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| WU Jianren, author of The Sea of Regret, photo source: Hudong baike |
What is the historical background? What are the main characters? What is the story about? And how is it written?
What aspects of the story may be considered unusual from your perspective? How is "passion," "duty," "femininity" and "morality" defined in the story? Do you consider the story "conservative"?
In your response, you should not feel limited by these questions and should feel free to pose your own questions. Compose your response as if you are writing a mini essay, furnished with topic sentence, quotes with page numbers as evidence, comments and questions of your own. It doesn't have to be long, two well-written paragraphs will do.
Post your response as a comment to this post. Save changes while writing or cut and paste from a finished document to avoid technical problems. Due Wednesday September 11 by 8 pm; comment on two other responses due by Wednesday Sept. 11 by 10 pm.
the sea of regret response was written in 1990 and the writer focused on the word “ Sexuality” to wrote a tragedy story about two couples. The main content was about the three family (Chen, Wang and Zhang) lived in a courtyard harmoniously.Unfortunately, in 1990, because an establishment of Boxers and eight nation alliance, Chen and Zhang’s family got way from the courtyard separately. Then, Xiang became a bounder and died because of opium. His lover Dihua became an buddhist nun while Juan Juan( Rui’s lover) became an slut. Rui could not received this fact and retried from his business.
ReplyDeleteIn my view, this love story was written in a modernization style. Specifically, Dihua and Xiang were not affected by feudality and still strength their love in state of war ferment that boxer were destroyed church, railroads and kill the foreigner. Rui did not suicide even though he knew his lover was a slut. In terms of their “love obstacle”, which caused them broke up, is the war between boxers and eight nation alliance. It was not like the traditional love story that couples have to follow their parent’s decision. Morality was showed in the story as well. For instance, Dihua took care of her sickness mother and Rui’s friend Li, after Li’s friend dead, Li helped and faced trouble with Rui. Overall, the writer not just define sexuality as love, but connect with morality that based on the event of gezi.
This story took place during an important historical event in China’s history. The main characters, Bohe and Dihua were forced to be separated by the Boxer uprising right before their marriage. Later in the story, Dihua finds Bohe in Shanghai but realizes he has become addicted to opium. She tried to save him from opium but failed. Dihua becomes a nun after the death of Bohe.
ReplyDeleteThis story focuses more on how a society that used to be isolated from outside influence is reacting to the changes brought by foreigners rather than romantic love. The westernization of late Qing has confused many of its citizens. The idea of freedom and independence has contradicted many roots of Confucianism. For example, Dihua showed her passion and loyalty by converting to a nun after the death of her fiance. This would be very common according to Confucian teachings. However, this might seem very ridiculous from a Western perspective. Overall, the author did a great job depicting the turmoil during the late Qing and the struggles of its people fighting for an identity.
I totally agree your opinion. Confucian teachings paly a huge role and influence many aspect of ancient and modern China.
DeleteI really agree with your opinion of that the story wasn't really about the romance more than it was about the history of the country.
DeleteI also talked about how Confucianism is very important when understanding this story. She was a Confucian woman and devoting the rest of her life to her passed on husband was not something out of the ordinary. This is quite different in what we would see in today's culture.
DeleteI agree with you. The book use two couples stories want to tell what China is looks like at that time. And i think you missed two main characters, they are Zhongai and Juanjuan. Both of their stories are sadness and try to show us the unfortunately history of old China.
DeleteI agree with all of you. The book gives an idea of what life was like in China at that point in time. The main characters were just used to illustrate this for us.
DeleteI support you idea that you give an specific example to support what is Confucianism. However, it is better for you to write more details about the character.
DeleteI like your opinion, "The Sea of regret" changed in the past novels happy ending,the author through the unfortunate marriage in the Qing dynasty feudal rule, desire for the social stability and equality.
DeleteThe novel contained 10 chapters, mainly describing the love story of two girls and boys who grew up together. The elder brother, Bohe was engaged to Dihua, and the younger brother, Zhongai, was engaged to Juanjuan. They grew up together in the same house and get along well with others. They could be the two happy couples, however, the influence of the war, caused the tragedies. Dihua and her mother lost Dihua's father in the period of boxer uprising, her mother got diseases and finally dead. Bohe was robbed on his way to search Dihua and then got a huge amount money by accident. Sadly, he was addicted into opium. Finally, Dihua give up everything and became a nun. Zhongai also lost Juanjuan in the war. When he found her, he found Juanjuan became a prostitute, he was so angry that he disappeared in the mountain.
ReplyDeleteAt the beginning, the author gave the definition about the passion. He referred,"when applied to a ruler, it is loyalty, when applied to parents, it is filial piety, when applied to children, it is parental love, when applied to friends, it is true fellowship."(Wu, 103) This reflected the true personal and cultural value of the traditional scholars. In addition, the family is a very important element in this story. In traditional Chinese culture, the reunion of family is pretty important, and the duty for the host is to try to make the family complete. However, it cannot be realized in this story because of the tragedy of the whole society. In some cases, the novel can be considered as a little bit conservative in the opinion of love. In ancient, the goodness of a woman is pretty important, that is why when Zhongai knew Juan juan has became a prostitute.Another example is about the words of Dihua, "By rights a girl oughtn't to involve herself in these discussions, but things have come to such a state that I have no choice."(Wu, 193) Behind the whole background of the society, the failure of the reform; the aggression of the western countries, people have to wonder around to find a safer place. In the history, people are so small to change, that is the reason for this tragedy love story.
I also felt that family was a very big issue in this story; they desired nothing more than reuniting and being whole again. Quoting you "people have to wander around to find a safer place"; I feel like this could be generalized to the entirety of China during this period; her people scattered by war, a country struggling to retain its heritage. It was a good read.
DeleteThe background of this short novel is the Eight-Power Allied Forces and Boxer Uprising period. This novel mainly described the fate of the Chen’s family. By telling the love story of Bohe(Chen’s older son) and Zhong’ai(Chen’s younger son), the author reveal the cruel reality of the Late Qing society. Also, the author denied the boxer uprising. Their outcome is sad, Chen Gelin and his wife were killed by the boxers, his older son died and younger son went into the forest and disappeared. After I read this novel, I have understand a truth that it’s difficult to get an individual happiness if you live under a dark and unpeaceful time. And, individual fate is highly correlated with the country fortune.
ReplyDeleteEven the author expressed his indignation and his sympathy for the weak in society through this novel, I think the author had deeply old moral idea. He is an approver of old moral idea, we can see this from the beginning of this novel. He explained the “passion” to us, “When applied to a ruler, it is loyalty; when applied to parents, it is filial piety; when applied to children, it is parental love; and when applied to friends, it is true fellowship. Clearly the cardinal virtues all derive from passion. As for sexual passion, the only word for that is infatuation.” (The Sea of Regret, Wu, 103) I think the point of this sentence is “the cardinal virtues are derive from passion, but for sexual passion, the only world for that is infatuation”. For example, he praised Dihua because of hers high moral principle, but he understated about Juanjuan. He also thought that loyalty, filial piety, chastity and righteousness is more important than sexual passion. For example, Zhong’ai faced danger to stay in Beijing to take care of his parents, the author gave him praise.
This novel contains two love stories about star-crossed couples but I felt one showed more passion than the other. A young Chinese man, Bohe, and a young Chinese woman, Dihua were betrothed. They both agreed with the idea of their parents arranging their marriage. Before they could get married, the Boxer Rebellion of 1898 erupts, separating Bohe and Dihua. When Bohe returned from the war he was an opium addict. After many unsuccessful attempts to save him, Bohe died. Dihua, a Confucian woman, commits her life to monastic celibacy.
