The Tower of Reading
乘興而行，
興盡而返。
In this chapter of The Tower of Reading we focus on a well-known anecdote found in New Tales of the World 世說新語. Wang Huizhi’s impulsive behaviour also provides us with a pretext to discuss some ideas that lie at the heart of an abiding Chinese tradition of quirkiness, taste and individuality.… Read
Something in the Air — Lao Shu’s Spring
The Other China
浪跡雲水中
This spring selection of work by Lao Shu, a Beijing-based artist who will be familiar to readers of China Heritage, starts with a self-portrait and doggerel verse followed by an excerpt from an essay titled ‘Mucking About’ 就是個好玩兒.… Read
Professor Graham ‘Thucydides Trap’ Allison’s Three-Body Problem
Watching China Watching
陷阱
Watching China Watching was launched in January 2018. The first chapter in the series consisted of The China Expert, an essay by Simon Leys originally published in 1981, and the now-famous Ten Commandments of László Ladány from 1982.… Read
Other People’s Thoughts XLIII
Other People’s Thoughts is a section in the Journal of the China Heritage site. It is inspired by a compilation of quotations put together by Simon Leys (Pierre Ryckmans), one of our Ancestors, during his reading life.… Read
Turn, Turn, Turn — The Lugubrious Merry-go-Round of Chinese Politics
Xi Jinping’s Empire of Tedium
Chapter Three, Part II
旋
Communist Chinese politics are a lugubrious merry-go-round … and in order to appreciate fully the déjà-vu quality of its latest convolutions, you would need to have watched it revolve for half a century.… Read
Turn, Turn, Turn — The Tyranny of Chinese History
Xi Jinping’s Empire of Tedium
Chapter Three, Part I
迴
Just as the record of the past was an essential guide to how to deal with the problems of today, so the records of one’s own time yet to be compiled, and their distribution of praise and blame, were something so worrying that they might even influence present actions.… Read