Taiwan's Glory

Chiung Yao

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Excerpt from Wikipedia.org

Chiung Yao or Qiong Yao (瓊瑤) (born 陳喆 April 20, 1938 in Sichuan, China) is a popular Taiwanese romance novelist. Many of her works have been made and remade into movies and TV series. During 1990s, her novels and TV series adapted from her works were a hit in Taiwan and Mainland China. It also gain popularity in Southeast Asia such as Indonesia. Among her many novels, Huan Zhu Ge Ge, or "Princess Returning Pearl" in English, is by far the best-known and popular.

Both her father (陳致平) and mother (袁曉園) received a good education. She was born in the capital city Chengzhong of Sichuan province. In 1949, along with her family, she moved to Taiwan, where she attended 台北师范附小 and Taipei Municipal Zhong Shan Girls High School (臺北市立中山女子高級中學). At the age of 16, she published her first novel. During high school she had published over 200 articles. After graduation from high school and failure to enter college, she got married and became a housewife, and at the same time started her writing career. Her first novel, still often read today, is Chuangwai ("Outside the Window").

Chiung Yao's romance novels were very well received in Taiwan when they were first published. Her novels feature women who would go through years of intense psychological suffering for the sake of love, with male leads who are often weaker than the female protagonists. Oftentimes the novels are set in the early Republican era, when family dictums were feudalistic and chauvinistic. Princess Pearl is the first of her many novels which ended happily for her female protagonists.

六個夢 by 瓊瑤

《六個夢》以老爺爺說故事為楔子，包括六個故事：《追尋》、《啞妻》、《三朵花》、《生命的鞭》、《歸人記》和《流亡曲》。其中的《追尋》被改編成電視劇《婉君》，由中華電視台首播；《啞妻》與《三朵花》也被改編成電視劇，也是由中華電視台首播；《生命的鞭》被改編成《水雲間》，由中國電視公司首播。

煙雨濛濛  by 瓊瑤

故事敘述過氣軍閥陸振華擁有九名妻妾，至台灣以後與九姨太王雪琴及其所出二男二女同住，卻待八姨太傅文珮母女極差，遂使文珮之女陸依萍心生怨恨，決意對陸家進行報復行動。

本書曾經分別改編為電影與電視劇。後來瓊瑤再將故事時代移至民國初年，地點由台灣移至上海，並加入新角色，改編為電視劇《情深深雨濛濛》，並對結局稍有更動。

幾度夕陽紅  by 瓊瑤

二十年來，她的生命就建築在先生和一對乖巧的兒女身上。自從女兒曉彤在舞會中認識了魏如峰之後，世界似乎變小了。從前在重慶沙坪霸的年輕歲月又重回記憶，曾經何慕天的風流才氣、狂烈熱情緊扣她的心，她們瘋狂地愛著對方，使她竟可以背叛母親毅然跟隨何慕天出走，但何慕天必須回鄉去解除已有的婚約，一來一往之間誤會叢生，就這樣過了二十年後，誰料　魏如峰的叔叔竟是何慕天，二十年平靜生活又起波濤，他們之間的情、恨該如何了？如何結？

