Moment in peking

Moment in Peking Book Review
Moment in Peking, published in 1940, was a novel of broad canvas which began with the Boxer Rebellion with the beginning of the War of Resistance Against Japanese. Like The Importance of Living, it became a selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club. It “may well become the classic background novel of modern China”, said Time magazine. This novel is neither an apology for contemporary Chinese “dark curtain”novels purport to be. It is neither a glorification of the old way of life nor a defense of the new. It is merely a story of how men and women in the contemporary era grow up and learn to live with one another, how they love and hate and quarrel and forgive and suffer and enjoy, and how certain habits of living and ways of thinking are formed, and how, above all, they adjust themselves to the circumstances in this earthly life where men strive but the gods rule.
This novel is very long, so I have to choose only several points which touch me most to express my feeling.
The first person is Mulan, the intelligent, considerate, kind, generous and brave lady.
When we talk about Mulan, we will talk about her love and marriage. For
《京华烟云》于1940年出版，故事开始于义和团运动，以抗日战争为它的大背景。

和《生活的艺术》一样，都登上了美国每月读书会的推荐榜。

《时代》杂志评价它是“以现代中国为背景的经典小说”。

既不同于同时期的中国“黑幕”式的小说，也不是对于旧式生活方式的歌颂与赞扬，更不是对新生活的反抗。

仅仅是一个故事，一个关于当代的男男女女如何成长，如何与他人相处，他们的爱恨情仇，痛苦，原谅，和快乐，他们的生活和思维方式的形成，以及他们如何调节处理人与自然与社会的关系的故事。

这篇小说篇幅很长，所以我只选取最让我感触的几点谈论一下自己的看法。

在本书中，我最喜欢的事姚木兰。

她聪慧，体贴，善良，慷慨又勇敢。

当我们谈论姚木兰时，最多的
the first time to know Mulan, we will feel she is a woman who was contradicted in her love and marriage. On one hand, she obedient to accept the "parents’ arrangement", married with Sunya, became a dutiful wife and loving mother in the eyes of the elders; on the other hand, in her pure love world, she reserved a place for Kung Lifu, even can gave him all of her talents and her passion. Actually, appearance and character of Mulan’s perfect is a product that author integrated East culture with West cultural. As this integration, it made this figure more abundant and more attractive. Mulan, although subordinated to the ancient institution of marriage, but her character was not pass off. Sometimes, love and marriage really is a contradiction. Perfect love does not mean a ideal marriage, and the perfect marriage does not originate from a ideal love. If Mulan fall in love with Lifu, a brilliant young scholar with a beautiful woman, it is a perfect love. Whether marriage is ideal, it is difficult to know. Mulan was elegant, free and easy, as if she was not a normal people in this world and she looked so noble. Lifu and her rafted on West Lake, tasted famous tea, they chat everything they wanted, life was so leisure and mood for enjoyment, but it is very difficult in good order. Lifu’s f amily was poor, even 就是关于她的婚姻和爱情。

在我看来，对于爱情和婚姻，木兰是非常矛盾的。

一方面，她接受了父母为她安排的婚姻，和曾孙亚结婚，成为了长者心目中本分的妻子和慈爱的母亲。

而另一方面，在她内心深处的感情世界中，也给孔立夫留下了位置，甚至给他所有的才情和激情。

事实上，木兰完美的外貌和性格是作者的构想，是作者东西方文化的融合。

作为东西方女性的集大成者，木兰充满了吸引力。

尽管服从了父母之命，媒妁之言，但她的性格没有让这成为不幸。

有时候，爱情和婚姻真的很矛盾。

完美的爱情不意味着理想的婚姻，而完美的婚姻，也并非由理想的爱情开始。

如果木兰和立夫相爱，一个出色的学者和一个端庄的大家闺秀，这是完美的爱情。

但他们会拥有理想的婚姻吗，这真的很难断定。

木兰优雅，闲适，自由，高贵。

她会和立夫去西湖，品茶，谈天说地。

生活安逸。

但这却很难成为现实。

立夫家境贫寒，即使木兰不去在意，但总有一天，她要去面对由此带来的种种麻烦和琐事。

Mulan do not care it. But one day she will have to face the troubles and trivialities.
Mulan and Sunya’s marriage should be
regarded as suitable, extremely perfect. But their love is the most boring, most natural mutual respect each other, they got together and lived together. No promise, no missing, no enthusiasm. It belonged to calm. Just any passion will eventually attributed calm. The perfect marriage is that it is not at this point in time, but in its lifetime. Love does not mean have to possess of it. Of course most people cannot do this easily, but Mulan done. When she married with Sunya, she knew this is her fate, cannot change forever. So she tried to keep pace with this, although she did not love her husband. And she tried to become a good wife, take good care of her husband and her husband’s family. But Sunya did not cherished that, he fell in love with another woman, Tsao Lihua, and born a son. Mulan did not care of it, she believed her husband would back again. She forbear it. At last, she got what she wanted when her husband came back falling in love with her entirely. I think this is a conviction, if you persist in something, it will come true. 木兰和孙亚的婚姻就可以说是合适的甚至是完美的。

但他们之间的爱情却乏善可陈，无非是相敬如宾，举案齐眉。

没有承诺，没有错过，没有激情。

只是任何激情终将归于平淡。

完美的婚姻不在于一时，而在于一辈子。

爱并不意味着必须拥有它。

当然大多数人做不到这一点,但木兰可以。

当她和孙亚结婚时，她把那看做是自己的命运，不可改变的命运。

所以尽管她不爱自己的丈夫，她也努力与他携手并进。

她努力去成为一个好的妻子，尽心的去照顾她的丈夫和丈夫的家庭。

但孙亚却不懂得珍惜，爱上了其他的女人，并且和她生了一个孩子。

但木兰却没有追究，她选择了隐忍和原谅。

最终，她得到了丈夫全部的爱。

我觉得这是一个定理，如果你坚持追求某件事，它就一定会成真的。

This novel is just a novel, but things I get from it are many. It gives me a lesson of how to live as a human. I have learned that we should always be loyal to our heart and conscience, and only by following our feelings, can we be free. Also, it has taught me that we should always alert to the immoral things and be a human both in appearance and heart.
虽然这仅仅是一个小说，但我从中受益匪浅，它给我上了一堂如何去做人的课。

我明白了人应该永远遵从自己的内心，以及自己的良心。

只有随心所动，我们才能够获自由。

它也告诉了，无论外表还是内心，我们都要远离丑恶。