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tarigwaemirBlair Hall Apts., on the Feast of St. Sylvester
I've been sick since Sunday with the flu, which is why I've been MIA for the past few days. (We didn't realize it was the flu until we went to the doctor's office on Wednesday. So yes, Tryogeru, if you didn't catch anything from me on Tuesday, you were very lucky.) I am getting better though, and the fever hasn't returned, so I'm hoping that I'll be fine by the time I return to school for reading period. I've also managed to catch up on about four days of friends list backlog too. Heh.
We've finished the first twenty episodes of Daejanggeum, which has quite possibly the most interesting storyline I've ever seen in a drama (well, so far--there are a total of fifty-six episodes, so there's still plenty of time for it to lose its originality). There are, of course, certain expected plot conventions, but the writers keep forgetting about them and getting excited about the main storyline instead. Thus, although the love interest has been introduced, he often disappears from view for several episodes at a time, until the writers remember, "oh right, we need some sort of romantic side story in this drama after all" and give him a scene. Kind of amusing, although I think that situation will change later on in the series. Anyway, as promised, a proper review shall be posted soon (now that I'm well enough to actually think coherently about something other than how much my head hurts).
I've also managed to finish Book Three of Samguk Yusa. Interesting story: 미륵 선화, which translates to the Fairy Flower of the Maitreya. "Fairy" doesn't have the same connotation as it does in English, by the way; in hanja, the relevant character is 仙 (선, "seon"), and means more along the lines of "supernatural". (Those of you who have watched Ayashi no Ceres will remember the folktale about the tennyo. In Korean, we say 선녀 ("seonnyeo"), and the first character in that word is the same as the one I've just pointed out.) Anyway, the Silla king who established the Hwarangdo wanted to create a fellowship of beautiful young men of noble birth on the model of 신선 ("sinseon"), the male equivalent of 선녀. This particular story describes how a Buddhist monk named 진자 ("Jinja") prayed that the Maitreya Buddha be incarnated as a Hwarang so that he could follow and serve him. The monk dreamed that he would meet the "Maitreya Flower Youth" (미륵 화랑, "mireuk hwarang"), if he visited a temple. At that temple he met a beautiful young man who received him with great courtesy. The monk later learned that this boy was the 미륵 화랑 he had so desired to see. He remembered the boy had said that he was from Kyeongju (the capital of Silla), and so he went to the city and found the same boy he had seen at the temple. His name was 미리 ("Miri"), and when presented to the king, Miri was made head of the Hwarang. Apparently he educated them in proper "fairy" etiquette and behavior for seven years before returning to the world of the 신선. 진자 was inconsolable upon losing his master until he meditated upon the image of 미리랑 and attained enlightenment.
::coughs:: Right. Anyway, this chapter in the Samguk Yusa ends with a poem:
I wandered looking for my Fairy Flower, thinking of him with every footstep.
I've run over hill and dale, but he has vanished from my sight;
Wilt thou not blossom on my breast in the next spring
As Shanglin-hun blooms before her royal lover in his flowery garden?
A note of explanation says that "Shanglin-hung" alludes to "the court beauties of the Han dynasty, who are compared to red flowers pressed to the hearts of their royal lovers". ::coughs:: Have I spent too much time with slash-obsessed friends or does this whole story sound more like a romance than an anecdote of Buddhist piety? ^_^ One day I need to read the original to see if it's the translation or not.
Still, for a book written by a Buddhist monk, there is a lot of sex in Samguk Yusa. There are all these stories about Buddhist monks being tempted by visions of beautiful women who turn out to be incarnations of 관음 ("Gwaneum"), otherwise known as the Avalokiteshara Bodhisattva. >_>
Yours &c.
I've been sick since Sunday with the flu, which is why I've been MIA for the past few days. (We didn't realize it was the flu until we went to the doctor's office on Wednesday. So yes, Tryogeru, if you didn't catch anything from me on Tuesday, you were very lucky.) I am getting better though, and the fever hasn't returned, so I'm hoping that I'll be fine by the time I return to school for reading period. I've also managed to catch up on about four days of friends list backlog too. Heh.
