19 September 2010 Last updated at 03:36 GMT

Last 'sin-eater' celebrated with church service

The Reverend Norman Morris led the service for Richard Munslow

The restored grave of the last known "sin-eater" in England has been at the centre of a special service in a Shropshire village churchyard.

Campaigners raised £1,000 to restore the grave of Richard Munslow, who was buried in Ratlinghope in 1906.

Sin-eaters were generally poor people paid to eat bread and drink beer or wine over a corpse, in the belief they would take on the sins of the deceased.

Frowned upon by the church, the custom mainly died out in the 19th Century.

It was prevalent in the Marches, the land around the England-Wales border, and in north Wales, but was rarely carried out anywhere else.

Believers thought the sin-eater taking on the sins of a person who died suddenly without confessing their sins would allow the deceased's soul to go to heaven in peace.

While most of the sin-eaters were poor people or beggars, Mr Munslow was a well-established farmer in the area.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

This grave at Ratlinghope is now in an excellent state of repair but I have no desire to reinstate the ritual that went with it”

End Quote The Reverend Norman Morris

The Reverend Norman Morris, the vicar of Ratlinghope, a village of about 100 residents on the Long Mynd near Church Stretton, led the "God's Acre" service at St Margaret's Church.

Mr Morris said: "It was a very odd practice and would not have been approved of by the church but I suspect the vicar often turned a blind eye to the practice."

Locals began the collection to restore the grave, which had fallen into disrepair in recent years, believing it would be good to highlight the custom and Mr Munslow's place in religious history.

It took a few months to raise the £1,000 needed to pay for the work, carried out by local stonemason Charles Shaw.

Mr Morris said: "This grave at Ratlinghope is now in an excellent state of repair but I have no desire to reinstate the ritual that went with it."

Page last updated at 12:03 GMT, Saturday, 6 February 2010

In Paris, the customer is not always right

The idea of service is taken very seriously in France where any feeling of subservience is strongly resisted, as Emma Jane Kirby discovered.

Parisian workers traditionally regard themselves as the customer's equal

Paris is in a bad mood.

The sullen, steel-grey sky seems to be permanently snivelling sleet.

The Seine, swollen against its banks, pushes and squeezes its way through the city like an irascible woman in too-tight shoes.

And the January depression has even sucked some of the glitzy dazzle out of the Eiffel Tower, leaving it looking - at least from a distance - like a rather cheap, left-over Christmas decoration.

It may be the city of romance and a mecca for tourists, but right now Paris feels and looks like it just cannot be bothered any more to turn on the charm.

Not that this city is exactly known for its sense of service.

The customer is allegedly always right in London but, in Paris, he or she is little more than an irritant.

Cab 'service'

A couple of months back, I broke my leg in a skiing accident and became completely reliant on Paris's taxi service.

Under the circumstances, even though I was paying for this ride, I felt unable to ask this clearly sensitive man to turn down his deafening rap music

Wobbling precariously on my crutches after a family dinner in a local restaurant, I hailed the first cab in the rank.

He drove up, glanced at my plastered leg and drove straight off again shouting: "I don't take cripples. Your crutches might damage my paintwork!"

Somewhat stupefied, I hailed the next cab in line and politely asked the driver if I could sit up front as it was easier for my leg.

"I'm not arranging my whole damn cab to accommodate you," he snapped. "I've got all my personal things piled on the front seat!"

As he drove off at an angry speed, I got a glance of the front passenger seat and saw it was adorned with one folded newspaper.

The taxi driver who finally chauffeured me home was pleasant enough, although a stark notice on the back of the seat reminded me that it would not be wise to push my luck.

"Do not use your mobile phone in this cab," warned the hand-written sticker, "it annoys your driver."

Under the circumstances, even though I was paying for this ride, I felt unable to ask this clearly sensitive man to turn down his deafening rap music.

'I'm not your slave'

The fact is Parisians employed in any service industry simply do not buy into the Anglo Saxon maxim, "He who pays the piper calls the tune."

In France your waiter expects to be addressed formally as Monsieur, in exactly the same way he will address you

The revolution of 1789 has burned the notion of equality deep into the French psyche and a proud Parisian finds it abhorrently degrading to act subserviently.

This Sunday, a Parisian friend of mine waited in line at the fruit and vegetable stall of his local market.

When it was his turn to be served, he asked the seller for a kilo of leeks.

"They're at the other end of the stall," snapped the vendor waspishly. "Take a bit of exercise and get them yourself."

There is no mistaking the undertone, "I'm not your slave."

At my doctor's, the two dour receptionists are quite delightful when we meet on the street, sharing jokes and asking kindly after my broken leg.

Back behind their desk, however, they brood and scowl. There is not even a gesture of recognition, let alone a friendly smile.

On the street it is acknowledged that we are equals but, once back in the surgery - in that uncomfortable position of service provider and client - the receptionists become wary of a potential shift of power and are quick to squash any assumptions of superiority.

