some swear guardians
come to life -- dancing through
the temple yard...
but only Autumn nights, and
after a calabash of wine.
Guardian [Kyōka]
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Category Archives: China
Forbidden [Free Verse]
One afternoon, in the
Forbidden City,
People roam about --
Sightseeing.
The very next morning,
A single line of tracks
Through freshly fallen snow
Cuts across the very
Same yard.
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Chinatown [Senryū]
through the paifang*,
you leave your city,
but you're not in China.
*A paifang (牌坊) is the gate over a street or road that denotes the bounds of a Chinatown.
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CHINA LIMERICK
There was an old man from China
who thought he was having angina,
but it was the Kung Pao --
with peppercorns for WOW! --
that gave heartburn to the old man of China.
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BOOKS: “A Journey to Inner Peace and Joy” by Zhang Jianfeng [Trans. by Tony Blishen]
A Journey to Inner Peace and Joy: Tracing Contemporary Chinese Hermits by Zhang Jianfeng by Unknown AuthorMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Publisher Site
In 1993, Bill Porter (a.k.a. Red Pine) came out with a book called “Road to Heaven” that documented his experiences meeting with hermits in rural China. For many, both in and certainly out of China, the continued existence of this lifestyle might have come as a surprise. This book follows up over twenty years later, showing that Buddhists and Daoist hermits are still alive and well in the mountains of interior China.
The book not only offers beautiful descriptions of the lands where these men and women live, but also insight into their mindsets and how they live such minimalist lives. It’s a light and compelling look at individuals like those one might read of in “Outlaws of the Marsh,” only living in the present day (though living lives not unlike their historical counterparts did more than a thousand years ago.)
The book offers many color photos of the hermits and the landscapes in which they live.
I’d highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the way of reclusive existence.
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DAILY PHOTO: Incheon Chinatown Gates
BOOK REVIEW: “New Story of the Stone” by Jianren Wu [Trans. by Liz Evans Weber]
New Story of the Stone: An Early Chinese Science Fiction Novel by Jianren WuMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Publisher Site – Columbia University Press
This book is presented as a sequel to the Chinese literary classic (alternatively) known as Dream of the Red Chamber or Story of the Stone. The central character is a scholarly traveler by the name of Baoyu. The first part of the book is set in China around the time of the Boxer Rebellion, an event that features in the story. Throughout this portion, the book reads like historical fiction. However, Baoyu’s travels eventually bring him to a hidden realm, a technologically advanced utopia within China. It is here where Baoyu’s adventures get fantastical and otherworldly, and the book ventures into the domain of Science Fiction.
The setting of the book reminds me a little of Marvel’s Wakanda from Black Panther. Perhaps both instances of worldbuilding were motivated by the humiliated colonists’ fantasy of being more advanced than those who pull the strings for once, or of showing their (respective) lands to be places of “crouching tigers and hidden dragons” (i.e. where great talents exist but remain unseen.) (Note: While China wasn’t on-the-whole colonized by a Western country, its interaction with England and other Western nations left it forced to accept terms unfavorable and undesirable to China (not to mention the outright colonized enclaves such as Hong Kong and Macau.) While the publisher has emphasized the science fiction aspect of this work, it is an anticolonial work through and through. The book can come across as xenophobic and nationalistic in places, but this only reminds the reader of how such positions might be arrived at under the boot of foreign influence.
The book is readable though philosophical and is well worth reading for those interested in developing a deeper insight into Chinese perspectives.
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DAILY PHOTO: Scenes from Incheon Chinatown
BOOKS: 千字文 [Thousand Character Essay] by 周兴嗣 [Zhou Xingsi]
千字文 by 周兴嗣My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A version with English commentary can be found at the IFA Gallery
This short work, consisting of just one-thousand characters, is first and foremost a teaching tool for children. While it presents a thousand of the most important Chinese characters, it also delivers lessons on history, ethics, philosophy, and culture by way of short sayings.
It’s arranged into 250 4-character phrases (125 sentences) and reads as a lyric poem, though because it dates to the Sixth Century, the degree to which the rhyme scheme holds varies depending upon the which spoken language one speaks (e.g. Mandarin, Cantonese, or Hakka.)
There have been different versions of this work over the centuries.
This is a much beloved work of literature among Chinese, though its sayings do not necessarily hold up as well as works like Sunzi’s Art of War or Laozi’s Daodejing. Some do, but most are much less relevant than when written.
As someone learning Chinese, I’d highly recommend this work as a way to expose oneself to language while gaining insight into Chinese culture.
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Lanterns [Kyōka]
rows of lanterns —
a jack-o-lantern patch —
lights the temple
on a dark, rainy night;
rain splats on a tin roof.
Tiger Riding for Beginners 