【正文】 et has walked out of the predicament. We still have to wait for the big economic boom to invigorate the art market.‖ Even so, the hot pursuit of some special items appeared this spring. A special session of China Guardian Spring Auctions titled ―Fine Gilt—Bronze Buddhist Images‖ achieved a great deal with total sales volume of million yuan and 92 percent sale rate. The 5th Shamar Rinpoche Statue from 1617th century of Tibet was sold for million yuan. The Beijing Chengxuan Auctions featured almost 2,800 items of coins and stamps in three sessions with good sale rate. The Huachen Auctions also set a special session of photographs under the condition of largescale decline of auction sessions. There was a palpable dull thud of disappointment that acpanied the return of the imperial entourage of Zhen Huan to her homeland. It followed a couple years of hushed excitement as Chinese fans were fed tidbits about their proud concubine who was supposed to conquer the high ground of the North American market. Zhen Huan is, of course, the title character of The Legend of Zhen Huan, a 2021 television series that swept China off its feet and later took other Asian countries by storm. Two years ago, it was reported that HBO, a premium cable service headquartered in the United States, was going to air it in North America after some modification. Now, a condensed version that provides English subtitles but no dubbing has finally been made available on Netflix for online streaming. This version, highly anticipated as a milestone in China39。s cultural foray overseas, has been widely panned by its home audience. Retitled Empresses in the Palace, the American version has been shortened from its original 76 episodes at 45 minutes each, to six 90minute episodes. The quick pacing threw off many native viewers, who are accustomed to a more leisurely daytimesoapstyle narrative rhythm. (Chinese TV stations would run two or three episodes every day.) I did not finish the fulllength version and found the truncated one not difficult to follow. What39。s lost, I believe, are the interesting setups and pauses that illuminate the Chinese art of storytelling. Much of the plot is still there. It is the flavor that was sacrificed. The American edition uses the framework of the Empress Dowager in her senior years reminiscing at the beginning and the end of each episode, hinting at what39。s to e and recapping the key points. This device, not used in the original, is culturally 18 understandable but artistically mediocre. What puzzles me is the two new songs for the opening and end credits. They were written in English, but sung by Chinese with an unfortable accent. They were obviously designed to appeal to an Englishspeaking base, but do not jibe with the Chinese dialogue. Speaking of the dialogue, the English translation, picked apart by some Chinese, is too literal for my taste. I can imagine a typical American hit by a flurry of royal ranks, addresses and greetings, even multiple names and titles for the same person. The first half hour must be a swamp to wade through, very much like my experience of getting through a Tolstoy tome with its endless inflections of names transliterated into lengthy Chinese. I see the choice of verbatim translation as an effort for conveying exotica. It is fairly petent, with no error that I could detect, but fails to rise above words or capture the essence of the language. A cultural product usually crosses over to a foreign territory first by an emphasis on the monalities. But whether inside or outside China, the temptation to sell it for the differences is just too great. Sure, the sumptuous sets and costumes are a big attraction, but the narrative technique has bee－ how shall I put it?－ a bit anglicized, which is necessary for cultural export. Judging by the responses, this legend, which, contrary to the claim of the English trailer, is totally fictitious, has departed from China but not yet landed on American shores. I am a big fan of Ralph Waldo Emerson39。s essay titled SelfReliance. If you39。ve not yet read it, I strongly encourage you to do so. In this essay, the venerable Emerson talks about eschewing the trappings of society and finding one39。s own path. He urges the reader to find rectitude and lead a moral life. He professes that, only by being self reliant, as opposed to relying on the government and being dictated to by society, can one begin leading a decent and purposeful life. He avers that such a life is the only life worth living. I agree with him. This essay was written during a time of social upheaval in America, and it is rather odd that Emerson authored it, as he was a part of the upper crust of society at the time. It just so happened that he looked around him, at the indolence and the wantonness of the people in his circle。 he wondered how in the world he came to belong there. Indeed his penning and publishing this essay caused his exmunication from high society and also caused him a lot of legal trouble. The legal trouble came as a result of the fact that he was speaking out against the government. I like to reference such texts from time to time as an example both of the fact that history does repeat itself and that this world is not so big that what applies to one society does not in any way touch another society. On a much smaller scale,Emerson39。s essay affects me very deeply. Not as an urging to bee self reliant – I39。m nothing if not that! In his text he expounds on the idea that one must give their life a purpose. And that is the true topic of this entry. These last four years have been so easy: teach for a grand total of six hours a week, and the rest of my time is mine. Since I39。ve been here I have been tasked with nothing more challenging than learning my students39。 names and figuring out what to do with them for the brief time each week that I stand in fr