The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast

Trembling hands seem to check for the forgotten secret language. Withered bodies, like finding some long-forgotten receipt. Where have you been all these years? The mountains echo again, spring’s call is finally answered: I am the secret language you forgot. You are my lost credentials.In the ninety fifth episode of the Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast we are embarking on My Travels in Ding Yi (我的丁一之旅 - wǒ de dīng yī zhīlǚ). This is one of the later works in the life of Shi Tiesheng, an idiosyncratic writer best remembered as being a ‘disabled writer’ but better remembered as something far more multifaceted. Peer in from another mind, another world, as academic Chloë Starr and I confer with Christ and become embodied with Budda. Perhaps, somehow, we’ll puzzle out our brief roles on the stage play of existence.-// NEWS ITEMS //New short Chen Qiufan interview on AIChi Ta-wei’s The Membranes optioned for film adaptation(!)Intriguing academic book: Strange Tales from Edo by William D. Fleming-// WORD OF THE DAY //(心识不死 – xīn shì bùsǐ – the spirit never dies)-// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //Chloë’s paper: Shi Tiesheng and the Nature of the HumanThe Cultural Christian movement in ChinaWhat We Owe the Future by Willam McAskillLife on a String (1991, Chen Kaige) - an adaptation of Shi Tiesheng’s 命若琴弦-// Handy TrChFic Links //Help Support TrChFic // Episode TranscriptsINSTAGRAM ⛪ TWITTER ⛪ DISCORD

‘It’s just life, right? One place is as good as another’In the ninety third episode of the Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast we are Running through Beijing (跑步穿过中关村 - pǎobù chuānguò zhōngguāncūn) in the loping style of 70后 hero Xu Zechen. At the fabled finishing line – observing us wryly, beer and chuan’er in hand – is the translator, Eric Abrahamsen of Paper Republic fame. Insert your porn DVD, stamp your hukou, and - most importantly – find somewhere to sleep tonight.-// NEWS ITEMS //WATCH: Two queens discuss their translation of Lu Min’s Dinner for SixBORROW: University librarians take note: new tome incomingREAD: A Sailor on the Ferry 🇭🇰 by & tr Jasmine Tong-// WORD OF THE DAY //(跑步 – pǎobù – running)-// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //the glorious Beijing hukouBeijing Sprawl by Xu Zechen, tr. our guest Eric & Jeremy Tiangperformative DVD crushing, lolthe analog and digital history of ZhongguancunThe Diary of Miss Sophie (and my ep on it)-// Handy TrChFic Links //Help Support TrChFic // Episode TranscriptsINSTAGRAM🍢TWITTER🍢DISCORD

‘I’ve never broken any rules, not even rules at school. Why would I blackmail someone?’’In the ninety second episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast we are getting duped by Bad Kids (坏孩子 - huài háizi). Fleeing the proverbial orphanage with me is the book’s translator, Michelle Deeter, here to mark a breadcrumb trail through the dark children’s palace that author Zijin Chen has constructed for the benefit and perturbation of all.-// NEWS ITEMS //READ: 'The Sacred Clan': Liang Hong turns to fiction to explore rural ChinaREAD: The Bug Princess by Yang ShuangziVISIT: an exhibit on poet Su Shi at West Lake Museum in Hangzhou-// WORD OF THE DAY //(骄傲 – jiāo'ào – pride)-// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //Children’s palaces of China and the Soviet UnionThe Untouched Crime, also by Zijin ChenAmazon Crossing’s translated Chinese titles-// Handy TrChFic Links //Help Support TrChFic // Episode TranscriptsINSTAGRAM 📹 TWITTER 📹 DISCORD

