Envoi for Capital M 別了,前門米氏西餐廳

On Sunday, the 17th of September 2017, Capital M, a restaurant created by Michelle Garnaut in the Chinese capital city closed its doors for the last time at its unsurpassed Beijing venue: at Qianmen, on the southeast edge of Tiananmen Square (see the Capital M Announcement).… Read

Appendix II: For the Dead are Many 冤屈難伸

The spirits of those who have died unnatural deaths, in particular those killed as a result of the machinations of others, the cruelty of government or malice of a system beyond their control are known as Victim Ghosts 冤鬼 or 冤魂, short for 冤屈鬼魂.… Read

Demons Demonise Demons 妖魔化妖魔

Demonisation has been a feature of religious and political life in many societies over the ages. The ‘People of the Book’ (أهل الكتاب ′Ahl al-Kitāb; עם הספר Am HaSefer) — those who identify with the body of writings in the Jewish, Christian and Islamic traditions — were masterful in demonising other belief systems, and persecuting their adherents.… Read

P.K.’s Strange Tales 也斯聊齋

Leung Ping-kwan 梁秉鈞 was a prominent Hong Kong poet and essayist, better known in his home city as Yah-see 也斯, Yesi in Mandarin. To most of his friends he was simply ‘P.K.’,… Read

Sun Yat-sen’s Shade 革命尚未成功

The Analects Fortnightly 論語半月刊, a magazine founded by the essayist and translator Lin Yutang (林語堂, 1895-1976) in 1932, promoted the concept of humour 幽默 (a neologism in Chinese of Lin’s invention), while also publishing essays and art work that reflected the urbane, as well as the often scurrilous, world of Shanghai letters.… Read

Spooks in the Bamboo Grove 竹林魑魅魍魎

Xi Kang (Ji Kang 嵇康, 223-263CE) is renowned as one of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove 竹林七賢. His ‘Letter to Shan Tao’ 與山巨源絕交書 is one of the inspirations behind the creation of China Heritage, and it features in the essay On Heritage 遺 on this site.… Read