We've finished the first twenty episodes of Daejanggeum, which has quite possibly the most interesting storyline I've ever seen in a drama (well, so far--there are a total of fifty-six episodes, so there's still plenty of time for it to lose its originality). There are, of course, certain expected plot conventions, but the writers keep forgetting about them and getting excited about the main storyline instead. Thus, although the love interest has been introduced, he often disappears from view for several episodes at a time, until the writers remember, "oh right, we need some sort of romantic side story in this drama after all" and give him a scene. Kind of amusing, although I think that situation will change later on in the series. Anyway, as promised, a proper review shall be posted soon (now that I'm well enough to actually think coherently about something other than how much my head hurts).
I've also managed to finish Book Three of Samguk Yusa. Interesting story: 미륵 선화, which translates to the Fairy Flower of the Maitreya. "Fairy" doesn't have the same connotation as it does in English, by the way; in hanja, the relevant character is 仙 (선, "seon"), and means more along the lines of "supernatural". (Those of you who have watched Ayashi no Ceres will remember the folktale about the tennyo. In Korean, we say 선녀 ("seonnyeo"), and the first character in that word is the same as the one I've just pointed out.) Anyway, the Silla king who established the Hwarangdo wanted to create a fellowship of beautiful young men of noble birth on the model of 신선 ("sinseon"), the male equivalent of 선녀. This particular story describes how a Buddhist monk named 진자 ("Jinja") prayed that the Maitreya Buddha be incarnated as a Hwarang so that he could follow and serve him. The monk dreamed that he would meet the "Maitreya Flower Youth" (미륵 화랑, "mireuk hwarang"), if he visited a temple. At that temple he met a beautiful young man who received him with great courtesy. The monk later learned that this boy was the 미륵 화랑 he had so desired to see. He remembered the boy had said that he was from Kyeongju (the capital of Silla), and so he went to the city and found the same boy he had seen at the temple. His name was 미리 ("Miri"), and when presented to the king, Miri was made head of the Hwarang. Apparently he educated them in proper "fairy" etiquette and behavior for seven years before returning to the world of the 신선. 진자 was inconsolable upon losing his master until he meditated upon the image of 미리랑 and attained enlightenment.
::coughs:: Right. Anyway, this chapter in the Samguk Yusa ends with a poem:
I wandered looking for my Fairy Flower, thinking of him with every footstep.
I've run over hill and dale, but he has vanished from my sight;
Wilt thou not blossom on my breast in the next spring
As Shanglin-hun blooms before her royal lover in his flowery garden?
A note of explanation says that "Shanglin-hung" alludes to "the court beauties of the Han dynasty, who are compared to red flowers pressed to the hearts of their royal lovers". ::coughs:: Have I spent too much time with slash-obsessed friends or does this whole story sound more like a romance than an anecdote of Buddhist piety? ^_^ One day I need to read the original to see if it's the translation or not.
Still, for a book written by a Buddhist monk, there is a lot of sex in Samguk Yusa. There are all these stories about Buddhist monks being tempted by visions of beautiful women who turn out to be incarnations of 관음 ("Gwaneum"), otherwise known as the Avalokiteshara Bodhisattva. >_>
Yours &c.
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(no subject)
Date: 2005-01-02 06:20 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-01-03 09:01 pm (UTC)Said drama is cool, I agree. And just to taunt you more, it gets so much more interesting later on. Muahahahaha.
O.o
(no subject)
Date: 2005-01-03 09:43 pm (UTC)http://tvnihon.dragoneye.ca/torrents/[T-N]Shin_Kaguya_Shima_Densetsu_-_TV_Making_Of(E1785258).avi.torrent
What is it exactly?
O.o
(no subject)
Date: 2005-01-03 09:44 pm (UTC)