‘The “exquisite bridges and flowing water” one finds in poetry are not written by real farmers, but those who claim to love rural life when they most fear it.’In the ninety first episode of the Translated Chinese Podcast, we are travelling half across China to pod you. The writer in question is rural/online star Yu Xiuhua and my guest is her translator, the thoughtful and particular Fiona Sze-Lorrain. The art in question is Yu’s collection of poems and essays Moonlight Rests on My Left Palm (月光落在左手上 - yuèguāng luò zài zuǒshǒu shàng), but spare also a thought for my guest’s recent release, Dear Chrysanthemums: a novel in stories.-// NEWS ITEMS //the Qiu Jin affair - a #namethetranslator incidentMachine Decision is Not Final - new theory-fiction sci-fi allstar texta Xu Xiaobin reading from Paper RepublicSinoist Books northern expedition incoming, keep your eyes peeled-// WORD OF THE DAY //(悟 – wù – understand, enlighten, awaken)-// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //Dear Chrysanthemums: a novel in storiesIn Manchuria: A Village Called Wasteland and the Transformation of Rural ChinaSunset Song by Lewis Grassic GibbonLi Juan, another rural writer-// Handy TrChFic Links //Help Support TrChFic // Episode TranscriptsINSTAGRAM🫴TWITTER🫴DISCORD

‘The man in the bed looks at her. An enormous force seems to be pulling him into a world behind him, a world whose gates will soon be shut forever. She strokes his forehead gently.’In the eighty ninth episode of the Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast we are enfolding ourselves within Cocoon, the dreamlike and sometimes upsetting dual-bildungsroman and return to realism by post-85 author Zhang Yueran. Lost with me (yet ever so far away) somewhere in the low-hanging fog is the book’s translator, Jeremy Tiang. All time is one time, you poor thing; so join us, that we may better navigate it.-// NEWS ITEMS //Meta news: We’re not blocked!(?)A new Condor Heroes film is in the worksREAD: an excerpt of Cloudland by Wu Ming-yi-// WORD OF THE DAY //(茧 – jiǎn – cocoon)-// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //Scar literature - Cultural Revolution trauma writingChinese writers at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop (a long history)The Crow Road & The Wasp Factory by Iain BanksThe Promise Bird by Zhang Yueran-// Handy TrChFic Links //Help Support TrChFic // Episode TranscriptsINSTAGRAM🦋TWITTER🦋DISCORD

‘The final cut – the coup de grace – entered Qian’s heart, from which black blood the colour and consistency of melted malt sugar slid down the knife blade'In the eighty fifth episode of the Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are experiencing the lacerating pains of Sandalwood Death, as dealt to us by Nobel literature prizewinner Mo Yan. It’s time to rip Shandong Province apart in a rebellion for the songbooks. Weapon in hand, the Sun Wukong to my Yue Fei is translator Stefan Rusinov. We laugh, we brood, we hallucinate, and we shake our fists at the craven villain Yuan Shikai, all the while pondering: is torture an artform?-// NEWS ITEMS //A Record of My Battle with the Virus by Han Song, translated by Michael BerryXi Xi: Can We Say // a special issue on the recently late writerGu Long’s Blood Parrot, translated by DeathbladeSCMP takes a look at the new prequel to The Wandering Earth-// WORD OF THE DAY //(喵 – miāo – meow)-// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //Gao Xingjian - another Han nobel lit prize winnerMo Yan’s Life and Death Are Wearing Me OutJiaozhou, Imperial Germany’s Shandong colonyStefan’s previous TrChFic appearance, discussing Can Xue-// Handy TrChFic Links //Help Support TrChFic // Episode TranscriptsINSTAGRAM 🔪 TWITTER 🔪 DISCORD

