畢業(yè)論文基于小波變換的數(shù)字圖像處理

1、 基于小波變換的數(shù)字圖像處理摘 要：本文先介紹了小波分析的基本理論，為圖像處理模型的構(gòu)建奠定了基礎(chǔ)，在此基礎(chǔ)上提出了小波分析在圖像壓縮，圖像去噪，圖像融合，圖像增強等圖像處理方面的應(yīng)用,最后在MATLAB環(huán)境下進行仿真，驗證了小波變化在圖像處理方面的優(yōu)勢。關(guān)鍵詞：小波分析；圖像壓縮；圖像去噪；圖像融合；圖像增強引 言數(shù)字圖像處理是利用計算機對科學研究和生產(chǎn)中出現(xiàn)的數(shù)字化可視化圖像信息進行處理，作為信息技術(shù)的一個重要領(lǐng)域受到了高度廣泛的重視。數(shù)字化圖像處理的今天，人們?yōu)閳D像建立數(shù)學模型并對圖像特征給出各種描述，設(shè)計算子，優(yōu)化處理等。迄今為止，研究數(shù)字圖像處理應(yīng)用中數(shù)學問題的理論越來越多，包括概率

2、統(tǒng)計、調(diào)和分析、線性系統(tǒng)和偏微分方程等。小波分析，作為一種新的數(shù)學分析工具，是泛函分析、傅立葉分析、樣條分析、調(diào)和分析以及數(shù)值分析理論的完美結(jié)合，所以小波分析具有良好性質(zhì)和實際應(yīng)用背景，被廣泛應(yīng)用于計算機視覺、圖像處理以及目標檢測等領(lǐng)域，并在理論和方法上取得了重大進展，小波分析在圖像處理及其相關(guān)領(lǐng)域所發(fā)揮的作用也越來越大。在傳統(tǒng)的傅立葉分析中，信號完全是在頻域展開的，不包含任何時頻的信息，其丟棄的時域信息可能對某些應(yīng)用同樣非常重要，所以人們對傅立葉分析進行了推廣，提出了很多能表征時域和頻域信息的信號分析方法，如短時傅立葉變換，Gabor變換，時頻分析，小波變換等。但短時傅立葉分析只能在一個分辨

3、率上進行，所以對很多應(yīng)用來說不夠精確，存在很大的缺陷。而小波分析則克服了短時傅立葉變換在單分辨率上的缺陷，在時域和頻域都有表征信號局部信息的能力，時間窗和頻率窗都可以根據(jù)信號的具體形態(tài)動態(tài)調(diào)整。 本文介紹了小波變換的基本理論，并介紹了一些常用的小波函數(shù)，然后研究了小波分析在圖像處理中的應(yīng)用，包括圖像壓縮，圖像去噪，圖像融合，圖像增強等,本文重點在圖像去噪，最后用Matlab進行了仿真1。1小波分析理論小波分析的思想最早出現(xiàn)在1910年Haar提出了小波規(guī)范正交基。1981年，Stromberg對Haar系進行了改造，為小波分析奠定了基礎(chǔ)。1986年Meyer和Lemarie提出了多尺度分析的思

4、想。后來信號分析專家Mallat提出了多分辨分析的概念，給出了構(gòu)造正交小波基的一般方法，并以多分辨分析為基礎(chǔ)提出了著名的快速小波算法Mallat算法。Mallat算法的提出標志著小波理論獲得突破性進展，從此，小波分析從理論研究走向了應(yīng)用研究。通過小波分析，可以將各種交織在一起的由不同頻率組成的混合信號分解成不同頻率的塊信號，能夠有效地解決諸如數(shù)值分析、信號分析、圖像處理、量子理論、地震勘探、語音識別、計算機視覺、CT成像、機械故障診斷等問題。1.1 小波及小波變換小波的核心作用是用小波及其伸縮和平移來表示函數(shù)和信號，不但具有局部化時頻分析能力，而且時間分辨率和頻率分辨率均可以調(diào)整。定義：設(shè) ,

