PROFESSIONAL PROJECTS
What I’ve Done
This section contains the abstracts of my Master Degree's Capstone Projects and my other writings. If you would like to inquire the whole articles of my Capstone Projects, please contact me directly. I am happy to share with you!
THE GREAT FLOWING RIVER
A Study of Qi Bangyuan's Speeches and Interviews through the Lens of Corpus Linguistics
Photo Credit to Internet
This project involves Professor Qi, Bangyuan a female Taiwan scholar and educator known as the “Guardian Angel of Taiwan Literature” and “Eternal Teacher Qi”. She had advocated for Taiwan literature for decades and supported thousands of students as a teacher and educator. Her life journey in the chaotic and traumatic 19th century where WW2’s Asian battlefield lay has built her determined and dedicated characteristics. Her educational journey of pursuing advanced studies is tortuous and perplexing given her role as a mother with onerous family obligations. Professor Qi with her extraordinary determination came to the United States to study at age 45 as a Fulbright Scholar, yet had to give up pursuing the degrees midway to make personal sacrifices for her family. Her obligations toward family and personal successes also make me appreciate the sacrifices not only Asian women have made, but also countless immigrants Asian American mothers have to make right here in this land. She had witnessed the brutality and restlessness of war, and fanatic political turmoil in the late 19th century across China and Taiwan; therefore, she called for compassion, kindness, and humanity. According to Professor Qi, “Every household has sad stories, and literature could heal.” I wish by celebrating and advocating her works, we would find strength, comfort, bravery, and empowerment in such a special pandemic period. I also wish we could recognize the kindness within and through the universal language of literature, and appreciate the richness and equality of literature and literary studies beyond the physical boundaries and borders, political ideologies and parties, nationalities, and races.
FACING THE EMPTINESS AND THE WAVES
Buddhist Motifs in King Hu's Legend of Mountain and Raining in the Mountain
Photo Credit to Internet
This paper has compared and contrasted the Buddhism elements in two of Director King Hu’s films, Legend of the Mountain and Raining in the Mountain. I have analyzed Buddhism ideology and philosophical discussion in both films. Themes such as reincarnation, acceptance of Buddhism teachings, ferrying sinful sentient beings to the other bank, and interpreting the Way through daily duties, have been applied deliberately in these two films. I have also analyzed the direct images and representation of Buddhism elements in both films. The statues of numerous Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, the sutra storage place, the Main Shrine, and Temple Gate all have helped to develop and sustain the atmosphere of Buddhism. With the organic embracing of the hidden Buddhism themes and motifs that needed a little bit more explanation and the direct images of the Buddhist images and the actual temple depiction, King Hu had created the world of Buddhism and invited the audience to enter the world of the Buddhist community. By breaking down the Buddhism elements in King Hu’s films, one would realize Hu’s extreme consideration of the details and the depth of Buddhism King Hu delved into.
CLOUDS AND WATER
Buddhist Monastics' Poetic Practices Beyond the Non-Establishment of Words
Photo Credit to Internet
In this paper, I am particularly curious about the discussion of the intricate relationship of Chan Buddhism's emphasis on "non-establishment of words and point directly to true nature" 明心見性直指人心and the poetic expression of Chan Buddhism through one of the most refined literary traditions, namely poetry. Ever since the Han Dynasty Sixth B.C.E, Buddhism has rapidly spread around China and influenced many aspects of Chinese cultural and literary life. However, through the development and adaptations of Buddhism to Chinese culture, the value of language posed a controversial interplay between the wordless Chan schools of Buddhism and word-centric poems, whereas the wordless Chan schools believed in the vanity of language in front of the true nature, yet the practices of poetry depend heavily on the aesthetics and delicacy of language and diction. I delved into the organic and ongoing interactions between religion and literary tradition, and the religious practitioners and Chinese literati through the close analysis of the three Chan poems distinctively from the Tang Dynasty to the Republic Era of China. The inter-relations and dialogues between literature and religion contained in the literary forms of Chan helped to decipher the mindsets of monastic practitioners’ life, ambitious hopes of determined practitioners, and alluded to the other circulating and well-known literary works.