‘Generation after generation, people have lived in this massive sick ward we call the universe ’In the eighty fourth episode of the Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are lost deep inside Hospital, the first entry in an abyssal trilogy by show favourite Han Song. Old-time wardmates Michael Berry and Mingwei Song are here too, groaning in the darkness.-// NEWS ITEMS //Tencent’s Three Body Problem series arrives… on Youtube!A podcast interview w/ Yan Ge & Jeremy Tiang on Strange Beasts of ChinaBookshop.org puts out a Lunar New Year reading list 🐇🐇🐇New book: New Medieval Books: A History of Chinese Literature by Zhang Longxi-// WORDS OF THE DAY //(生存 – shēngcún – survival)(痛苦 – tòngkǔ – pain)-// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //Remains of Life, tr by MichaelLu Xun’s Diary of a Madman // [FULL TEXT]Life extension gene therapy & the first gene edited babiesThe Reincarnated Giant - CUP’s Chinese sci-fi anthologyHan Song’s Weibo accountTranslation, Disinformation, and Wuhan Diary - Michael’s meta-book

‘If you lived in one of the lanes of Puxi, the moment you stepped out your door, you would find yourself in the thick of urban life in all its boisterous variety.'In the eighty second episode of the Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are paying a visit to The Sanctimonious Cobbler (骄傲的皮匠 / Jiāo'ào de Píjiàng), a novella by Wang Anyi which can be read in By the River: Seven Contemporary Chinese Novellas. Wandering with me down the longtang to cast an eye across the little affairs and petites affaires of shopkeeper Shanghai is friend of the pod and Malta-based scholar Lehyla Heward.-// NEWS ITEMS //Louise Law’s Ark E Newsletter for updates on Hong Kong litDurham University’s Centre for Contemporary Chinese Studies joins Twitter (at this late hour)Uchiyama Bookstore reopens (Sources: Ting Guo, China Plus, Shine)Two Lines Press announces translation of Xu Zechen’s Beijing Sprawl + a reissue of his Running Through Beijing-// WORD OF THE DAY //(中篇小说 - zhōngpiān xiǎoshuō - novella/novelette)-// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //Kirk Denton’s Modern Chinese Literary Thoughtthe foreign graveyard in Jing’an & Xujiahui’s Catholic historythe Newman Prize for Chinese LiteratureOne Evening in the Rainy Season by Shi ZhecunComma Press’ The Book of Shanghai and my episode on itThe Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh

A star’s coming of age was the process of slowly getting uglier.In the eighty first episode of the Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, writer/researcher Yen Ooi and I are gazing up at The Stars We Raised (逃跑星辰 / táopǎo xīngchén), a short story by Xiu Xinyu featured in the all-women + nonbinary anthology The Way Spring Arrives. Once more, a Chinese science fiction story is taking us down to the countryside for melancholy reflections on the pains of growing up. Yen and I dig into the pains of publishing too, from gender to generation and from style to synthesis.-// NEWS ITEMS //I will be hosting Sinoist Books’ November 2022 Book Club on Li Peifu’s GraftYan Ge’s next book Elsewhere is incoming – and it’s not a translationNew academic anthology Readings in Chinese Women’s Philosophical and Feminist Thought could make for a decent Christmas present, if you’ve got a spare £90-// WORD OF THE DAY //(仁 - rén - human kind(ness))-// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //Yen’s musical pairing: Debussy - Suite bergamasque, L. 75 - I. PréludeAngus’ musical pairing: Breaking Benjamin - Had Enough (live, acoustic)Rén 仁 by Yen OoiUFO in Her Eyes by Xiaolu GuoHow to Catch a Star by Oliver JeffersA Prayer for the Crown Shy by Becky ChambersThe Beijing of Possibilities by Jonathan TelWe Could Not See the Stars by Elizabeth Wong

