Spectres & Souls Shortly after the demise of Mao Zedong in September 1976, Simon Leys observed that: ‘…in a normal everyday situation where “his giant’s wings prevent him from walking”, any Great Leader worth his salt has a strong tendency to stir up artificial gales in order to get some wind back under his pinions.… Read

The Best China Pierre Ryckmans, better known to readers under the pen name of Simon Leys, valued Jacques Pimpaneau as ‘a colourful character, original, a non-conformity, an oddball, cultivated, generous.’ (As quoted in Philippe Paquet, Simon Leys: Navigator Between Worlds, p.230.)… Read

Spectres & Souls In the late 1980s, Dai Qing (戴晴, 1941-) reintroduced both the word and the concept of the independent or liberal intellectual 自由派知識分子 to the Chinese reading public. It featured prominently in ‘Chu Anping and The Party Empire’ 儲安平與黨天下, her lengthy investigation into the case of Chu Anping (儲安平, 1909-?),… Read

Spectres & Souls The following essay is Part Two of The Fog of Words: Kabul 2021, Beijing 1949 and the Prologue to ‘The Xi Jinping Restoration’. It should be read in conjunction withPrelude to a Restoration: Xi Jinping, Deng Xiaoping, Chen Yun & the Spectre of Mao Zedong (China Heritage, 20 September 2021).… Read

Spectres & Souls A few days after the death of Harold Bloom on 14 October 2019, I listened to an interview with him recorded by Phillip Adams, an old friend and a remarkable interlocutor, on Late Night Live, the program that Phillip has hosted on ABC radio for three decades.… Read

Spectres & Souls   The annual Double Tenth Day 雙十節 on 10 October commemorates the Wuchang Uprising of 1911, which led to the abdication of the ruling house of the Qing dynasty and the establishment of the Republic of China.… Read