2014-11-23

【Aiden in English】

            Moonlight reflects off the front of my bed.

            Could it be frost on the ground instead?

            I look up to view the bright moon ahead.

            Thoughts of my hometown bring down my head.

- Tang Dynasty Poet LI Bai (701-762 AD): In the Quiet Night

        Although I am Chinese, I have limited knowledge of classical Chinese poetry. I haven't seen it in my life, either. This aspect of Chinese culture had eluded me until today, when the first poetry contest took place at Guanghua Chinese School in PA, which Principal Heng and her team organized. Mom volunteered to take pictures of the events as usual. On the other hand, I was going to spectate while she hopped around with her busy camera.

        Yet, didn't expect to see more than 30 people of all ages, including parents and relatives, participate in the 100-poem competition. Some kids, like Enya Su and Clare Chen, looked as young as five from kindergarten and could barely read Chinese. However, Enya fluently recited the Tang Dynasty poems and the Song Dynasty verses without hesitation.

        The competitions were defined as preliminary, semi-final, and final rounds. All participants were divided into three different groups based on their ages: the children's group, from 5 to 10 years old; the kids' group, from 11 years old and up; and the adults/parents group. There were various problems in each round. Sometimes, the participants had to say an entire poem. Another time, each of them must fill in the blank or look at a picture and name the poem. Each participant was asked these fundamental questions. If the participant doesn't know the answer, they could seek help from the Audience once. If an answer were incorrect, the opponents would get a shot to steal. A correct answer was worth 10 points, while a steal was worth five points. And to end each round, there was a set of buzz questions for everyone. After the buzz questions had been asked, the first person who hit the buzzer in front of them got to answer the question. What I found interesting was that every kind of contest like this, such as the famous TV game show "Jeopardy" and "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire", always had one brilliant person who got all the points. There was no difference in the poetry contest. One kid, called Andy Wang, dominated the match. It seemed as if others didn't even try hard. He brutally beat his opponents. In the end, he just rubbed it straight.

        The questions got more arduous as the final approached, and the contest became tougher. The competitors had determination in their eyes. But when the contest began, it vanished quickly. Just like in the previous rounds, Kevin Liu had studied in China up to the fifth grade and stood on top of the hill. He grasped the answers promptly throughout and outperformed any other competitors. Comparing his performance with the rest, Kevin looked like a Godzilla destroying a city if others tried to toss their toys around. The final score for the poetry contest was 160, 55, 50.5, 45, and 41 (something like that). Kevin won the title.

        I think the winner is self-explanatory. Kevin was congratulated for crushing the spirits of other children. Maybe next year we'll have more people get involved in Chinese classic poetry, and at least someone can step out and challenge them.

        Four judges successfully directed the poetry contest. Lin Fang, a graduate of Psychology from Peking Univ., used to be a well-known host on CCTV; Yue Zhang, a graduate of Physics from Fudan Univ., acquitted Chinese literature and history; Ling Zhang, a graduate of Broadcasting & Hosting Arts from the Communication University of China, was a professional host in Wenzhou TV; Wei Sun, a graduate of Chinese Literature from Beijing Normal Univ., is an outstanding teacher at a prestigious high school in Beijing. The event couldn't have been without our host, Liwen Guo, who has hosted the Chinese Gala at GHCS and the Greater Philadelphia Area for years.  

            The sun beyond the mountains glows;

            The Yellow River flows seawards

            You can enjoy a grander sight

            By climbing to a greater height.