ReplyDeleteIn 1906, China defined passion as devotion to Confucian standards shown through ones daily demeanor. Dihua’s example of courageous self sacrifice was the epitome of passionate fulfillment. As she exemplifies a female protagonist, Dihua, remains constant to her ailing mother and her far away fiancé. Even after they both pass, she honors their memory by suspending her own life in pious contemplation and become a nun. This gesture is quite different than what we are used to in today’s culture. I consider this story to be conservative because Dihua honors the traditional values of devotion. Ideas of love and emotion tell us a great deal about a culture and society, making this story a perfect example.
This is a really good post, it is great how you found the conservative aspects when Dihua honors her families traditional views by becoming a nun. Also this post shows how again the common people of China during the time have to deal with such adversity and try to live by their morals through hardship.
DeleteI agree that this is a very insightful post and that Dihua showed amazing self-sacrifice throughout the novella as she put the needs of those she loved before herself. However, I think that one of the main reasons for her becoming a nun was not just for the memory of those passed away, but was more out of guilt for how she had somehow facilitated the demise of her loved ones, mostly Bohe. Her sacrifice is significant, but to the point where it affects her mental and emotional health in such a horrible way makes me question whether it was worth the struggle in the end, or how things could have changed if she had let those responsible for their actions actually take full responsibility before laying any burden upon herself; just a thought.
DeleteThe Confucian teachings played a really important role. It guided the way the characters interacted with each other which is really different from the way people do now. Even during troubling times they try to keep up with their morals even when it wasn't the best course of action. Without the Confucius moral standards, the story would have been very different. If the same thing happen to us now, our reaction to everything would be very different just because we have a very different way of thinking now.
DeleteI thought it was almost romantic how after her fiance died, she went on to devote herself to helping and being a conservative monk. She was depicted as a very selfless person.
DeleteThe Sea of Regret narrates the life of two girls(Dihua and Juanjuan) running away from the Boxer uprising before marriage. Through Dihua, the author was able to portray the life of a young woman and her struggles to fulfill her part in society during the late Qing dynasty. In the story, Dihua’s got separated from her fiance, Bohe, while the two families were trying to run away from the war. But, she found Bohe in the city of Shanghai later and found out that he has addicted to opium. Being a devoted character, Dihua did not abandon her fiancé, and tried to save him. Her efforts were not successful and Bohe dies. Dihua later joins a monastery and becomes a nun. Zhongai also got separated from Juanjuan in the war. When he found his lover, he found Juanjuan has become a hooker. Two couples are both lost their lovers in the end.
ReplyDeleteUnder that environment, the failure of the reforms, the invasion from western countries, and the incapable government. The whole society is a big tragedy in China, much less these two couples. The common people is hard to change the tragedy. In the story, after Bohe died, Heting said :" child, this is late, I am afraid. There's nothing else I can do for you." (192) This is not only said to Dihua, it also said to whole society----Common people is afraid of cannot do anything to save China.
This is really well written, I also saw a lot in the novella that the common people in china almost lived in a bubble and had no way changing what was going on around them. When Bohe dies and Heting says there is nothing to do to help, it just shows that the world moves on and some things just cant be fixed no matter how badly we want to undo the past.
DeleteI agree with you. author used a example to show the real situation in late Qing dynasty. Rulers refused to reform because they don't want to lose power, so the whole society became lagging behind the Times.Common people in late Qing dynasty is really sad.
DeleteI never caught that metaphor. It gives deeper meaning to the story.
DeleteThis novella took place when the Boxer's were uprising but to be more specifically it was when the the war between foreigner's was already declared. The novella was definitely written in a unique aspect where the writer was writing from his point of view (3rd person I would suggest) only because through out the entire novella "I" was not used once unless it was in dialogue between two characters. The story is about a women trying to overcome the traditions and the standards that were set by society in order to survive and also love her fiancé. The characters of the novella each are memorable because of their distinct struggles. Dihua, the women who was to be married, was a traditional Chinese women of the time who abide by the traditions. Bohe, Dihua's fiancé, had to go through a psychological ordeal because of the situation that they were placed in. Those were the main "actors" of the novella, however, I want to bring up some other important characters of this novella. Miss Bai, Dihua's mother, had a very impacting role I would say because she is an older chinese women of the time period but she was a bit more lenient than what I had expected. Dihua's father is also important character because of the fact of the way he was portrayed through out the entire novella. He was well disciplined and during time's of crisis was not as lenient as Miss Bai. Through out the novella each character had left an influence on one another causing each one to change their aspects of life and of the current situation at hand (The Uprise of the Boxers)
ReplyDeleteThe main thing that I found very peculiar was that after reading some information on the Boxers and how they live by "Respect your parent's and live in harmony with your neighbors", they actually end up killing an entire family. How can a group of people utter that saying but yet bring themselves to commit such a horrendous crime? A side note that I want to add is that being raised by parents that are from Asia and that are very traditional parents, I completely understand the internal struggles that Dihua and Bohe were going through. To me, that aspect of their relationship was nothing new to me, in fact, I find that their behavior was normal but I just couldn't understand why, in times of crisis, they could not put that aside. Passion, duty, femininity, and morality, based on my understanding of the story, was defined as tradition because each character's actions was based solely on whether allowed or not. When they were on the platform and Miss Bai placed a table between them (page 111) to show segregation of sexes. I would say that this story is not conservative, however, the story does have some conservative aspects to it such as the characters. This novella just shows us that humans sometimes are unable to change themselves because of the boundaries that are set up by our cultural traditions.
I think the conservative part is the chapter 2. When the Lihua and Bohe had to lie on the same bed. Lihua was embarrassed even though miss Bai said it was fine. I think the people's life behavior are conservative.
DeleteThe Sea of Regret portrays a significant correlation between filial piety and passion. The events of the novella occur during the Boxer rebellion in China, caught between Confucian and Western influences. The story focuses on a betrothed couple, Bohe and Dihua, separated during the uprising yet growing in love and seeking to reunite to fulfill their duty to their parents and each other.
ReplyDeleteA particularly interesting aspect to be observed in the novella is the virtue of the main characters in respecting their elders. Dihua’s concern for her mother during her time of sickness, her gratitude towards Fivey for her care, and her submissiveness to her father’s opinions and arrangements displays the deep deference to her parents. This is specifically exemplified in Dihua’s distress over her mother’s escalating illness, demonstrated when she cuts a piece of her own flesh to use as medicine. Right before her death, Dihua says, “Mother, get better soon and be my guide forever. I’d willingly give up part of my own life for your sake. I’d exchange all the blessings in my future for the chance to stay with you” (Jianren 178). Dihua is profoundly committed to her mother, even to the point of giving up part of her own life, revealing an expression of passion in filial piety.
I agree. The virtue of filial piety has been deeply rooted in the Confucian teachings.
DeleteI think so, in traditional Chinese culture,respecting their elders is the most important thing in the daily life. It is called "respecting elders is the first thing of all the goodness," which got the Chinese meaning of "百善孝为先”
DeleteI agree with you. The virtue of filial piety is a kind of traditional history in China. Filial piety is one theme from Confucian thought, and it has influenced China since Spring and Autumn period.
DeleteThe devotion to the parents really stood out to me too. Even when Gelin orders his son to leave, Zhongai tells him that he will remain by his parents' side no matter how much he is punished. Your situation with Dihua is another incredible example of this devotion.
DeleteI agree with your point.Respect for elders is very important in Chinese culture.Especially in ancient China,filial piety is the most essential quality.
DeleteExcellent quote you chose to display the emotion, devotion and passion that went into the relationship between Dihua and her mother. She would rather give up a part of her life to keep her mother a little longer.