5、其傅立葉變換為，當滿足允許條件（完全重構(gòu)條件或恒等分辨條件） < 時，我們稱為一個基本小波或母小波。將母函數(shù)經(jīng)伸縮和平移后得 稱其為一個小波序列。其中a為伸縮因子，b為平移因子。對于任意的函數(shù)的連續(xù)小波變換為 其重構(gòu)公式（逆變換）為 把連續(xù)小波變換中的尺度參數(shù)a和平移參數(shù)b進行離散化：，其中,為了方便起見，總是假設(shè)a0>0，則得到離散小波函數(shù) 相應(yīng)的離散小波變換 其重構(gòu)公式為由于基小波生成的小波在小波變換中對被分析的信號起著觀測窗的作用，所以還應(yīng)該滿足一般函數(shù)的約束條件 故是一個連續(xù)函數(shù)。這意味著，為了滿足完全重構(gòu)條件式, 在原點必須等于0，即 為了使信號重構(gòu)的實現(xiàn)在數(shù)值上是穩(wěn)定的

6、，除完全重構(gòu)條件外，還要求小波 的傅立葉變化滿足下面的穩(wěn)定性條件： 式中0AB。 1.2常用小波基介紹3(1)Haar小波Haar于1990年提出一種正交函數(shù)系,定義如下： 這是一種最簡單的正交小波，即 (2)Daubechies（dbN）小波系該小波是Daubechies從兩尺度方程系數(shù)出發(fā)設(shè)計出來的離散正交小波。一般簡寫為dbN，N是小波的階數(shù)。小波和尺度函數(shù)中的支撐區(qū)為2N-1。的消失矩為N。除N1外(Haar小波)，dbN不具對稱性(即非線性相位)，沒有顯式表達式(除N1外)。但的傳遞函數(shù)的模的平方有顯式表達式。假設(shè)，其中，為二項式的系數(shù)，則有 其中 (3)SymletsA（symN）

7、小波系Symlets函數(shù)系是由Daubechies提出的近似對稱的小波函數(shù)，它是對db函數(shù)的一種改進。Symlets函數(shù)系通常表示為symN（N=2，3，8）的形式。1.3 雙尺度關(guān)系與分解關(guān)系與的兩尺度關(guān)系：與的分解關(guān)系：其中 1.4 小波進行分解與重構(gòu)兩尺度函數(shù)的兩尺度關(guān)系是 由兩尺度關(guān)系，得序列再由得則有小波函數(shù)的兩尺度關(guān)系是進一步得分解關(guān)系由分解算法得由重構(gòu)算法得2 圖像處理的模型分析2.1 圖像的數(shù)學模型4物體反射或投射的物質(zhì)能量在空間上的分布在數(shù)學上可以表述為一能量場E(x,y,z,t)，其中x，y，z表示在幾何空間中點的坐標，為輻射波長，t為時刻。適當選取坐標系使取圖平面垂直于z

8、軸，設(shè)截距為Z0，圖像可看作只是記錄在平面z=z0上的能量分布2，實際中這種物質(zhì)能量的記錄值往往用亮度值表示。則式中x，y為像平面中點的坐標。圖像的數(shù)學模型是一個二元函數(shù)f(x,y)，它反映了圖像上點坐標f(x,y)與該點上的能量值之間的對應(yīng)關(guān)系。對于一幅灰度照片，它上面點的明暗程度需用不同的數(shù)值代表。圖像在某點處的函數(shù)值稱為圖像在該點的灰度或亮度。由于f的值是能量的記錄，故其是非負有界的實數(shù)，即一幅實際圖像的尺寸是有限的，一般定義(x,y)在某一矩形域中，即有2.2 圖像處理的小波模型通常情況下，圖像處理可以被抽象為一個輸入輸出系統(tǒng)，即以各種形式的算符Q來對圖像F進行處理，算符Q的形式?jīng)Q定于

