A DREAM of the Red Chamber (Honglou Meng), one of the four classic" title="a.第一流的 n.杰作">classic Chinese novels, never fails to dazzle" title="vt.使茫然 n.炫耀">dazzle and divide. The latest controversy" title="n.争论；争吵">controversy about the book revolves around the costume designs being used in a new TV adaptation.

The Academy award-winning production and costume designer" title="n.设计者">designer of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Wohu Canglong) Tim Yip, has landed himself in hot water with the Chinese public. They're dissatisfied" title="a.不满的；显出不满的">dissatisfied with the costumes he designed for the upcoming Red Chamber TV series after some photos of the costumes surfaced on the Internet last week.

An online survey at the Tianya.cn online forum revealed that more than 75 percent of the participants believe the costumes are too far off from the book's description. The majority said they could not accept the costumes, and some have even called for a boycott of the TV series.

The criticism mainly focuses on the design's resemblance" title="n.类似；肖像；外表">resemblance to Kunqu Opera, rather than to the book's description. The hairpiece ornaments worn on the foreheads of the female characters are being called "unrealistic".

However, some scholars have pointed out that the hairpiece ornaments were in fact a part of women's make-up" title="n.构成；性格；虚构">make-up in ancient times. Some netizens are excited about the creativity shown in the costumes. They say that innovation" title="n.改革；革新；创新">innovation should be embraced, otherwise why not just re-watch the old adaptations?

So what do you think? When it comes to adapting classic" title="a.第一流的 n.杰作">classics for TV or film, should we be faithful to every detail of the original?

YES

Remaking a classic" title="a.第一流的 n.杰作">classic requires that one stay true to the original work. People love the classic" title="a.第一流的 n.杰作">classic because of what it is.

1. Classic literature like The Red Chamber is an important part of our cultural heritage" title="n.遗产，继承物">heritage. We should read the original text carefully and conduct research before remaking it into a TV drama. Any so-called" title="a.所谓的，号称的">so-calledinnovation" title="n.改革；革新；创新">innovation disrespects the masterpiece" title="n.杰作；杰出的事">masterpiece and its author.

2. Cao Xueqin gave detailed descriptions of the clothes and hairstyles of the characters in the book. These descriptions should be carefully observed when anyone tries to visually reproduce" title="v.繁殖；复制；翻版">reproduce the masterpiece" title="n.杰作；杰出的事">masterpiece.

NO

Everyone has his or her own interpretation" title="n.解释；翻译；表演">interpretation of a masterpiece" title="n.杰作；杰出的事">masterpiece. That is what art is all about.

1. Different readers have different impressions of a certain character-and different interpretation" title="n.解释；翻译；表演">interpretations of a literary work. For many critics of the costumes, the images of the earlier 1987 version" title="n.翻译；说明；译本">version of The Red Chamber are deeply ingrained in their minds. But it is narrow-minded to condemn other people's interpretation" title="n.解释；翻译；表演">interpretation of the masterpiece" title="n.杰作；杰出的事">masterpiece.

2. The novel itself has a half-dream-half-reality quality about it. Kunqu Opera was very popular in Cao Xueqin's time. The costume designer" title="n.设计者">designer has taken these two aspects into consideration. The use of the exaggerated hairpiece ornaments will add to the dramatic effect of the show.
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