Chinese Literature - Blog Posts
@ruibaozha shared this opera the other day and i'm, in love OvO
no english subtitles but the acrobatics and acting more than makes up for it, definitely a fun time!
Ch'ang Ch'u Ling, translated by Kenneth Rexroth, from a poem titled "Since You Left,"
“You glow like a perfumed lamp In the gathering shadows.”
— Wu Tsao, from For the Courtesan Ch’ing Lin; Women Poets of China (tr. by Kenneth Rexroth)
If you like Dorohedoro I think you would like the novella "Yellow Mud Street" aka "Huangni Street" by Can Xue
Yellow Mud Street is more dreamlike and has less of a lucid story arc, but the immersive grossness and beauty of the world is quite similar. I am not finished reading it yet, but I think it would appeal to those who value that kind of powerful imagery and the view of society it connects to
To Live - Yu Hua
Quotes that I really liked and felt the need to underline:
"All it took was a word from the higher-ups and we'd all think and do whatever they wanted."
"You still owe us a life, hold on to your life to repay us."
"No matter how lucky a person is, the moment he decides he wants to die, there's nothing that will keep him alive."
"No matter how many hardships and difficulties people face in life, they always find a way to console themselves when they get close to death."
"If you go on striving for this and that, you’ll end up paying with your life."
"I thought it must be terrible to be an ox. All their lives they're driven to the point of exhaustion for the work of man, and as soon as they get old and their energy starts to go they get sent off to be slaughteted and eaten."
"My memories of Fengxia are my only happiness."