We always come back to Pu Songling. This week, we are looking at his story “The Magic Sword and the Magic Bag,” which actually has little to do with either, but rather is a story about love, prostitution and a ghostly woman…join us for a spooky episode of the Chinese Literature Podcast.
Hello to all our Listeners. This is just a quick note: we are thrilled to have been invited to participate in the Modern China Lecture Series hosted by California State University, San Bernindino’s very own Dr. Jeremy Murray. And, we would love it if you would join us. Everyone is welcome! Here is the Zoom […]
The greatest modern scholar on China? That’s Lee’s line in the sand. But even Rob would agree you can’t go wrong reading Jonathan Spence. Join the discussion and tell us what you think!
Lu Xun again? Really? Yes, really…but we still disagree. For Rob, Lu Xun’s definitive decade was the 1920’s, and this was also when he came to define modern Chinese literature. For Lee, the 1920’s belonged to the first in a long line of powerful, innovative female writers: Ding Ling. Join us for the discussion!
Round two for China’s 20th century. Who defined the 1910-1919 period: China’s first Marxist (Li Dazhao) or its first serious literary realist (Lu Xun)? And more importantly: who had the better moustache?
Have you ever wanted to learn more about China, but were either unsure where to start, or didn’t have the money or access? Our new supplement is designed to help. Join us as we discuss our personal picks for essential works on China. Challenging, but not opaque. Interesting, but not amusing. It’s everything you need. […]
It’s here at last! We’re discussing the definitive writers for each decade in China’s 20th century, looking at how they exemplified that era’s struggles and triumphs. Join us this first week to discuss how Wang Guowei (王国维) and Wu Jianren (吴趼人) were the representative writers of China’s last imperial decade.
In the fourth and final installment of our Not Made in China series, we look at a snarky, critical poem written by a Chinese diplomat about an American election riddled with distrust, ferocious inter-party fighting, and distrust of the Chinese people. It’s just not the election you’re thinking of.
In part three of our series, we have decided to remain resolutely apart form the world of politics by discussing a poem scrawled into the wall of an Angel Island detention cell by a Chinese scholar who was being held there.
In this episode, we return to the Root-seeking authors (xungen), this time with Han Shaogong and his enigmatic story Bababa. The story, if you can call it that, has a disjointed plot. It is focused on a village, and maybe the main character is a boy who can only say two things, Papa (baba) and F#$* […]