New Capturing Chinese E-book for a limited time price of only $2.99!

We are very proud to announce our first e-book.

Revamping the print version of Capturing Chinese into an easy to use e-book has proved quite a challenge.  After months of brainstorming, we think that we have found the perfect way to transfer the Capturing Chinese format into e-book form. Now we are giving you the chance to try The New Years Sacrifice Kindle Version for the very cheap price of $2.99. The book is still in beta phase so if you find a bug or something funny, please let us know.  We'll be making improvements and will release a modified version in September (previous customers will be able to update for free). Remember, the Kindle version still includes everything great about Capturing Chinese including the free audio files. This deal will not be lasting long.  Act now!  The price will be going up to $9.99 on September 1st or after the first 50 sales, whichever comes first. Just follow the link below: Want more ebooks from Capturing Chinese?  Want other formats? Let us know by replying to this email. Cheers, Kevin Founder of Capturing Chinese    

Village Opera  is my favorite story in Lu Xun's Nahan.  The story recreates scenes from a China that seems from a bygone era.  Lu Xun talks fondly of his mother's village and describes his days when they took a boat to watch an opera from the river.  For an introduction to Lu Xun, then follow this link to An Introduction to Lu Xun.  Otherwise keep reading for a longer introduction to Village Opera.  

Village Opera

社戏

Shè Xì

社戏 was first published in November 1922 in Shanghai's Fiction Monthly (小说月报 Xiǎoshuō Yuèbào). The story is an autobiographical story about Lǔ Xùn's different experiences with Chinese opera.  The story begins while Lǔ Xùn is living in Běijīng.  His friend insists that Běijīng opera is the best and he must experience one.   The cling and clang of the opera deafens Lǔ Xùn causing him to run out of opera house shortly afterward.  He sees one more in Běijīng before bidding farewell to Chinese opera forever.  He insists he is ill-suited for opera. However, he remembers seeing a truly great opera when he was younger in his mother's hometown, a small village near Shàoxīng (绍兴城).  In the summers Lǔ Xùn spent time with his mother visiting her hometown.  In this village all the people were related and surnamed, 鲁.  Lǔ Xùn chose his pen name of 鲁迅 in honor of his mother whose maiden name was also 鲁. In this village, Lǔ Xùn plays with the peasant children and catches shrimp with them.  Every year the neighboring village held a village opera, a 社戏.  Since this area around Shàoxīng is full of canals, much of the transportation was and still is done by boat.  The children rent a boat for the evening and row 5 li (2.5 kilometers) to the neighboring town and watch the opera from their boat.  After watching for a while, they get bored and begin rowing back home.  Taking a break halfway from home, they steal some Arhat beans from one of the kid's father's fields and enjoy the snack on the boat in the middle of the river. They arrive back to their village past midnight, where Lǔ Xùn's mother is anxiously waiting for them.  Looking back at this day, Lǔ Xùn can't remember tasting better Arhat beans or experiencing a better opera. Village Opera 社戏

Would you like to read this Chinese short story with pinyin, footnotes with definitions, historical summaries, and cultural references, as well as Chinese audio files of two native speakers, one male and one female, reading the story? Get your copy of Capturing Chinese today! See the Capturing Chinese Catalog

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Some Rabbits and a Cat  is another short and easy story by Lu Xun.  For an introduction to Lu Xun, then follow this link to An Introduction to Lu Xun.  

Rabbits and a Cat

兔和猫

Tù Hé Māo

兔和猫 was published in October 1922 in Běijīng's Morning Post Supplement (晨报副刊 Chénbào Fùkān) 兔和猫 is about Third Missus, Lǔ Xùn's sister-in-law, buying a couple of rabbits.  The kids find the rabbits adorable and love to play with them.  Since the rabbits begin eating the furniture and wall paper, Third Missus moves them into the courtyard under the mulberry tree.  The rabbits manage to scare away the birds that come looking to eat some of the berries from the tree, but the family is most concerned with the neighborhood cat who likes to strut across the courtyard wall.  Lǔ Xùn's dog, "S," is relied upon to guard the rabbits from this pesky feline. A few days later, the two rabbits disappear.  No one has seen them for quite some time and they begin to worry.  However, the two rabbits return from their burrow along with a couple of baby rabbits.  The children find this particularly entertaining. A few days later the rabbits disappear again.  The family worries after the rabbits don't reappear for quite some time.  Third Missus begins digging into their burrow in search of the rabbits, but only finds rabbit fur, a sure sign that the cat found them. Third Missus checks a second, new burrow and there finds the two parent rabbits along with seven new baby rabbits.  Not willing to take any more risks, she brings the whole bunch inside and raises the baby rabbits herself.  Since the parent rabbits don't seem to being doing a very good job, she makes sure that each of the baby rabbits gets their fair and equal share of the mother's milk. While the Third Missus focuses on tending to the rabbits, Lǔ Xùn has his eye on some potassium cyanide hoping to avenge the rabbits by poisoning the cat. Lǔ Xùn wrote this story when he had a Russian poet, Vasily Eroshenko, who visited him in Běijīng.  He also wrote A Comedy of Ducks (鸭的喜剧), which is more about his experience with the Russian poet.