9、圖像處理的目的以及圖像F的數(shù)學模型其中，T代表圖像處理算子，如去噪、銳化、分割，壓縮或圖像修復。輸入數(shù)據(jù)Q0可以是一幅圖也可以是圖像序列，輸出數(shù)據(jù)Q是所有希望得到的圖像性質(zhì)。圖像處理的兩個基本問題是作為輸入的Q0和算子T的建模，它們是相對獨立但又緊密相連的：算子T的性能很大程度上取決于輸入數(shù)據(jù)的模型。為了能夠有效地處理圖像，首先需要知道如何從數(shù)學的角度理解和表示圖像。圖像模型和它的表示方法在很大程度決定了圖像的處理模型。把圖像看作像素點集合的基礎(chǔ)上，以像素點集合為基礎(chǔ)的數(shù)學模型可表達三種不同的模型，即隨機場模型，小波模型和正則空間模型，它們分別從概率統(tǒng)計、小波分析和偏微分程這三方面來研究圖像處

10、理。小波應(yīng)用圖像處理的本質(zhì)是一個函數(shù)逼近問題，小波可以構(gòu)成Hilbert空間的規(guī)范正交基，給出了圖像的多尺度表示： 對圖像的稀疏逼近為圖像的高效壓縮等圖像處理提供了可能。2.3 小波分析在圖像處理中的應(yīng)用小波分析在圖像處理中的應(yīng)用主要表現(xiàn)在以下幾個方面：圖像去噪噪聲的產(chǎn)生是一個隨機過程，噪聲分量灰度值是一個隨即變量，其統(tǒng)計特性由概率密度函數(shù)表征，白噪聲、高斯噪聲、泊松噪聲是三種形式常見的重要噪聲；設(shè)長度為N的信號fn被噪聲en所污染，所測得的含噪數(shù)據(jù)為：去噪的目標是從含噪數(shù)據(jù)X得到信號x的一個逼近信號x,使得在某種誤差準則估計下x是x的最佳逼近。小波去噪的基本策略是將含噪信號進行多尺度小波變換

11、，從時域變換到小波域，然后在各尺度下盡可能提取信號的小波系數(shù)，而去除屬于噪聲的變換系數(shù)，然后由小波逆變換重構(gòu)信號。閥值去噪的主要理論依據(jù)是，小波變換具有很強的數(shù)據(jù)去相關(guān)性，能夠使信號的能量在小波域集中在少量的大的小波系數(shù)中，而噪聲卻分布在整個小波域，經(jīng)小波分解后，信號的小波系數(shù)的幅值要大于噪聲的小波系數(shù)的幅值，于是可以采用閥值的辦法把信號的小波系數(shù)保留，而使大部分噪聲的小波系數(shù)減少為零，閥值去噪主要思想是對小波分解后的除了最低頻以外的各層系數(shù)模對大于和小于某閾值系數(shù)分別處理，然后對處理完的小波系數(shù)再反變換重構(gòu)出一幅經(jīng)去噪后的圖像。在小波閾值收縮去噪法中最為重要的就是如何選擇閾值和閾值函數(shù)，大多

12、數(shù)閥值選擇過程是針對一組小波系數(shù)，即根據(jù)本組小波系數(shù)的統(tǒng)計特性，計算出一個閾值。閾值函數(shù)主要可以分為如下三種： 硬閾值函數(shù)它假定幅值大于門限T的小波系數(shù)都是由信號貢獻的，而小于門限T的小波系數(shù)來至于噪聲。實驗表明這種取門限的方式有時并不太令人滿意。軟閾值函數(shù)硬閾值方法可以很好保留圖像邊緣等局部特征，但圖像會出現(xiàn)振鈴、偽吉布斯效應(yīng)等視覺失真，閾值方法處理結(jié)果相對平滑得多，但是軟閾值方法會造成邊緣模糊等失真現(xiàn)象。半軟閥值函數(shù)該方法通過選擇合適的閾值T1和T2，可以在軟閥值方法和硬閾值方法之間達到很好的折中。閥值去噪算法閥值去噪具體的算法步驟如下：選擇合適的小波函數(shù)，對于長度為N(設(shè)N=2J)的含噪

