tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865209203861111375.post2711764530051828973..comments2023-10-18T06:47:09.859-07:00Comments on L.J. Popp's World adventures!: My Adventure in China Part IIL.J. Popphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13284792042056312456noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865209203861111375.post-10542746123183689662010-01-18T21:13:36.358-08:002010-01-18T21:13:36.358-08:00Thanks for your comments! That`s very interesting ...Thanks for your comments! That`s very interesting to know about the panda; yeah, we saw the smaller panda too, but it wasn`t that impressive. Ah, the translations were on tiny projectors beside the stage, like what you might see at the opera in America. The text would appear when a line was being spoken or sung, then the next line would appear and so on. <br /><br />As for the "behind-the-scenes, the nice thing is that anyone who comes to the opera early can see some of the actors putting on their make-up! As for pictures and videos in China, they are allowed anywhere, even of professional performances and museums, just not in "sacred" places like inner shrines and temples. <br /><br />Unfortunately, I don`t know much about non-Western instruments! I didn`t even know the name of the instruments the musicians were playing until I looked them up on that website I mentioned upon arriving back in Japan! I cheat when I write my blogs. If I don`t know something but want to talk about it, I look it up. So sorry I don`t have anything else to say on that subject, only that since coming back from China I have been listening to traditional Chinese music on my bike rides to school (the CDs Lu`s family gave me) and it is characterized as very "twangy", but much more tonal than Japanese music. Especially folk songs have a very clear melody and even some harmony and secondary or interweaving melodies. They often tell a story like "Ambush On All Sides." You can tell the part in the music when the ambushers overtake their victim. Or they evoke a mood or image, like "Spring on a Moonlit River." Court music and temple worship music (chanting, etc), tends to be more abstract and difficult to listen to. All I can say is take a look at the samples on the website! Eventually I may figure out how to add music to my blog, but unfortunately not yet. Any ideas?L.J. Popphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13284792042056312456noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865209203861111375.post-83269267650034620792010-01-17T09:29:54.734-08:002010-01-17T09:29:54.734-08:00and how did you get "behind-the-scenes" ...and how did you get "behind-the-scenes" to photograph the opera performers putting on their make-up? Or was that a photo you got elsewhere? I think it's fascinating they do their own make-up. I guess that's part of being a professional.<br /><br />As a person well-aquainted with global non-western musical instruments, I would love to hear your formal commentage on the subject. The review in this blog was merely in passing. Or perhaps you've already posted a blog on music matters?Richhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09091246964133101706noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865209203861111375.post-34378061530975992722010-01-17T05:50:15.123-08:002010-01-17T05:50:15.123-08:00This was a lovely blog. Obviously, my interests ca...This was a lovely blog. Obviously, my interests cater toward zoology, but aside from that cultural and linguistic details fascinate me.<br /><br />The Giant Panda is called "giant" to distinguish it between the much smaller "red" panda (think, medium fox size) which was known much earlier. Something I found very interesting is that the giant panda was considered mythical for a very long time, principaly by Europeans and Western Science, but also presumably by Chinese "lowland" authorities. <br /><br />Chinese opera make-up amazes me. It is so very bold and striking! Lu told me how the make-up used, both the colors and designs, represent various personality types. Thus, the audience immediately knows who is a villian, a heroine, comic relief, etc. When I first saw the make-up designs, I was also learning a bit about the so-called Opium Wars (when the British imperialists crushes the Chinese into submission). I just had to think to myself: wow, what if the Chinese soldiers had worn make-up like that! Demons!<br /><br />The "pay-cheeng" pronunciation is a good thing to know. I'm glad to have heard you explain it.<br /><br />I was wondering, when you were talking about the Peking Opera, yo said there was an English translation ("a little poor") "along the side." Did you mean it was printed in the program, or live alongside the performance?Richhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09091246964133101706noreply@blogger.com