Blunt honesty

In America, your waiter comes to your restaurant table to tell you his name is Joe. Here, your waiter expects to be addressed formally as Monsieur, in exactly the same way he will address you.

It is made clear from the start that no-one has the upper hand. The strict code of manners in Paris is a deliberate class-leveller.

'Don't even think about it,' said the shop assistant bluntly, 'not with that big fat leg'

Perhaps Parisians are just being honest.

Our American waiter Joe, after all, only promises to give us "good folks a great time" because he wants a terrific tip but, in Paris, providing quality is a matter of personal pride.

In the boulangerie next to our office, the baker spends a good 90 seconds skilfully wrapping up my plain brioche into an artistic cornet, even though she must know I will rip it open the second I leave her shop.

When I ask the local greengrocer for an avocado, he asks when I plan to eat it before dutifully feeling every avocado in the box to find the one which will be perfectly ripe on that day.

Last week, as I waited in the damp gloom for a taxi to take me home after yet another hospital appointment, I decided to shelter in the expensive dress shop next door.

I held up a woollen dress against me and admired myself in the mirror.

The shop assistant, nonchalantly blowing bubble-gum bubbles, looked narrowly at me and shook her head.

"Don't even think about it," she said bluntly, "not with that big fat leg."

Why UK teenagers struggle to cope

Why UK teenagers struggle to cope

By Mark Easton BBC News home editor

Disconnected and disengaged...

British teenagers are among the most badly behaved in Europe, a study by think-tank the Institute for Public Policy Research suggests. Why?

In Britain we have come to both demonise and fear our teenagers: the yobs, the hoodies, the street gangs - the Asbo generation which terrorises neighbourhoods.

"Kids hanging around" is now regarded as the greatest social nuisance of our age.

As the new IPPR report puts it: "Commentators fear that British youth is on the verge of mental breakdown, at risk from anti-social behaviour, self-harm, drug and alcohol abuse. These concerns are, to an extent, borne out."

Such gloom is in contrast to evidence that there has never been a better time to be young.

Good times

More British teenagers leave school with good qualifications and go to university than ever before.

Youth unemployment has fallen dramatically in the last 25 years.

Today's parents are richer than ever before and young people have access to an extraordinary range of activities and opportunities undreamt of even a generation ago.

And yet the mental well-being of our adolescents is among the worst in Europe: one in 10 teenage girls has self-harmed. Child obesity is increasing.

Southern European nations with a strong Catholic tradition and a focus on the family do not share the same level of delinquency UK 'among Europe's worst'

Our youngsters are more consumerist in their outlook than the Americans.

Concern about adolescents is not new, but what this research does is put the UK's experience in an international context - and the conclusions are troubling.

The European comparisons, putting our youngsters at or close to the top of every indicator of bad behaviour, suggest the causes are cultural.

Southern European nations with a strong Catholic tradition and a focus on the family do not share the same level of delinquency.

Scandinavian countries with a large welfare state and a strong sense of civic engagement also perform better.

'Hanging out'

But in the UK, where we have seen big changes in family structures - rising rates of divorce and single parenthood - and where the state traditionally resists intervening in domestic life, young people have been left to their own devices.

"Hanging out with mates" is what teenagers do in the UK.

In contrast to their European counterparts, they spend far more time with their peers than with adults where they miss out on the development of what are called "soft skills" - the social and personal development which is increasingly vital in a country built around service industry.

The days of young men leaving school at the first opportunity to go down the pit or into the shipyard have all but disappeared.

Those young men today are struggling to cope in a world which demands high levels of socialisation.

Could sport be an answer?

The IPPR report claims that social skills are as important, if not more important, than the academic qualifications our children are urged to achieve.

The key is that youngsters grow up in a warm, nurturing environment with plenty of adult interaction.

It doesn't have to be the traditional nuclear family although statistically children brought up by two married, biological parents do better than those from single-parent families or people cohabiting.

What the report amounts to is a challenge of traditional youth policy.

It points out that youngsters who go to a youth club are 6% more likely to smoke in adulthood, 1% more likely to be a single parent, 1% more likely to be a victim of crime and 5% more likely to have no qualifications than those who don't.

HAVE YOUR SAY Why do we constantly blame the children? Caroline, London Send us your views

By contrast, those that went to structured sports or community centres are 3% less likely to be depressed; 5% less likely to be single, separated or divorced; 3% less likely to be in social housing and 2% less likely to have no qualifications.

The conclusions are obvious - but far from easy.

We need to repair the disconnect between our adolescents and the adult world.

That is not going to happen in a hurry but as the IPPR report puts it: "Young people who do not have access to the factors that develop their non-cognitive abilities are increasingly vulnerable to failure, while their better socialised peers will increasingly succeed."

So what on earth is respect?

So what on earth is respect?

By Dominic Casciani BBC News Online community affairs

"Give respect, Get respect" says the government's action plan - but what on earth does it mean? Can we really define respect?

It has been talked of for months, and now Prime Minister Tony Blair has launched his respect agenda for his administration's third term.

