because she has to deal with the Ghost and controlling the energy. Brave Orchid tells the Ghost that he can not cuase her any pain. This phrase is an attempt to psycologically prepare herself to fight the energy surrounding her. In the whole event, she is under teh spiritual belief of her Chinese culture that Ghosts exist. Brave Orchid uses Qigong beliefs to control her mind, remain conscious, and defeat the Ghost. On the other ahnd, even if the Ghost is just a struggle with her mind, she still uses the spirituality and Qigong to get rid of the confusion in her mind.
The Tao Te Ching goes to early English transliterations into the late 19th century. It is said to be the most influential books in history. It includes famous Chinese sayings. It was written by a man called Lao Tzu over two thousand years ago. The first word mentioned, Tao means "The Way" and the book talks about the way of life and how we should live life.
In chapeter five of The woman Warrior Kingston tells how, when she was a baby, her mother cut her tongue so that she would not be tongue-tied, but Kingston thinks she cut too much because now she has a terrible time overcoming her shyness and talking. She realizes that silence has something to do with being a Chinese girl, as all the Chinese girls in school are quiet. Kingston grows to hate one particularly silent girl, seeing her as an embodiment of her own weakness and silence.
Qigong is a set of exercises that contain meditative and physical movements. These exercises are used to move Qi, thereby maintaining and regaining physical, emotional and spiritual health. Qi is the vital energy or life force which runs through the meridians and is used to guard, change and warm the body. These are seen in Brave Orchid in “Shaman,” because she uses some sort of meditation which is what Qigong is. She is meditating to understand that ghosts, which are a very important part of the Chinese culture.
The legend of the two empresses refers to two sisters that marry the same man at different times. He first marries Zhou Qiang and later falls in love with her younger sister, Zhou Wei. Neither sister achieves the future that they greatly desire with him. Qiang learns about her husband's love affair with Wei. Shortly later, she dies and Wei becomes the new empress. As time passes, the emperor is murdered for an act he commits. Wei cannot tolerate the pain and eventually committs suicide. It ends with the destruction of all involved.
This legend connects to Chapter 4 of The Woman Warrior. Brave, while attempting to persuade Moon to "reclaim" her husband, tells her a story very similar to the one mentioned above. It ultimately shows the negative outcomes that are caused by desire. When a person craves something that is not rightfully his or hers, it is never attained to a level of full satisfaction and eventually results in disappointment.
Emperor Li Yu married two empresses. He first marriesd Empress Zhou Qiang Senior. She was invovled with the arts, music, and literature of life. Then, one day she became ill and her sister stayed behind to take care of her. Eventually Emperor Li Yu fell in love with the sister named Zhou Wei. Empress Qiang found out that her husband is in love with her sister and later died through anger. Zhou Wei became Empress Zhou Wei Junior and married him at the same age that her sister did, 19. Later, the country is invaded by anothe emperor and Emperor Li Yu died. Empress Zhou Wei found out that her husband had died and hun herself. Both sisters died at the age of 29. This relates to Chapter, At the Western Palace, in The Woman Warrior. Brave Orchid waits for her sister Moon Orchid to come to America from Hong Kong. Brave Orchid is stubborn and tells her niece that she is the only one who can truly recognize her. This demonstrates the close relationship they must have. When they meet, they criticize each other, presenting a bond building after years of not seeing each other. Brave Orchid encourages Moon Orchid to confront her husband who had left her. This relates to how Emperor Li Yu loved another woman and how betrayal can destroy relationships. The difference is the husband is not in love with Brave Orchid, but the concept applies. Brave Orchid provides a hold for her, to show her love and care. This is similar to how Zhou Wei took care of Zhou Qiang when she was sick and everyone else left her behind. The two empresses died at the same age, revealing how sisters are alike. They do everything that is the similar to each other. Sisters are friends forever even during death. No matter how much a sister betrays the other sister, they will be together. The distance between them ,like Brave Orchid and Moon Orchid, will bring them closer when they come together to remember the good times and share new stories. Such conversations serve to show the instant bond that sisters make when they are together. They become closer when they fight, like how Moon Orchid refuses to see her husband when Brave Orchid is advising her to do so. When Moon Orchid turns crazy, Brave Orchid is there to save her from the world that corrupts her sister. She puts her into an asylum to keep her away from harm. She takes care of her during her illness the way Zhou Wei takes care of her older sister. The love of a man is temporal, but the love between sisters are forver.
