In Memory of Mark Yang

In October of 2010, we lost Joan Sutherland, Paul, the Oracle (Octopus) and our classmate Mark Yang. Indeed, it was a sad month. The world keeps going on & the best we can do is to remember how they changed & influenced us in one way or another. Remember how much joy & happy hours they gave us that sometime we took them as granted. Instead of dwelling in a mourning state, we take pride to have a classmate like Mark Yang & try to memorize him as a scholar, intellect & our classmate. Here I browsed through my photo albums & collected some photos in sequence & presented on YouTubes with a song of farewell. I consider this my way of remembering him & knowing that our email communication & NTUEE64 blog will never be the same without our Mark Yang.

We can access the video via the following link:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3Kwp81ksqfMMHRsLXVHUUNNblk/edit?usp=sharing

PS0: Some photos are the snapshots of some video created in 2007 by 洪 敏 弘 & 孫 芳 德. Their contributions are greatly appreciated.

PS1: The tune was taken from “Ashokan Farewell “ by Jay Ungar. It was used extensively in the TV series, Civil War. I watched it in 1990 & was deeply moved by the tune. I think it is proper & fitting to use it here. Music is truly a universal language.

２００７班友歡聚遊娜威

少時上課同堂，晚來滄海同舟。

酬勞作母親的辛勞

沿途青山翠谷。一片世外桃園。

梵谷美術館

我們乘坐的遊輪

Smile! 請注意孫芳德身上掛的攝影機。

李純儀夫人葉公範坐輪椅與我們同遊。

Ｔｖｉｎｄｅ大瀑布。不時還有女鬼從墳墓裡爬出來唱歌助興。(In the very center of this picture. Pleace click the image to see her in the enlarged picture.)

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我與小慈的這次２００７ＥＥ６４班團聚應該從在Ａｍｓｔｅｒｄａｍ見到林勝彥夫婦開始。這非常難得，因為沒有任何一家比他們家跟我們班更親的了。林勝彥夫人林衍秀是林幸峰的妹妹。當年我們班上有妹妹的不少，想牽線的也一定有人。萬三就有意幫他妹子在班上找一個成龍快婿。可惜沒成功。我們兩家約好早兩天到，在Ａｍｓｔｅｒｄａｍ機場見面。我提早到是怕如果選在當天到，萬一飛機脫班，趕不上上船，就成了進退兩難。張葳春，吳振和，林幸峰敢選在當天到達，真是勇氣可嘉。其餘的八家早在三天前已先參加陸上旅遊團。「一不作，二不休。」周遊列國。

既然飛機準時到了，我們正好利用這兩天在荷蘭走走。我建議坐火車到Ｒｏｔｔｅｒｄａｍ，我想看看歐洲最大的港口。而林家說Ａｍｓｔｅｒｄａｍ梵谷美術館是他們的第一優先。兩家文化高下，不言而喻。我們先到梵谷美術館，這個館真的是很漂亮，氣派。進得屋來，二林贊不絕口，看了還要買。梵谷一生貧困坎坷，他怎能料道死後有這麼多的崇拜者？我們從Ａｍｓｔｅｒｄａｍ乘火車到鹿特丹，來回都很舒適，沿途的景色也十分宜人。可惜現在是秋天，看不到荷蘭有名的花海。鹿特丹真不愧為歐洲第一大港。我們乘小船遊港，一片寧靜，看不到繁忙。這港像一條長河，兩岸陳列倉庫，貨櫃，儲油筒。許多貨櫃都有中文字。也覺得是一種驕傲。

上遊輪是八月二十六號下午。這是小慈與我第一次ｃｒｕｉｓｅ，想不到船艙麻雀雖小，設備齊全，有自己的衛浴。艙分三等，我家訂的是二等艙，有個可以看海的圓窗。安艙後的第一件大事就是赴船長的晚宴。正要找班友，就發現「哪裡有聲音，哪裡就有阿牟」。一下子十三家都聚齊了。張葳春，孫芳德還是畢業後第一次相見。依稀可以看出當年的容貌。孫芳德這次旅遊好像只有一個目的，就是用他最新款的攝影機為大伙兒拍影。他並不是拍拍就算了。事後把它整理成一片磁牒，配上古典音樂，寄給每家一份。大有當年讓我們抄他電機機械作業的慷慨。