In his introduction to the plan, Mr Blair says: "What lies at the heart of [anti-social] behaviour is a lack of respect for values that almost everyone in this country shares - consideration for others, a recognition that we all have responsibilities as well as rights, civility and good manners."

The challenge is that this is often very difficult to define. Nobody likes yobbish behaviour, littering and so on.

But what about fast food? Many older people think it is the height of bad manners to walk down the street chomping on a kebab - and even worse to fill the bus with the smells of saturated fats.

At the same time, younger people have grown up in a culture of fast food so for some scoffing on the street may be second nature. But is that disrespectful, rude, a generational divide or simply a crime against your digestive system?

"I'm in the classroom..."

Mobile phones are another example. Tony Blair was reportedly aghast in a session with head teachers when he discovered that pupils had phones in schools. Some heads were not that bothered - particularly those in rural areas where the phones were a useful tool.

This is the dilemma for government, to draw the line in the sand between what it can justifiably champion as decent right-thinking activity and that which it can say is thoroughly beastly and anti-social.

Do unto others

So how does it set about doing this? The cover of the government action plan is not just a neat piece of graphic design, it is also a philosophical statement.

The cycle of respect

The logo of two arrows circling each other very consciously borrows from recycling. What goes around, comes around, do unto others as you would have others do unto you.

Here Jean-Jacques Rousseau and his "social contract" comes in. The 18th century French philosopher argued that people should give up their natural rights to do whatever they jolly well please so that society can function.

That idea (also similarly devised by Plato, Hobbes and other great thinkers) is a key element of the modern state. So when Tony Blair talks about respect, or of "rights and responsibilities", he is talking about our contract with each other - and with government.

But if this balanced contract has indeed gone wrong, what happened?

Children are encouraged to think that they are the equals of their parents, their teachers and people in authority Roger Scruton Respect: Roger Scruton

Philosopher Roger Scruton says that the reason why respect has disappeared is because it is no longer taught.

Insolence goes unpunished in the young, and what starts in the playground is translated into adulthood.

However, Richard Sennett, one of Britain's leading sociologists, argues the contrary: We should ask whether institutions treat individuals with respect, particularly those who are not powerful.

Shape up

The prime minister isn't being choosy about his definition as both of these arguments in some shape or form make it into his package, along with a third idea: that government has a responsibility to intervene on behalf of society if it believes individuals are failing in their personal duties.

In other words, if a local family from hell break the social contract, the authorities will enforce it.

Hardly respectful?

This is usually tricky territory for politicians. John Major's ill-fated Back to Basics drive in 1993 fell down quicker than the trousers of some of his MPs caught by tabloid photographers.

The reason why politicians face a tough time on this wicket is because of an entirely different word: deference.

If government packs people off on parenting classes, is that just helping them get on in life, or a case of: "We know better than you - so just be thankful".

Mr Blair appears confident that he can avoid being accused of demanding deference, saying: "It is not in my gift or anyone in central government to guarantee good behaviour or to impose a set of common values about acceptable behaviour".

He adds that his respect agenda is "not about returning to the days of 'knowing your place'."

Yet, confusingly, he then says that if people who need help will not take it, "we will make them".

Two-fingered salute

Which brings us back to a question left unanswered by the title of the action plan: If Mr Blair is demanding respect, is he also giving it?

There's an idea among some criminologists and sociologists that if respect isn't a two-way street, you create something they call "asymmetric citizenship".

They warn that unless the young are treated decently, they are likely to react in precisely in the ways society most fears.

This isn't just about manners. Studies have found that benefit cheats often believe they have a de facto right to rip off the state because they believe the state has failed them; they have nothing left to lose so decide to stick two fingers up to society.

The irony is that the very same people have also been found to be socially conservative, expressing shock and outrage when they witness the anti-social behaviour of others.

A case of "do as I say, don't do as I do" - another circular philosophy many associate with politicians.

历史真实与艺术虚构

历史真实与艺术虚构

——浅谈太平天国史研究与电视剧《太平天国》

危兆盖 整理

　　编者按： 最近十几年来，历史题材的影视剧充斥荧屏，或称演义，
或为戏说，或谓纪实，或称正剧，影响都较大。最近播出的大型历史
连续剧《太平天国》再次引起广大观众的关注，并激起人们了解太平
天国历史真象的浓厚兴趣。有鉴于此，本刊特邀近代史专家戴逸、苏
双碧、何瑜和电视剧《太平天国》的编导张笑天等四位先生举行了座
谈，他们就太平天国的历史真实与电视剧《太平天国》的艺术虚构等
问题各抒己见。现将这次座谈的内容整理刊发，以飨读者。

　　

太平天国史的研究、评价

　　及其在《太平天国》中的反映

　　戴逸（中国人民大学清史所教授、电视剧《太平天国》历史顾问）：
新中国成立以来，太平天国史曾经是历史研究的热点，研究成果很突
出，著作几百部，文章数万篇，全国性与国际性的学术研讨会也举办
过多次。在80年代，全国各省市共成立了七个太平天国史研究会，可
见研究队伍之庞大。在研究中，史学工作者挖掘和整理了许多原始资
料，考证和弄清了许多历史事实，深入讨论和评价了许多重大事件与
历史人物。应该说，半个世纪以来，太平天国史研究的成绩十分巨大。