The Legend of the Two Empresses connects to Moon Orchid's story. Brave Orchid encourages Moon Orchid to confront her husband.Moon Orchid does confront her husband, but her major surprise is that her husband has married another woman. Of coarse she does not convice him to return. She becomes mentally uncapable and she dies. This can relate to the empress that died, leaving her husband married to another woman.
Li Yu is the emperor and is married to Zhou Qiang. His wife eventually becomes ill and can no longer care for herself. Her sister comes along and takes the responsibility of helping her and taking care of her. Li Yu finds himself to fall in love with Zhou Wei, Zhou Qiang's younger sister, and marries her. Zhou Qiang dies of the anger she feels. Eventually Li Yu dies and when his current wife finds out she dies by hanging herself. In "At the Western Palace" Brave Orchid stands by her sister at all times. When finding that Moon Orchid's husband has a new life in America she feels alone and can no longer care for herself. Brave like Zhou Wei stands by her sister and takes care of her in troubled times. In the end Zhou Wei and Brave Orchid have no choice but to let go of their sisters due to their conditions. Both characters continue their lives. Zhou Wei continues her life by marring Li Yu and Brave Orchid continues her life with her family.
The Legend of The Two Empresses is similar to Moon Orchid's story. They both represent the passion that a woman loves with. In The Legend, Zhou Qiang loves her husband deeply and passionatly. Once she finds out his betrayal she dies of deception. Her sister attempts to help her, but finally discovers she is unable to. Zhou Wei, Zhou Qiang's sister, marries her husband and betrays her sister. Moon Orchid is also faced with the deception of finding out her husband has a double life. The pain of the betrayal affects her deeply. Similarly Brave Orchid, her sister, attempts to help Moon Orchid, but is unable to. In a sence she gives up and betrays her for her own family. Both stories show the intense love a woman undergoes, and the tragic end of the love due to betrayal.
Quigong is a combination of Qui or Chi and Gong or Kung. Qui is the energy that unifies all living things like The Force. In the original Chinese, Qui means air, breath or gas. Gong means discipline and effort. Together, Quigong means the work of breath. It is a breathing technique used for meditation or martial arts. Also, Qui is associated with acupuncture points. The ancient Chinese devised acupuncture for medical purposes. Any illness can be healed if you stick a needle in the right place in your body.
In Shaman, Brave Orchid is faced with the sitting ghost. She says that she has to focus and control her breathing in order to survive the ghost. She meditates and she controls her state of mind in order to win out, so she uses a form of Quigong. She also uses the idea of Qui in that she uses the ghost’s weakness against it when she smokes the ghost out. Another way is that, she is studying to be a doctor, and acupuncture is used for medical remedies using Qui to concentrate the energy and heal.
Roberto Guerrero
The Legend of the two Empresses is actually based on the true life of two Chinese empresses that came into power after the ruling emperor died without an heir of sufficient age. One of them was Empress Dowager Cixi, who was also known as the empress of the western palace, and the other was Empress Dowager Ci'an, who was known as the empress of the Eastern palace. Cixi was the new empress who had recently risen through the ranks while empress Ci’an was the already established first wife. The two governed the country in two palaces, one in the west and one in the east. Over time West Empress Cixi gained influence and eventually overcame the other empress in order to gain control over the entire nation despite doing so from the shadows. This reflects the situation in “At the Western Palace” because the Moon Orchid and the other wife are much like the empresses. Moon Orchid is similar to Empresses Dowager Ci’an because they were both the first wives to the man they were married to. The other wife and Empress Dowager Cixi are similar because they are the “little wife”s of the married man. Much like in the legend Moon Orchid loses her power to the other woman. The other woman takes everything from Ochid except for money that is sent as a way of making Orchid believe that she is still the one that is in power. When Moon Orchid finally leaves her “palace” in the east she finds that the other woman has gotten complete control and that there is no way that she can get her husband back which drives her insane.
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