13、信號(常采用周期延拓方法)進行小波變換，利用小波交換的快速算法獲得低分辨率L(O0<J)下的尺度系數(shù)VL,K K=1,2,2L及各分辨率下的小波系數(shù)Wj,k，j=L,L+1,J-1,k=1,2,2L)其中尺度系數(shù)和小波系數(shù)共N個。為保持信號的整體形狀不變，保留所有的低頻系數(shù)VL,K K=1,2,2L，對小波系數(shù)進行非線性閾值處理。對每個小波系數(shù)，采用軟閾值和硬閾值方法進行處理。進行逆小波變換。由所有低頻尺度系數(shù)，以及經(jīng)由閾值處理后的小波系數(shù)作逆小波變換進行重構(gòu)，得到恢復的原始信號的估計值。圖像壓縮 小波分析用于信號與圖像壓縮是小波分析應(yīng)用的一個重要方面。它的特點是壓縮比高，壓縮速度快，壓

14、縮后能保持信號與圖像的特征不變，且在傳遞中可抗干擾。由于小波分析固有的時頻特性，我們可以在時頻兩個方向?qū)ο禂?shù)進行處理，這樣就可以對我們感興趣的部分提供不同的壓縮精度。圖形增強圖像增強問題主要通過時域和頻域處理兩種方法來解決。時域方法通過直接在圖像點上作用算子或掩碼來解決，頻域方法通過修改傅立葉變換系數(shù)來解決。這兩種方法的優(yōu)劣很明顯，時域方法方便快速但會丟失很多點之間的相關(guān)信息，頻域方法可以很詳細地分離出點之間的相關(guān),但計算量大得多。小波分析是以上兩種方法的權(quán)衡結(jié)果，傅立葉分析在所有點的分辨率都是原始圖像的尺度，但我們可能不需要這么大的分辨率，而單純的時域分析又顯得太粗糙，小波分析的多尺度分析特

15、性為用戶提供了更靈活的處理方法，可以選擇任意的分解層數(shù)，用近可能少的計算量得到我們滿意的結(jié)果。圖像融合 圖像融合是將同一對象的兩個或更多的圖像合成在一幅圖像中，以便它比原來的任何一幅圖像更容易為人們所理解。這一技術(shù)可應(yīng)用于多頻譜圖像理解以及醫(yī)學圖像處理等領(lǐng)域。在這些場合，同一物體部件的圖像往往是采用不同的成像機理得到的。3MATLAB仿真下面先利用小波分析對含噪的二維圖像wbard進行去噪處理，對比去噪效果，然后對去噪后的圖像進行銳化處理。再對原二維圖像wbarb進行壓縮處理，之后再對wbarb和woman圖像進行融合處理。Matlab程序如下：load wbarb%下面進行噪聲的產(chǎn)生init

16、=3718025452;rand('seed',init);Xnoise=X+50*(rand(size(X);%顯示原始圖像及它的含噪聲的圖像colormap(map);figure(1);subplot(2,2,1);image(wcodemat(X,192);title('原始圖像X')subplot(2,2,2);image(wcodemat(Xnoise,192);title('含噪聲的圖像Xnoise');%用sym5小波對圖像信號進行二層的小波分解c,s=wavedec2(X,2,'sym5');%下面進行圖像的去噪

17、處理%使用ddencmp函數(shù)來計算去噪的默認閾值%使用wdencmp函數(shù)來實現(xiàn)圖像的壓縮thr,sorh,keepapp=ddencmp('den','wv',Xnoise);Xdenoise,cxc,lxc,perf0,perfl2=wdencmp('gbl',c,s,'sym5',2,thr,sorh,keepapp);%顯示去噪后的圖像subplot(223);image(Xdenoise);title('去噪后的圖像');%對去噪后的圖像做銳化處理blur2=Xdenoise;%對圖像做2層的二維小波分解c

18、,l=wavedec2(Xdenoise,2,'db3');csize=size(c);%對低頻系數(shù)進行放大處理，并抑制高頻系數(shù)for i=1:csize(2); if(abs(c(i)<300) c(i)=c(i)*2; else c(i)=c(i)/2; endend%通過處理后的小波系數(shù)重構(gòu)圖像blur2=waverec2(c,l,'db3');subplot(224);image(wcodemat(blur2,192);colormap(gray(256);title('銳化去噪后的圖像');%圖像壓縮處理figure(2);sub