　　苏双碧（《求是》杂志社高级编辑、原副总编）：太平天国革命
虽然是一场农民革命，但它发生在近代中国，离现实很近，因此，学
术界对它的评价难免受到政治气候的影响，前后波动起伏比较大。譬
如，50年代讲阶级斗争，对农民战争只有赞扬，没有批评；十年动乱
中，洪秀全更被说成是法家的代表、反儒的英雄，被无限拔高。十年
动乱结束后，历史科学也进行了拨乱反正，“百家争鸣”的学风得到
贯彻，太平天国史的研究和讨论开始向健康的方向发展，但不同意见
的学术争鸣也比较多。最近几年又出现一种新的研究动向，即全盘否
定太平天国革命，认为太平天国革命是开历史的倒车，而曾国藩镇压
太平天国反而有功等等。持这种意见的人虽少，但它却从一个极端走
向了另一极端。

　　何瑜（中国人民大学清史所教授、电视剧《太平天国》历史顾问）：
在历时14年、遍及18省的战斗中，太平天国的英雄们确实为历史提供
了许多新的东西，谱写了中国近代史上的重要篇章。它提出的《天朝
田亩制度》代表了广大农民阶级的利益，它提出的《资政新篇》代表
了中国社会的发展方向，这不是谁想抹煞就抹煞得了的。当然，我们
在充分肯定太平天国的历史功绩和进步作用的同时，也要看到农民毕
竟不是先进生产力的代表，他们在取得一定的胜利之后，就暴露出自
己的弱点，如缺乏长远的战略考虑、不能正确处理内部矛盾、不能长
期保持团结精神和纯朴作风等等。正是因为有这些难以克服的弱点，
最后才导致失败的结局，这是令人惋惜的。

　　苏：电视剧《太平天国》是在学术界对太平天国革命众说纷纭、
见仁见智的情况下完成的，看来剧作者对学术界的不同观点还是有所
了解的，在创作中又渗透了自己对这一段历史的理解。从历史的角度
看，这部电视剧对不同学术观点的处理是慎重的，基本反映了太平天
国历史的真实面貌，可以说是一部比较好的历史正剧。

　　戴：历史学家之间对许多历史人物、历史事件往往存在分歧意见，
这是很正常的。很多意见一下子很难断定谁是谁非，必须通过深入研
究和长期讨论才能逐渐加以解决。电视剧碰到这种情形，当然不可能
把不同的观点都包容进去，而只能择一而从。我以为，只要能够言之
成理、持之有故就可以。例如：太平军北伐，很多专家认为太平军应
该全军北上，攻打北京，击破清朝的巢穴，只派二万人北伐是战略错
误。但还有一种观点就认为，太平天国打下南京之后，并无全军北上
的实力和可能。当时，太平天国人数虽不少，但很多是家属，老弱妇
孺较多，还有新入伍的群众，需要有编组训练的时间，不可能抽调大
批兵力北伐。当然，对北伐评价的分歧纯属学术问题，见仁见智，可
以各抒己见，长期讨论。而电视剧《太平天国》的编剧和导演也完全
有权利根据自己对历史的认识选择其中的一说。现在观众看到的这个
版本采用了北伐是战略失误的观点，有关太平军北伐的戏也是在这种
基调下组织拍摄的。只要观众接受它，就是成功的。

　　张笑天（吉林省作家协会主席、电视剧《太平天国》编导）：从
某种意义上说，历史也不是一成不变的。一是在史料未充分发掘之前，
人们的认识总要受到史料的局限，二是不同的人对于同样的史料也可
能产生不同的认识。史学界对李秀成、曾国藩这样的历史人物，历来
褒贬不一，恐怕就有这两方面的原因。我在编写《太平天国》这部剧
本时，不想为任何一派观点作图解，更不可能为所有的观点作图解。
艺术创作的内在要求促使我深入到太平天国英雄们的心灵中去，把他
们的内心世界通过艺术的形式表现出来，使他们寻常化、人性化、感
情化、个性化。这样就打破了简单肯定或否定的模式，从而使太平天
国的英雄人物一个个血肉丰满、能爱能憎、生动鲜活，让人们看了之
后还能久久回味，余韵未歇。

　　