要不是我最近常回台灣，大多數在台灣的班友也都三十几年沒有見到了。雖然大家都可以說是不負當年之志，但多數事業巔峰已過，「好漢不提當年勇」，「且道天涼好個秋。」但也有例外，洪敏弘始終不忘提醒長年在美的班友，要多報效台灣。而張葳春也一直希望大家能投資他的電腦硬體專利，一齊打拼。女士們倒是能一見如故，有說不完的家常鎖事。沒多久，各家的現況都已交換完畢。在坐的個個都家庭美滿。說也奇怪，班上超過兩個子女的家庭幾乎都參加了這次的團聚。為的是酬勞作母親的辛勞？不過下一代唸電機的不多。可憐天下父母心，還是依聯考分數排志願，讀醫科的佔多數。倒是班上的天字第一號，４９５３０１，李純儀的女兒拿到ＵＣＢｅｋｅｌｅｙ電機的ＰｈＤ。其女能在其父身上看到電機的魅力，是本班的光榮。

這次挪威八天之行，要看的是沿海的城市。到了每個城市，我們都有下船「自由行」的時間，或港口，或街道，或公園，或廣場。大家談天說地，陳正一的笑容，何瑜笙的無憂無慮，大家互相學習。子曰︰三人行，必有我師焉。看到的都是白色的洋房，一片安詳。完全不像這是我高中心目中英雄，傑克倫敦筆下「海狼」生長的地方。倒是在Ｏｌｓｏ船隻陳列館裡可以體會出古代航海的艱辛。我坐在最豪華的郵輪中看大海，仍然感到海洋的無邊，無際，無情。這還是天氣好的日子。古人出海，沒有氣象預測，遇到狂風巨浪的機會一定不少。他們的一葉偏舟如何渡過？小時候唱兒歌，「天這麼黑，風那麼大，爸爸捕魚去，為什麼還不回家？」有多少時候爸爸就再也回不來了。
在地圖上可以看出來，挪威沿海呈鋸齒狀。到處都是天然的深水港。我們下船最久，大伙兒在一起走路最長的是Ｆｌａｍ，這個小城雖然靠海，但在挪威的中部。由一條一百多公里的狹長海灣與北海相連。我們一直都坐在船頭欣賞船在海灣裡穿過一山又是一山的峽景。挪威的山都是火成岩，也就是大片的硬石頭，已有二億五千年的歷史。台灣的山只有二百五十萬年的歷史。是歐亞板塊與菲律賓板塊所擠壓而隆起的，有大面積的水成岩。比較容易鬆動。挪威人在這石頭山上開了一條鐵路，號稱是世界上最難的鐵路工程之一。引以為傲。我們也都買票上車。看到了有名的Ｔｖｉｎｄｅ 大瀑布。不時還有女鬼從墳墓裡爬出來唱歌助興。沿途青山翠谷。一片世外桃園。導遊說這原有兒有一百多戶人家，不過現在只剩下二十几戶。住這麼好的地方還要搬走？有人問，他們到哪裡去了？導遊說︰美國。哎，真笨。我們的陳英亮，一住進青山綠水的台東縱谷，就再也不出來了。

船上希望乘客玩得盡興。有賭場，戲院，健身房，游泳池，圖書館，遊戲室。尤其是吃的方面。有三個餐廳，飲食豐盛得不得了。隨你吃飽，不另收費。我們都會約定一個時間餐廳吃飯，大家一起看風景聊天。我們也會約在遊戲室見面，不知誰家帶來一副麻將牌，主要是女士們喜歡打。想不到吳振和也是此道高手，打得有板有眼，不苟言笑。打橋牌要數何瑜笙功力最深，有打指導牌的味道。我也借機變了几手魔術，一變再變，找不出破錠。有人問訣竅在那？我說︰「魔術當場解開，久失去了魔術的意義，不過有人私下要學，我一定教。」結果陳呈祿，林幸峰夜訪求教。不知他們後來有沒有在人前露過一手？

我們也預約過船上的會議廳，關起門來就是我們自己人。說話聲音大也不會打擾倒別人。林幸峰特別帶來我們班上當年的照片。一片歡呼，多少回憶。辦一次聚會也相當不容易。陳哲俊，李純儀，花功夫受氣，我們都感謝他們。尤其的李純儀夫人葉公範因腳受傷，坐著輪椅與我們同遊。大家開始想到下次的畢業五十年的團聚。規模可以擴大，但有甚麼方法可以讓參加的人數更多一些？這是人際關係，比自然科學要難多了。

