mao talks about art & its relationship to politics in the midst of war against the japanese invasion. he critiques art of arts sake & argues that artsmao talks about art & its relationship to politics in the midst of war against the japanese invasion. he critiques art of arts sake & argues that arts purpose is firstly a political one, in serving the interest of this or that class. however, mao here is against simple sloganeering & believes proletariat art should not just popularise but also cultivate, & should take both the raw, rich material of the life of the masses but also past class literature. that in mind however, yes, art stands in relation to society+classes, but maos overpoliticisation endangers the social function & truth of art in its relative autonomy - his overall framing & remarks on lu xun reveal this. the politicisation of aesthetics risks being the mirror image of the aestheticisation of politics...more
pretty good! mao reports on the various peasant associations uprisings following the northern expedition, defending their struggles & making a strong pretty good! mao reports on the various peasant associations uprisings following the northern expedition, defending their struggles & making a strong case for the CCP to support them, against sceptical members who thought the CCPs strategy should focus on the urban workers. today its hard to imagine the CCP making it without the peasantry, so he was clearly onto something! he brings up a lot of anecdotes from his time investigating & living among the peasants, discussing their achievements, including breaking up landlord & magistrate power, reducing rents+grain prices, suppressing banditry, banning opium, & establishing schools, roads, & credit cooperatives. He also remarks on patriarchal relations & famously says that revolution is not a dinner party remarks at the spring festival by mao zedong - a short piece, mao casually spitballs with some people on domestic & foreign affairs, but mostly on education. people apparently started school at 7, & only finished uni & started working at 26 or 27, which does seem a bit excessive he criticises too much rote memorisation at the expense of sports, cultural activities, & time for recreational reading. he suggests starting work at 23/24, more vocational schools, a year or two of practical work in a factory/countryside before uni, & openbook exams...more
a social application of the ideas in maos "on contradictions", he discusses the nonantagonistic contradictions between different groups (eg. the peasaa social application of the ideas in maos "on contradictions", he discusses the nonantagonistic contradictions between different groups (eg. the peasantry, national bourgeoisie, national minorities) that together constitute the people & antagonistic contradictions between the people & the enemy. in the former, he advocates free discussion, education, & debate w/ proponents of even bourgeois ideas, coexistence with democratic parties, etc - "let a hundred flowers bloom", alongside some interesting remarks about chinese economic plans. however, the kicker is in the latter contradiction, in the broad identification of the counter-revolutionary who gets not democracy, but dictatorship in the colloquial sense. mao makes quite a few comments denouncing the hungarian revolution, which is pretty revealing of how far tolerance can actually go, made more sickening by his own involvement in soviet intervention. & of course, the hundred flower campaign that would follow this speech would soon be followed by the anti-rightist campaign he does say there are bound to be mistakes & excesses when identifying counterrevolutionaries, that annual comprehensive reviews, exonerations, etc should be made to correct them, & in a revolutionary situation i dont disagree counterrevolutionaries do exists ofc, but come on lol...more
mao gives his account of 'new democracy', the minimum programme of the CCP before socialism in the midst of its united front with the KMT in the 2nd smao gives his account of 'new democracy', the minimum programme of the CCP before socialism in the midst of its united front with the KMT in the 2nd sinojapanese war that basically accords with sun yat sens 3 principles. extremely repetitive & his initial section on china in relation to the world is p optimistic & determinist. however, i think his analysis of the different political factions from the 1911 revolution up to now is basically correct. & it cant really be argued that sun yat sen himself didnt advocate for an alliance with the soviets, the CCP, & for promoting the peasants against imperial+feudal elements that led to disaster after the 1911 revolution. he also gives a shoutout to lu xun & says they should consider past ideas both from europe & their own history, tho not uncritically...more
a follow-up from "on practice", mao gives his account of contradiction as the basic 'law' of dialectics. it has the same issues as "on practice", but a follow-up from "on practice", mao gives his account of contradiction as the basic 'law' of dialectics. it has the same issues as "on practice", but also has a p bad & derogatory historical account of 'metaphysics' typical of soviet diamat. in addition, mao is sometimes p sweeping & simplistic in his own applications of contradiction, in what some would say is an almost metaphysical way, & its misleading to present dialectics as just contradiction. however, his discussions of particular kinds of contradiction at different levels, principal aspects of contradictions, identity & struggle in a contradiction, & antagonism do seem novel & an interesting way to flesh out the idea of contradiction in general. you can find some resonance in his discussion with some daoist ideas which is neat...more