庭院深深  by 瓊瑤

這一故事無論在小說及電影都對得到相當的成功，這本書意味瓊瑤小說進入了一個更深的階段。

《庭院深深》全書是充滿懸念的，前部不單着力描寫鬼魂，以及含煙山莊的傳聞，而且着力描寫瞎眼的「柏霈文」使得上篇充滿著神秘感，

一簾幽夢  by 瓊瑤

綠萍，一個美麗溫柔、才華洋溢的天之驕女，是汪家的掌上明珠。
紫菱，在姐姐面前總顯得不怎麼起眼的汪家二女兒，因為大學聯考名落孫山，讓她備感自卑。

但更令紫菱失意的，就是那英俊瀟灑、教她愛慕崇拜的楚濂了。楚濂從小就注定和綠萍是天造地設的一對，紫菱只能將感情深深埋藏在心底，守著窗上一串串珠簾，獨自吟唱幽夢。

Princess Pearl

電視劇《還珠格格》第一部中的小燕子（趙薇飾）

Returning Princess Pearl (還珠格格: Huán Zhū Gé Gé; also known in the Philippines as My Fair Princess) is a television-adaptation of Qiong Yao's novel-series of the same name. It stars Zhao Wei, Ruby Lin, Alec Su, and Zhou Jie and is a joint-production between Taiwan and Mainland China. Because of the heavy comic elements present in the first two seasons of the series, the show can be classified as a dramedy (although the second season carries a more serious plot). Fans may often abbreviate this series as "HZGG".

The legend of Princess Huanzhu of the Qing dynasty and the reign of Emperor Qianlong served as the initial inspiration for the author, acclaimed Taiwanese romance writer Qiong Yao. Although some of the characters and the premise of the plot are based on real historical events and figures, considerable artistic license was employed and the series is largely fictional.

Due to its immense popularity, this series propelled its four main leads to super stardom in eastern Asia . The first season debutted in 1998, it had a successful run becoming a region-wide phenomenon, winning over legions of fans. A second season was first broadcast in 1999 and a third in 2003. It is popular in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia. Indonesia and even Thailand. In fact, the second season broke China's TV record with the highest ratings ever, achieveing almost 50% viewership in all local TV stations.

The third season saw the show suffer a backlash in popularity, partly because most of the original cast, including the main characters, had been replaced with different actors and actresses. Zhou Jie was the only principal actor from the original series who remained.

還珠格格 3-1: 天上人間 by 瓊瑤

還珠格格 3-2: 天上人間 by 瓊瑤

還珠格格 3-3: 天上人間 by 瓊瑤

* Taiwan Popular Culture and Cultural Change in Post-Mao China by Hongwei Lu

Abstract: When Deng Xiaoping started the “open-door” policy, the first things that make a real impact on people’s lives was popular music from Taiwan. While economic liberalizations of the period provide more cultural and entertainment choices, cultural changes happened incredibly fast in the decade after Mao dies. Over the decade, popular culture from Taiwan has swept over the whole country. The key moment of transformation in post-Mao China was when people preferred Deng Lijun (Teresa Teng)’s songs of personal feelings and emotional expressions over propaganda songs which advocated Party agenda and ideology of patriotism, collectivism, and socialism. Taiwan campus songs also swept over Chinese campuses. Chinese people were thrilled by Deng Lijun’s sweet and melodious voice and by Taiwan campus singers’ spiritual idealism, musical lyricism, and creative originality. Deng Lijun’s songs stirred individual feelings and at the height of her fame, her popular influence eclipsed the political dominance of Deng Xiaoping. Their influences are compared as “Old Deng” of mainland China and “Little Deng” of Taiwan. Taiwan’s Gunshi (Rolling Stone) Company helped to establish mainland rock-and-roll and popular music. The popularity of Qiong Yao’s romantic novels provided an escapist fantasy of passionate indulgence. San Mao’s travel accounts of foreign cultures and life experiences gathered through her living and studying abroad provided post-Mao China with a taste of multiculturalism, and suggested the possibility of not only an expanded consciousness of the world, but a transformation of the way people think about the world and the possibility of being part of it.

While there has been scholarly research on the social and economic factors that result in the spread of the Taiwan popular culture in mainland China in post-Mao years, the studies of Taiwan popular culture in post-Mao China has emphasized cultural consumption, cultural market, and the establishment of entertainment industry. Little has been done to address the important historical role played by Taiwan popular culture in shaping a new post-Mao cultural identity--how its influence has stimulated awareness of individual values and awakening of individual consciousness, and the consequences also increasingly intervened in the narrowing definition of “Chinese culture” and Chinese values. All of these influences altered profoundly the way in which people identify themselves, as local and socialist cultures that had previously constituted the major source of identity are eroded by these new influences of cultural diversity. Previous research has also emphasized the social consequences of Taiwan popular culture as a “force for the formation and integration of a Greater China” with mainland China supplying the market whereas Taiwan supplied commodities. It is now necessary to revisit Taiwan popular culture in light of the current resurgence of interest in Taiwan cultural awareness following the localization of Taiwan culture. What will happen when we revisit the influence of Taiwan popular culture not merely in one of “authentic” Chinese culture and history, but in the context of cross-cultural, multiethnic, and transnational aspects of cultural exchange?