DeleteThe Sea of Regret is based on a background that Late Qing is seething with unrest and this is usually a stimulant to literature. The story described that the member of three different family how to react to the unrest situation and it also showed that the meaning of passion in different aspect of life. For example, passion which is possessed from birth can be applied to any sphere of life as we grow up and it is not affected by anyone because it is an innate quality. The Sea of Regret the whole nation and people was so desperate and be painful during the period of Boxer and Eight power allied forces war of aggression against China.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, The Sea of Regret is a tragedy. Di hua is a traditional women who grew up in a good family but she leant to how to take care of her mother and be thoughtful and patient to her fiancé, but it really a shame that she became a nun. Based on the description of two tragedy of youth, in a dark background, want to have the happiness of the individual life is hard. The fate and the fate of the country be bound together in a common cause of individuals, the old morality may change the world. But when the old moral experience back, everything is in vain.
I agree with your point of view, in this day and age people are really not easy, it can be said that the mind and body growth.
DeleteI agree that the Sea of Regret is a tragedy and I love your viewpoint; however, I may say that the tragedy lies more in the outcome of the lives of each of the four protaganists (specifically the mortality and the "sexuality" of two of them) but not exactly in Dihua becoming a nun. Whether that factor is a tragedy or not, the real tragedy lies in how they decided to deal with the problems in their lives. Dihua could have decided to put less stress on herself and eventually recover from the loss of Bohe, Bohe could have turned to better alternatives than drugs, JuanJuan could have done a million other things than become a prostitute, and who knows what Zhongai could have done (because that really sucks for him) but he could have gone on with a career and married a woman who actually wanted to love him.
DeleteThat is a valid point, that if the country itself is failing or going through turbulent times the people themselves will suffer on an individual level. It really makes you wonder how our lives would change if something like that were to ever happen to us here in America.
DeleteThe novella "Sea of Regret" takes place during the Boxer revolution and eight country alliance, in the early 19th century. It is a story about four lovers, two boys and two girls, who were separated by the rebellion. In the story Bohe was engaged to Dihua and Zhong’ai was engaged to Juanjuan. After they were separated and reunited at the end of the novel. Bohe had become addicted to opium, Dihua being the dutiful women she was tried to save him. But in the end she failed and Bohe died, Dihua then became a nun. Juanjuan had become a prostitute and when Zhong'ai discovered this, he disappeared into the mountains.
ReplyDeleteThis was defiantly not a feel good story. All the main characters seemed to be ill fated. I think the underlying meaning to this novella was that under the outdated leadership of the Qing Dynasty and the failure of of the reforms nobody in China could be happy and live good lives. It also showed the struggle of traditional Chinese values clashing with the emerging modern China. While some aspects of the story showed traditional China, I believe the author embraced a modern progressive China. The thing I found most profound in this novel was that after Bohe died, Dihua went and joined a monastery. Even after everything she went through she still remain dutiful and inline with Confucius teachings. In our American society when people deal with as much loss as Dihua had, they don't join a monastery and live a life of servitude. They often times go into a deep depression and find solace in alcohol and drugs. That is why I found Dihua's path the most respectable.
I agree that Dihua joining a monastery was very shocking. It is very common to re-marry in today's society. However, that does not seem to be the case in this story.
DeleteI admire how Dihua stayed strong and never allowed the poor actions of others around her or her harsh circumstances to cause her to stray from her personal moral code.
DeleteThe story The Sea of Regret is a story of romance, passion, longing and desire for your loved ones, and the desperation of escaping turmoil. It is set during the time of the Boxer Uprising; around the year 1900. It begins with three families living together with two sons (Bohe and Zhongai) and two daughters (Dihua and Juanjuan), who grow up together and attend school together. After a while it is arranged for them to marry, Bohe with Dihua and Zhongai with JuanJuan. After a long and difficult journey, with many saddening circumstances, Bohe finally makes it to Shangai; and Dihua was reunited with her father soon after her mother passed away. Zhongai found work in Shaanxi and later met up with the rest of the story’s cast in Shangai soon after his brother Bohe had passed on. Later, he found that his own betrothed, JuanJuan, in the pleasure quarter as a prostitute. So, in the end, both couples were shattered.
ReplyDeleteThe Sea of Regret is a quite depressing story. Passion is a subject focused on throughout it. Passion, course, has many interpretations. Passion, as the author Wu Jianren said, “When applied to a ruler, it is loyalty; when applied to parents, it is filial piety; when applied to children, it is parental love; and when applied to friends, it is true fellowship.” [pg. 103] We witness all of these: the stubbornness and loyalty of Gelen , refusing to leave his government post for safety; the respect and love for their parents shown many times, Zhongai refusing to leave his parents and Dihua nursing her mother; and the attentive desire to be reunited with friends/cousins/fiancés and the utter fear of the status of their life. Passion is anything and everything that we desire strongly and put great effort into.
I like your summary of the story. In addition, I like the passion definition. I was thinking the passion in this story. I just focused on their loves. However, the ending was not great. What i learned form your response is the passion from kids to their parents. well done!
DeleteI agree with Fei, you did a great job describing passion. Passion is what we make it, and every individual can find passion in something. And you're right, the children held a very strong passion for their parents throughout their lives. Great response!
DeleteThe Sea of Regret is a significant story in Chinese culture because it took place during a very large important historical event during the late 18 and early 1900’s. The novella is written during a time when the Boxer’s were uprising in China. The rebellion takes place because of the Western and Confucian influences during the period. Written in third person the novella allows the reader to get inside the head of Dihua and Bohe, a couple that is trying to overcome adversity in order to fulfill typical Chinese tradition, and to maintain their love for each other. Even though this couple was separated during the rebellion they strive get back together and be married. The novella shows how disciplined and respectful the young people in China are to their elders, through adversity and hardship all the two want to do is get married so that they can hold true to a promise they made to their families. Even though Bohe becomes addicted to opium Dihua strives to save him from the strong addiction but sadly she can’t and chooses a simpler, quiet life. After finishing this book it really makes me appreciate the world that I live in because I have not had to deal with such adversity yet. In a place where war and death is apparent I cant imagine how even the most powerful of people become happy.
ReplyDeleteI found it very unusual that the author did not fund much sympathy for the people affected during the conflicts taking place. The author seemed to talk a lot about how the average person during the time could do nothing to change what was going on or find happiness yet did nothing to show sadness for them. It is what is it is would be a saying that the author probably had in their had while writing this novella. Being raised in America I do not understand the “traditionalism” of the Asian culture as much as I potentially could, but I have the utmost respect for how the Chinese have such traditional views and live by them like an unwritten code. This novella does have some small conservative aspects to it, but also shows that the traditional life style that the Chinese live does not allow them much leeway. The respect that is shown toward elders in this novella is something that all children around the world need to witness, in my opinion it would be very unlikely for most people to want to sacrifice their entire future in order to have a parent stay in their life for little longer.
I completely agree with the part where you are talking about how the author just left out the other citizens at that time.There is a high possibility that there were other families going through something similar to what the characters of the novella went through. However, traditionalism has been around for quite sometime and everyone has been exposed to it whether they know it or not. the respect that was shown in this novella is compelling but we all have choices in our life that we have to make (talking back to your parents, disobeying the rules, etc...) but subconsciously we choose not to comply with those rules because they go against what we believe. In the current world that we live in, we all know what respect is but it just comes down to a simple question; Will you be able to show respect as the characters in the novella did.
DeleteThis is a good post. I think the tone of the novella is satirical. The author decribe that people have no choice to chage their situation through the environmental description.