‘In the same spot where Father died, the dead body of a deer lay prostrate in the rain.’In the eightieth episode of the Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, it’s Raining Zebra Finches (斑胸草雀 / bān xiōng cǎo què). Blame for this troubling meteorological occurrence falls upon Taiwanese author Chiou Charng-Ting; it’s her story. Under the weather with me is her translator, May Huang. In our discussion we’ll be testing the limits of our earthly knowledge and dreaming of other philosophies. When nature stops hiding and springs the inexplicable upon us, where else is there to turn?-// NEWS ITEMS //Balestier Press publishes The Pidgin Warrior, David Hull’s translation of a kung fu satire written in the 1930s by Zhang TianyiA horror followup to Sinopticon, titled Sinophagia, is on the wayCan Xue’s Mystery Train published by Sublunary Editions on Oct 18th-// WORD OF THE DAY //(梅雨季 - méiyǔ jì - plum rain season)-// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //Angus’ musical pairing: The Alien from the Annihilation OSTMay’s musical pairings: Ivy by Taylor Swift & Mother’s Daughter by Miley CyrusFang Si-Chi’s First Love Paradise by Lin Yi-HanJeff Vandermeer’s Area X/Southern Reach TrilogyOwlish by Dorothy Tse (tr. Natascha Bruce)Quantum entangled communication in His Dark MaterialsPlato’s allegory of the cave

‘History is nothing more than a complex construction of records and observations’In the seventy ninth episode of the Translated Chinese Fiction podcast, we’re riding the Express to Beijing West Railway Station (开往西站的特别列车 / kāiwǎng xī zhàn de tèbié lièchē), and I’ll be buying my ticket from none other than the author herself, Mu Ming. En route we’ll be passing by the scenic works of William Blake and Christopher Nolan, and pondering whether Shakespeare and Lu Xun would make good Netflix writers (see Patreon feed). Long-time TrChFic listeners will also already know all-too-well: you’re going to hear me enthuse about trains. Sorry.-// NEWS ITEMS //WATCH: Qiufan Chen on How Chinese Science Fiction Imagines Our FutureWATCH: Gloria S Tseng on Biblical Imagery in Early Twentieth-Century Chinese LiteratureREAD: a new issue of Chinese Literature and Thought Today with a newly translated Han Song story & an essay on Little Smarty Travels to the Future-// WORD OF THE DAY //(想象力 - xiǎngxiànglì - imagination)-// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //Mu Ming’s musial pairing: The Grandmaster OSTAngus’ musical pairing: The End Where We Start by The Black QueenThe Art of Doing Science and Engineering by Richard HemmingThe Dragon by Ray BradburyGood Hunting by Ken LiuThe Serpentine Band 宛转环 by Mu Ming herselfThe Snow of Jinyang 晋阳三尺雪 by Zhang RanVital: The Future of Healthcare - a sci fi anthologyKaili Blues 路边野餐 (2015, dir Bi Gan)

‘Then each Boxer lad who loves fighting and fun, let him follow the bonnets of bonnie Prince Tuan’In the seventy eighth episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast we are riding to war behind Bonnie Prince Tuan, a poem by a Chinese Scotiaphile that draws a parallel between two sets of rebels: the Jacobites of the Scottish highlands and the Boxers of northern China. Here to lend some Boxer brawn to my Jacobean jesting is Lee Moore of the Chinese Literature Podcast – a show that has already devoted an episode to this madness.-// NEWS ITEMS //Bad Kids by Chen Zijin, a new Michelle Deeter translation, is out!Shaanxi Opera by Jia Pingawa, a new Nicky Harman + Dylan Levi King translation, is out!Found in Translation - Nicky Harman considers the state of translated Chinese litWhy do China books all look the same? - an article from The China Project (formerly SupChina)A third translation of Lu Xun’s Wild Grass enters the world-// WORDS OF THE DAY //(廣記不如淡墨 - guǎng jì bùrú dàn mò - the best memory is not as good as the palest ink)(雅各布派 - yǎ gè bù pài - Jacobite)-// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //Angus’ musical pairings: Wolves of Winter by Biffy Clyro, and I’m Shipping up to Boston by Dropkick MurphydLee’s musical pairing: Ride my Monster by Enter the HaggisMy episode with Sinoist Books’ Daniel Lee on A Looking-Glass WorldThe Jacobite risings led by Bonnie Dundee and Bonnie Prince Charles多少恨 - the novella that Eileen Chang apparently based on Jane EyreCan Xue and Kafka - here discussed by Stella Zhu