Escapist Fiction

Escapist fiction is fiction which provides a psychological escape from thoughts of everyday life by immersing the reader in exotic situations or activities.

The term is not used favorably, though the condemnation contained in it may be slight. Those who defend works described as escapist from the charge either assert that they are not escapist—such as, a science fiction novel's satiric aspects address real life—or defend the notion of "escape" as such, not "escapism"—as in J. R. R. Tolkien's "On Fairy-Stories" and C. S. Lewis's quotation, in his "On Science fiction" of Tolkien's question of who would be most hostile to the idea of escape, and his answer: jailers.

Genres which can include elements of escapist fiction include:

Romance Novel

The romance novel is a literary genre developed in Western culture, mainly in English-speaking countries. Novels in this genre place their primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and must have an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Through the late 20th and early 21st centuries, these novels are commercially in two main varieties: category romances, which are shorter books with a one-month shelf-life, and single-title romances, which are generally longer with a longer shelf-life. Separate from their type, a romance novel can exist within one of many subgenres, including contemporary, historical, science fiction and paranormal.

In North America, romance novels are the most popular genre in modern literature, comprising almost 55% of all paperback books sold in 2004. The genre is also popular in Europe and Australia, and romance novels appear in 90 languages. Most of the books, however, are written by authors from English-speaking countries, leading to an Anglo-Saxon perspective in the fiction. Despite the popularity and widespread sales of romance novels, the genre has attracted significant derision, skepticism and criticism.

Definition: According to the Romance Writers of America, the main plot of a romance novel must revolve around the two people as they develop romantic love for each other and work to build a relationship together. Both the conflict and the climax of the novel should be directly related to that core theme of developing a romantic relationship, although the novel can also contain subplots that do not specifically relate to the main characters' romantic love. Furthermore, a romance novel must have an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Others, including Leslie Gelbman, a president of the Berkley Group, use a more shortened definition, that a romance must make the "romantic relationship between the hero and the heroine ... the core of the book." In general, romance novels reward characters who are good people and penalize those who are evil, and a couple who fights for and believes in their relationship will likely be rewarded with unconditional love. Bestselling author Nora Roberts sums up the genre, saying "The books are about the celebration of falling in love and emotion and commitment, and all of those things we really want." Women's fiction (including chick lit) is not directly a subcategory of the romance novel genre, because in women's fiction the heroine's relationship with her family or friends may be equally as important as her relationship with the hero.

Some romance novel authors and readers believe the genre has additional restrictions, from plot considerations such as the protagonists meeting early on in the story, to avoiding themes such as adultery. Other disagreements have centered on the firm requirement for a happy ending, or the place of same-sex relationships within the genre. Some readers admit stories without a happy ending, if the focus of the story is on the romantic love between the two main characters (e.g. Romeo and Juliet). Others believe the definition should be more strictly worded to include only heterosexual pairing. While the majority of romance novels meet the stricter criteria, there are also many books that are widely considered to be romance novels that deviate from these rules. Therefore, the general definition, as embraced by the RWA and publishers, includes only the focus on a developing romantic relationship and an optimistic ending.

As long as a romance novel meets those twin criteria, it can be set in any time period and in any location. There are no specific restrictions on what can or cannot be included in a romance novel. Even controversial subjects are addressed in romance novels, including topics such as date rape, domestic violence, addiction, and disability. The combination of time frame, location, and plot elements does, however, help a novel to fit into one of several romance subgenres. Despite the numerous possibilities this framework allows, many people in the mainstream press claim that "all [romance novels] seem to read alike." Stereotypes of the romance genre abound. For instance, some believe that all romance novels are similar to those of Danielle Steel, featuring rich, glamorous people traveling to exotic locations. Many romance readers disagree that Steel writes romance at all, considering her novels more mainstream fiction.

