A reading route prepared by\u00a0Justin (FLAC), Shuqing, Yanglu, Jenny<\/p>\n
Image Credit:\u00a0Hsiang-Lin Shih<\/p>\n
\u6b32\u4e70\u6842\u82b1\u540c\u8f7d\u9152\uff0c\u7ec8\u4e0d\u4f3c\uff0c\u5c11\u5e74\u6e38\u2014\u2014\u5218\u8fc7\u300a\u5510\u591a\u4ee4\u300b<\/p>\n
“Hometown” is a place that only resides in one’s memory. Although memory stays the same as time passes by, the physical “hometown” constantly undergoes reconstruction and changes. Dream is far and distant from everyone’s life. In the writer’s heart, dream is the hometown in her youthful days, which is a evergreen tree in her memory. However, it is hard and disappointing for the writer to pursue it, since the “dream world” is no longer exist. Chu T’ien-hsin paints a picture of rich and lush green nature outside of the coffee shop in which she sits in to express her feelings of alienation and her loss of connection with the reality.<\/p>\n
The picture of the world outside the glass window sums up the underlying message of Chu T’ien-hsin’s book “The Old Capital.” The glass separates the author from the real world, but the glass window is invisible. The author is alienated from the outside world, inscribed within the four wall but is unable to see the invisible barrier. Chu T’ien-hsin has become so comfortable with staying in the air-conditioned room that she is unwilling to step outside and feel the heat of the sun and the noise of the winds.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” background_image=”https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/946\/2017\/03\/tree-fern-320078_960_720.jpg” transparent_background=”off” allow_player_pause=”off” inner_shadow=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” make_equal=”off” use_custom_gutter=”off”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_vertical_timeline admin_label=”Timeline – Vertical” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”] [et_pb_vertical_timeline_item title=”Stop 0″ use_read_more=”off” animation=”off” text_font_select=”default” text_font=”||||” headings_font_select=”default” headings_font=”||||” use_border_color=”off” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n
*There were King Arthur, who was as tall as a tree<\/span>, a colorful Egyptian bas relief, giant sculptures of kings, and a portrait of the real Sphinx. It was like a dream world<\/span>.\u2014Freud (Page 151)<\/span><\/p>\n \u90a3\u513f\u6709\u50cf\u6811\u4e00\u6837\u9ad8\u5927\u7684\u4e9a\u8ff0\u56fd\u738b\u3001\u8272\u5f69\u9c9c\u4e3d\u7684\u57c3\u53ca\u6d6e\u96d5\u3001\u5de8\u5927\u7684\u56fd\u738b\u96d5\u50cf\u3001\u771f\u6b63\u7684\u72ee\u8eab\u4eba\u9762\u50cf\uff0c\u5c31\u50cf\u4e2a\u68a6\u5e7b\u4e16\u754c\u3002<\/p>\n \u2014\u2014\u4f5b\u6d1b\u4f0a\u5fb7(Page 161)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_vertical_timeline_item][et_pb_vertical_timeline_item title=”Stop 1″ use_read_more=”off” animation=”off” text_font_select=”default” text_font=”||||” headings_font_select=”default” headings_font=”||||” use_border_color=”off” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n Maybe you\u2019d had too much fun during the day, and so you fell asleep without exchanging another word, the young bodies of two seventeen-year-olds<\/span>, like purring cats. (Page 113)<\/span><\/p>\n \u53ef\u80fd\u767d\u5929\u73a9\u5f97\u592a\u75af\u4e86\uff0c\u6ca1\u518d\u6765\u5f97\u53ca\u4ea4\u6362\u4e00\u53e5\u8bdd\u5c31\u6c89\u6c89\u7761\u53bb\uff0c\u732b\u54aa\u6253\u547c\u4e00\u822c\uff0c\u4e24\u5177\u5341\u4e03\u5c81\u5e74\u8f7b\u7684\u8eab\u4f53\u3002(Page 134)<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_vertical_timeline_item][et_pb_vertical_timeline_item title=”Stop 2″ use_read_more=”off” animation=”off” text_font_select=”default” text_font=”||||” headings_font_select=”default” headings_font=”||||” use_border_color=”off” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n