DeleteI also found the author's tone unusually apathetic towards the characters' misfortune. It seemed that everyone felt like there was nothing they could do, and they were just stuck in the middle of all of that fighting.
DeleteI also agree with both Kennedy and Matt. By not including the other citizens you are excluding many other's stories and details. By focusing primarily on the turmoil of two couples cannot justify the population and culture as a whole.
DeleteThe main characters of “The Sea of Regret” consist of four young Beijing natives of Canton descent: Bohe, Dihua, Juan Juan, and Zhongai. The tale takes place during the Boxer Rebellion at the beginning of the engagement of Bohe to Dihua and Zhongai to Juan Juan, and traces their paths through their trek from Beijing to Shanghai and Shaanxi, leading to the demise of their relationships, and ultimately, the lives of a couple in the end. Written from an omniscient third person perspective, Wu Jianren highlights the inner turmoil of these young lovers, letting the reader see the type of despair that was faced in only a few lives during the time of the rebellion. With each chapter closing, Wu leaves a “cliffhanger” to keep the audience enticed, and with each chapter opening, he inserts clues as to what will happen next; a unique writing style to say the least.
ReplyDeleteOne unusual aspect that I noticed from this story was the amount of duty and respect that was upheld, specifically by the female characters towards the men, during this time of crisis for the two families. More plainly, Dihua not only respected her male counterparts – Bohe and Heting – but focused on everything that she had “messed up” within the relationship that she carried with Bohe, until she took all of the guilt for his death – despite it being his own fault – and became a nun to relieve everyone from the “trouble” that she had caused. Another point about Dihua, and the culture of that time, that I found interesting was how any small form of communication from the woman to her fiancée could be seen as improper, possibly labeling the woman as a slut. Once more, Dihua kept to this properness throughout the entire story, until the end where she defied societal standards and did what she thought was necessary to help bring Bohe out of his addiction: to comfort him in whatever way he needed; this turned the heads of some unnamed characters in the novella (pg. 197, last paragraph), but today that form of comfort would be expected from the counterpart.
One specific statement on page 179 got me thinking about different ideas in the book; it goes as follows:
She then continued her piteous grieving. Perhaps her failure to cure her mother with that morsel of flesh showed that the ancients were lying, she thought. But how could their lies have been passed done over so many years without anyone seeing through them? No doubt the ancients weren’t lying at all; it was her own heart that wasn’t sincere enough.” Pg. 179, paragraph 4
When we consider the Boxer rebellion and the leaders of the land at that time – the Qing Dynasty – we see that there were many holes in the plot for the future of China. The Qing dynasty did not want much of any reform, fearing that they would lose their authority, and the Boxer Rebellion was a display of how xenophobic the people really were; China needed change and they knew it, but they were not having it. In this quote we find someone who is thrown in the middle of this mess who is beginning to question the authority of things, whether she knows it or not, by saying that what she had believed all this time had been wrong. However, she has been so engulfed by the overwhelming influence of her ancestors and the present powers that she can only assume that the things going wrong are her fault. Is there something twisted about this situation? Is this a hint of necessary revolution from Wu Jianren?
This is a very interesting interpretation and I really like the questions you posed. It reminds me of the ending too, where Zhangai questions the part played by the Creator in people's destinies after comparing his and Dihua's situations. It does seem very twisted that Dihua blamed herself for everything that happened to Bohe, especially when he had several chances to turn his life around.
DeleteThis is a very clear and specific post and I agree with your ideas. you find the point about Dihua is very interesting. I like your questions.
DeleteI agree completely with Tyler. Wonderful points about the duty and respect the women upheld throughout the novella.
DeleteI also noticed the author's unique writing style, it gave added suspense and excitement to the story. And I agree on the point about Dihua and her revelation on the ancients; her traditions failed her and she felt like it was her own fault. Very saddening story.
DeleteThis is a tragic novel, describes a society in turbulent tangle of people in order to survive and pain. Dihua is a typical traditional woman, after fleeing grow step by step process to take care of her sick mother, posted notices, but finally she was accompanied with the Buddha. Such an outcome does not face regrettable.
ReplyDeleteI think after reading this novel in that era people's survival and prosperity of that era have great contact, it is fortunate that that era has passed, I can’t imagine at that time and how strong people's hearts have to withstand such times. This is regrettable in China but also attractive.
Although there is a tragedy in ancient China due to the decadent ideology and old moral idea especially the unrest situation, it makes Chinese history more abundant and give the new generation more thoughts.
DeleteI think Dihua is a very strong woman in that ear. She is the role I like most in this novel, even she has a miserable ending. From another angle, she is a typical example in Chinese old moral idea. She should take care of families, husband (although she didn't marry Bohe). She also preserve chastity after the death of her husband(Bohe). In a word, the mainly reason for this tragedy is the darkness society.
DeleteThis is a good point that the negative aspects are attractive. It is unfortunate what people of the time had to go through, but those actions did not go unanswered. China grew from them. China became better and China's history is strong now, this can be related to the saying, "it's always darkest before dawn." This shows that if you feel strongly about an aspect, you should stand up and fight for it. Fight not only for yourself, but for others and the cause that which you care.
DeleteIn the year gengzi of the guangxu reign period, the whole northern part of the country was thrown into turmoil by the rise of the Boxer bandits. Eventually the turmoil brought the allied army into the capital. In general, late Qing dynasty became very confusion because of gengzi incident. Based on this background, author described the love tragedy between two pairs of young men and women. Bohe, Lihua’s fiance. He separated with Lihua during their flight. By coincidence, Bohe got a lot of money and went to Shanghai. However, Bohe was too young that he couldn’t steer himself, he went whoring everyday. Finally, he died in hospital. Lihua became a Buddhist nun because of Bohe’s died. Zhongai, Bohe’s brother. He’s parents were killed during gengzi incident. With the help of his father’s friend, Zhongai got some money and became an offcial. He back to hometown and found his fiancee Juanjuan. However, Juanjuan had already became a whore. Zhonggai was fury and finally he He prowled among the mountains.
ReplyDeleteIn this novel, author described the real situation in late Qing dynasty. Through a love tragedy between two pairs of young men and women, author attacked social evils. Just like Shakespeare's famous play "Romeo and Juliet", both are love tragedy made by times. The most important point in this novel is passion. As the author said, his novel is qualify as a story of passion. And that is also most interested aspect to me. After I read this novel, I have a deeper understanding of passion. Passion is confined to sex. When applied to a ruler, it is loyalty. When applied to parents, it is filial piety. When applied to children, it is parental love. When applied to friends, it is true fellowship. From this novel, I found one thing that is different to today’s situation, love in late Qing dynasty not free and marriage can not be independently. Young men or women must seek permission from the parents before they in love with each other. It reminds me of another famous book in China, which is ‘Dream of the Red Chamber’. This book wrote a love not to be able the freedom, the marriage not to be able the independent tragedy. Since marriage arranged by parents caused so many tragedy, why people still keep it up in ancient China? To compare with today, This kind of situation have improved a lot because we can free love.
This is a good comparison to William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. It is the classic novel to base many debates over, and I like the fact that you brought this up. It was a very passionate play, that which the Sea of Regret can be put side by side.
DeleteI also liked your comparison to Romeo and Juliet. I think that was a great idea to use such a classic story, that was very creative.
DeleteI also liked the comparison to Romeo and Juliet. To use how the tragedy of the young couple was ended with a death (or a drug addiction in Bohe's case). Very good idea on your part.
