Recently, Ma Xiaohui, a famous Chinese erhu     1     (perform) and composer with the Shanghai Chinese Orchestra, held     2     erhu concert with the theme of “Erhu Holding Hands with the World, New Music Trend, New Cultural Tour” in the Delegates’ Room at the UN headquarters in New York City.

Attendees from different backgrounds and participants in the World Madam Global Awards Ceremony were     3     (deep) moved by the unique charm of traditional Chinese musical instruments     4     (display) during the concert.

The concert began     5     the song “Woman Flower”. In the first movement, “Seven Colors of Erhu, Walking with Beauty, Colorful Silk Road,” melodies from Chinese and Western songs created an “ink painting” of the Silk Road.

In the next three     6     (movement), a classical repertoire (曲目) including “Butterfly Lovers”, “Thoughts on a Silent Night”     7     “The Spirit of My Erhu” attracted the audience. Next     8     (come) the theme song from the movie “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”,     9     beautifully celebrated the classic dialogue between erhu and cello (大提琴).

“This beautiful and     10     (inspire) concert wonderfully mixed classical, Chinese, and cross-cultural themes. It was a feast (盛宴) for the ears and souls,” multimedia artist Ranjit Bhatnagar said.

Napoleon Bonaparte’s iconic hat was sold at an auction (拍卖会) on Sunday, fetching a history-making $2.1 million. While French auction house Osenat expected the hat     1     (go) for up to $875,328, it went far beyond that amount — and the previous record holder, a Napoleon hat sold at the same auction house for about $2 million in 2014.

Napoleon,     2     was a French general, was key to the French Revolution and then overthrew the French government,     3     (eventual) becoming the emperor of France. The hat with the colors of the French flag — red, white and blue — dates back     4     the 1800s, according to auctioneer Jean Pierre Osenat.

“Our hat     5     (use) by Emperor Napoleon I in the middle of the Empire during the period when Baillon was assigned to the Emperor’s Palace (1806-1815),” the     6     (describe) on the Osenat website reads.

In a video about the hat ahead of the sale, Osenat said this particular hat had been through many     7     (event) and symbolized Napoleon’s history of 15 years that changed France and     8     world. He added, “The image of Napoleon     9     (wear) this type of hat — sideways, unlike everyone else —     10     (be) the image we have in mind when we think about Napoleon’s world.”

4 . Akira Toriyama, one of Japan’s leading comics authors, whose manga (漫画) cartoon “Dragon Ball” achieved worldwide success with its mix of comedic characters and exciting martial arts battles, died on March 1, 2024. He was 68. His death was confirmed on Friday in a statement by his manga and design production company, Bird Studio, and Capsule Corporation Tokyo. The statement said the cause was acute subdural hematoma, a condition in which blood collects between the skull and brain. It did not say where Mr. Toriyama died.

Mr. Toriyama’s body of work, which also includes “Dr. Slump” and “Sand Land,” is recognizable far beyond Japan’s borders, having influenced generations of manga artists and cartoonists. The studio said he had several projects in the works at his death. His best-known work, “Dragon Ball,” follows a young boy named Son Goku who embarks on a journey to collect the seven magical balls that summon (召唤) a wish- granting dragon. Since its creation in the 1980s, it has spanned 42 volumes, sold millions of copies worldwide and become one of the most famous manga, inspiring television, film and video game adaptations.

Throughout his career, Mr. Toriyama said in a 2013 interview with the Japanese newspaper The Asahi Shimbun, he did not care if his work did anything besides entertaining its readers. He was, he said, unlike “other manga artists concerned about conveying didactic (说教的) messages.” “The role of my manga,” he said, “is to be a pure work of entertainment.”

“Thanks to the support of so many people around the world, he has been able to continue his creative activities for over 45 years,” his studio’s statement said. “We hope that Akira Toriyama’s unique world of creation continues to be loved by everyone for a long time to come.”

9 . Zong Qinghou, a soft drinks giant from Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, died of an illness at the age of 79. There has been much mourning at his passing on Feb. 25, 2024 as he was well-known as the founder of a company, headquartered in his hometown in the late 1980s, which later developed into the Wahaha Group, a major soft drinks company.

He is known to the public for three things — his rags-to-riches rise, his long-term frugal (节俭的) lifestyle, and his devotion to promoting China’s national industries. Forbes ranked him, with a wealth of about $5.9 billion, No.53 among Chinese billionaires last year.

Yet besides, it is also worthwhile to think over the question about whether his success in business can be imitated today and what lessons policymakers can learn from his self-made business success as they try to enrich the soil for setting up business.

Before winning a contract (合同) to work as a salesperson of a small school-run factory selling writing materials, iced treats and soft drinks in Hangzhou in 1987, Zong worked as a traveling salesman for nearly a decade after working for 15 years on various posts in local farming communities with Grade-9 education.

His sharp business sense, which he owed to poverty instead of the genes (基因) of the Zhejiang business community, enabled him to recognize business opportunities at a time when the country had just carried out the change from a planned economy to a socialist market one.

The broad space he enjoyed as a sales representative of the factory enabled him to continuously sharpen his sales strategies and enlarge his network of business partners. That not only helped him gather the start-up funds he later used to contract the whole factory, but also influenced his later management style, which he summed up as always trying to make things simpler.

As he told the media, it is the spirit of adventure of his generation and their down-to-earth work style that deserve attention, not his lifestyle, which was a personal choice.