Romance novels are sometimes referred to as "smut" or female pornography. While some romance novels do contain more erotic acts, in other romance novels the characters do no more than kiss chastely. The romance genre runs the spectrum between these two extremes. Because the vast majority of the romance novel audience are women, most romance novels are told from a woman's viewpoint, in either first or third person.

解讀瓊瑤愛情王國 by 林芳玟

瓊瑤

瓊瑤（1938年4月20日－），原名陳喆，出生于四川成都，祖籍湖南衡陽，台灣著名言情小說女作家、影視製作人。畢業於台灣省立台北第二女中（今已拆除，第三高女後改名為中山女中）。丈夫是皇冠文化負責人平鑫濤。

瓊瑤的父親陳致平曾任台灣師範大學國文系教授。母親袁行恕曾任台北市立建國中學國文教師。外祖父袁勵衡為銀行家，曾执掌交通銀行。曾外祖父是翰林，伯父是宣統皇帝之師。母親的胞妹袁靜為作家。母親的胞姐袁曉園為中國第一位女外交官暨女稅務官。瓊瑤也是作家金庸的遠親，金庸的堂妹為瓊瑤的舅母。

她的名著，大多數都被改編成電視劇。其中比較有名的，包括《庭院深深》、《六個夢》系列、《梅花三弄》系列、以及《還珠格格》系列。當中《還珠格格》第一、二部更在東亞享譽盛名，不單在台、港、中等地贏得收視率冠軍，在日本、韓國、泰國也很受歡迎。

1970年代末，瓊瑤、平鑫濤與盛竹如等人合資成立巨星影業公司，專門把瓊瑤的小說作品翻拍成電影。當時瓊瑤每年固定只拍兩部電影，檔期則是農曆春節期間與青年節（3月29日），電影歌曲幾乎交由鳳飛飛包辦演唱，電影歌曲作曲者則是左宏元。

瓊瑤近年著作偏好以歷史背景取材，尤其是清朝宮廷貴族為故事背景，又喜好代入自身早年經歷為人物原型，典型如介入他人婚姻的第三者女性，並且以婚外情女性較受同情、較匹配男主角、甚至最後若非取代男主角元配，就是自殺殉情為主要情節。一般認為瓊瑤作品有歷史背景，但是並不注重歷史根據（比如說清朝皇帝的親生皇子娶漢族女子為正妻，但清朝皇族宗室的正妻必須為八旗女子），並且缺乏人物呈現、情節佈局等等的原創性，書中人物不論男女的極端情緒化，人物及情節與現實的嚴重脫節，也是被詬病的原因。她的作品受歡迎的理由，當在於故事性及娛樂性較高。