DeleteThe sea of regret was written by Wu Jianren. The story happened “in the year gengzi of the Guangxu reign period (1900)”(pp104). This was a tragic story. The story talked about three main couples, which were Bai’s couples, Bohe and Dihua, Zhongai and Juanjuan. Bohe and lihua, Zhongai and Juanjuan were engaged. Because of the war, they had to be separated from each other. After few years, when they saw each other again, everything was changed into tragedy.
ReplyDeleteIn this story, there was a famous history event was mentioned, which was The Boxer Uprising. In the chapter 3, Bohe saw the foreigners repaired the railway destroyed by the “Boxer bandits” (pp 124). Also. A lot of foreigner soldiers were transferring to Tianjin and Beijing. I think this is the clue of the history background. While I was reading the story, I could feel this was a feudalism society, for example in chapter 2, Dihua felt embarrassed to lie down on the same bed with her fiancé. So Bohe went outside and slept. This means Bohe was a traditional person. But why he became licentious later. This is the unusual part what I think. I was touched by their love stories. They tried to find each other and they believed in loves. However, at the same time, I don’t understand why Bohe and Juanjuan choose to be corrupt and gave up the love.
In my opinion, Bohe and Juanjuan represent a kind of common people during that period. They have no courage and mind to struggle against adversity because of some bad traditional thoughts. Otherwise, Juanjuan maybe didn't have enough skills to live by herself under the rough-and-tumble environment. Bohe maybe just want to use opium to forget painful memory. Bad environment influenced those people.
DeleteI agree with you Jiayu. You said that, "They have no courage and mind to struggle against adversity"
DeleteI agree with that. The characters in this story are going along with society. To me that is the opposite of passion and will.
During this time the opium war was going, if I recall correctly, and there are multiple reasons that could possibly persuade Bohe into trying opium (which later got him addicted). I might suggest that due to the current situation that he was placed in, he felt that he wasn't in control of his life. In chapter 9, page 190, states that he wants to be in control of his life or he will become a monk
DeleteYou pose a great question, Fei! The characters may have ended up becoming products of their environment. Entrenched in traditional ideals, the individualism common in Western society was not seen as an option. Thus, Bohe did not fight for love, but his passion was misdirected by circumstance.
DeleteI feel like the author was trying to show the struggle between the Chinese society trying to stay true with the traditional values but how the changes with the war have corrupted the upcoming generations. He used both couples to show the traditional side of society and the youngest couple to show the progressive culture and how it corrupts people.
DeleteI also agree with you, Jiayu. They really did represent the common people of China. That fact alone is what makes this a truly authentic Chinese story. After all, the common people are the structure behind the Great Middle Kingdom of the East.
DeleteThe boxers uprising was one of the worst thing in Chinese history, nothing but a point indicated the transformation of Chinese society from feudalism to nationalism. The eight-Allience ruined the cities, families, and the government's dignity, but those boxer-mobs corrupted the culture heritage. People were confused and starting to suspect what they used to believe. The eight-Allience defeated those boxers and shamed the unenlightened late Qing dynasty, and at the same time, forced China to further open the door and accept new strange civilization and values, which actually wrote down the love tragedy.
DeleteThe Sea of Regrets begins with three families that were brought together to live under the same roof. The main characters of the stories are the two sets of lovers, the two males figures are brothers of one family, Bohe (older) and Zhongai (younger), and the two women that they were arranged to marry were the daughters of each of the other two families, Dihua and Juanjuan. Growing up together the brothers’ parents decided that their futures were going to great and therefore needed to be arranged with proper spouses. When the Boxer uprising began to spread across the country and it started the tragic events that followed. With the death of Dihua’s father, then lose of Dihua’s mother due to disease, and Bohe being robbed and then addicted to opium. After a while of trying to cure him of his addiction she decided to become a nun. Zhongai and Juanjuan were also separated because of the war, when Zhongai finally found Juanjuan he learned that she had become a prostitute he became enraged and hid away.
ReplyDeleteI think this particular story is very relatable and enjoyable for anyone regardless of the generation and gender. The author starts by stating the difference between the different types of passion that we have and that it starts off the story by stating, “It would rather be awkward for me, in relating this story of mine, to tell you in advance just what kind of passion I am going to describe..” (The Sea of Regret, Wu, 104) But passion is in many different aspects of the story, passion for ones family, passion for ones own country, and passion for your lovers that you are separated from. But I think the main part of the story is developing from how the citizen of the country reacts to the influence of the ‘outside’ world. Femininity was in two separate settings here, in one area Dihua I believe was very family oriented and even after all the tragic events she stayed with her morals and eventually found Bohe. On the other hand, Juanjuan decided to become a prostitute. Obviously, the story was made from a specific time so a lot of the story’s perspectives are going to be a lot different but I think overall it can related back to his original meeting and introduction of having to deal with passion and basically where one’s passion goes.
I love how you contrast the paths of Dihua and Juanjuan. Even from the beginning of the story, Juanjuan's relationship with her fiancee is bordering traditional lines in how much time they spent together, whereas Dihua is very concerned about upholding tradition. Even in their travels she refused to sleep in the same bed although it was necessary. In the end, Dihua maintained her moral piety, but because of Bohe's choices, her story ended unexpectedly. But I believe that the ending of Juanjuan's story could have been reflected in her behavior earlier in the story. Great point!
DeleteThe novel, "The Sea of Regret", is about a story of two couples and there struggle during the Boxer Rebellion. The main characters names were Bohe, Dihua, Zhongai and Juanjuan. The story is written from a third party perspective.
ReplyDeleteI found this story to be interesting read. On the surface it looks like a romance novel but in my opinion it wasn't really about love and the relationships of the two couples. To me it was more about the struggle the country went through at that time. The author wanted to tell the history more than the love part of it or at least that's what I got out of it. What I found really interesting was the fact lot of the people in the story, not just the main characters but also the support characters, never really knew what was going on in the country. Rumors were everywhere. No one seem to know anything themselves and depend on the word of mouth. I saw this a lot when Bohe and Dihua where traveling together. Bohe would ask people he met during his travels and it seemed everywhere was in chaos. People where going every direction trying to find somewhere safe. There was a part where people were heading to Tianjin and others were heading away from there. There was another part that stuck out to me. It was when Bohe and Dihua had gotten separated during the crowd of panic people. Bohe asked why they were running and the person answer him that he was running because he saw the others run. That to me really showed just how much chaos was going on in the country. Everyone had no information and was in the dark. The story also showed another problem that the country had during the time besides the Boxer Rebellion. Opium was another that was very huge problem at the time. Even one of the main characters had succumbed to the addictive drug and eventually die because of it. To me the stories and the main character were just a few of the struggles many people had gone through.
I have got the same idea. Although it looks like a love story, when it was put in that period, the story may be represented more and more tragedies like this. It can be inferred from the novel that people got the wish to have a safe place and a complete family.
DeleteI like how you looked beyond the generic thought or meaning behind the story and focused more on the country's stubble and the point of the uprising. It was really interesting to see a different view on the simple little activities that occurred throughout the story.
DeleteThis story takes place during the Boxer Uprising, and the Boxers are rebelling against the Eight-Power Allied forces. The rebellion was triggered by the Western and Confucian influences at the time. When the fighting begins, the conflict of the story arises. Family members and friends are forced to separate for their safety. The novel mainly follows the lives of Bohe and Dihua, two teenagers who are to be married, as decided by their parents. After Bohe and Dihua flee together, they soon become separated. The rest of the novel describes their exhausted efforts of trying to find each other again. Unfortunately, by the time Dihua finds Bohe, it's too late. Like many men in Eastern Asia at the time, Bohe started using opium and became addicted. Dihua strived to save him from this horrible addiction, but there was nothing she could do. After his death, Dihua felt she didn't do enough for Bohe while they were together when they were younger and what happened to him was her fault.
