Jin Yong – Part 1

This podcast, we take a look at the life and times of Jin Yong, along with the genre he came to define, modern kung fu literature. We explore Jin Yong’s path to becoming China’s best selling writer, putting out more books than JK Rowling. We also look at the January 17th, 1954 kung fu match […]

Sima Qian – Letter to Ren An

This week is the last in our Sima Qian series, but it is also definitely the best. We look at how Sima Qian lost his testicles while sticking to his principles. We consider the conflict between him and Emperor Wu that percipitated his castration. I also make a big announcement.  Here is the Transcript:  My […]

Sima Qian – Biography of the Capitalists

Today, we take a look at Sima Qian’s Biography of the Capitalists, chapter 129 in the Records of the Historian. This chapter is Sima Qian’s two-millennia old defense of free market capitalism. The chapter is one of the most interesting his oeuvre because Sima Qian was condemned for it by later historians. 

Sima Qian – Southern Yue People

Today, in the second podcast in the Sima Qian series, we take a look at some of the first literary evidence we have for the Nan Yue, the People of the Southern Yue, the ancestors to modern-day the provinces of Guangdong and Guangxi in China and the people of Vietnam. Sima Qian describes the Han […]

Sima Qian – Series Introduction

Sima Qian is not only the first historian in Chinese history, he is also one of the greatest writers that China has ever produced. Today, writers of Kung Fu novels point to Sima Qian’s stories on fighters and assassins as the origins of the Kung Fu genre. Chinese business people point to his “Biography of […]

Children’s Book – Peek in the Farm

Today, we do something different. We take a look at a children’s book that was originally written in English, and then translated into Chinese. Strangely, the translation into Chinese was done in a way that took the English and translated it into classical poetic forms that hark back to the Tang Dynasty. Journey with me […]

Huang Zunxian Goes to Hong Kong

Huang Zunxian, a diplomat and revolutionary of poetry in the late Qing Dynasty, visited Hong Kong when he was only twenty-two. His experience in the British colony was his first real encounter with foriegners, and it sparked an abiding interest in issues outside of China. In this episode, we take a look at two of […]

New Year Podcast

Rob and I did a New Year Podcast, and I wanted to keep up that tradition. In this podcast, I talk about teaching and update yall on a few things.

Su Dongpo Goes to Trial for Poetry

Today, in our last episode of the year, we look at 1079 when Su Dongpo was tried for a poem. Bitter partisan fighting, liberals versus conservatives…except for the great poetry, this Song Dynasty fight might remind you of something closer to home.  Economist Article Mentioned in the Episode https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2023/12/07/giving-the-poor-a-wodge-of-cash-is-better-than-dripping-it-out My Translation Carrying [the government money] […]

Qiu Fengjia – Taiwanese or Chinese Nationalist?

Today, we look at Qiu Fengjia, a Taiwanese-born Mandarin, who, in 1895, upon hearing that Taiwan had been given to Japan as a part of the Treaty of Shiminoseki, wrote a poem expressing his sadness and confusion. We discuss that poem and Qiu’s larger legacy. 

Qiang Flute – Interview with Zhang Yanshuo

Today, we have an interview with Professor Zhang Yanshuo, a scholar at Pomona College who studies a group of people that have existed on the peripheries of Chinese soceity for several millennia. The Qiang are a group of people who exist in China today, but also who have records discussing them as early as the […]

Todd Foley’s Translation of Wang Anyi’s I Love Bill

Today, I got the opportunity to interview Professor Todd Foley at NYU. Todd just translated a book I Love Bill and Other Stories which you can purchase here. The interview was fantastic, the book is great. Check out the podcast and then go buy the book.

Book of Poems – Spanking the Pan

The Book of Poetry is the earliest work of Chinese lyric poetry in existance. But it has a reputation as being a bit fusty. Today, we are going to explore the naughtier side of the anthology.  Here is my translation: Spanking the Pan He spanked my pan in the mountain valley,  The big man was […]

Book of Poems – She Bore the Folk

The third in the series on the Book of Poems, this episode looks at the mythological poem on the birth of the god of agriculture, Lord Millet. 

Can Xue – Nobel Rerun?

Can Xue is the odds on favorite for winning the Nobel Prize in Literature tomorrow. Rob and I did a podcast on her way back in 2018, and I am rereleasing it in honor of her consideration. Whatever the choice of the Swedish Academy, Can Xue has already won in my heart. 

Book of Poems – Those Tender Peaches

Today is part two of the podcast series on the 詩經, the Book of Poems. This episode looks at “Those Tender Peaches”, a highly sexualized poem talking about more than peaches.  Here are my translations of the poems. This is my translation of “Those Tender Poems:” Those Tender Peaches Them peaches are tender, tender, hot, […]

Book of Poems – The Big Rat

Today, we are taking a look at a poem from the oldest extant work of Chinese literature, the Shijing (Book of Poem) Today’s poem is a poem about rats, but also a poem about government, and it is the first in our series on the Shijing.

A Weibo Joke – What What What

Today’s episode is a joke. No really, we are looking at a joke that is making the rounds on Weibo. This is a joke that is very opaque, but that opacity points to how autocracy in China works today. 

Zhuangzi’s Useless Tree

One of the world’s great philosophers meditates on the value of being useless with a parable about an old, ugly tree. 

Phags-Pa

Did you know that in the 13th Century a Chinese emperor and a Tibetan monk tried to get rid of Chinese characters and create a universal script, one writing system to write every language in the world. Today’s podcast is about that writing system, Phags-Pa.