Back then, people were so simple, so na\u00efve<\/span>, they were often willing to sacrifice themselves over a belief or a loved one, whatever their party affiliation. Back then, before commercial real estate had led to an unrestrained opening of new roads, a building boom, and land speculation, trees could survive and grow tall and green, like those in tropical rain forests<\/span>. (Page 111)<\/span><\/p>\n \u90a3\u65f6\u5019\u7684\u4eba\u4eec\u975e\u5e38\u5355\u7eaf\u5929\u771f\uff0c\u4e0d\u5206\u515a\u6d3e\u7684\u5f80\u5f80\u4e3a\u4e86\u5355\u4e00\u7684\u4fe1\u5ff5\u6216\u7231\u4eba\uff0c\u80af\u4e8e\u820d\u8eab\u6216\u8d74\u6b7b\u3002\u90a3\u65f6\u5019\u7684\u6811\uff0c\u4e5f\u56e0\u571f\u5730\u5c1a\u672a\u5546\u54c1\u5316\uff0c\u6ca1\u5927\u8086\u5f00\u8def\u7ade\u5efa\u7092\u5730\u76ae\uff0c\u800c\u5f97\u4ee5\u5b58\u6d3b\u5f97\u7279\u522b\u9ad8\u5927\u7279\u522b\u7eff\uff0c\u50cf\u8d64\u9053\u96e8\u6797\u7684\u56fd\u5bb6\u3002(Page 133)<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_vertical_timeline_item][et_pb_vertical_timeline_item title=”Stop 3″ use_read_more=”off” animation=”off” text_font_select=”default” text_font=”||||” headings_font_select=”default” headings_font=”||||” use_border_color=”off” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n It had been many years since you\u2019d last cried, because tears were too salty. Sweat was salty too. You couldn\u2019t say when it started, but a strange and repellant odor slowly began to appear on you. At first you thought it was the result of childbirth. You\u2019d spent a week in the hospital and come home with a pleasant mixture of smells: the hospital\u2019s fresh, clean disinfectant; baby oil; medicine; and breast milk. But it didn\u2019t take long for the fragrance to disappear. The first time you discovered that the strange odor clung to you, you returned assiduously to the shampoo, hand soap, and laundry powder you\u2019d used before. <\/span>But twenty-odd years of the same odor was gone; it had been with you for over two decades without your noticing it, and you realized you\u2019d had it only after you\u2019d lost it.<\/span> What remained was a salty odor that easily crystallized; the dirty, salty smell must have had a completely different molecular structure than the salt in the ocean. There were things you could neither avoid nor change, like bodily fluids or sweat, but not tears, and that is why you refused to shed them.<\/span><\/p>\n \u597d\u591a\u5e74\u4e86\u4f60\u90fd\u4e0d\u80af\u6389\u773c\u6cea\uff0c\u56e0\u4e3a\u773c\u6cea\u592a\u54b8\u4e86\uff0c\u6c57\u4e5f\u597d\u54b8\uff0c\u4ece\u4ec0\u4e48\u65f6\u5019\u5f00\u59cb\uff0c\u8eab\u4e0a\u9010\u6e10\u917f\u6210\u4e00\u80a1\u964c\u751f\u4f46\u4e0d\u597d\u95fb\u7684\u6c14\u5473\uff0c\u8d77\u521d\u4ee5\u4e3a\u662f\u751f\u8fc7\u5c0f\u5b69\u7684\u7f18\u6545\uff0c\u4ece\u533b\u9662\u4f4f\u4e86\u4e00\u661f\u671f\u56de\u5bb6\uff0c\u5e26\u7740\u533b\u9662\u91cc\u6e05\u723d\u5e72\u51c0\u7684\u6d88\u6bd2\u6c34\u3001Baby oil\u3001\u836f\u9999\u3001\u5976\u9999\u6df7\u6210\u7684\u597d\u5473\u9053\uff0c\u597d\u5473\u9053\u6ca1\u591a\u4e45\u5c31\u4e0d\u518d\u6709\u4e86\uff0c\u521d\u6b21\u4f60\u53d1\u73b0\u4e86\u964c\u751f\u7684\u5473\u9053\u7d27\u9489\u4f60\u4e0d\u53bb\uff0c\u4f60\u8d76\u5fd9\u52aa\u529b\u91cd\u62fe\u4ee5\u524d\u7684\u6d17\u53d1\u7cbe\u3001\u9999\u7682\u3001\u6d17\u8863\u7c89\u22ef\u22ef\u4e8c\u5341\u51e0\u5e74\u7684\u5473\u9053\u518d\u4e5f\u6ca1\u6709\u4e86\uff0c\u8ddf\u4e86\u4e8c\u5341\u51e0\u5e74\u4f60\u4e0d\u77e5\u9053\u7684\u4f53\u5473\u5374\u5728\u6d88\u5931\u4e4b\u540e\u4f60\u624d\u77e5\u9053\uff0c\u53ea\u5269\u4e0b\u53ef\u4ee5\u8f7b\u6613\u7ed3\u6676\u6210\u76d0\u7684\u54b8\u5473\uff0c\u80af\u5b9a\u4e0e\u6d77\u7684\u76d0\u5206\u4e0d\u540c\u5206\u5b50\u7ed3\u6784\u7684\u810f\u516e\u516e\u54b8\u5473\uff0c\u522b\u7684\u65e0\u6cd5\u907f\u514d\u65e0\u6cd5\u6539\u53d8\u4f8b\u5982\u4f53\u6db2\u548c\u6c57\u6c34\uff0c\u4f46\u6cea\uff0c\u662f\u7edd\u4e0d\u80af\u6d41\u4e86\u3002(Page 