A PLACE FOR SIDEWAYS TRAINS OF THOUGHT
Some time ago I posted an article on my liking for random walks, in which I outlined an insanely complicated method to get to places you weren't planning to see. Recently I found another way to go to randomly explore the world, without getting up from my chair. A few days ago, as I was... Continue Reading →
I remember clearly the first time I managed to understand a poem in classical Chinese. It was like seeing someone perform an unexpected conjuring trick, shaking out a piece of rope and then tossing it up into the air to make it stand stiffly like a stick . Then back again. There was certainly some... Continue Reading →
(Listen to the poem) Whenever youngsters out from school catch sight of me, they cry, “Hel-loh, hel-loh.” I smile and stop, pick one out with my gaze and ask, “Nǐ huì shuō yīngyǔ ma?” Can you speak English? It is as if, for them, a dog whose head you'd scratched had answered, “Hey, just cut... Continue Reading →
Hope cannot be said to exist, nor can it be said not to exist. It is just like roads across the earth. For actually the earth had no roads to begin with, but when many pass one way, a road is made. 希望本是无所谓有，无所谓无的。这正如地上的路；其实地上本没有路，走的人多了，也便成了路。 Lu Xun - My Old Home (January 1921) (You can... Continue Reading →
In old Shanghai, not only could one find all kinds of delicacies on the streets but the countless vendors all had their own special local colour. The ones from Shandong sold steamed buns, those from Northern Jiangsu "tiger paws" and "sesame seed rolls", the locals plied sugar plums and the Cantonese olives and water chestnut... Continue Reading →
Which of you owns that red moon, children ? That is the entirety of a poem by Kobayashi Issa. It has the magic of successful haiku. It makes a pinpoint in the wall surrounding us and lets in a flood of surprising images and thoughts. I by now have my own story sprung by these few... Continue Reading →
It's true that the fireworks the Children Brand children are playing with look like sparklers. But there still seems to be a bit of a discrepancy between what the wording on the label says (Do not hold in hand after lighting) and what the picture is suggesting. I suppose that if you are a Children... Continue Reading →