ReplyDeleteThe entire novel was written in a very set back and "conservative" tone. To me, "conservative " a great word to describe the characters of this story, as well as the culture at the time. Although Bohe and Dihua were due to be married, they had to follow their customs. The two felt that they weren't allowed to really communicate or take of each other until after their marriage, or else they would disappoint their families. This concept was hard for me to really understand, making it the most unusual aspect of this story. The fact that Bohe and Dihua felt that they couldn't connect and get to know each other better, or even help when the other was sick, while they were engaged, is unbelievable to me. This is very different than our culture here today. Also, every character seemed to just accept the fighting that was happening in their country and realized there was nothing they could do to stop it. They didn't seem to have any urge to better the situation. This story really shows how serious the Chinese were about their traditional values. Each character feels they have a duty, and they perform that duty passionately. Similar to what I stated before, Bohe and Dihua felt that it was their duty to follow the rules of their engagement, as set by their culture. Based off of this story, I'd say it's safe to say that the characters, as well as the Chinese during that time, have a strong passion for completing their duty that has been passed down to them through generations.
I agree with your comment. I didn't understand the way Dihua acted toward Bohe. Even if they were ideally supposed to remained separated I still don't understand Dihua's agitation when her mother was not bothered by the situation. Surely if it had been so important, even while they ran for their life's, her mother would have been concerned as well.
DeleteI agree with your point regarding duty. The young Bohe and Dihua are excellent examples of conservative youth in Chinese society during this time period. They are modest, and although they are engaged they are very careful not to cross any boundaries—boundaries which, at the time, were the width of a table placed in a bed! The fact that Dihua was reluctant even to tuck Bohe in is remarkable. This really shows a commitment to duty to tradition. However, the theme of duty seems to transcend just the duty to cultural civility. I think duty is more pronounced in the way that Dihua is committed to her family. Throughout the entire story, her primary focus is on the wellbeing of her loved ones—whether it be her sick mother or Bohe—making sure he doesn’t catch a cold, trying to find him when he is separated, and staying loyal to him after his death even after he has been disloyal to her and violated his own duty as a partner.
DeleteI think that your description of the tone of the piece is spot on. Both Dihua and Bohe had their obligations and customs to follow and they behaved as they were supposed to. The bit about traditional values of duty and responsibility are especially accurate.
Delete"The Sea of Regret" focuses on several main characters, in particular a young woman, Dihua. She endures many trials due to the upheaval caused by the Boxer Rebellion, but through it all, she stays strong. Through her self-sacrifice, Dihua exemplifies the characteristics of passion, duty, and femininity. She displays passion through her continual wish to be reunited with her fiancé, Bohe (p.185), duty through her continued care for her mother (p.135), and femininity through her constant awareness of proper decorum in her society (p.111).
ReplyDeleteWhile Dihua's altruism is certainly not immoral, perhaps if she had acted in the interest of both herself and others, the ending might have been more hopeful. She had no control over the deaths of her mother from illness or of Bohe from opium addiction. Still, she feels that these deaths are her fault, despite the fact that she did all that she could to prevent them. Dihua's unfortunate situation could be a subtle critique on the constraints of the current Chinese society. Wu is not condemning the values that Dihua embodies, but he appears to frown upon the societal beliefs that made Dihua see her loved ones' tribulations as a reflection of her own actions. Perhaps if Dihua had been raised with a different mindset, she would have decided to stay with her family, and then they would have been happy together.
I like how you focused on the character of Dihua and how she felt throughout the story, it was great to see the opinion and feelings of one character from the entire group. I agree with you on if maybe she had been raised with a different mindset things would be different,
Delete"The Sea of Regret" reminds me of a Shakespearean tragedy. Everything starts out well, then disaster strikes and the characters experience tragedy after tragedy. However, a few details of the story stood out to me as being overly dramatic. Particularly how Miss Bai's condition was caused by "a sudden shock and the consequent displacement of her vital spirits by noxious summer influences." (p. 158) It sounds quite unbelievable that someone can literally be scared to death over a long period of time like that. Zhongai's becoming a hermit at the end of the novel seemed drastic as well, though I'm sure Jianren would say that it was a sign of his passion.
ReplyDeleteThe most incredible part of the novel to me was the devotion or as Jianren calls, passion, shown by Dihua and Zhongai to their families and to their fiancés. Their devotion to their betrothed, even though they were separated for such an long period of time, seems superhuman by today's standards. Jianren writes about the differences between sexual passion and the passion people demonstrate in their day to day lives. In the first chapter he gives the example of the widows that remain chaste, saying "The occasion on which the widows remained unmoved were precisely those on which their passion was at its height." (p.103-04) Dihua and Zhongai are prime examples of this type of passion.
Dihua and Zhongai represents the positive roles in that time. They both did their best to protect families and lovers, but they got a sad ending. As you say, "everything starts out well, then disaster strikes and the characters experience tragedy after tragedy". But it’s difficult to get an individual happiness because they lived under a dark and unpeaceful time. The troubled Late Qing and Boxer Uprising...
DeleteI definitely agree that this story has elements of Shakespearean tragedy. The couples’ relationships bloom at such a young age, and the way that they met each other due to unusual circumstances—four children, all of whom are “five or six” years of age—is, as the author points out, a real coincidence! This is kind of like Shakespeare’s idea of star-crossed lovers. Also, Dihua’s and Zhongai’s retreat into solitude, whether it’s the mountains or the Buddha and matched with the loss of their lovers to promiscuity, is a parallel to the separation caused by Juliet’s and Romeo’s death. Another common theme is that this separation was fuelled by the fire of conflict, except instead of warring families, it political turmoil which ends up keeping them apart.
DeleteThe Sea of Regret was published in 1909. It seems to be written in the tradition of a Shakespearian tragedy complete with its own version of star crossed lovers. Except in this case they are separated by fighting and civil unrest, and the probability that the might not have loved each other. For instance Dihua feels that she should take care of Bohe as her “wifely duty” and she cares for him, as they were children together, but nowhere in this story did I get the impression that she actually loved him in a romantic sense. To me the acts the author positions as acts of passion just aren't examples of passion, are just duties and societal standards. I wonder if this also has something to do with what I would consider the author’s prudishness. At the very beginning he puts sexual passion on the same level as lechery. I find that really strange, as if there is something wrong with being sexually passionate with the person you love? Maybe he’s just the type of person who is scared of sexuality and thinks it safer to stick to strict rules and decorum. But then again it was 1909. The age of the novella probably explains the author’s very conservative views.
ReplyDeleteSo I’m sure it’s coming across that I really disliked this story. I found it impossible to identify or even like the characters. It also seemed gimmicky and childish. At the end of every chapter it said something to the effect of, “Do you want to know what happened next? Read the next chapter! “That’s the sort of thing you generally see in children’s books to get them to continue reading.
The background of "The Sea of Regret" is during "in the year gengzi of the Guangxu reign period (1900)”. This is a story that talk about love between two couples. There were three families living in Beijing. The elder son of jilin's family, Bohe was engaged to the daughter of heting's family, Dihua. And the younger son of jilin's family, Zhongai, was engaged to the daughter of letian's family, Juanjuan. These two lovers grew up together. They loved each other very much and should have a happiness ending for thier life.
ReplyDeleteHowever, because of the Boxer uprising, everything was changed. They wanted to leave Beijing to find a safe place, but they got lost by lots of refugees. Their fathers and mothers dead during seeking refuge. Bohe could not find his family but he got a windfall, then he moved to Shanghai. At that young age, Bohe cannot control himself. He went whoring and Opium smoking. When Dihua found him, he was poor and sick. Dihua tried to save him but he dead soon. Dihua was so disappointed and became a buddhist. Zhongai got help from his father's friends and made lots money to help him to find his wife Juanjuan. However Juanjuan became a whore when he found her. Zhongai was so mad at her and moved to the mountain.
