This is the seventy-seventh chapter in Other People’s Thoughts, a China Heritage series inspired by a compilation of quotations put together by Simon Leys (Pierre Ryckmans), one of our Ancestors, during his reading life.… Read

Empires of Tedium 親敵背盟戰無休
天選之子有奇謀
川皇如今罵不得
像是明日蒞神州 Enemies embraced, allies betrayed, endless war;
The Chosen One plots and plans very much more.
Careful though — cuss not this Emperor Trump!
— tomorrow he lands on this Holy Land’s shores.… Read

The Other China   Lao Shu 老樹, the nom de plume of Liu Shuyong (劉樹勇, 1962-) is a Beijing-based artist, writer and critic whose works are featured in The Other China.… Read

Contra Trump 禮崩樂壞 We share the pathologies of all dying empires with their mixture of buffoonery, rampant corruption, military fiascos, economic collapse and savage state repression. — Chris Hedges, quoted in Death Wish — Promises Made, Promises Kept, 16 February 2026 *** A renowned journalist, writer, commentator and broadcaster, Chris Hedges has featured in China Heritage over the years, as well as in our Contra Trump — America’s Empire of Tedium series, which we launched on the eve of the 2024 Presidential Election.… Read

Seeds of Fire 40th Anniversary 香花和毒草的辯證法   Ruszkik haza! — “Russians Go Home!” — the Hungarian chant from 1956 echoing through the streets of Budapest following Victor Orbán’s crushing electoral defeat on 12 April 2026.… Read

Seeds of Fire 40th Anniversary 舊啟蒙、新蒙蔽   China’s annual Youth Festival 青年節 falls on the 4th of May. It commemorates a mass student demonstration in Beijing on 4 May 1919 and marks a historical turning point in China’s modern political and social history.… Read