148)<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_vertical_timeline_item][et_pb_vertical_timeline_item title=”Stop 4″ use_read_more=”off” animation=”off” text_font_select=”default” text_font=”||||” headings_font_select=”default” headings_font=”||||” use_border_color=”off” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n Your kind of weather has lush and pungent greenery, azure skies, and blinding sunlight, but now you were invariably in a room chilled by air conditions, or in a car, or inside a coffee shop, or in a room by a window, and that cost you your sense of reality, causing you to mistakenly assume that the temperature outside was the same as inside, cold. That and the striking contrast between light and shadow produced the illusion that you were in a country you\u2019d wanted to visit or one you\u2019d visited before<\/span>. (Page 151)<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u6709\u4e00\u79cd\u5929\u6c14\u662f\u4f60\u559c\u6b22\u7684\uff0c\u8349\u6728\u9c9c\u70c8\uff0c\u5929\u7a7a\u851a\u84dd\uff0c\u9633\u5149\u7729\u76ee\uff0c\u800c\u4f60\u6070\u5de7\u5728\u7a7a\u8c03\u51c9\u98d5\u98d5\u7684\u5ba4\u5185\u3001\u8f66\u5185\u6216\u5496\u5561\u9986\u6216\u4e34\u7a97\u7684\u5c4b\u91cc\uff0c\u4fbf\u5bb9\u6613\u8ba9\u4eba\u5931\u53bb\u73b0\u5b9e\u611f\uff0c\u4ee5\u4e3a\u5916\u9762\u4e5f\u662f\u5982\u6b64\u7684\u6c14\u6e29\uff0c\u51b7\uff0c\u518d\u52a0\u4e0a\u53cd\u5dee\u6781\u5927\u7684\u5149\u5f71\uff0c\u5c31\u4ee5\u4e3a\u81ea\u5df1\u7f6e\u8eab\u5728\u67d0\u4e2a\u4f60\u60f3\u53bb\u6216\u66fe\u53bb\u8fc7\u7684\u56fd\u5ea6\u3002(Page 161)<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_vertical_timeline_item][et_pb_vertical_timeline_item title=”Stop 5″ use_read_more=”off” animation=”off” text_font_select=”default” text_font=”||||” headings_font_select=”default” headings_font=”||||” use_border_color=”off” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n Over half the sweet gum trees, which had been as old as Chokushi Street, were gone<\/span>; the beautiful Miyanoshita Road had grown into such a state that it was like countless incurable tumors\u2014ugly, ugly. Mournfully, you avoided the area, but what had died, of course, included part of you<\/span>. (Page 160)<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u56e0\u70ba\u8207\u6555\u4f7f\u8857\u9053\u540c\u5e74\u6b72\u7684\u6953\u9999\u4e0d\u898b\u4e86\u5927\u534a\uff0c\u7f8e\u9e97\u7684\u5bae\u30ce\u4e0b\u53c3\u9053\u8b8a\u6210\u9577\u4e86\u7121\u6578\u816b\u7624\u7fa4\u91ab\u675f\u624b\u7684\u666f\u8c61\uff0c\u919c\u900f\u4e86\uff0c\u4f60\u5e36\u8457\u54c0\u60bc\u7684\u5fc3\u60c5\u8d70\u907f\uff0c\u6b7b\u53bb\u7684\uff0c\u7576\u7136\u5305\u62ec\u4f60\u7684\u4e00\u90e8\u5206\u3002<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_vertical_timeline_item][et_pb_vertical_timeline_item title=”Stop 6″ use_read_more=”off” animation=”off” text_font_select=”default” text_font=”||||” headings_font_select=”default” headings_font=”||||” use_border_color=”off” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n It was a river with no navigational landmarks<\/span>. But you refused to believe that and many times thought of sticking your foot into that same river. Three thousand years, and still no change. \u00a0(Page 168)<\/span><\/p>\n \u662f\u4e00\u689d\u6c92\u6709\u822a\u6a19\u7684\u5927\u6cb3\uff0c\u504f\u4f60\u4e0d\u4fe1\uff0c\u8001\u60f3\u4e0d\u6b62\u5169\u6b21\u63d2\u8db3\u540c\u4e00\u689d\u6cb3\u6d41\uff0c\u4e09\u5343\u5e74\u4e86\uff0c\u4e0d\u6539\u3002<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_vertical_timeline_item] [\/et_pb_vertical_timeline][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_toggle admin_label=”Toggle” title=”Lost of Dream World” open=”on” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_toggle][et_pb_toggle