集晴閣

（ September 12, 1998）
Dear Moonswallow,
Thank you for giving me such lovely stars and bells as my birthday present. Your gifts inspire me many beautiful thoughts and let me recall some words in “The Little Prince”. Have you read “The Little Prince” yet? It’s an interesting book written by a French pilot, Antone de Saint-Exupery. The story is very poetic and meaningful. My classmates and I all like it very much. The following is what the little prince said to the pilot while parting, “……It will be as if, in place of stars, I had given you a great number of little bells that knew how to laugh!” One of my classmates especially love the sentence, she thinks it wonderful. I agree with her on that.
I always like stars. I regard them as mysterious poems, symbols for hope, and holy guides for the lost travelers. Some impressive words about stars come to my mind. I want to share them with you.
“Although we are in the depths of the night, where there is starlight, there are ways and unlimited possibilities.”

Gone are the days when I strolled along the Shin-jie River. Gone are my cute rabbit and cat. Gone are my kind and affectionate grandparents. Everlasting are my love and reminiscence for the Shin-jie Riverside.
When I was a child, I lived in a huge old house beside the Shin-jie River, which is one of the main rivers in Jungli. It is a little polluted but still beautiful. I often saw buffaloes and egrets in it. The green riverside inspired my curiosity and led me to explore the mystery and beauty of nature. I always enjoyed observing the various plants, the diligent ants, and the singing birds of the riverside. I especially loved the two tall guavas in our backyard. In summer the aromatic flavor of the guavas always made me drool. I loved the flowing river, too. I always wondered why the river flowed so rapidly and never came back. Was the river also searching for something? If only it could tell, what an exciting adventure it would tell!
At first, I raised a cute rabbit called Snow. She always enjoyed eating the delicious vegetables from my grandparents’ garden. She was my best friend at that time. After she died, my grandfather buried her right by the river. I wrote a letter and threw it into the river, hoping Snow might have known how much I missed her. Three years later, I met a playful cat. I kept it to have a pal. I called the independent cat “Kite”. Kite and I both loved discovery, freedom, and searching for the unknown world. We spent much time together going after butterflies or viewing the scenery of the riverside. I often picked some leaves of grass to tease Kite, and Kite often acted like a spoiled child wanting me to touch her or play with her. Those days were the happiest time in my life of the riverside.
In the summer of 1994, my grandmother died in a car accident. After the heart-breaking thing happened, my grandfather decided to sell the house to leave the sad place. Kite suddenly disappeared at that time, seeming she knew our decision. I looked for her several times. I called her name loudly but there was no answer. I have never seen Kite again since then.
Now I’ve left the Shin-jie Riverside. I can only glance it while passing by. The plants and river look the same as usual, but our old house has been torn down to be a new hospital site. Natural beauty never changes. Only unexpected human life changes. All my beautiful memories of the riverside is but a reverie ending up with a sigh: Difficult it was for us to meet, and difficult to part. The river never stops going forward and the grass turns green every spring. These thoughts are not the stuff of our recollection, but what elude our grasp as life itself unfolds.

After I became a member of TFG, I also became a typical commuter. Because I live in Jungli,, I have to commute from home to school everyday. In the morning, in order not to miss the bus, I must get up much earlier than most of my classmates. On the bus, sometimes I take a nap, sometimes I appreciate the scenes beside the road, and sometimes I imagine the bus as a mysterious huge boat taking me to a whole new world.
As a commuter, I have to be an early riser and endure the coldness in winter morning. I spend almost four hours on commuting everyday, which makes me treasure my time much more. At first, life of a commuter was such a challenge and difficulty for me that I couldn’t help complaining. But gradually I found it interesting and exciting. By commuting, I become a lot more independent, I have a broader mind, and I also meet some admirable people. A famous philosopher once said, “ After making your dreams come true, you will be proud of the long journey you have made.” I often take the saying to encourage myself.
(1998.7.25)

My favorite song is Carpenters’ “Road Ode”. I love this song not only for its beautiful melody but also for its poetic lines. It is a song about the everlasting searching and vagrancy of human life. Every time I listen to it, I can’t help but feel a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes. I feel as if I were the rover in this song, traveling from place to place, until tomorrow is never going to come.
“ I’ve been on this lonely road so long.” This song begins with such a sigh. Though we may seem cheerful in company, we are inevitably plunged into loneliness from time to time. For all our life, we keep on exploring our true selves. Even though we are frustrated and exhausted, or misunderstood by others, we can’t give up our dreams and enthusiasm. This is the main thing of “Road Ode”.
I love “Road Ode”. For it reflects our challenging life, inspires my soul, and gives me new reasons to make life glorious worth living. Such is the magic of “Road Ode”!
(1999.4.3.)

