19 different translations of a single short Tang Dynasty poem adds up to a guided tour of the rich and peculiar ways other cultures interact with Chinese poetry. Join us as we discuss a wonderful book!
This slim little volume has a whole lot packed into it. Not only does it give the reader a concise history of a crucial moment in Chinese history, but it also beautifully explains to a non-Chinese audience just why Du Fu was so brilliant.
There aren’t a lot of things we agree on, but one of them is Pu Songling. The author of Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio 聊斋志异 (1740), which is exactly what it sounds like: a collection of strange tales. Very strange. Strange and wonderful. Today we start a three-part series where we dig into this […]
Today, Rob is off doing research in China, so Lee interviews Professor Van Norden. Professor Van Norden is a philosophy professor at Vassar, and he works on early Chinese philosophical texts. He recently published a textbook for learning Classical Chinese (文言文). The book, called Classical Chinese for Everyone, is the outgrowth of Professor Van Norden’s […]
Today, Rob and Lee say goodbye, or, at least, say goodbye to the face to face format of podcasting. Rob has earned a Chateaubriand Scholarship to the Sorbonne in Paris, where he will be researching the nexus of Chinese and French culture in the late Qing. That means Lee and Rob may have to change […]
No talking dragons. Little to no fighting. Lots of speeches. A woman warrior who just wants to go home and be a good, traditional daughter. And…rabbits? How exactly is this the Ballad of Mulan? Lee and I discuss the original story, and find ourselves split over the extent to which it qualifies as a work that […]