- Tang Dynasty Poet WANG Zhihuan (688-742 AD): On the Stork Tower

【紅霞譯文】

                床前明月光，

                疑是地上霜。

                舉頭望明月，

                低頭思故鄉。

                —唐代詩人李白(公元701-762)﹕《靜夜思》

        身為中國人，其實我對琅琅上口的中國古典詩詞一點都不了解，中國古典詩詞從未走進自己的生活中來，是個地地道道的門外漢，直到今天親眼目睹由賓州光華中文學校游恆校長及其團隊組織舉行的首屆“光華好詩詞競賽”，我才恍然大悟。媽媽依然拎着她那閒半勤的相機，隨時捕捉各種動人場面，而我則遠坐一旁靜觀賽事經緯。

        沒想到來自全校各年級包括父母親友在內的卅多人競相參加了這次100首唐詩宋詞吟誦活動，年齡最小的蘇恩雅和陳昕然僅有五歲，方塊漢字認不了多少，但背誦起經典詩詞，一點看不出是今年秋季剛入學前班的新生，尤其恩雅對唐詩宋詞毫不含糊。

        “光華好詩詞競賽”分別進行初賽、複賽、和決賽﹔根據年齡大小，所有參賽選手被劃為三組﹕兒童組（5～10歲）、少年組（11歲以上）以及成人組﹔比賽題目有抽籤背詩、看圖吟詩、填空組詩、選擇填詩、搶答詠詩等多種類型。每人允許有一次向觀眾求助的機會，答對的加10分，答錯的不扣分﹔然而一旦答錯，本組其他對手便有“偷搶”答題的可能。如果答對了“偷”來的題目，那麼他或她意外地多得5分。每一輪結束前，選手們還要完成一連串搶答題，誰先爭奪搶答權，誰就占有得分的優勢。有趣的是，正如美國著名電視智力競賽節目《危險邊緣》和《誰想成為百萬富翁》出現的狀況一樣，總有一位表現超常、了不起、真正聰明的大拿包攬該贏的積分，這次“光華好詩詞競賽”也不例外，名叫王亦鳴的小朋友力壓群雄，絲毫不給對手半點後路，大家拿他一點辦法也沒有，只好望洋興嘆。

        隨着決賽拉開序幕，應對的題目越來越難，賽場的氣氛也變得越來越緊張。上場前，選手們雖餘勇可賈，可臨陣時仍免不了感到心有餘而力不足。不獨有偶，曾經在國內學習過五年中文的劉凱文出類拔萃，力排各路精兵強將，如果說其他贏家充其量小打小鬧，那麼凱文卻像哥斯拉摧毀城市一般強悍無比。比賽結果﹕160—55—50.5—55—45—41(大概齊吧)，凱文以絕對優勢勇奪本次比賽“詩詞狀元”的光榮稱號。

        本屆冠軍遙遙領先，凱文贏就贏在紮實的功底，期待來年會有更多的古典詩詞愛好者湧現出來，屆時至少有人敢站出來勇於挑戰凱文。

        負責定奪“光華好詩詞競賽”的四位評審員一向非常熱衷蘊藏在我們傳統文化當中的國粹精華，方林和章玲先後畢業於北京大學心理學系和中國傳媒大學播音系，出國前曾經分別在央視和溫州電視台擔任過節目主播；張月畢業於復旦大學物理系，不僅熟諳中國古代歷史，而且賦詩賦詠無所不及；孫偉畢業於北京師範大學中文系，就職於著名的北京四中學教授高中部語文，目前藉助到美進行學術交流之際，蒞臨本校“光華好詩詞競賽”與其他三位評委共同擔任“大學士”一職，現場講解詩詞要素。當然，整個比賽之所以進行得如此成功，離不開主持人郭荔文的專業功底，這位畢業於天津大學化工系的靚麗美眉近年來一直活躍在光華中文學校和大費城地區藝術舞台上。

                白日依山盡，

                黃河入海流。

                欲窮千里目，

                更上一層樓。

                —唐代詩人王之渙(公元688-742)﹕《登鸛雀樓》

Poetry Contest @ Guanghua Chinese School

(光華好詩詞競賽)

Audiencence (觀眾席 11-16-2014)

Quick Answerr (搶答題)

One of the Youngest Participants

(最小的參賽者之一)

Final Round (決賽)

Crosslink(相關博文):

6th Grade(初中一年級)