19、plot(221);image(X);colormap(map)title('原始圖像');disp('壓縮前圖像X的大?。?#39;);whos('X')%對圖像用bior3.7小波進行2層小波分解c,s=wavedec2(X,2,'bior3.7');%提取小波分解結(jié)構(gòu)中第一層低頻系數(shù)和高頻系數(shù)ca1=appcoef2(c,s,'bior3.7',1);ch1=detcoef2('h',c,s,1);cv1=detcoef2('v',c,s,1);cd1=detcoef2('d&

20、#39;,c,s,1);%分別對各頻率成分進行重構(gòu)a1=wrcoef2('a',c,s,'bior3.7',1);h1=wrcoef2('h',c,s,'bior3.7',1);v1=wrcoef2('v',c,s,'bior3.7',1);d1=wrcoef2('d',c,s,'bior3.7',1);c1=a1,h1;v1,d1;%顯示分解后各頻率成分的信息subplot(222);image(c1);title('分解后低頻和高頻信息');%保留

21、小波分解第一層低頻信息，進行圖像的壓縮%第一層的低頻信息即為ca1，顯示第一層的低頻信息%首先對第一層信息進行量化編碼ca1=appcoef2(c,s,'bior3.7',1);ca1=wcodemat(ca1,440,'mat',0);%改變圖像的高度ca1=0.5*ca1;subplot(223);image(ca1);colormap(map);title('第一次壓縮');disp('第一次壓縮圖像的大小為：');whos('ca1')%保留小波分解第二層低頻信息，進行圖像的壓縮，此時壓縮比更大%第二層的低

22、頻信息即為ca2，顯示第二層的低頻信息ca2=appcoef2(c,s,'bior3.7',2);%首先對第二層信息進行量化編碼ca2=wcodemat(ca2,440,'mat',0);%改變圖像的高度ca2=0.25*ca2;subplot(224);image(ca2);colormap(map);axis squaretitle('第二次壓縮');disp('第二次壓縮圖像的大小為：');whos('ca2')%圖像融合figure(3);X2=X;map2=map;subplot(221);image(X

23、2);colormap(map2);title('wbarb');load woman;X1=X;map1=map;%畫出原始圖像subplot(222);image(X1);colormap(map1);title('woman');%用小波函數(shù)sym4對X1進行2層小波分解c1,s1=wavedec2(X1,2,'sym4');%對分解系數(shù)進行處理以突出輪廓部分，弱化細節(jié)部分sizec1=size(c1);for i=1:sizec1(2) c1(i)=1.2*c1(i);end%用小波函數(shù)sym4對X2進行2層小波分解c2,s2=waved

24、ec2(X2,2,'sym4');%下面進行小波變換域的圖像融合c=c1+c2;%減小圖像亮度c=0.5*c;%對融合的系數(shù)進行重構(gòu)xx=waverec2(c,s1,'sym4');%畫出融合后的圖像subplot(223);image(xx);title('wbarb和woman的融合圖像');去噪和銳化仿真結(jié)果：圖像壓縮仿真結(jié)果：Matlab輸出：壓縮前圖像X的大小： Name Size Bytes Class X 256x256 524288 double arrayGrand total is 65536 elements using 5

25、24288 bytes第一次壓縮圖像的大小為： Name Size Bytes Class ca1 135x135 145800 double arrayGrand total is 18225 elements using 145800 bytes第二次壓縮圖像的大小為： Name Size Bytes Class ca2 75x75 45000 double arrayGrand total is 5625 elements using 45000 bytes圖像融合仿真結(jié)果：3結(jié)束語本文詳細討論了小波在圖像處理領(lǐng)域的應(yīng)用，并用Matlab進行了仿真，Matlab語言對數(shù)字圖像進行處理時具

26、有編程簡單、處理速度快的特點，結(jié)果顯示用小波變換理論進行圖像處理可以取得較好的效果。在本文中只是實現(xiàn)了圖像處理的基本功能,對于處理效果還有待改善,在后續(xù)進一步研究中可以選用更合適的小波基和算法進行處理,以使處理效果更佳,參考文獻1 李朝暉、張弘編.數(shù)字圖像處理及應(yīng)用M.北京:機械工業(yè)出版社，2004（06）.2 張亶、陳剛編.基于偏微分方程的圖像處理M.北京:高等教育出版社，2004(01).3 崔錦泰(著)，程正興(譯)小波分析導論M西安：西安交通大學出版社，19954 龔聲蓉、劉純平、王強編.數(shù)字圖像的處理與分析M北京：清華大學出版社2006您好，為你提供優(yōu)秀的畢業(yè)論文參考資料，請您刪除以