The bad end of this story give me a deeply impression, it is negative and sorrow and despair. I feel that at that time, teens cannot do anything to choose their own life. People are unfortunately by the war. Thier tragedies tragedy take me back at that period of history.
To understand the meaning and nature of “The Sea of Regret”, one must first examine the historical background of the novella. The novella is set during the late 1800s to the early 1900s during what is known as the “Boxer Uprising”. The uprising movement was a response to the foreign disruption the indigenous people of China felt. These disruptions ranged from simple foreign missionaries to the political invasion brought by opium. Eventually, the Eight-Nation Alliance brought close to 20,000 troops to China to defeat the Imperial Army and capture Beijing. China faced not only an embarrassing loss, but was also left with a debt that needed to be paid to the eight nations involved over the course of thirty nine years.
ReplyDeleteNow that the history context has been set, the novella can now be examined. “The Sea of Regret” is a story centered around four characters; Bohe, Dihua, Zhongai, and JuanJuan. The four characters each play a vital role in understanding the passion, duty, femininity, and morality faced by both men and women during the time of the rebellion. The engagement between Bohe and Dihua is a direct expression to the passion, duty, and femininity faced by women during the time. Because Bohe and Dihua try to run away to escape the turmoil China is going through, they eventually get split up. The story goes through the process of the two trying to find each other again, and when Dihua finally finds Bohe she discovers he has become addicted to opium. Their relationship shows the passion, duty, and femininity faced by the women at the time because after all the turmoil and surroundings she has been placed in, she continues to try and save him from the horrible addiction inflicted upon him from opium. Dihua maintains her femininity through her obligation towards her husband. Her duty and passion are shown through the loyalty of trying to cure her husband from the disease of addiction. It is then highlighted and shown again when Dihua decides to become a nun. This shows her loyalty to her husband and how she is not willing to commit her heart to another man. The love story between Zhongai and JuanJuan has both similar qualities and differences. They too were split because of the uprising, but when Zhongai eventually found JuanJuan he had discovered she had become a prostitute.
I thought the story as a whole was a good representation of the culture, duty, and respect the women of China had at the time. Dihua was a perfect example to showcase how women were passionate, loyal, and feminine to their husbands. Her duty and respect to try and cure her husband followed by her becoming a nun shows the loyalty women at that time had towards their husband. “Child! There’s no need for all this! I may be a business man, but I’m not one of those rogues who know nothing of morality. If you want to remain a widow, of course I’ll let you be!” (Wu, 200). This quote is a direct representation of how morality plays in the decision of Dihua and how she wanted to keep loyalty and duty to her husband. However, her counterpart in the story JuanJuan showed that the turmoil and rebellion may have been too much for some Chinese resulting in the betrayal of their morals and values.
I think you did a great job on your summary. Also I think you do did a great job explaining loyalty, because in the Chinese culture they take loyalty very serious and I think you explaining the examples gets that message across.
DeleteI am really like your idea,analysis is very comprehensive.I think ancient Chinese marriage is very failure，but because the time of the feudal system, we can also brings us a judgment, and thinking of marriage now.
DeleteWell, Cixi was the most "brave" top powerful woman in history, in human being history, super "boldness" beyond Hitler and the former Soviet Union. Declared wars to 11 foreign nations at a time, she really presented a huge excuse for those ravenous “eight” Alliance to ruin the old beijing city and the entire China. I cant accept what Yao said " ancient Chinese marriage was very failure, because the time of the feudal system" under this particular background to the stores, because the outer culture and forces compel this old and relatively closed civilization to rethink and revalue their own culture. I would like to say this period of time of China was full of confusion and nondescript.
DeleteThe "Sea of Regret" was a tragic story in the setting of a tragic time. The late 1800's and early 1900's were an important historical time for China. The setting was made up of a time for rebellion and, specifically, the Boxer Uprising. Within the story, theme was based upon true love, between Bohe and Dihua, a romantic couple that that simply wanted happiness. Unfortunately, due to the war and other various ongoing events the story was only a series of disappointing. First, the Bohe had to leave for the war, then on top of that cam back addicted to opium. Dihua felt she could bring him back from the terrible addiction, but then failed when he died.This action that Dihua attempted could only be done by someone who truly loved and cared for the other individual.
ReplyDeleteThe author's rhetoric starts with a very serious, yet sympathetic tone. Young "passion" that can be found throughout their lives, or the whole story. Their lives are each entrapped by classical roles of Chinese culture, Bohe fulfills the roles a man would during that time, such as fighting in the war and Dihua is willing to take care of her husband and family. This was the norm of the time, but still shows that despite the hardships, one must continue on through the pain and suffering for what they love. In my opinion the author did not focus much on this love, and offered more history. However, the themes were prevalent throughout the whole novel and made the reader feel very into the story.
I feel like the Bohe and Dihua did not continue on throughout all this suffering just for love, but also as a comfort in the way things use to be before the war and changes brought by foreigners. Dihua could have easily gone down the same roads as many of the Chen family did, but instead stayed true to her husband and then became a nun because that was all she knew to do and it comforted her.
DeleteI respectfully disagree with you, Kyle. I think that the point the author was trying to make is that it is possible to be so passionate about another person that you literally never want to be with another. I think that her vow of celibacy was purely motivated by her heartbreak at the death of her lover.
DeleteIn this novel have a total of ten chapters , The author was talk about a man named Chen Qi’s two sons life. The elder son named Bohe with fellow Zhang Heting’s daughter Dihua have a engagement; second son Zhongai with Wang Letian's daughter Juan-juan have a engagement. Three families living the same capital, two pairs of children are childhood growing up. Unexpectedly Boxer mess up, when the Dihua’s father was business in Shanghai, Ji Lin, Bohe and He Ting’s wife(Bai Shi) were refuge from Beijing. On the way to break up the crowd because of chaos, Bai Shi was panic into the illness, then she was died. When Heting visited to his wife and daughter , but saw a coffin, only have one person .When Bohe missed Dihua ,he was removed to Shanghai .But on long time, he was swept away because of all the belongings loss for prostitutes, because opium addiction and living on the streets. When Heting was visiting home, he was old habits die hard, the end result of poor and sick, poisoned and died in the hospital. Dihua therefore despaired, cut black hair, fled to Buddhism. When Jilin and his wife killed in the chaos, Zhongai met his father’s friend and got have some help. When he in order to look for Juan-juan. Unexpectedly, Juanjuan actually becomes sell laugh’s prostitution. And Zhongai into the mountains and disappeared
ReplyDelete"The Sea of regret" changed in the past novels happy ending, described the two pairs of young men and women hurried retreat mandarin duck dream come true story of the tragedy. Although the novel concept of love appear to be relatively conservative, the author himself said: "One of the ideas of the speech, most often banal talk, no new special interest, good use since apologized. Fortunately, though the book is written love, still better off moral scope, or Gentleman will not be cast aside for the big ears. "( Said novel ) but the authors of the two pairs of young men and women into the Boxer Incident love tragedy in the background among the chaos in the description of their experience, it is also for us to show depicting thrilling, loss of life of the historical picture, so that their personal tragedy marked by a distinctive brand of the times.