林幸峰事前對這次旅遊下了深功，對我們要去的城市都作了研究。我們在Ｂｅｒｇｅｎ聽了一個音樂會，林幸峰早就知道這裡出了甚麼音樂家，寫過甚麼曲子。他竟然能聽出那個鋼琴家十几分鐘的演奏中彈錯了兩個音。正在懷疑是彈錯還是聽錯，牟在勤夫人劉家寶也說演奏錯了兩個音。昏倒﹗

最後一天是在海上，林勝彥還特別為大家示範了一套太極拳。談了一些養生之道。希望下次再見都能「別來無恙」。看他打拳，我一直在羨慕，如果我能像林勝彥站得那麼直，該有多好。這也是這次旅遊最後得相聚。我們都感嘆時間之快，包括畢業四十多年，也包括這次聚會。下次再見，又是何時，何地，何種心態？詞云︰

少時上課同堂，晚來滄海同舟，老身相聚何所有？有說，有笑，有酒。
晝看片片浮雲，夜數點點繁星，船中賭場論人生，是贏，是輸，是平？

Axioms of Evolution

We have heard many observations and interpretations on the evolution. It is the time to synthesize them to some ultimate laws or axioms that govern the evolution.

Observation of Evolution
The evolution is caused by Random Events and there is No Purpose involved. Events with long lasting qualities remain. Long lasting qualities depend on the environment. Long lasting qualities tend to accumulate when time goes by. This gives a kind of impression of Direction. If this can be called Direction, it has nothing to do with good or bad, superior or inferior, forward or backward, 進 步 or 退 化 etc. Events with very short-lived qualities extinguish and species disappear from the earth. Here are the Axioms of Evolution.

Axiom 1: Regeneration
In order to last a long time in an environment, a species has to grow and maintain its health. It has to absorb energy to grow, renew or restore. This can be called Short Term Existence.

Axiom 2: Reproduction
A necessary condition for a species to grow in number is reproduction. An organ in the nature will eventually wear out due to constant usage. An individual of a species will die out when time goes by. The only way a species can last long is by reproduction. This can be called Long Term Existence.

Axiom 3: Interest
In order to maintain its long lasting qualities, a species must have a drive or desire to improve or enhance the well being of Regeneration and Reproduction. This Drive or Desire is called Interest. Since the state of well being is affected by the environment, the Interest also changes when time goes by. Without Interest, a species will die out eventually.

Axiom 4: Inheritance
The long lasting qualities tend to accumulate when time goes by. Some of these qualities may carry on to the next generation through Reproduction.

From the above axioms, we can try to explain or interpret the following:

(a) Regeneration and Reproduction lead to "Struggle for Existence (物競)"
(b) Interest and Inheritance lead to Natural Selection (天擇)
(a)+(b) lead to Survival of the Fittest (適著生存)

Regeneration + Reproduction: Matter (物,唯物論)
Interest + Inheritance: Mind (心,唯心論)
Regeneration + Reproduction + Inheritance + Interest: Matter + Mind (心物合一論)

Regeneration + Reproduction: 子曰 "食 色 性 也", "飽 暖 思 淫 慾". To an individual, Regeneration (short term existence) has a higher priority than the Reproduction (long term existence).

Interest: Between countries and business circles, there is no permanent friends and there is no permanent enemies, only Interest matters.

沒 有 永 久 的 朋 友, 没 有 永 久 的 敵 人. 祇 有 利 害 關 係.

Interest: How you stand depends on where you sit. (Your opinion and action depend on your position/status in the environment [society])

"An Inquiry into the Nature & Causes of the Wealth of Nations" by Adam Smith
Interest governs the economic activities. It becomes an Invisible Hand (冥冥中有一隻不可目見之手) in our society.

World History and human activities are part of Natural Evolution, governed by the Four Axioms of Evolution. Almost all human activities can be explained by the conflicts and interactions among people with different Interests. In order to do Axiom 1 and 2 effectively and efficiently, the people form Interest that generates Political Policy. The execution of the policies forms the History.