27、下內(nèi)容，O(_)O謝謝！A large group of tea merchants on camels and horses from Northwest China's Shaanxi province pass through a stop on the ancient Silk Road, Gansu's Zhangye city during their journey to Kazakhstan, May 5, 2015. The caravan, consisting of more than 100 camels, three horse-drawn carri

28、ages and four support vehicles, started the trip from Jingyang county in Shaanxi on Sept 19, 2014. It will pass through Gansu province and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, and finally arrive in Almaty, formerly known as Alma-Ata, the largest city in Kazakhstan, and Dungan in Zhambyl province. The t

29、rip will cover about 15,000 kilometers and take the caravan more than one year to complete. The caravan is expected to return to Jingyang in March 2016. Then they will come back, carrying specialty products from Kazakhstan A small art troupe founded six decades ago has grown into a household name in

30、 the Inner Mongolia autonomous region. In the 1950s, Ulan Muqir Art Troupe was created by nine young musicians, who toured remote villages on horses and performed traditional Mongolian music and dances for nomadic families. The 54-year-old was born in Tongliao, in eastern Inner Mongolia and joined t

31、he troupe in 1975.He says there are 74 branch troupes across Inner Mongolia and actors give around 100 shows every year to local nomadic people. "I can still recall the days when I toured with the troupe in the early '80s. We sat on the back of pickup trucks for hours. The sky was blue, and

32、 we couldn't help but sing the folk songs," Nasun says. The vastness of Inner Mongolia and the lack of entertainment options for people living there, made their lives lonely. "The nomadic people were very excited about our visits," Nasun recalls. "We didn't have a formal

33、stage. The audience just sat on the grass. Usually, the performances became a big party with local people joining in." For him, the rewarding part about touring isn't just about sharing art with nomadic families but also about gaining inspiration for the music and dance. Ulan Muqir literall

34、y translates as "red burgeon", and today's performers of the troupe still tour the region's villages and entertain nomadic families, but their fame has spread around the world. On May 16 and 17, nearly 100 singers and dancers from the troupe performed at Beijing's Poly Theater.

35、 Their show, titled Ulan Muqir on the Grassland, depicted the history and development of the art troupe. "Being from the region allowed me to embrace the culture of Inner Mongolia and being a member of the troupe showed me where I belonged," Nasun, the art troupe's president, who is al

36、so a renowned tenor, tells China Daily. During a tour in 1985, he went to a village and met an elderly local man, who told him a story about his friendship with a solider from Shenyang, capital of Northeast China's Liaoning province, decades ago. The solider gave the old man a handmade saddle wh

37、en they bid farewell. The story inspired Nasun to write Carved Saddle, a song that later became one of his most popular numbers. Now, every year, Nasun recruits young singers and dancers for the troupe. The troupe has also designed a new repertoire, which is mostly based on the daily lives of Mongol

38、ian people, especially the lives of nomadic families, and has combined contemporary musical elements with folk songs of the region. Haimu, a 25-year-old khoomei (a local variant of overtone singing) singer, joined the troupe three years ago. Along with a six-member band, he performs fast songs and s

39、oft ones that he writesall while playing the horse-head fiddle."Although I learned the piano since childhood and grew up listening to various kinds of music, to me, the folk music of Inner Mongolia is the root," he says. "Performing in remote villages is pleasant. I feel at home on th

40、e boundless grasslands, and the warm people there make me feel fulfilled." The first round of spring auction season in Beijing ended last week, but it failed to create much spring in the art market. Although two pieces of Chinese painting fetched more than 100 million yuan, the decline in tradi

41、ng volume and sale rate showed a downturn this year. In the “Grand View: Chinese Painting Highlight” session at China Guardian 2015 spring auctions, Pan Tianshous representative work Eagle, Rock and Flora hit a record auction price of 279 million yuan, while Li Kerans masterwork Jinggang Mountain fe

