唐·章怀太子墓壁画《礼宾图》 Separation of Birth & Merit 1. Human life begins in lotteries Some of these lotteries operate at the level of groups: race, sex, skin color, facial features. Others operate at the level of the individual: height, intelligence, health, temperament, the family into which one is born, whether that family is wealthy or destitute. StillContinueContinue reading “Separation & Unity 3/6”
Author Archives: Yego
Separation & Unity 2/6
唐·章怀太子墓壁画《礼宾图》 Separation of Ownership and Use I. What Do You Really Own? China’s Seventy-Year Housing Right In China today, a private individual may buy an apartment, live in it, sell it, rent it out, or pass it on to heirs. And yet, under Chinese law, the right attached to that apartment expires after seventy years.ContinueContinue reading “Separation & Unity 2/6”
Separation & Unity 1/6
唐·章怀太子墓壁画《礼宾图》 Separation of Power & Wealth As China enters what is very likely to be the defining century of its history, an increasing number of observers—friendly, hostile, or simply curious—are asking the same question: what has made China successful? Some will point to luck: historical timing, global shifts, or the exhaustion of older powers. OthersContinueContinue reading “Separation & Unity 1/6”
玉铃
译者小注：本篇是川端康成《たますず》的中译。日文根据新潮文库版《川端康成全集》。我小妹已过世十年年，她生前名叫玉玲，今日不知为何，想起她来，去问她女儿，为什么会有这么个名字，侄女回我说：“不知道。” 我父母都过世了，想问也太晚了。就找来川端康成这篇小说，做成这篇翻译
Tamasuzu
たますず (jade bells) by Yasunari Kawabata Translator’s note: The Japanese title of Kawabata’s story is たますず (tamasuzu), composed of たま (“jade”) and すず (“bell”). The story appears in 《川端康成全集》（新潮社）. One further note: my younger sister, who passed away about ten years ago, was named 玉玲 (“sound of jade”). For reasons I cannot fully explain, IContinueContinue reading “Tamasuzu”
2025: The Year the Postwar Order Broke
the new Romance of the Three Kingdoms 2025 feels like one of those rare hinge years—the kind that only become obvious in hindsight, but which you can feel while you’re living through them. Eighty years after the end of World War II, the world order born from that moment is quietly, then loudly, falling apart.ContinueContinue reading “2025: The Year the Postwar Order Broke”
Lil Miss Etcetera
Axia Etcetera For 阿霞依婼——ꀊꎓꒉꅶ One day, Etcetera came up to me and put her sweet face down on my lap. “Dad, tell me about Mommy.” I said, “Honey, I wish I could, but since you were never born, and thus do not exist, I wouldn’t know how.” Then, seeing the tenacity in her eyes —ContinueContinue reading “Lil Miss Etcetera”
Y si un día
The other day, Manuel Huamán, lying there quiet in the dark of his grave, saw brown little children dancing, moviéndose bonito, and a scruffy yellow dog running around trying to bite at the girls’ skirts. Looked like they were from his pueblo… or maybe from up in those Peruvian or Bolivian mountains, could be MexicoContinueContinue reading “Y si un día”
China-Hating Chinese
Three Types of China Haters Who Are Ethnically Chinese Over the past decade, I’ve encountered a strange breed of Chinese people—not dissidents, not reformists, not critics motivated by genuine concern, but China haters who are ethnically Chinese—people who are visibly Chinese, whose wealth, education, and career were made possible by China, yet who resent andContinueContinue reading “China-Hating Chinese”
The Fighting Cricket
The Fighting Cricket A story from Liaozhai Zhiyi (Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio) During the Xuande reign, the palace grew fond of cricket fights and ordered the people to provide fighting crickets every year. These creatures weren’t native to the western parts, yet a magistrate in Huayin, eager to curry favor with his superiors,ContinueContinue reading “The Fighting Cricket”
Yego’s Chronicles 