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Home , The Best Man (play)

22 world FRIDAY, AUGUST 3, 2012 CHINA DAILY Berkeley takes novel approach to card game

By CHEN JIA in San Francisco novel, so he tries to get under- [email protected] graduates acquainted with essential philosophy dating back A popular card game from to China’s ancient dynasties. China is in this fall’s course cata- “China has such a rich and log at the University of Califor- special history. If you don’t nia, Berkeley. understand that, you cannot Sanguosha is a role-playing possibly understand China,” he card game with Chinese ele- said. ments. Sanguo means Three Understanding the age-old Kingdoms, and Sha means system of rules exemplified in killers. The game is based on Sanguosha would help any stu- Romance of the Th ree Kingdoms, dent grasp the constant changes a classic Chinese novel from the taking place in modern Chinese Ming Dynasty (AD 1368-1644) society, said Berring, who has that draws from events of the taught Berkeley undergrads a Three Kingdoms period (AD course titled Chinese Law and 220-280). Society for about 30 years. Young people play Sanguosha, a role-playing card game from China based on Romance of the Three Kingdoms, in Beijing in April. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY “I knew UC Berkeley had Sanguosha is an elective off ered some pretty awesome courses, through a university program that but this tops it all,” said Andrew lets students, under the supervi- Chou started searching for lion) in 2009. Th e fi gure rose to that translated the game rules He brought up the idea for students. Tam, a 24-year-old graduate stu- sion of a faculty member, design an English-language edition of 100 million yuan in 2010. and role descriptions. Th e two the course with Katherine Pan, Some native Chinese students dent, referring to the state uni- and implement a course. Trevor Romance of the Th ree Kingdoms Chou spent part of last sum- young men were soon inviting a friend from high school, who at Berkeley, however, see the versity’s main campus. Chou, Darian Ng and Katherine but couldn’t find one. He first mer in a study program at American friends to learn the suggested Berring as their faculty course as designed for non-her- Each player takes a role card Pan, all senior undergrads, are the saw Sanguosha — which is simi- Peking University, where he met game. sponsor. itage learners, those who didn’t based on characters from the course facilitators. lar to the modern game Bang! Ng, a fellow Chinese-American. As Chou played, familiar Sanguosha, the course, will be grow up exposed to the Chi- novel, equipped with distinct Chou, 21, a Chinese-Ameri- — being played by Chinese stu- “He revealed to me his inter- names would pop up again and able to accommodate only 30 nese language at home or in their skills and weapons. War in the can, said the idea for the course dents on campus but didn’t join est in Sanguosha,” Chou said of again, rekindling his interest in students once it begins on Aug communities. game is waged channeling the sprang from his interest in the them because he couldn’t read Ng. “He also mentioned that, the Th ree Kingdoms era. But he 30. As of Wednesday, the uni- “Chinese students don’t take it fury, intelligence and cunning of Th ree Kingdoms era, enhanced Chinese characters well. like me, he lacked the necessary also noticed that Ng’s friends, versity’s online description of the too seriously,” a Berkeley sopho- the novel’s characters. by playing the computer game In China, the game is typically skills in written Chinese to play who had no prior knowledge of course had been viewed more more from China surnamed Lei “Sanguosha is very popular in Dynasty Warriors in middle played in large groups of teenag- Sanguosha.” the era, were soon remembering than 11,500 times. said. “It isn’t a required course, China because it’s related to its school. ers and young adults who huddle But Ng told his new friend the names of the characters and Hu Guang, a teaching con- just an easy option for Chinese cultural heritage,” UC Berkeley “The game introduced me around tables in cafes and college that he planned to buy a deck of learning about them. sultant with Tiandao Educa- students who want to kill time law professor Robert Berring, to a lot of the names of famous bars. Sanguosha cards and fi gure out “My Sanguosha sessions tion, a Chinese company that and get the two units.” the faculty sponsor of the course, historical figures in the Three Yoka Games, a Beijing-based a way to translate the game into made me see the game as a fun advises on implementing Chi- “It’s pure entertainment, so I said. Kingdoms period and I learned developer, reported that sales of English. and engaging way to introduce nese study programs abroad, didn’t see any need to take the Berring believes it’s important the fascinating stories of their its popular version of Sanguosha Back at Berkeley, Ng bought people to the Th ree Kingdoms said the creative approach of course,” said Allison Huo, a Chi- that students understand the exploits,” he said. totaled 20 million yuan ($3 mil- the cards and found a website period,” Chou said. the course design could inspire nese undergraduate. Literary lion remembered for biting wit and wisdom