《太平天国》的史与戏

　　戴：从总体上看，电视剧《太平天国》基本遵循了太平天国的历
史发展脉络。它先是描写了会众营救冯云山、团营与金田起义、永安
封王建制等历史事件，接着向观众展示出太平军攻桂林、围长沙、克
武昌、破金陵等气势恢弘的战争场面，然后刻画了建都天京、北伐西
征、攻破江北、江南大营等重大历史事件，接下来又用浓墨重彩描绘
了杨秀清杖责天王、逼封万岁、天京事变、石达开出走等历史悲剧，
继之刻画了太平军二破江南大营、东征苏常、再克杭州、围攻上海以
及庐州失守、天京被围、洪秀全病逝、天京失陷等历史场面。由此，
凡属太平天国史上重大的历史事件，剧中刻画虽详略不一，但几乎全
部演示给了观众。其中虽穿插有很多虚构的情节，但大部分虚构与历
史的真实并不矛盾，反而增加了许多艺术的感染力。如陈玉成与曾晚
妹、天长金、胡玉蓉三位女性的一组戏，就虚构得有情有趣，生动感
人。但有些虚构明显露出“戏说”的成分，使正剧不“正”。如在太
平军北伐失败的一场戏中，编导插进洪宣娇与其牌刀手江元拔毅然北
上救援、劫囚、欲殉情而不得等一大段曲折离奇的情节，就是明显的
“戏说”，既无助于树立太平天国人物的英雄形象，又严重损害了历
史的真实性，使观众不容易接受。

　　苏：虽说电视剧是艺术而不是历史，但作为历史剧，人们还是希
望它能把艺术的真实和历史的真实结合得更好一些。应当说，电视剧
《太平天国》对二者的结合还是比较好的。但历史与艺术毕竟有差别，
这正如郭沫若所说，历史研究是“实事求是”，而史剧创作是“失事
求似”；史学家是“发掘历史的精神”，而史剧家是“发展历史的精
神”。既然如此，艺术家就可以在不违背大的历史背景的前提下，充
分发挥艺术创作的手段。电视剧《太平天国》塑造的一大批妇女形象
就很耐人寻味。从历史上看，这些妇女形象有的并无其人，有的事迹
不详，唯苏三娘确是一名战将，但她的事迹也只记载到与罗大纲去攻
镇江和守镇江时，此后再无下文。过去的史籍虽然没有留下太平天国
英雄女性的名字和事迹，但对她们的社会地位和某些活动还是留下了
蛛丝蚂迹。如太平天国主张男女平等，允许妇女当兵打仗，还设置了
女丞相、女检点、女指挥等文武官职，一些到过天京的外国人也见到
了“妇女随便游行，或乘马通衢大道”的情形。有这样一个历史大前
提，《太平天国》的剧作者自然可以塑造出一群生动活泼的女性。这
里的问题不在于能不能、应该不应该塑造，而在于如何塑造。归结到
一点，就是艺术加工应该做到“发展”历史的精神，而不是随便“戏
说”历史。

　　何：我补充一点。太平天国的典章制度、宗教文化、社会风俗、
礼仪称谓等，具有十分丰富又十分复杂的内容，其中有许多地方还有
待于史家进一步挖掘、整理和研究。电视剧《太平天国》对太平天国
的军制、旗帜、冠服、宫室、科举、礼仪、称谓以及仪仗舆马、登闻
鼓制等均作了程度不同的反映，其中对天国的冠服、旗帜、军制等方
面表现得最丰富，也最准确。譬如，剧中出现的天国旗帜，既再现了
战场上太平军“黄旗遍野”，克城时“无数黄旗分门站立”的壮观场
面，也表现了军中掌旗手英勇无畏的气概和天国旗帜色彩鲜明、尊卑
有别的特点。而对于太平天国的冠服、朝靴、号衣等服饰更是按照史
料记载复制，加上真景拍摄，确实给人一种如临其境的真实感觉。但
在这方面也有一些不尽如人意的地方，如在礼仪称谓上，太平军内对
上和对尊的礼节主要是长跪，而视俗之打拱、作揖、叩头等为妖礼，
而在剧中，却不分朝内朝外、男女老幼，多次出现拱手、揖拜、叩头
等镜头，结果与清方礼节完全一样，表现不出太平天国独特的礼仪特
点。

　　张：无论是写历史小说，还是编历史剧本，我始终是把《太平天
国》当成一部历史正剧来创作的。我认为，正剧的重要标志是不伪造
历史、不曲解历史。但也正如几位专家所说，正剧也可以在作家掌握
到的史料和史学界研究成果的基础上进行艺术虚构、艺术创作，只要
能尽量保持和再现历史的真实精神，不但形似，而且神似，就无可厚
非。就电视剧《太平天国》而言，太平天国历史上重大的历史事件及
其发生的时代背景、主要历史人物的活动轨迹、重要的战役、典章制
度、礼仪以及人物的语言、服饰、风俗等，基本上都遵循了历史的真
实。但即使是历史正剧，也不应该排斥艺术的虚构。如果说真实是历
史研究的生命线，那么虚构则是艺术创作的生命线。否则，人们去查
阅史书就是了，何必再去看历史小说、历史剧等艺术作品呢？

　　