Some Rabbits and a Cat 兔和猫

Would you like to read this Chinese short story with pinyin, footnotes with definitions, historical summaries, and cultural references, as well as Chinese audio files of two native speakers, one male and one female, reading the story? Get your copy of Capturing Chinese today! See the Capturing Chinese Catalog

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A Comedy of Ducks  is an easy and short story to read.   For an introduction to Lu Xun, then follow this link to An Introduction to Lu Xun.  

A Comedy of Ducks

鸭的喜剧

Yā de Xǐjù

鸭的喜剧 was published in December 1922 in The Lady's Magazine (妇女杂志 Fùnǚ Zázhì). The story recalls the events of Lǔ Xùn's guest from Russia, Vasily Eroshenko, living with Lǔ Xùn's eldest younger brother, Zhōu Zùorén (also known as Zhòngmì), from 1922-1923.  Since the Russian poet was blind, he relied heavily on his hearing for enjoyment.  He spoke Russian, English, Japanese and was a master in the one world language, Esperanto.  While he could not see, he got great satisfaction from hearing the different sounds around him which led him to buying a few animals for the Zhōu household.  He was also an advocate of self-sufficiency, suggesting to have a garden and raise farm animals. Reminiscing over his time spent in Burma, he complains Běijīng is too quiet with no animals about creating noise.  Upon hearing from Lǔ Xùn that frogs are aplenty after a heavy rain, he goes out to buy tadpoles which he raises in a small pond.  Next, a few chicks appear, coming from Zhòngmì's room.  The chicks gorge themselves on the courtyard lawn, but tend to eat too much and die frequently.  Vasily Eroshenko actually wrote his only short story while in Běijīng about this called, The Tragedy of a Chick. A lady selling ducklings comes by and Eroshenko is thrilled with the little animals and buys four of them.  They quack about the compound, eat up the tadpoles from the pond, and slowly grow to maturity.  By the time the ducklings are full grown, Eroshenko is already off to a conference on Esperanto in Finland.  Lǔ Xùn not knowing his friend is going to return soon afterward writes this short story in his honor.  Lǔ Xùn's title for this story, A Comedy of Ducks (鸭的喜剧), contrasts with Eroshenko's work, The Tragedy of  Chick (鸡的悲剧)，which Lǔ Xùn had helped translate from Japanese into Chinese. A Comedy of Ducks 鸭的喜剧 Would you like to read this Chinese short story with pinyin, footnotes with definitions, historical summaries, and cultural references, as well as Chinese audio files of two native speakers, one male and one female, reading the story? Get your copy of Capturing Chinese today! See the Capturing Chinese Catalog [wp_eStore_free_download_ajax_fancy id=22]

The White Light describes the life of a failed scholar.  The story is similar to Kong Yiji.  The main character is basically a nuisance to the family and continually searches for lost family gold.  For an introduction to Lu Xun, then follow this link to An Introduction to Lu Xun.  Otherwise keep reading for a longer introduction to The White Light.  

The White Light

白光

Bái Guāng

白光  was published in July of 1922 in Shanghai's Eastern Magazine (东方杂志, Dōngfāng Zázhì). 白光 begins with Chén Shìchéng (陈士成) staring at a list of names of candidates who successfully passed the district examination.  After his sixteenth failure, Chén Shìchéng is understandably distraught.  He drifts back home and sulks in disbelief.  The other families in the same compound return to their rooms early recognizing the look on Chén Shìchéng's face. Chén Shìchéng turns his disappointment into a search for a mythical buried treasure.  Previous excavation attempts illustrate the frequent disappointments he has had over the years.  A white light from the moon begins to shine onto his desk which he takes as a sign of the buried treasure's location.  He begins digging and digging only to unveil an old jaw bone. A voice in his head tells him the treasure is not in this room, but is actually in the distant mountains.  He rushes out through the city gates into the night only to wash up dead in a lake the next morning. This story is based on one of Lǔ Xùn's uncles, Zhōu Zǐjīng (周子京) who lived in the family compound in Shàoxīng (绍兴城) and helped teach Lǔ Xùn the classics in Lǔ Xùn's younger years.  He spent years studying for the civil service exam, yet repeatedly failed to pass.  He was something of a nuisance in the family compound and did not contribute much except to teach the children the classics. Lǔ Xùn's uncle and Chén Shìchéng highlight one of the flaws in the civil service exam in feudal China.  While the system prepared people very well in the classics of China, it also produced many people who never passed the exams, but yet had spent years and years in preparation.  After their failure they lacked any other skills to support themselves and their families.  Lǔ Xùn's uncle eventually committed suicide by lighting himself on fire and jumping off a bridge into the water below.  He died a few days later. The White Light 白光

Would you like to read this Chinese short story with pinyin, footnotes with definitions, historical summaries, and cultural references, as well as Chinese audio files of two native speakers, one male and one female, reading the story? Get your copy of Capturing Chinese today! See the Capturing Chinese Catalog

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