As I will be writing much more in the coming days, I think it will be of benefit to myself and others if I keep a writing journal as a tool for idea exchange.
After I spent some time to research parts of a story, I had to stop. It was getting way too ambitious for a long hand narrative. I haven't given up the chance to have embodied my greatest impressions of China in one single work of fiction. There is so much details to go on. The artist I saw in Tiantan Park giving us an impromptu performance. Peking opera featuring a female warrior. Every step I took in the Shanghai streets. Xi'an then and now. Sure it has been rebuilt, but I can still see the past 1500 years of history preserved in bronze and ceramics, a tribute to the master craftsman who have handed down their trade.
I have envisioned a cast characters that I might use for other stories.
- The male dan who was too shy to tell a servant girl how much he loved her.
- The female lord justice and her first assignment in office.
- The mistress at a brothel.
- The blind matriarch pining for her fallen child.
- The ghost of the child of the matriarch.
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| A male singing opera in falsetto |
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| A female warrior 'dan' |
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| Direct line of sight to the Bell Tower |
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| A legacy of glorious Chang'an |