On the Writing of Mandarin

The writing of a language is one of the most important part of civilization. Without it, there will be no knowledge or experience to be handed down permanently generation by generation. The unique writing of Mandarin is from top to bottom & from right to left. We don’t know why our ancestors chose to write it that way. With the advance of technology, we find that the Mandarin is forced to make change, some minor & some major. It is a part of evolution, struggle for existence otherwise it will fade away.

Most of us had experienced the changes while we went from primary school to the college. The first is the textbook of mathematics. Suddenly, the writing was from left to right horizontally. The purpose is obvious as the formula & equations are all horizontal & from left to right. The number is written from left to right, not from top to bottom or from right to left. It seems Chinese civilization was isolated for so long that it was out of tune in the world. The event of civilization tends to have chain effect. Since most of the natural sciences are based on mathematics, it is natural all textbooks of chemistry, physics etc are written in the same way. It is inconceivable to write chemical formula & chemical equations in any other ways.

Hieroglyphics might serve the purpose of communication for ancient people. But when the civilization advances, a higher & more abstract form of representation became more important. Phoenician alphabet was created & it was much more flexible & practical in commerce. With suffix & prefix, it is much easier to make new & composite words. But the most important consequence of this is the limited number of alphabet (26 in English). It makes the movable type feasible. In fact, since Gutenberg (around 1450 AD) invented a streamline process of movable type press, the old knowledge was made available to the mass & the new knowledge was spread much faster than that before. In China, 畢 昇 invented 活 字 版 around 1040 AD. But it was a block press, not a movable type press. It was not until last century that Chinese learned to use the movable type in printing. I think the main reason of the difference here is that the hieroglyphics hinders the use of movable type as the number of words is much larger.

The general order of writing (stroke) an individual Mandarin character is from top left to bottom right. For example, “三”, we write it from left to right for each bar and from top to bottom for three bars. With this, we’d think it must be natural to move to the right to write the next character, ie left to right as it is more efficient. Your hand will travel more distance to move to the left to write a new character. The right-to-left direction certainly slows down the writing. Other disadvantage is ink not dry fast enough that hinders the speed of writing as most people are right-handed.

The order of writing from top to bottom may not be that bad as from right to left. But it decreases the reading efficiency. Physiologically, the eyes are designed to move or scan horizontally, not vertically. It is easier to read a book written horizontally than vertically.

The most fundamental problem of the Mandarin writing is the input method to the computers. This problem actually existed when the typewriter was introduced long time ago. The problem gets worse when the technology advances. There is no consistent or unified way of the Mandarin input. The most popular way nowadays is pingying. People use English alphabet to input Mandarin characters. The long term effect of this is that people forget how to write actual characters. Although they still know how to read, they will lose the ability of writing when time goes by. When a language requires English as its writing method, it loses its orthogonality & independency. With simplified characters, pingying input & host other problems, the Mandarin, as a language, is in a state of chaos.

In this age of Internet & hi-tech, the Mandarin is struggling & limping. Will technology make a language obsolete? This is a good question. But we know human civilization is part of natural evolution. It will follow the rule of evolution: Struggle for Existence, Natural Selection & Survival of the Fittest.

I recently visited Taipei & Beijing. I found something interesting & amusing. I’d like to share them with you.

This is a panel written from right to left (中正紀念堂)



This is the panel written from left to right (中正紀念堂, same spot, different time)


This is a panel in the Forbidden City, no idea whether it is from right to left or left to write. The seal is in the middle of the panel aggravates the problem. It seems the original designer purposely tried to make a point here with humor.


This reminds me of one chemistry teacher in my junior high school (建中). He came the first day & wrote three big characters on the blackboard: 會乘車 . We didn't have any idea what he meant as we all knew how to ride a bus or bicycle. It turned out that his name is 車乘會. It was an eye opener, 車 can be a last name.

Reunion-2010

Here are some photos of the reunion, 2010 in Hawaii. Hope you recognize everyone of us & try to match the ladies to the gentlemen. Time flies & these photos of the reunion will become more precious when time goes by.

Soccer and Life

The curtain of the World cup soccer event was finally closed. Here are some of my observations.

Spain deserves the win & championship this time. The way it plays is concise & precise with mix of good defense & effective offense. Their goals mostly look pretty & satisfying. The way they pass & control balls are marvelous. You always see some moving triangles (formation) rolling around the field. Some players even perform some ballet style kicking. It is just amazing to watch the mix of moving triangle & occasional long passing to penetrate defense & create opportunities for goals. 

