Chinese Literature Podcast

The Book of Poetry is the earliest work of Chinese lyric poetry in existance. But it has a reputation as being a bit fusty. Today, we are going to explore the naughtier side of the anthology. 

The third in the series on the Book of Poems, this episode looks at the mythological poem on the birth of the god of agriculture, Lord Millet. 

Can Xue is the odds on favorite for winning the Nobel Prize in Literature tomorrow. Rob and I did a podcast on her way back in 2018, and I am rereleasing it in honor of her consideration. Whatever the choice of the Swedish Academy, Can Xue has already won in my heart. 

Today is part two of the podcast series on the 詩經, the Book of Poems. This episode looks at Those Tender Peaches, a highly sexualized poem talking about more than peaches. 

Today, we are taking a look at a poem from the oldest extant work of Chinese literature, the Shijing (Book of Poem) Today's poem is a poem about rats, but also a poem about government, and it is the first in our series on the Shijing.

Today's episode is a joke. No really, we are looking at a joke that is making the rounds on Weibo. This is a joke that is very opaque, but that opacity points to how autocracy in China works today. 

One of the world's great philosophers meditates on the value of being useless with a parable about an old, ugly tree. 

Did you know that in the 13th Century a Chinese emperor and a Tibetan monk tried to get rid of Chinese characters and create a universal script, one writing system to write every language in the world. Today's podcast is about that writing system, Phags-Pa. 

Today, Lee has a fascinating interview with Professor Christopher Atwood, of the University of Pennsylvania. He studies the Mongolian and Chinese Frontier, and he recently published The Rise of the Mongols: Five Chinese Sources. Lee and Professor Atwood talk about the book and, more broadly, the early Chinese experience with the Mongols. 

In this episode, a century-old Lu Xun story, Kong Yi Ji, has become popular again. The story reflects the struggles of youth unemployment in modern China. The story blows up on the Chinese internet. A rap song reinterprets that story, addressing contemporary issues like education and working conditions. The story demonstrates that Lu Xun remains relevant, and the debates he sparked continue today. #KongYiJi #YouthUnemployment #LuXun

A Taiwanese lesbian begins using dating apps, finds the love of her life, and then realizes she is not the love of her life, but decides to marry her any ways. You won't want to miss this week's episode is a strange look at marriage and death.

Today, we look at the somber poem of a Foxconn worker, Xu Lizhi. His poem, "A Screw Falls to the Ground," is a masterclass of how modern Chinese poetry is able to live up to the standards set by classical Chinese poetry. In this episode, I try to discuss what role the author's biography plays in how we interpret their poetry.

This is the first in a two-part mini-series on the screw in modern Chinese literature. Yep, that is right, the screw, the humble tool which binds the world. This week, I am looking at a passage in Lei Feng's diary on how he wants to be a screw for the Revolution, with a capital R. 

Mr. Close Enough...Mr. Cha Buduo. He never seems to get things quite right, but he represents everything China is about. This is his story, a short, sardonic piece by the scholar and UN Ambassador Hu Shi. In some ways, Mr. Close Enough echos Lu Xun's Ah Q, in other ways it is the polar opposite of that story. 

Xu Xu is a writer who was very famous in the 1930's and 1940's. He lived in China until 1949, he was one of the country's most important writers during this period. Then, after the victory of the CCP, he, fearing for his safety, left for Hong Kong. He continued to write but drifted into obscurity. Professor Frederik Green at San Francisco State University published a translation of his work with Stone Bridge Press. Today's podcast is a fantastic interview with Professor Green. 

Liu Xijun was a princess. Her father and mother were executed when they rebelled against the emperor, her great uncle. Liu was sent to marry a king of the distant Wusun, a group of Central Asian herders that the emperor was trying to curry favor with. This is her poem. 

This week, the Chinese Literature Podcast goes where few literary scholars have gone before. We take a look at some poetry by sex workers in the city of Dalian. In the podcast, I use the poem to tackle issues of gender in China. Be forewarned, there is some explicit language in this poetry. 

This week, Lee interviews Kyle Anderson, who has just published the first volume in a young adult series titled MountainSea Scrolls. This first volume is called The 9 Tailed Fox. Dr. Anderson describes the series as Narnia meets China.  Dr. Anderson has also worked in translation and academia, and his work includes the translation of the fascinating Forget Me.