《太平天国》人物的实与虚

　　苏：电视剧《太平天国》在刻画正面人物方面，洪秀全、陈玉成、
石达开是精心刻画的，而在反面人物方面，对曾国藩、左宗棠等的描
写也用了力。总的来说，对太平天国历史上重要人物的塑造还是比较
成功的，个别的地方尚有商榷的余地。譬如，对杨秀清和陈玉成这两
个人物的塑造，在某些方面还可以打磨得更完美些。先说杨秀清。在
太平天国革命中，从组织起义到进军金陵直至天京事变之前，起主要
作用的是杨秀清。电视剧为了塑造和突出洪秀全的形象，把实际指挥
作战的杨秀清的业绩移到洪秀全身上。这样处理的好处是突出了洪秀
全，使天王成了名实相符的天王，但缺点是和历史事实出入较大，也
使杨秀清后来的“居功自傲”失去了资本，为观众理解和接受杨秀清
制造了障碍。再说陈玉成。陈玉成在电视剧中被塑造成性格完美的第
一号英雄。他骁勇善战，屡立战功，是太平天国后期的第一号大将，
但在实际作战中，应是与李秀成齐名。李秀成活动面积大，加上在苏、
杭活动时间长，在中外都有很大影响。天京变乱之后，李秀成为争取
石达开回朝辅政，犯颜直谏，要求洪秀全严整朝纲，减轻粮税，重用
翼王，不用安王、福王等。李秀成的直谏激怒了洪秀全，被革职，但
却取得朝中文武大臣的支持。电视剧把这些内容移到了陈玉成名下。
再加上陈玉成一位部下曾说过英王“生平有三样好处：第一爱读书人，
第二爱百姓，第三不好色”，电视剧把这段话也移到洪秀全名下，作
为洪秀全对陈玉成的评价。这样处理当然对塑造陈玉成的形象起了重
要的作用，但却淡化了对李秀成的描写。

　　戴：《太平天国》在刻画反面人物方面，力求客观，减少了简单
化、脸谱化。就剧中的曾国藩而言，主要是揭露他镇压太平天国的罪
行，但有几场戏是作者精心加进去的，属于艺术虚构，是褒是贬很难
说。譬如，三河战役后，湘军悍将李续宾以及曾国藩的弟弟曾国华等
被太平军陈玉成、李秀成部击毙。电视剧在这里虚构了一场戏，即陈
玉成给曾国藩去信，表示要亲自把李续宾、曾国华等三人的尸体交给
清军，而曾国藩也表示可以约个地方和陈玉成接触，但部将坚决反对，
怕陈玉成出尔反尔，有危险。此时，剧中的曾国藩说了一段颇具气魄
的话，大意是：部将为国捐躯，我怎能不去，如果我不去，就表明我
没胆量；即使陈玉成杀了我，也算我为朝廷尽忠。等到曾、陈见面时，
又是一番唇枪舌剑，陈玉成指责清廷腐败，苛政猛于虎，是官逼民才
反的；曾国藩则搬出孔孟之道，指责陈玉成不该造反，诱劝他们放下
武器。这场戏纯属虚构，原型可能取自李秀成攻克杭州、清将王有龄
自杀之后，李秀成送其棺木，归还朝服，并点派王有龄亲兵五百人，
费银三千两，送其归乡。但这是李秀成所为，并非陈玉成所为。这样
虚构从艺术创造的角度看，也许有它的合理性，但从艺术效果和历史
真实的角度看，观众会产生疑问，这是美化陈玉成呢？还是美化曾国
藩？

　　何：在人物刻画上，《太平天国》中的主要男角除小曾宪是完全
虚构的人物之外，其余历史上还都有其人。而剧中塑造的十个女性形
象（洪宣娇、曾晚妹、天长金、胡玉蓉、石益阳、谢满妹、傅善祥、
程岭南、韦玉娟、苏三娘），除苏三娘、傅善祥、谢满妹历史上确有
其人及洪宣娇实为杨秀清妹杨云娇之外，其余均属虚构。从艺术的角
度看，这十位女性都刻画得相当成功，每个人都美丽善良，有情有义，
但又天生芳菲，性格各异，结局命运也全然不同。但从实际的效果及
编导的意图看，过多过赘的女人戏，不仅冲淡了金戈铁马、沙场鏖战
等精彩画面，而且有的虚构确属败笔，如洪秀全逼奸苏三娘的一场戏，
就过分丑化了天国领袖洪秀全的形象。