Asians are underdogs historically in the world cup soccer. This year only Japan (Asian teams) got into the round of 16. South Koreans are tough but without style. North Koreans got zapped 7:0 by Portugal. It was just too brutal to watch. Japanese seem to copy German playing style & do very well this time. It was lost to Paraguay by sudden-death 12-yard kicks. Ironically, Paraguay lost to Spain similarly by missing a 12-yard kick. The fate treats all countries equally after all.

Conspicuously, the Chinese team is completely missing. They didn’t even make to the qualifying matches. It is a shame that the world factory with 1.3 billion people can’t come up with some decent soccer team. I said it sometime ago that one way to boost the morale in China & reduce the grudging emotion toward Japanese is to beat Japanese in soccer games. After that, the next best thing is to beat them also in baseball matches. Chinese government is good in playing pingpong politics. But it is really 小兒科, good for American only. I envision a breakthrough of Chinese-Japanese relation if the Chinese beat Japanese in both Soccer & Baseball. Many Chinese people have inferiority complex in dealing with Japanese due to the frustrations & failure in getting an upper hand in many human endeavors. In near future, it seems not very positive on the soccer front. We heard all bunches of scandals related to soccer in China, 打假球, gambling, embezzlement etc. These soccer players make a lot of money & we haven’t found any star player worth mentioning. It looks pretty misery right now. As to Taiwan, it is also a shame. Holland has 16 million people & produces a good soccer team. Taiwan has 23 million people & a dud in the world stage soccer. The only consolation I can think of is that India looks even worse with its 1.2 billion people & a mute in the sporting world.

France & Italy, two good old European teams failed miserably this time. They lacked of team work & organization are in shamble. Great countries seem produce mediocre teams, perhaps too much freedom or lack of discipline is the cause.

Brazil & Argentine, two good old Latin teams also failed miserably in the field. They were vociferous, loud mouth & lack of respect to other people. They were outplayed by their European opponents handsomely & sure they deserved it.

Netherlands almost pulled out a miracle but failed in some subtle ‘kick’ or ‘臨門一脚’. Their striker Robben failed several times in doing it. It seemed he just delayed a second in his fatal strikes. Opposite to this, the Spanish final strike by Andres Iniesta was timely & accurately done at the right place & right moment. The following link is the reference: (18:00-end)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=587aK8t6noM

Due to copyright issue, the above link on YouTube is not available.

I understand the Dutch’s agony as they got so close. Dutch couch removed the medal (hung around the neck) immediately after the ceremony in front of the TV camera. It was a vivid drama. He was protesting the unfair officiating as most Dutch felt that way. Statistically, there are more arguments or bickering in soccer matches than football or other sports.

Flopping is rampant in the games. Many players seemed to use this to eat up time when they are ahead. You saw some guy held his leg in pain & needed stretcher to carry him out. But as soon as he was outside the field, he sprung up like a tiger, amazing. This kind of tactics is shameful but most players seem don’t feel that way. This gives people a sense of ‘雖勝不武’.

12-yard kick to determine the outcome is never a satisfactory solution, nobody likes it. Soccer has too many obscure rules that restrict scoring. This makes low scoring a norm & very often leads to boredom. I think this is one reason that American don’t like the game. Soccer rules favor the defense & discourages the offense. But the excitement of the game rests on the scoring. The only makeup of this is the last resort, a show case of 12-yard kicks. But this kind of kicks favors the kicker & put goal keeper in a misery situation. Nine out of ten, the ball is indefensible. It takes enormous skill of goal keeper to beat the kickers. Nobody likes this kind of solution. If you win, you feels god is on your side or lucky. If you lose, you just think it is not fair because the outcome can be either way.

The game between Germany & England is interesting. When the score was 2:1, English striker kicked a ball hitting the upper beam of the goal & bounced back to the ground inside the goal. But the referee didn’t or couldn’t see the ball from the low angle. The event happened so fast, it was hard to see the dropping point of the ball. However, the replay by TV camera showed clearly since it was mounted from the above. It is so obvious & you can understand the frustration of the English team. I do think high tech can help referee in this respect. FIFA is behind the time as most tennis tournament already use electronic eyes in helping umpires in the calls.

