An Early Lesson in New Sinology   Today, 11 August 2021, marks the seventh year since Pierre Ryckmans passed away. The following essay was composed to honour his memory and published in The China Story on 30 November 2015.… Read

In 2019, the Fifteenth Day of the First Month 正月十五 falls on the 19th of February. It marks the first full moon of the Lunar New Year and it is a festive day generally known as Yuanxiao 元宵, literally ‘First Evening’.… Read

Translatio Imperii Sinici It is a decade since the appearance in Chinese of the novel In an Age of Prosperity: China 2013 《盛世：中國、2013年》 (translated into English by Michael S. Duke and published under the title The Fat Years in 2011).… Read

Dog Days (IX) In our series Dog Days, which has run throughout the 2018-2019 Year of the Dog, we have pursued our subject like the proverbial ‘dog pack’ or 狗仔隊, the Chinese term for paparazzi.… Read

The Best China XVIII The following essay was inspired by Ying Liang’s 應亮 recently released film A Family Tour 自由行. It appeared on 21 December 2018 in ‘Ways of the World’ 世道人生, the regular column Lee Yee 李怡 writes for Apple Daily 蘋果日報.… Read

‘Therfore bihoveth hire a ful long spoon
That shal ete with a feend,’ thus herde I seye. — Geoffrey Chaucer, ‘The Squieres Tale’ He who sups with the Devil should have a long spoon.… Read