　　张：在《太平天国》的人物塑造中，我主要虚构了这样几个类型：
一是底层人物。于史有征的大人物不好虚构，然而底层人物就较易虚
构，因为任何史书都不会为所有的人作传。剧中的曾晚妹、曾宪就是
我虚构的小人物。前者被塑造成陈玉成两小无猜的恋人，又是由女扮
男妆开始，中间几经曲折，曾晚妹甚至为陈玉成当不当驸马的事情几
乎殉情，直至在陈玉成英勇就义时，她还赶赴刑场与他举行刑场婚礼。
这当中，陈玉成这个人物是真实的，而曾晚妹则代表了千千万万的童
子军、女营战士，她身上聚合了太平天国女性的执着、热烈、悲壮的
人生色彩。这种虚构不但有故事性，而且使历史真实有所强化、有所
升华，使历史人物情绪化、个性化、人性化。二是重要人物的某些细
节。剧中的洪秀全、杨秀清也好，石达开、韦昌辉也罢，都被设置在
理性与感情的矛盾冲突中间，战争、军事与伦理道德互为映衬，互为
补充，虚实并举，这样做的目的是使人物完美，虚是为实服务的。三
是女性群体。太平天国是中国农民战争中首次提出并实施妇女解放的，
写好女性形象便显得尤为重要。剧中用了相当的篇幅和气力来丰满、
补充和完备天国女性群体的英烈、纯真形象。有人认为多写女性可能
是出于调剂“和尚戏”的需要，其实这是误解。剧中的女性不是可有
可无的佐料，更不是某些人猜想的“卖点”，而是描绘太平天国群像
的需要，也是丰富作品色彩的需要，更是结构的需要。譬如，剧中虚
构的石益阳前期是石达开的爱女，尽可以言语无忌又顺理成章地带出
石达开的内心世界，这是别人无法替代的。后来她与李秀成有了异乎
寻常的关系，于是这位后来写了“自述”被后人争论不休的人物的隐
忧与心路历程，也通过石益阳牵出并展现在观众面前。

太平天国时期的天京（南京）

Women under siege in Afghanistan

Women under siege in Afghanistan

By Soutik Biswas BBC News, Kabul

A widow's hardships

For the past three months, Afghan female MP Shukria Barakzai has been receiving a letter saying she may be targeted by a suicide bomber in the next six months.

The cryptic government letter contains an intelligence warning that Ms Barakzai's life is under threat and she should be careful. She is one of six MPs getting such a letter these days.

"That is all that the government does - send a letter by mail once every month saying my life is under threat. There isn't talk of even providing security," says the feisty parliamentarian and mother of three daughters.

Ms Barakzai says she is being targeted by "various elements" because of her speeches against the country's warlords, her support for women's rights and for her criticisms of Pakistan.

AFGHANISTAN'S FUTURE This week, BBC News is taking an in-depth look at the challenges facing Afghanistan's people and the peacekeepers. Stories include: the state of the Taleban; corruption; the drugs problem; and attacks on schools. Afghanistan in-depth

"I am going crazy. My friends are telling me to leave the country. My husband is worried. After all, I am also a mother and a wife," says the journalist-turned-MP.

When you consider that two women journalists have been killed recently in and around Kabul, you realise that even women of influence and power in Afghanistan live and work in fear under threats from warlords, the Taleban and other insurgent groups.

Six years after the departure of the repressive Taleban this is the paradox of women in Afghanistan. They now have a say and a position under the country's constitution. But they have to work in an atmosphere of fear and intimidation.

Ms Barakzai gets regular letters about threats to her life

The good news is that the rights of Afghan women have been enshrined in the constitution. It even asks the government to bring changes in the law to combat traditions that work against them.

Women can participate in every walk of life, including politics. Of the 361 members of parliament today, 91 are women.

Women have also begun talking about forced marriages, honour killings, abortions and rape in a traditionally male-dominated society. Local human rights groups have begun documenting such atrocities.

Insecure

The bad news is that the state cannot protect women and ensure that they can go about their work safely. Even an affluent, influential city-bred MP like Ms Barakzai is now tense about her future.

Dr Sobhrang says the tribal councils almost always rule against the women

"When I leave home these days on work, I am not quite sure whether I will be back [alive]. Life has become so insecure. I am not planning to leave the country yet, but I do have to think about my kids," says the MP.

Fellow female MP Tooarpekay, the only woman parliamentarian from the restive Zabul province, echoes the same sentiment.

"There have been many attacks on women workers in Zabul. I am worried about the rise of Taleban," says the MP who studied in a boys' school.

Ms Tooarpekay should know - she has worked in Zabul, where the Taleban are now highly active, for the past 22 years as a school teacher, community and health worker.

When she stood for the elections two years ago, her 22-year-old brother was killed by the Taleban. She has soldiered on in her new job as an MP.

To add to her problems, she has not been paid her monthly salary of $937 for the past three months.

Grim stories

If this is the plight of some of the most "powerful" women in the country, the state of ordinary women across the country is obviously much worse.

Ms Tooarpekay has not been paid her salary for three months

Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission, for example, alone documented over 1,500 cases of atrocities against women last year.

The details make for grim reading - a third of these women were victims of domestic violence - simply called "beating" in the rights group report - some 200 of them were married off forcibly, 98 of them set themselves on fire, and over 100 of them tried to take their lives by consuming poison.

Now the rights group is worried about the rising number of women who are taking to drugs in the countryside.

Worst sufferers

"Jirgas [tribal councils] are still deciding the fate of the women in most rural areas. Most of the judgements go against the women," says Soraya Sobhrang, a former gynaecologist who runs the women's rights department of the Human Rights Commission.

"We have the constitution and the courts. Who are the jirgas to decide on women?"

In the end, analysts say, it is a weak, feeble and a largely corrupt state machinery which is just not carrying out its duties - ruling with a firmer constitutionally mandated hand, and giving women more security, sometimes even from their own menfolk and community.