mao discusses the materialist dialectic, the progression from sense-data to cognition, & how active practice is embedded throughout the whole process.mao discusses the materialist dialectic, the progression from sense-data to cognition, & how active practice is embedded throughout the whole process. mao is perhaps too formalistic & soviet diamat-brained, too quick to pose a dichotomy between object & subject & so has a somewhat rigid & static conception of the object still (& of the subjects role in shaping it), & his brief account of rationalism & empiricism are not great, but this is a decent speech for people not really engaged in philosophy at all i suppose...more
ah-q is a petty & mean man, full of ressentiment & narcissism, who bullies the weak & finds moral superiority in his defeats. bleak & comic, lu xun ofah-q is a petty & mean man, full of ressentiment & narcissism, who bullies the weak & finds moral superiority in his defeats. bleak & comic, lu xun offers a pretty vicious commentary on the state of china after its encounter with the west & of a type of human, not unlike notes from the underground. puzzling in many ways, the narrator, framing, & ending also raises qs about genre & the kind of story this is. & set in the xinhai revolution, with a cynical depiction of the dynamics of revolutionaries. lots to think about ...more
frenetic & disturbing, lu xun's short story is a series of diary entries from a madman who believes that everyones out to eat him. he soon realises thfrenetic & disturbing, lu xun's short story is a series of diary entries from a madman who believes that everyones out to eat him. he soon realises that the whole of traditional chinese civilisation is based on cannibalism, human sacrifice. he begs the blurred crowd to change, but who can change the traditions of several millennia? his last entry is an imploring to save the next generation. but we tragically know from the beginning that he has since "made a full recovery" & ready to reintegrate into a broken society imbued with a modernism and lu xuns pessimism about the role of literature in politics however, all of this is problematised by the framing of the two narrators, such that it can't be straightforwardly or solely read as just a social critique...more
quite lovely. du fu's poetry is perhaps more grounded & autobiographical than li bais while still incorporating daoist & buddhist ideas - touching on quite lovely. du fu's poetry is perhaps more grounded & autobiographical than li bais while still incorporating daoist & buddhist ideas - touching on his wanderings & refuge from war, on crushing winters, poverty, & illness. he has a strong affective moral sense, appreciation of simplicity, & a quiet despair at the state of things during the an lushan rebellion. david hinton is the translator again, & even with the updated 2020 edition, he still insists on using wades-giles, which is rather annoying...more
a great & relatively short selection of li bai's poems, touching on nature, change, solitude, longing, drinking, & the sorrow of war. he blends in inca great & relatively short selection of li bai's poems, touching on nature, change, solitude, longing, drinking, & the sorrow of war. he blends in incredibly evocative imagery with daoist & buddhist ideas. david hintons translation is workable, although he uses wades-giles instead of pinyin which can be personally a bit off-putting, & on comparison, i prefer stephen owens translations of specific poems... its a shame he hasnt done a standalone selection of li bais work, for which id probably be more inclined to think highly of ...more
a slim collection of poems by li qingzhao, she writes w/ a lyrical & quiet sorrow touching on love & drink, loss & separation, exile & memory, expressa slim collection of poems by li qingzhao, she writes w/ a lyrical & quiet sorrow touching on love & drink, loss & separation, exile & memory, expressed all the more passionately as her life collecting books & reciting poems w/ her dearly loved husband perishes...more
this edition has notable versions of the Mulan tale, along w/ a good intro discussing its various revisions throughout history. mulans been portrayed this edition has notable versions of the Mulan tale, along w/ a good intro discussing its various revisions throughout history. mulans been portrayed as a filial daughter to an aging father or a patriotic defender of the nation - sometimes with a love interest, fighting bandits, knowing mystical daoist techniques, or even being just part of a much larger story! ofc, the theme of gender is also quite fascinating, sometimes played around in more conservative ways & not so. i prob enjoyed the oldest extant version & the 1939 screenplay the most...more