“You can give me your empty words if you like; I’ve come to fill out the forms permitting us to withdraw from society.”In the seventy seventh episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast we are turning our cheek to Lenin's Kisses (受活 / shòu huó) by Yan Lianke. Yes, I’m finally dealing with him – and not alone. Piotr Machajek is here to show me how to Liven, as we look into the pros and cons of entering and retreating from a society that just cannot leave things be.-// NEWS ITEMS //Wang Xiaobo’s Golden Age gets a retranslation & a spot in the NYTMildly interesting: a 2005 poll comparing expert & popular rankings of Chinese authorsWang Shuo appears to enter Twitter and announce a new bookPaper Republic profiles Fujianese poet Wu Ang-// WORDS OF THE DAY //(狗带 - gǒu dài - go die)(入世，出世 - rùshì, chūshì - enter society, withdraw from society)-// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //Angus’ musical pairing - Nevergreen by EmancipatorPiotr’s musical pairing - The Perfect Revival Plan by Zhang Ling - 我是老张BIG JOHNJiayang Fan in the New Yorker: Yan Lianke’s Forbidden Satires of Chinathe concept of ‘habitus’ in Bordieu’s thoughtthe concept of ‘biopolitics’ in Focault’s thoughtReference News - a heritage PRC newspaper covering ‘the outside world’the commodification of Mao Zedong & Maoism

“Unmasking a universally accepted lie or overturning an irreplaceable idol will produce something akin to a mental collapse.”In the seventy sixth episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast we are hitting Zero (零 / líng). Joining me on deck are The Hugonauts, as we navigate a dystopian world that might be a postmodern riff on 1984 by amorphous author Huang Fan, or might be something far more sinister. All seasoned rebels know: sometimes you crash the system, and sometimes the system crashes you.-// NEWS ITEMS //READ: Cao Kou’s The Wall Builder, translated by a pair of familiar namesCan Xue’s Mystery Train now available for preorder in the USYan Ge nears the end of draft 1 of a new (in a sense) Chinese language novelSFRA publishes Xi Liu’s Stories on Sexual Violence as “Thought Experiments”: Post-1990s Chinese Science Fiction as an ExampleEast Asian astroturf: a flood of “books” on Taiwan, China, and Nancy Pelosi hits Amazon-// WORD OF THE DAY //(理 - lǐ - reason)-// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //Angus’ musical pairing: Way out of Here by Porcupine TreeThe ‘four industrial revolutions’ theoryThe PRC’s blocking of Wikipedia and efforts to ‘delete’ Tiananmen 1989 from collective memoryPostwar Taiwan as a US-backed, far-right dictatorshipHao Jingfang’s Folding Beijing and its win at The Hugo Awards

“Are you going to let your son die for nothing?”In the seventy fifth episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast we are surviving The Curse (杨村的一则诅咒 / yáng cūn de yī zé zǔzhòu). My partner for this investigation is literary Sinologist Jeffrey Kinkley. What exactly are we dealing with here? A tale of a backfiring curse, or a backfiring society? For realist writing to penetrate our often nightmarish world and scratch The Real, does it have to get weird first? Detective K and I are on the case. Don’t expect comforting answers.-// NEWS ITEMS //Next London Chinese Sci-fi Group meeting on July 31st: The Strange Girl by Xiu Xinyu, tr Emily JinCaroline Jortay announces publication date for HK Lit anthology from Editions JentayuChinese woman wrote her own alternate history of Russia on Wikipedia-// WORD OF THE DAY //(游离 - yóulí - to disassociate)-// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //Rudolph Wagner on Chinese Scifi as Lobby LiteratureThe Woodpecker, the Chinese justice ministry’s literary journalL'Étranger, by Albert CamusTwo Lives - a recent A Yi short story collectionJeffrey’s own Corruption and Realism in Late Socialist China