Xi Jinping’s Empire of Tedium Chapter XXXI 在路上   ‘It’s as though we are in some kind of “Kerouac fantasia”. Back in the day, Jack Kerouac encouraged everyone to hit the road — forget all that stuff and set out in pursuit of your soul, find your own path in life … ‘My sense is that we have this kind of mindset now and, given the way things are unfolding, I’m pretty sure that all kinds of new community and cultural phenomena will appear.’… Read

New Sinology Jottings 中元節   The Fifteenth Day of the Seventh Lunar Month 七月十五 is called variously Zhongyuan 中元節, Half Month 七月半 and Ullambana (उल्लम्बन; 盂蘭盆節, or simply 盂蘭節). It is a calendrical juncture during which elements of Taoist and Buddhist belief mix, both for the salve of the quick and the uplift of the dead.… Read

Xu Zhangrun Archive 殉道 Two years ago, we revisited Xu Zhangrun’s blistering critique of Xi Jinping and his rule. We quoted the preamble of Imminent Fears, Immediate Hopes, the lacerating analysis that Professor Xu originally released in July 2018.… Read

New Sinology Jottings 七夕 Separation from loved ones, reuniting with old friends, the reunion of families, happy couples, the sorrow of missed opportunities, anger over frustrated missteps in life… . These are all themes in Chinese culture reflected in such expressions as: 生死離別、悲歡離合、陰差陽錯、 兩地相思、 兩地分居、月圓之夜、月圓花好, and so on.… Read

Watching China Watching   In this chapter of Watching China Watching we feature an interview by David Bandurski of China Media Project (CMP) with Vita Golod, Chairman of the Board of the Ukrainian Association of Sinologists, an independent think tank.… Read

The Other China 信筆塗鴉 Yao Bo (姚博, 1972-) is a former Beijing-based journalist and influential blogger who offers a running commentary on contemporary Chinese affairs from his base in Kyoto, Japan.… Read