42、tched 126.5 million yuan, an unexpected high in recent years. However, the trading volume fells to 1.87 billion yuan from 2.22 billion yuan in the same period the year before. The Huangchen 2015 Spring Auctions, which recorded 42.5 million yuan in total sales, experienced the same. The section numbe

43、r went down to 5 from 12 compared to last year. According to expert Shao Jianwu, the art market did not attract much excitement this year due to the booming stock market and the persistent problems of forgery and fake deals. The two pieces of Chinese painting notched up high price this spring due to

44、 their own value not due to a revival in the market. "The successful transaction of two works with a hammer price of more than 100 million yuan once again confirms that valuable and rare works of high quality always earn the long-lasting high price. Chinese painting and calligraphy is still the

45、 pillar of the market. However, the overall sales rate has dropped slightly, which reflects the demand for the ordinary auction goods has weakened,” said the president of China Guardians Hu Yanyan. "Besides, the entry of new buyers also makes certain changes to the direction of purchasing. In a

46、 word, the overall market trend is very unpredictable. Although China Guardian 2015 Spring Auctions has achieved remarkable results, it does not mean that the market has walked out of the predicament. We still have to wait for the big economic boom to invigorate the art market.” Even so, the hot pur

47、suit of some special items appeared this spring. A special session of China Guardian Spring Auctions titled “Fine GiltBronze Buddhist Images” achieved a great deal with total sales volume of 41.89 million yuan and 92 percent sale rate. The 5th Shamar Rinpoche Statue from 16-17th century of Tibet was

48、 sold for 5.06 million yuan. The Beijing Chengxuan Auctions featured almost 2,800 items of coins and stamps in three sessions with good sale rate. The Huachen Auctions also set a special session of photographs under the condition of large-scale decline of auction sessions. There was a palpable dull

49、thud of disappointment that accompanied the return of the imperial entourage of Zhen Huan to her homeland. It followed a couple years of hushed excitement as Chinese fans were fed tidbits about their proud concubine who was supposed to conquer the high ground of the North American market. Zhen Huan

50、is, of course, the title character of The Legend of Zhen Huan, a 2011 television series that swept China off its feet and later took other Asian countries by storm. Two years ago, it was reported that HBO, a premium cable service headquartered in the United States, was going to air it in North Ameri

51、ca after some modification. Now, a condensed version that provides English subtitles but no dubbing has finally been made available on Netflix for online streaming. This version, highly anticipated as a milestone in China's cultural foray overseas, has been widely panned by its home audience. Re

52、titled Empresses in the Palace, the American version has been shortened from its original 76 episodes at 45 minutes each, to six 90-minute episodes. The quick pacing threw off many native viewers, who are accustomed to a more leisurely daytime-soap-style narrative rhythm. (Chinese TV stations would

53、run two or three episodes every day.) I did not finish the full-length version and found the truncated one not difficult to follow. What's lost, I believe, are the interesting setups and pauses that illuminate the Chinese art of storytelling. Much of the plot is still there. It is the flavor tha

54、t was sacrificed. The American edition uses the framework of the Empress Dowager in her senior years reminiscing at the beginning and the end of each episode, hinting at what's to come and recapping the key points. This device, not used in the original, is culturally understandable but artistica

55、lly mediocre. What puzzles me is the two new songs for the opening and end credits. They were written in English, but sung by Chinese with an uncomfortable accent. They were obviously designed to appeal to an English-speaking base, but do not jibe with the Chinese dialogue. Speaking of the dialogue,

56、 the English translation, picked apart by some Chinese, is too literal for my taste. I can imagine a typical American hit by a flurry of royal ranks, addresses and greetings, even multiple names and titles for the same person. The first half hour must be a swamp to wade through, very much like my ex

57、perience of getting through a Tolstoy tome with its endless inflections of names transliterated into lengthy Chinese. I see the choice of verbatim translation as an effort for conveying exotica. It is fairly competent, with no error that I could detect, but fails to rise above words or capture the e

58、ssence of the language. A cultural product usually crosses over to a foreign territory first by an emphasis on the commonalities. But whether inside or outside China, the temptation to sell it for the differences is just too great. Sure, the sumptuous sets and costumes are a big attraction, but the narrative technique has b