admin_label=”Toggle” title=”Dream World: Youthful Days” open=”on” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n In this quote, the protagonist shows her yearning to the energy, innocent and healthy in her youthful days. In her mind, life is filled with enthusiasm in people\u2019s youthful days, no matter what they do. To the protagonist, who is in middle age now and has experienced a lot, youth is a dream world for her to miss and remember: she is not be able to retrieve feel and emotion in her young age. For example, the friendship with A is part of her years of burning passions, but when she thinks about it and decide to meets A again in her middle age, there are much more things that she has to consider and hesitate. The dream world of youth can only exist in the protagonist\u2019s memory.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_toggle][et_pb_toggle admin_label=”Toggle” title=”Dream World: Simple People and Nature” open=”on” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n Everyone values his or her youthful days, and even everything that relate to it. In this quote, the people and views in the protagonist\u2019s youth age consists of her dream world, which she misses for the rest of her life. However, time has brought huge development to the city she lived, and changed her familiar memory with the city and it\u2019s people. What is more, the memory of the dream city has already been beautified in her mind by time and her imagination. The fact is, dream world is only dream and can not become reality; she will neither be able to go back to such a dream world nor find the lovely people in her memory.\u00a0What is more, the natural views in her memory also changed. More and more people focus on economy in the country instead of the natural views, so the green in her memory can no longer exist. <\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_toggle][et_pb_toggle admin_label=”Toggle” title=”The Odor” open=”on” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n Besides the differences mentioned above, the odor of people is also different through ages. The nature and people were simpler in her youthful years. So was her odor. After struggled and experienced a lot, even her odor was deeply influenced by the complicated society. The cruel thing that happens to the writer is that she has already lost the odor of youth, which always reminds her that she was no longer young, and her youth dream world has gone far away from her life.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_toggle][et_pb_toggle admin_label=”Toggle” title=”False Dream World: Air-Conditioned Room\/Car” open=”on” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n The image of King Arthur lurks in the natural scenery with the pleasing green grass and the open clear skies. Nevertheless, the author is unable to emerge herself in the pleasurable nature. She can only admire the scenery through the window pane of the coffee shop. This reflects the glaring issue in urban areas:\u00a0people living in urban areas\u00a0are comfortable in the air-conditioned coffee shops, and the habit of living in air-conditioned rooms disallow them to connect with the real world. The author cannot know if the air outside is equally cold as the air inside, therefore, the window pane is a metaphor for the blockage between the author and the real world. The preplacement of nature is the demise of King Arthur. The author expresses her sorrow at the loss of nature when she says the things in front of her eyes made her lose her sense of reality. Everything that is present is cold not only in terms of temperature but also in terms of its sensational void. This quotation also captures the meaning of the whole novella \u201cmemories and dreams do not mean anything in this constantly changing world.