Zabul is a good example of this apathy - Ms Tooarpekay says government officials are lax and insincere about simple demands of local people, joblessness is rife and there are few schools.

"All this drives people into the arms of the Taleban. And the women become the worst sufferers again," she says.

The strong waistband of the law

The strong waistband of the law

By Patrick Jackson BBC News

The subtleties of "sagging" In pictures

As one US town outlaws the public wearing of overly revealing leg wear, some believe that visible underpants should be left to the fashion police alone.

The crackdown on exposed boxer shorts and protruding bare bottoms in Delcambre, Louisiana, has brought a legal dimension to a view of public decency in the Western world usually confined to school regulations.

A similar bid for a state-wide ban was thrown out by Louisiana three years ago but a 2005 bill in Virginia managed to clear the lower house of America's oldest legislative body.

It was then killed off by the Virginia senate amid national ridicule including jokes about a "Boxers Rebellion".

Showing undergarments is always seen as being rude or obscene purely because there is another layer of clothing on top Andrew Groves fashion designer

Now, however, anyone upset by the underpants of strangers can be confident that at least in Delcambre, population 2,000, offenders face a fine of $500 (£254) and even six months in jail.

But are low-slung trousers already an endangered species?

Saggies and trackies

"It's bizarre because in fashion we've stopped wearing those baggy jeans," says fashion designer Andrew Groves, who heads the University of Westminster's fashion department.

FAMOUS FASHION FURORES Malawi miniskirt scare, 2003: A mass assault on a Brazilian woman in Blantyre highlighted attacks linked to the fashion Miss World bikini row, 1951: Two-pieces were banned from the contest for two decades after Miss Sweden was crowned wearing hers Dior's New Look, 1947: Enraged by the extravagance of a tight-waist, full-skirt dress amid austerity, women ripped them off their wearers in the streets of Paris Malawi's mini-skirt fears

"They're getting worked up 15 years too late about something that is probably quite dying out," he told the BBC News website.

For the London college's graduate fashion week, he recalls, every model who turned up for casting arrived in tight, skinny jeans "and the models always wear the latest look".

However, street fashion and high fashion are two different things, Groves stresses, and if the baggies often slip, they have never quite come off for some.

The loose style seems to have been copied initially from US prisons where inmates are not given belts as a precaution against hanging. Rappers picked up the look, the fans followed suit.

Groves compares this to a recent fashion among gangs of adolescent boys in north-west England who wore tracksuit bottoms tucked into their socks.

"That also comes from prison when people used to hide contraband in their trouser bottoms and socks so that it wouldn't fall out," he says.

The "saggy" phenomenon is "definitely about peer pressure", says fashion stylist Reyes Lora, who leads projects at London-based educational charity Fashion Awareness Direct (Fad).

"It's about what's in the shops, the magazines and the music videos."

It may also, she told the BBC News website, be about "men going towards the more feminine look and I think that has to do with how much they show..."

The person beneath

The issue of exposing bare flesh has less to do with low-slung baggies than low-rise jeans, the "rise" being the technical term for the crotch-waist measurement.

We are not trying to dictate a fashion ourselves but only reminding people that they are dressing a person Reyes Lora project director, Fashion Awareness Direct

Andrew Groves is shocked to see women still displaying their G-strings in the street.

"You can really see that still happens, but just because it's prevalent, is it cool?" he asks.

"You can't get away from the fact that it is sexual but you'll be walking down the street and you'll see somebody with the whole of their bum sticking out of their jeans and you just think it's so extreme."

While for most young men in saggies, the issue is attention not attraction, revealing trousers on a girl have different connotations and may send out the wrong message, says Lora.

Through workshops and competitions, Fad promotes original fashion among young people, particularly from disadvantaged backgrounds.

"You have people thinking that they have to sell themselves or be provocative or shocking and we want to encourage them to project more than this fake image," says the stylist.

"We seek to show the other, attractive, creative side of fashion, which is about clothes people are happy to wear, not peer pressure or what designers dictate.

"We are not trying to dictate a fashion ourselves but only reminding people that they are dressing a person."

One man's underpants...

What Andrew Groves finds funny about the saggy saga in the US is the way underwear can offend depending on the context.

Are we confusing fashion with fascism here? foxtrottango1, Rincon, New Mexico BBC News website reader Have your say

"If we are talking about exposing boxer shorts, you can take that back into mainstream fashion history," he says.

"You have Vivienne Westwood using corsets and undergarments as outer garments in the early 1980s and then Jean-Paul Gaultier using conical bras.

"Showing undergarments is always seen as being rude or obscene purely because there is another layer of clothing on top.

"If someone just had a swimsuit on you wouldn't think that was necessarily obscene."

Any legislation seeking to control people via their clothing is always doomed to failure, the fashion designer believes.

"People just adapt their clothing to make another gesture that is more obscene or more anti-establishment," he says.

"Ultimately this is about young people annoying older people, and older people annoying them back."