German team played very well most of games but the one with Spain, they looked so much different. It seemed they played too cautiously & Spain took advantages of it. I found that the match between German & Argentine was a classic one. It shows their skill & play style vividly in the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVym58Szeug

Due to copyright issue, the above link on YouTube is not available.

During the game between Uraguay & Ghana, a Uraguay player used hand purposely to block the ball out of goal. The penalty was stiff, he got red card & couldn’t play the next game & also a 12-yard penalty kick was awarded to Ghana. Unfortunately Ghana’s star player, Asamoah Gyan, missed the goal by hitting the upper beam. Otherwise, Ghana got in the round of 8 since it occurred at the final moment of the match. Subsequently, Ghana was beaten during a battery of 12-yard kicks. Gyan did the 12-yard kick flawlessly but it didn’t matter. In life, you have to do the right thing at the right time & this is just the example. I really feel sorry for Asamoah Gyan since he is going to feel bad for the rest of his life. As to African people, that is the frustration, 失 落 感 & 無 力 感, since Ghana team is the only hope for African people. Ironically, Uraguay subsequently beaten by Spain in a similar manner by missing a free kick in hitting the ball on the upper beam of the goal. Fate intervenes, spooky? Karma? Or just God treats everybody equally.

Diego Forlan of Uraguey is a fantastic player. His chest-high kick with ball hitting ground & get into the goal is marvelous. His ‘飛 燕 轉 身’ kick has a quality of ballet dance. When Forlan was on the ball, Uruguay seemed like a team with a chance. When he wasn't involved, its prospects were far more bleak. He has been awarded the Golden Ball as the World Cup's best player. He was also voted the most outstanding player of the tournament by accredited media after leading his team to the semifinals.

Vuvuzelas, a stadium horn was allowed to use during games. It was noisy & really served no purpose. I found it rather annoyed. I try to picture what will happen if they are allowed in tennis matches. One consolation, Maria Sharapova's shriek will be completely drown out.

Octopus prediction

Octopus, Paul the Oracle, made a big news as it successfully predicted all games of German team & the final of the event. From the theory of probability, it is a remarkable record, one out of 256 chances to be specific for 8 correct tries out of 8 games. How can you explain this? Although the octopus is the only invertebrate that has been conclusively shown to use tools. But it only has one brain & 8 arms. The only plausible explanation is that there must be some one or a team behind the whole show. It is highly possible that a team of soccer experts did the prediction based on the existing gathered data. With some aid of computer, it did a best job in prediction. Then using some high tech device to control the behavior of this Octopus (Paul, the Oracle) to pick the winner of the game. It is not uncommon for those sea world arena or aquarium to train animals to perform some tricks. Using remote devices, they can control or change the behavior of an octopus by some training or conditioning. Of course we don’t know the details of the trick, however, it is not hard to figure out a way to change the smell of the cage or mussels that attracts the octopus. Anyway, it was pretty clever & fun to pull out the stunt like this & made a big headline in the world. Paul, the Oracle (章大仙) was more famous than Obama at least in two weeks time span during the soccer matches. At this time, good & heartwarming news is hard to come by. The octopus prediction is sure one of the most memorable event in the year of 2010. Here was how it picked up the Spanish tank

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9lZ2IJocqo

Chopin & Schumann

Both Chopin & Schumann were born in 1810 & so this year, 2010, is their two hundredth anniversary of birth, a bicentennial celebration. It is proper & fitting to say something about them.

Chopin is popular in his piano music. Sometime he is called 鋼琴詩人. In fact he composed no symphonies, operas & very little orchestral work. His virtuoso is in the piano works. He is considered the most non-German of all great composers. Chopin had an interesting encounter with George Sand. 桑女士 , a woman frequently wore man’s clothes & indeed intended to act like a man. She wrote many novels quite popular at her time. Chopin was under her spell until he died. The fortunate things coming out of this perhaps was some of his brilliant piano works dedicated to her. Chopin’s famous music form, etude, is unique. The etude (練習曲) is a piano work written for students. However some of them are very good & romantic. Chopin Etude op.10 no.3, Tristesse (Sadness, 離別曲) is one of them. The title’ Tristesse’ was added later by publisher because of Chopin’s nostalgic mood to his homeland. His another romantic piano piece is Andante Spianato in G, Opus 22. I never heard this one in Taiwan. I heard it the first time on radio several years ago. This is one of his most romantic piano works. There are several movies from Hollywood for Chopin. “A Song to Remember” (中文 title: 一曲難忘, 1945) is one of them. I have seen VHS video released for this movie, but can’t find it on DVD, not in Netflix either. I did find some video clips from YouTube.