Among all the excellent poets, I love Li Shang-yin(李商隱) most. I love his works not so much for his allusive and mysterious style as for the true emotion they contain. I love him not only for his achievement in literature but for his noble character.
Many people regard Li Shang-yin just as a romantic poet. They don’t know he was an idealist, a patriot, and a man of compassion. Li Shang-yin was born in one of the darkest periods in China history. The conflict between two opposing parties resulted in a government in chaos. Unlike selfish politicians, Li Shang-yin always cared about the suffering commoners. He was not interested in power or fame. All he wanted was to reform the society and accomplish his great ideals without involving in either party. However, both parties denounced him and accused him of betrayal. Poverty, loss of love, and other hopeless tragedies visited him one by one, which caused his early death at forty-seven.
Given the painful circumstances, Li Shang-yin wrote his most beautiful poems. His poems have been recited, studied and memorized for more than one thousand years. They can move your heart and soul. You can almost feel his pain. Every time I read Li Shang-yin’s works or biographies, I can’t help but feel a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes. I love Li Shang-yin. I love his impressing poems. I love his insistence in a turbulent era. He is my favorite poet.
(1998.8.8.)

The 1943 hit Casablanca is seen by many as the ultimate Hollywood movie. Although it is an old black-and-white film, it impresses me much more than many new colored films. The movie Casablanca is about war, love, and nationalism. The main role Rick, played by Humphrey Bogart, is a gloomy saloonkeeper burned by love. However, he is also a sentimentalist, an idealist, and a patriot. All he needs is a kiss and a look from Ilsa (played by Ingrid Bergman) to light up his heart again. Ilsa had left Rick without any explanation before. When they met again in Casablanca, the way station for European refugees, Rick turned his selfish love into great love. He risked his own life helping Ilsa and her husband, the leader of the underground movement against Nazi, leave for America.
Rick’s broad-mindedness, Laszlo’s everlasting fighting, the friendship between Rick and Louis, and the great love Rick has for Ilsa have impressed thousands of audience. I am no exception. Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman are both famous movie stars. Their performance in “Casablanca” is really wonderful. The main theme of Casablanca, As Time Goes By, is very well known, too. I especially love the lines in this song:
It’s still the same old story.
A fight for love and glory.
A case of do or die.

The person I admire most is Count Claus von Stauffenberg, who attempted to reform a new Germany of justice and virtue when war and racism were popular. If his great project had been successful, the number of the dead in World War II would have been reduced to a half. Even though he failed, he is still regarded as the savior of Germany’s soul.
Claus von Stauffenberg was born in a noble family. He had been a person of energy, courage, and determination since his childhood. When he was young, he had shown signs of becoming a promising officer. Besides, he was a patriot. He often said to his friends, “Whatever we are, we should serve our great country.” With such patriotism and wonderful leadership, he won many people’s respect and admiration. One of his subordinates once said, “ Colonel Stauffenberg was humorous, intelligent and always friendly to others. His thoughtfulness can cheer our confidence. I think he is a born leader and the best commander I’ve ever met.” His excellent performance soon made him chief of the general staff.
Unfortunately, in a military movement, Claus was seriously hurt by a bomb, which made him lose one eye and one arm. Thanks to his surprising power of will, he recovered much sooner than expected. He still could do everything on his own, including making an attempt to Adolf Hitler’s life.
At first, Claus hesitated over whether he should overthrow Hitler. A loyal soldier was bound to be faithful to the leader. How could an officer assassinate the president, which seemed a traitor’s behavior? After thinking over his responsibility, Claus made up his mind. He said, “ I know everyone against the president will be viewed as a betrayer. Nevertheless, I can’t be a betrayer of my own conscience and sense of honor.” In his opinion, Hitler was an extremely conceited fellow, a militant tyrant, and a devil making Germany an evil machine of war. Claus and other patriots began to discuss how to defeat Nazi, stop the war, and search for new orders of the world.
A man of action was not content just to talk. On July twentieth, 1994, Claus risked his fame and life to carry out his ideal. He left a bomb in Hitler’s office when attending a military meeting. Then he flew to Berlin to command all the details of the project. However, Hitler was such a lucky guy that he was just slightly hurt. The angry tyrant arrested almost everyone involved in the movement and tortured them to death. Before executing by shooting, Claus shouted with enthusiasm, “ Long live our great Germany!” He was only 36 years old at that time.