Wu Jianren’s “The Sea of Regret” is a tragic story which describes the turbulence of life during the Boxer uprising in the late Qing dynasty. The reader follows the experiences of four Beijing youths--Bohe, his fiancee Dihua, his brother Zhongai, and Zhongai’s fiancée Juanjuan—as they grow up together, flee as refugees during the bandits’ revolution, and attempt to build adult lives despite the challenges of their cultural milieu. These challenges do not bode well for the young couples, casting Bohe and Junajuan into sexual promiscuity and their partners into retreat.
ReplyDeleteTo a contemporary reader, this story appears conservative at first glance. Although the author describes passion as the father of all cardinal virtues and entirely separate from sexuality (103), there is a considerable amount of emphasis on sexual propriety. First, the author emphasizes the impropriety of sexual liberties characteristic of the era by promising not to "commit the crime of describing lechery.” (104) The women in the story read magazines such as "Classic Filial Piety for Girls" (107), and engaged couples are expected to avoid each other’s company. The appropriate modest behaviour demanded by this era is even unusual, such as when Miss Bai "placed a low table in the middle of the bed and let bohe sleep on one side of it” (111) in order to separate the sexes—after which Dihua still refused to lie down. At the time, however, this story must have been quite modern—perhaps even transgressive. This is suggested by the author’s continuous references to modest behaviour as a social “nicety” despite how seriously it was enforced prior to the turmoil. This really reflects a transitional period in Chinese culture.
The Sea of Regret is a novella that was written in 1906 although the story takes place in the time of the Boxer revolution that was going on in China in the 1890s. The story revolves around, for the most part, two lovers who are to be married. Their names are Dihua and Bohe and they are arrainged to be married at a young age. Dihua grows up to be a very devoted, Confucian woman. During the war, Bohe and her are seperated. Dihua must take care of her sick mother, who passes away later. She is very loyal to those around her and those she loves. When she finds Bohe in Shanghai, he is addicted to opium. She still stays by his side and he soon dies. Her devotedness to her lover leads her to become a monk once he is gone.
ReplyDeleteThis story can be considered a universal tragedy, like many other stories involving two lovers who lose one another. Although many today are familiar with the tragic story, it may seem foreign to both Chinese and Americans the devotion that Dihua applied to her loved ones. She can be considered the symbol of a traditional, Confucion woman. To see Dihua's self-sacrifice to take care of her mother and lover is very touching. Dihua potrayed a very conservative character as well.
In “A Concise History of China” it did exactly what the title states as it gives a concisely talks about the history of China. In this piece we read it breaks up the history into three main parts, The 100 Days Reforms of 1898, The Boxer Uprising, and The Late Qing Reforms. During the 100 Days Reformers period Kang was introduced to the Emperor in January of 1898. Also at this time Sun Zhongshan abandoned the Manchu dynasty and the system of imperial government while he started to plot a resolution. During The Boxer Uprising missionaries began to increase after 1860. The Boxers formed in the North around 1896 and lived by the morals “respect your parents, live in harmony with your neighbors” and by 1900 the Boxers began to raid Beijing and Tianjin. In the Late Qing Reforms it started talking about all of the different reforms including the education reform, military reform, economic reform and political reform.
ReplyDelete“A Concise History of China” basically provided a historical background for The Sea of Regret. I thought that this novel was very interesting. For example the opening was very catching as the author talked about infatuation, passion, and sexual passion while using interesting analogies; describing people as lechers. This novel is shares love stories in this time and focuses on three main families, the Chen family, the Wang family, and the Zhang family. Also, this reading can be debated on if it is conservative or not. The language of how this story was written in my eyes is not conservative. While it can be debated because there were some aspects in the story where it shows the conservative morals of the characters. For example when Dihua became a nun for her family.
The Sea of Regret is a tale of love, passion, and an in-depth look into Chinese culture/history. The story is set during a very pivotal time in Chinese history. This story was written around the time of the Boxer Rebellion. The reason this rebellion started was because of the increase of Western influence in certain parts of Mainland China (dàlù) during that time. The author does a good job of giving the reader insight into the thoughts and feelings of Bohe and Dihua. In the midst of the Boxer Rebellion, the young couple is split apart but unite later on to get married. However, their marriage is Hirt lived. This is due to Bohe's addiction to opium puts an unnecessary burden on Dihua. Despite Dihua's best efforts to rid Bohe of the drug she fails and moves on with her life. I think that this novel taught me many things about life such as the major difference in how we each treat our elders. The Chinese hold the elderly in such high esteem while we simply put our elderly in retirement homes. They lived by very traditional values at that time and we had less traditional values.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your opinion that you learned new perception from the story and you have good summary of the story. You mention the history of the article so you have a good response of the article.
DeleteThe Sea of Regret is a Chinese romance novel that tells of a couple separated by the boxer uprising in China. Bohe and Dihua were engaged when the boxer uprising separated them and destroyed the Chen family. These series of tragedies lead to the two loves to search for each other, but were unsuccessful due to Bohe’s addiction to opium. Bohe later died from his opium use and Dihua became a Buddhist nun.
ReplyDeleteThis romance novel used the point of view of a young couple in China at this time to show how the Chinese society adapted to the new and foreign changes from outside of China along with trying to stay true to their past. This is shown by Dihua who after her fiancé dies stays true to him by becoming a Buddhist nun, which correlates with Confucius's standards of how one should live, thus her passion for her loved ones. I would consider this novel conservative due to the main characters always trying to stay true to their traditional ways even with the constant changes and struggles during this time.
I agree with your response. It is interesting to see the transition of of the traditions into the more modern China.
DeleteThe Sea of Regret provides a historically accurate look at what life was like for people living in China during the Boxer Rebellion at the turn of the 19th century. Using the relationship of Bohe and Dehua, the author depicts how difficult life was for many living in Mainland China. Despite their struggles and his unfortunate end, Dihua's love for Bohe is still made clear by her attempts to free him from his opium addiction as well as her vow of celibacy after his passing. I believe that this was the goal of the story- to exemplify passion in a way far different from the typical depiction. The author showed that in a relationship, things don't always go according to plan and things don't always end well. Despite all of that, one shouldn't stop loving or stop trying. That is the true meaning of passion.
ReplyDeleteThe boxers uprising, eight-Allience attacked and occupied the Forbidden -city " and the reform of Late Qing, those three time period lines consisted the most dramatic background of the novel. I felt this novel actually was more likely written to reflect the materially and spiritually changes of China during late 19th and early 20th century . The novel "sea of the regret" portrays two couples' love tragedy, Bohe and Dihua, Zhongai and Juanjuan, which were four victims of the age of upheaval. War forced and separated Bohe and Dihua, and then one died of opium use, the other became a nun. When Zhongai found Juanjuan, what he got was a woman he used to know. The passion was to break the fetters of the outmoded tradition (parents decide the marriage of their children) to stay with their loves, was the persistent and tenacity love. The duty and femininity was to head to protect their country and people they loved, was to stay and take care her lover's family, specially when his husband left, was to accompany her sick husband and try to bring him back to life from the opium, not leaving him to die.
ReplyDeleteWestern church objected to heathenism and the cult of personality, which was never going to be accepted by the mainstream Chinese culture at that time. That age, the majority, especially those got well educated and the higher level class people were devout worshiping to Confucius, ancestors, and Chinese emperors. it was extremely hard to attract those people to believe in god and go to churches. The believers of religions at the very beginning most were lower class, scoundrels, and illiterates and all they need were just shells and a big protective umbrella. Breaking laws without any punishment. Plus, tons of Churches occupied huge part of farmers' lands. Then we got the "farmers" boxers uprising, This just one of the conflicts between China and Western nations. After the eight-Allience defeated boxers and took down the Forbidden city, the whole China was caught in chaos. Confusing, struggling, suspecting...