By HILLEL ITALIE Vidal died at his home of com- in Los Angeles plications from pneumonia, his NOTABLE QUOTES FROM VIDAL The Associated Press nephew Steers said. Vidal had been living alone and had In a world more to his liking, been sick for “quite a while”, “Style is knowing who you are, what you want to might have been Steers said. president, or even king. He had Vidal “meant everything to say and not giving a damn.” an aristocrat’s bearing — tall, me when I was learning how to handsome and composed — write and learning how to read”, “Half of the American people have never read a and an authoritative baritone Dave Eggers said at the 2009 newspaper. Half never voted for president. One ideal for summoning an aide or National Book Awards ceremo- courtier. ny, where he and Vidal received hopes it is the same half.” But Vidal made his living — a honorary citations. “His words, very good living — from chal- his intellect, his activism, his “Whenever a friend succeeds, a little something in lenging power, not holding it. ability and willingness to always me dies.” He was wealthy and famous, and speak up and hold his govern- committed to exposing a sys- ment accountable, especially, has tem oft en led by men he knew been so inspiring to me I can’t religion and prudery, opposed In print and in person, he was firsthand. During the days of articulate it.’’ wars from Vietnam to Iraq and a shameless name-dropper, but president Franklin Roosevelt, Along with such contempo- insulted his peers like no other, what names! John and Jacque- one of the few leaders whom raries as Norman Mailer and once observing that the three line Kennedy, Hillary Clinton, Vidal admired, he might have Truman Capote, he was among saddest words in the English lan- Tennessee Williams, Mick Jag- been called a “traitor to his class”. the last generation of literary guage were “Joyce Carol Oates”. ger, Orson Welles, Frank Sinatra, The real traitors, Vidal would writers who were also genuine (Th e happiest words: “I told you Marlon Brando, Paul Newman respond, were the upholders of celebrities — regulars on talk so.’’) and Joanne Woodward, and Tim his class. shows and in gossip columns, Ralph Ellison labeled him a Robbins and Susan Sarandon. Th e author, playwright, politi- personalities of such size and “campy patrician”. Vidal had an A longtime critic of Ameri- cian and commentator whose appeal that even those who ROBYN BECK / AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE old-fashioned belief in honor can militarism, Vidal was, ironi- vast and sharpened range of pub- hadn’t read their books knew The man who would be king: US author Gore Vidal pictured in his Los Angeles home. but a modern will to live as he cally, born at the United States lished works and public remarks their names. pleased. He wrote in the mem- Military Academy, his father’s were stamped by his immodest His works included hundreds The Best Man, a melodrama can sense that whatever is wrong of Arts and Letters, joking that he oir Palimpsest that he had more alma mater. Vidal grew up in wit and unconventional wisdom, of essays, the best-selling novels about a presidential convention with human society can be put already belonged to the Diners than 1,000 “sexual encounters”, a political family. His grandfa- died on Tuesday at age 86 in Los and Myra Breckenridge revived on Broadway in 2012. right by human action”. Club. (He was eventually admit- nothing special, he added, com- ther, Thomas Pryor Gore, was Angeles. and the Tony-nominated play Vidal appeared cold and Vidal was uncomfortable ted, in 1999). pared to the pursuits of such a US senator from Oklahoma. cynical, dispassionately predict- with the literary and political But he was widely admired peers as John F. Kennedy and His father, Gene Vidal, served ing the fall of democracy, the establishment, and the feeling as an independent thinker — Tennessee Williams. Vidal was briefl y in Roosevelt’s administra- American ’s decline or was mutual. Beyond his honor- in the tradition of Mark Twain fond of drink and alleged that he tion and was an early expert on the destruction of the environ- ary National Book Award, he and H.L. Mencken — about lit- had sampled every major drug, aviation. Amelia Earhart was a ment. But he bore a melancholy won few major writing prizes, erature, culture, politics and, as once. He never married and for family friend. regard for lost worlds, for reason lost both times he ran for offi ce he liked to call it, “the birds and decades shared a scenic villa in Of his output, Lincoln is and the primacy of the written and initially declined member- the bees”. He picked apart politi- Ravello, Italy, with companion regarded as his most notable word, for “the ancient Ameri- ship of the American Academy cians, living and dead, mocked Howard Austen. work of historical fi ction. Broadway theaters will dim lights in tribute

By MARK KENNEDY exactly 8 pm on Friday. Execu- , , said there will be an announce- fi ctional 1960 national conven- in New York tive director Charlotte St Martin , Mark Blum and ment before each show for the tion, the play pits two candi- The Associated Press called Vidal’s work both “timely , in addition to next week that it is being dedi- dates vying for the presidential and timeless”. Larroquette and Jones. cated to Vidal. At curtain calls, nomination and sees how far Broadway theaters will dim The second revival of his “I’m honored to have been photos of Vidal will be shown they will go to win. The play their marquee lights on Friday political play The Best Man able to call Gore a close friend,’’ on the monitors. has been extended twice. It will night in memory of Gore Vidal, opened in April with strong said Shepherd in a statement. “Gore Vidal was an original,’’ close on Sept 9 at the Gerald and the cast of his play Th e Best reviews and a stellar cast that “I’m privileged to currently be Richards said in a statement, Schoenfeld Th eatre. Man will dedicate the next week included , appearing in his play Th e Best hailing Vidal for his “grace, dis- “It is fi lled with poetry about of performances to the author , John Larro- Man, and speaking his witty tinction, style, wit and wisdom”. what it means to be human,’’ said and playwright. quette, , Eric and eloquent words every night He added: “For his contribu- Davis in a statement. “We will The Broadway League said McCormack, Michael McKean only reinforces for me what a tion to American culture, we think of him and everything he on Wednesday the lights will and . genius he was.’’ will always be in his debt.’’ contributed to life as we perform be dimmed for one minute at The show currently stars Producer Jeffrey Richards Set in Philadelphia during a his play eight shows a week.’’