玉是精神难比洁，雪为肌骨易销魂。
The
Death of Black Jade
in
the Dream of the Red Chamber
by
wenhousecrafts.com
18 May 2007
The Dream of the Red
Chamber (红楼梦) is the most
memorable Chinese novel, and Lin Blackjade (林黛玉) is the most memorable
character in the Dream. In fact, with her
remarkable literary talent and raze
sharp-wit, she is, arguably, the most
unforgettable female character in whole
Chinese literature.
Chen
Xiaoxu as Lin MM (Blackjade)
Despite she is just a
fictional figure, great number of Chinese
seem to know for certain how Lin MM (林妹妹 "Younger Sister Lin"
as her lover Baoyu (宝玉) would call her, so
do her devoted fans) looked, talked and
walked. Yet Chen Xiaoxu's (陈晓旭) screen interpretation of the
character is warmly accepted by almost
everyone; many believe that after centuries
living in people's imagination, Lin MM
eventually materialised through Chen Xiaoxu.
It is a near miracle, given that people
unsually do not agreen on what they see, let
alone what they dreamed of, especially on the
subject that they have a strong opinion
about.
Blackjade did not live beyond
the age 16, while Xiaoxu's life went on in
search of an alternative version of the Dream
after the Red Chamber encounter at 18. So as
it happened Xiaoxu lived into her 20s and,
after a Lin MM success, quitted her acting
career to establish an advertising empire;
lived into her 40s and, at the height of her
business triumph, quitted the mundane life to
become ordained as a professional Buddhist;
lived for another 80 days after that and,
amidst the public hype over her new life in
monastery, on Sunday night, 13 May, was
forced to quit the life in this world all
togerher, as the result of breast cancer.
In the novel Lin MM died of a
broken heart when her love was lost; in
reality, Xiaoxu left the world with a big
heart as her compassion expands beyond the
bounds of this life: a 50 million yuans
charity foundation, as it has been arranged
in her will, was formally launched on her
funeral Friday, aiming to help poor kids to
finish their school and sicked poor to get
medical attention.
Her early departure sees a
nation in mourning, for after Xiaoxu's Lin
MM, there will be no other Lin MM.
Yet in the later stage of her
life, she was no longer a sombre-mood and
over-sensitive Blackjade who was obssessed
with a passion for one man. Xiaoxu's passion
has long trascended into compassion, and that
compassion is for all sentient beings. At age
of 42, she died young, but she lived full.
我是一朵柳絮，
不要问我的家在哪里，
愿春风把我吹送到天涯海角，
我要给大海的角落带去春的消息
I'am
a willow catkin,
Do no ask from where I'm coming,
My wish is to be sent to the sea,
Bringing with me the news on spring.
----
by Xiaoxu written at the age of 14