\u201d The contrast between light and shadow is the contrast between her memory of the place and her current impression of the exact same place. Her beloved hometown is now no more than a foreign city and she is a passerby.<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_toggle][et_pb_toggle admin_label=”Toggle” title=”Lost of Dream World” open=”on” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n King Arthur is a representation of nature, lively and magnificent just like the sweet gum trees. However, the conversion of the old greenery city into a busy industrial city signifies the death of King Arthur. The author directly and forthrightly expresses her dissatisfaction with the industrialization of her home city. Everything that she holds dear, everything that ties the author with the land has been replaced with buildings and offices that are so void of history. No events or memories are tied to the skyscrapers and the office. These new buildings emits a sense of ignorance towards history, and this irritates the author. Ignorance is ugly, and industrialization is ugly. The disappearance of the author\u2019s childhood city symbolizes the death of a big part of the author.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_toggle][et_pb_toggle admin_label=”Toggle” title=”Never Return” open=”on” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n One cannot step into the same river twice because the currents renew the river and wash away everything that is old. The river in her imagination is one with no landmarks. The author is lost not only in her imagination but also in her very own home city. This sentence depicts her alienation with her home city. Her hometown continually undergoes new constructions, just like a river with new currents flowing in, never staying the same. Although her childhood city will stay the same in her memory and her love for it will stand against the test of time, the physical appearance of the city is another story. A story of which the author was never a part. No matter how hard the author tries to spot out the resemblances between her childhood city and the current city, she surrenders to the dramatic changes and admits that there is no navigational landmarks for her to spot out the resemblances. The author is simply a passerby that step into a river, lost and has given in to the changing course of nature.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_toggle][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Pages 151-168 A reading route prepared by\u00a0Justin (FLAC), Shuqing, Yanglu, Jenny Image Credit:\u00a0Hsiang-Lin Shih \u6b32\u4e70\u6842\u82b1\u540c\u8f7d\u9152\uff0c\u7ec8\u4e0d\u4f3c\uff0c\u5c11\u5e74\u6e38\u2014\u2014\u5218\u8fc7\u300a\u5510\u591a\u4ee4\u300b “Hometown” is a place that only resides in one’s memory. Although memory stays the same as time passes by, the physical “hometown” constantly undergoes reconstruction and changes. Dream is far and distant from everyone’s life. In the writer’s heart, dream […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-938","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/mtoc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/mtoc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/mtoc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/mtoc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/mtoc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=938"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/mtoc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/938\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1814,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/mtoc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/938\/revisions\/1814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/mtoc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/946\/2017\/03\/IMG_5777.jpg\")
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