When I was a child, one day I happened to read Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”. Unlike other novels, it consists of mysterious diaries, letters, and news reports. Its unique form quickly triggered my interest. I can’t help but read through it without a break. I’ve been fascinated with the legend of the vampire ever since.
The vampire is the ghost believed by some to leave its grave at night and suck the blood of living people. The folklore of the vampire had been widely spread in central Europe. However, not until Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”, which combined a Romanian tyrant’s tale with the vampire, does the legend become worldwide known. Although Dracula was defeated in the ending, the vampire remains taking an important role in literature and filmdom. In Romania, the vampire is called Nosferatu. Nosferatu is also the name of the first vampire film, directed by F.W.Murnau in 1922, which has been considered as a classic of German Expressionism.
My favorite vampire film is “Bram Stoker’s Dracula”, directed by F.Coppola, the incredible director famous for his epic Godfather trilogy. I like this movie not only for the stars’ wonderful performance but also for its gorgeous style. As its tagline “Love never dies.” Indicates, the film adapts the original into a romantic tragedy. Mina Harker isn’t Dracula’s victim anymore. Instead, she was Dracula’s beloved wife in previous life, who committed suicide. In order to meet her again hundreds of years later, Dracula chose to become an immortal vampire. Such everlasting love moved me to tears.
To be honest, I’m both timid and rational. I don’t like most ghost stories. It’s the poetry and complexity that make the legend of the vampire an exception. It mixes up the following elements: literature, religion, history, and our desire for eternity. Jean Marigny, a vampire researcher, once said, “What made the vampire horrible wasn’t its real existence, but our own anxiety and fear for blood, dark nights, and death.” As time goes by, the legend of the vampire will go on and on.
(2003.11.26.)

"My painting is visible images which conceal nothing; they evoke mystery and, indeed, when one sees one of my pictures, one asks oneself this simple question 'What does that mean'? It does not mean anything, because mystery means nothing either, it is unknowable."
~René Magritte
Have you ever seen a castle floating in the air, a train flinging out of a fireplace, or a wineglass filled with cloud? Yes, I’ve seen all the wonderful things in Rene Magritte’s majestic works.
Among all the masterpieces of Rene Magritte, I love “The Dominion of Light” and “The Castle in the Pyrenees” best. Like a magician, Magritte combined day and night together in “The Dominion of Light”. Rays of a street light are clearly reflected in the lake while the blue sky hovers above. I never look at this mysterious painting without sighing, “That’s all I have wanted!” I kept dreaming to wander in such a place with my lover. While Magritte played tricks of light in “The Dominion of Light”, he challenged gravity in “The Castle in the Pyrenees”. An ancient castle lies on the top of a large rock. The rock is suspended above the ocean. The magnificent painting triggered a poet’s imagination. In “The Arias for My Lover, Who Doesn’t Exist”, he wrote, “Next time, if you happen to see a castle floating outside your window, please don’t be surprised. It rises up because I yearn for you.”
Rene Magritte was born in Belgium in 1898. He met his soul mate and found his unique style in 1925. He is considered as one of the greatest surreal artists. Unlike Salvador Dali and Max Ernst, there’re no ghosts or weird beasts in Magritte’s works. Instead, he entered the depths of heart to bring poetic scenes to the world. He once said, “To conquer the world with my dreams is my victory.” His works always remind us not to take everything we see for granted. Life is full of unknown possibilities. That’s why he became my favorite artist.

What is the most important thing of life? Indeed, I’m not very sure because I’m too young to have much wisdom. But somehow I think searching is very vital and meaningful for one’s life.
Recently a famous geographer wrote his autobiography. Its title, “Loneliness and Searching” really inspired me something. I found all our lives, we constantly keep on searching. For instance, we search for our dreams and ambitions, for love and self-realization and for what we really want. In addition, we search for all the mystery about nature and for the purposes of existence. Without everlasting searching, life is meaningless and valueless. We don’t know what to do and where to go, and you will never enjoy your life.
Generation after generation, humans go on searching. It is endless searching that makes our lives colorful and meaningful. As long as we don’t give up searching, every day is full of unlimited possibilities. So I think searching is the most important thing of life.
(1997.12.18)