Chopin Met Liszt in Paris, a clip from ‘A Song to Remember’
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aDnNJ6aEWc&feature=related

A clip from ‘A Song to Remember’, a performance staged by George Sand & Franz Liszt. It was supposed to be played by Liszt. Instead Chopin played in the dark, a surprise to the audiences.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BM-KQc2lJdM

Chopin: Etude op.10 no.3, Tristesse (Sadness, 離別曲), played by Kempf
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TR-i4r1BtM

Chopin: Andante Spianato played by Rubinstein
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l39ZIkyvOJ0

Schumann is considered to be the most romantic of the Romantics. We often heard some of his tunes in the school, for example, the happy peasant 快樂的農夫, tramarel(夢幻曲) etc. He is unique among most composers that he also wrote music critic, encouraged & supported the late comers. His writings about music (in high quality) appeared mostly in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik ("The New Journal for Music"), a publication that he jointly founded. His romantic encounter with Clara Wick was well known. His most popular works include Symphony #1(Spring), #3(Rhenish), Carnaval, many songs, piano work Traumerei, Fantasy in C, concerto in A minor etc.

As a person, Schumann is much more controlled & dedicated to what he wants & what he think is right. He pursued Clara with zeal & dedication is far more respected than the weak & meek behavior of Chopin’s dealing with George Sand. Schumann was also quick in recognition of a genius & gave the approval. Instead Chopin seemed in failure to recognize the merit of Schumann’s work ‘Carnaval’. Hollywood likes romantic story. The movie ‘Sound of Love’ (1947) is for Robert & Clara Schumann. Same as ‘A Song to Remember’, I couldn’t find it in Netflix. However, I did find it in YouTube. Some of the music mentioned above can be found in the following links:

Happy Peasant (快樂的農夫), a tune we heard in the elementary school
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKmpQjjQOBA&feature=related

The beginning of the movie 'Song of Love'
Ironically, the opening theme is the piano concerto #1 of Franz Liszt, not Schumann.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OP_iU-lcZ5Y&feature=related

Widmung (Dedication) from ‘Song of Love’
Here we listen to two versions of Widmung, the original one from Schumann & arranged version by Liszt. It seemed Clara didn’t like the Liszt version at all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3eOggcKLqk

Waltz by Brahms (for the introduction to the next link ‘Brahms & Clara’)
This waltz is one of the most romantic works by Brahms.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJcoaIeH3GI&feature=related

Brahms & Clara from ‘Song of Love’
The melody of Brahms’s waltz showed up at 1:54 & Brahms proposed to marry Clara. However, the fate intervened at 4:18. Widmung, the song Schumann dedicated to Clara showed up. Brahms realized that was the end of the affair, an affair to remember. This is the most romantic & poetic moment of the movie. (By the way, from 6:35 to 9:06 is the famous Piano Concerto in A Minor by Schumann. 6:35-7:27 is 1st movement, 7:28-9:06 is 3rd movement.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vm-Zh0R6nMY&feature=related

Traumerei & the end of the movie 'Song of Love'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V35e5MNjLJI&feature=related

The above links of 'Song of Love' are not available due to the copyright issue on YouTube.

Horowitz plays Schumann Traumerei (夢幻曲) in Moscow
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq7ncjhSqtk&feature=related

Widmung (Dedication, Liszt’s version) played by Lang Lang
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBdffJHZ2LM

PS: Year from 1809 to 1813 was a fantastic period of Romantic Music. Here is the chronicle (the magnificent six were all born within this period):
1809: Felix Mendelssohn (date: 2/3), 抒情聖手
1810: Frederic Chopin (3/1), 鋼琴詩人
1810: Robert Schumann (6/8), music composer & critic, 嚴肅而又浪漫的作曲家
1811: Franz Liszt (10/22), 鋼琴鬼才
1813: Richard Wagner (5/22), 樂劇之王
1813: Giuseppe Verdi (10/9), 歌劇之王

For some reason, it skipped 1812. Perhaps the year was reserved for Napoleon Bonaparte. He was not born in that year, however, he invaded Russia, an important historical event.