瓊瑤自述的生平，見於其作品《我的故事》中。

小說

窗外 (1963)
幸運草 (1964)
六個夢 (1966)
煙雨濛濛 (1964)
菟絲花 (1964)
幾度夕陽紅 (1966)
潮聲 (1966)
船 (1966)
紫貝殼 (1966)
寒煙翠 (1966)
月滿西樓 (1967)
翦翦風 (1967)
彩雲飛 (1968)
庭院深深 (1969)
星河 (1969)
水靈 (1971)
白狐 (1971)
海鷗飛處 (1972)
心有千千結 (1973)
一簾幽夢 (1974)
浪花 (1974)
碧雲天 (1974)
女朋友 (1975)
在水一方 (1975)
秋歌 (1976)
人在天涯 (1976)
我是一片雲 (1976)
月朦朧鳥矇矓 (1977)
雁兒在林梢 (1977)
一顆紅豆 (1978)
彩霞滿天 (1979)
金盞花 (1979)
夢的衣裳 (1980)
聚散兩依依 (1980)
卻上心頭 (1981)
問斜陽 (1981)
燃燒吧﹗ 火鳥 (1981)
昨夜之燈 (1982)
匆匆﹐ 太匆匆 (1982)
失火的天堂 (1984)
我的故事 (1989)
冰兒 (1968)
剪不斷的鄉愁 (1989)
雪珂 (1990)
望夫崖 (1991)
青青河邊草 (1992)
梅花烙 (1993)
鬼丈夫 (1993)
水雲間 (1993)
新月格格 (1994)
煙鎖重樓 (1994)
還珠格格《三之一》陰錯陽差 (1997)
還珠格格《三之二》水深火熱 (1997)
還珠格格《三之三》真相大白 (1997)
蒼天有淚《三之一》無語問蒼天 (1997)
蒼天有淚《三之二》愛恨千千萬 (1997)
蒼天有淚《三之三》人間有天堂 (1997)
還珠格格第二部《五之一》風雲再起 (1999)
還珠格格第二部《五之二》生死相許 (1999)
還珠格格第二部《五之三》悲喜重重 (1999)
還珠格格第二部《五之四》浪跡天涯 (1999)
還珠格格第二部《五之五》紅塵作伴 (1999)
還珠格格第三部《三之一》天上人間 (2003)
還珠格格第三部《三之二》天上人間 (2003)
還珠格格第三部《三之三》天上人間 (2003)

衡陽市

衡陽市為湖南省所屬地級市，地處湖南中部偏南

衡陽市是少數民族的散居地區之一。少數民族成分多達50個。全市少數民族人口為1.68萬人，佔全市總人口的0.25%。少數民人口排前10位的有：瑤族、苗族、土家族、蒙古族、壯族、回族、侗族、滿族、彝族、布依族，人口分別為3051人、2178人、2094人、1816人、1392人、1118人、794人、686人、527人、471人，瑤族人口中，常寧市2170人，占瑤族人口總數71.1%。全市少數民族「大分散、小集中」的分佈模式，12個縣（市）區都有少數民族居住，瑤族少數民族相對集中居住在常寧市塔山鄉和彌泉鄉，回族相對集中居住在珠暉區火車站至飛機坪一帶，其餘各少數民族散居在各學校、機關和企事業單位。

Hunan

Hunan (湖南) is a province of China, located to the south of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and south of Lake Dongting (hence the name Hunan, meaning "south of the lake"). Hunan is sometimes called 湘 (Xiāng) for short, after the Xiang River which runs through the province.

Hunan borders Hubei in the north, Jiangxi to the east, Guangdong to the south, Guangxi to the southwest, Guizhou to the west, and Chongqing to the northwest. The capital is Changsha.

Hunan's primeval forests were first occupied by the ancestors of the modern Miao, Tujia, Dong and Yao peoples. It entered the written history of China around 350 BC, when under the kings of the Zhou dynasty, it became part of the State of Chu. At this time, and for hundreds of years thereafter, it was a magnet for migration of Han Chinese from the north, who cleared most of the forests and began farming rice in the valleys and plains. To this day many of the small villages in Hunan are named after the Han families who settled there. Migration from the north was especially prevalent during the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the Southern and Northern Dynasties Periods, when nomadic invaders pushed these peoples south.

During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, Hunan was home to its own independent regime, Ma Chu.

Hunan and Hubei became a part of the province of Huguang (湖廣) until the Qing dynasty.

Hunan became an important communications center due to its position on the Yangzi River (Changjiang). It was also on the Imperial Highway constructed between northern and southern China. The land produced grain so abundantly that it fed many parts of China with its surpluses. The population continued to climb until, by the nineteenth century, Hunan became overcrowded and prone to peasant uprisings.

Hunan was relatively quiet until 1910 when there were uprisings against the crumbling Qing dynasty, which were followed by the Communist's Autumn Harvest Uprising of 1927. It was led by Hunanese native Mao Zedong, and established a short-lived Hunan soviet in 1927.

瓊瑤認為人生什麼都不重要，快樂最重要，所以她要帶給讀者的只是娛樂，讓讀者感動片刻或大笑片刻就心滿意足了！

Taiwan's Glory * 台灣之光 * Taiwan's Glory