a 13th century text for children, it served as an intro to chinese characters, history & confucian ideas about filial piety, education, & moral exempla 13th century text for children, it served as an intro to chinese characters, history & confucian ideas about filial piety, education, & moral exemplars up to today. its written in lines of three characters for memorisation & recitation. it heavily emphasises diligence & studying, almost desperately exhorting the reader to use their limited time on earth to learn. this edition has decent commentary on every passage, translations of individual characters & more expanded versions of the text. really quite good & fun to read along with, id recommend this to anyone interested in learning more about chinese culture, as a really good starting point. a quite singular pedagogic tool to start to inculcate a person into a whole lifeworld ...more
contains an extensive intro discussing the background of the xiaojing & providing a spirited defence of the confucian worldview, the role of the familcontains an extensive intro discussing the background of the xiaojing & providing a spirited defence of the confucian worldview, the role of the family, & the importance of filial piety from a communitarian perspective. the xiaojing itself is quite short, but provides the confucian view of filial piety as the origin of other moral virtues & what nurtures our emotional affects of love & affection, to be extended outwards to other people & also expressed in other relationships including that of ruler & minister. interestingly, although hierarchical, its quite explicit that filial piety isnt just about obedience, & that when parents and rulers go wrong, its the obligation of the son and minister to remonstrate them & bring them back to the correct way...more
not as dialectical or conceptually sophisticated as the analects. repeats some of its themes, but focuses more on filial piety & particular virtues. hnot as dialectical or conceptually sophisticated as the analects. repeats some of its themes, but focuses more on filial piety & particular virtues. has a more mystical flavour to it. translation (james legge) is pretty wanting too...more
theres quite a bit i found interesting here. mozi begins by arguing for the need for models to rationally construct a good social order & calculate whtheres quite a bit i found interesting here. mozi begins by arguing for the need for models to rationally construct a good social order & calculate what brings benefit vs harm to the world. he advocates inclusive care/universal love (but not abstracted from relationships as some people caricature), meritocracy in appointing government officials, austerity for the elites & the dispensing of extravagant rituals to ensure the material security of the people, & the condemning of aggressive warfare & submitting to fate. however, he is quite reliant on a universal model which he finds in heaven & the ghosts, but this brings up metaethical issues. he also presents a theory of the state of nature, an account of supply & demand, a zenos paradox etc. seems to be a good selection, but I wouldve liked more dialogues!...more
short, mao dun's naturalism takes him to depicting the precarious status of shopkeepers & silkfarmers amid historical exigencies & networks of capitalshort, mao dun's naturalism takes him to depicting the precarious status of shopkeepers & silkfarmers amid historical exigencies & networks of capital, debt, & econ pressures. he's sympathetic to their plight, humanising them quite well. the star of the show for me here is the shop of the lin family, particularly with its change of pov (& class position) in the ending. you've got the sinojapanese war, corrupt officials, ruthless competitors, & the people too impoverished to afford anything all layered...more
memoirs from shen fu, a scholarly, somewhat inept, & hapless member of the lower gentry in qing dynasty china. he writes most intimately about his tenmemoirs from shen fu, a scholarly, somewhat inept, & hapless member of the lower gentry in qing dynasty china. he writes most intimately about his tender relationship with his wife Yun, who is really his intellectual equal & who i really love. their love of poetry+drinking games & their tragedy in poverty, illness, & the strictures of traditional confucian society are really touching. there were some interesting subversions of gender norms, & he also touches extensively on his travels, architectural+interior design & flower arrangement, courtesans & sexuality, food, religion, family, money, & other aspects of Qing dynasty life. structured non-linearly, it's a shame that we only have four out of the six records. i was in tears over Yun's death, something constantly looming throughout the memoirs...more
an incredibly fascinating era of history, this book mainly covers the qin & han dynasties with some discussion of the warring states period. the book an incredibly fascinating era of history, this book mainly covers the qin & han dynasties with some discussion of the warring states period. the book mainly takes a thematic approach to the subject, discussing geography, war, rural life, culture, law, etc, which might presuppose some passing chronological familiarity with this period. assuming you do however, theres some really informative examination of different aspects of ancient chinese society. one thing i wouldve liked to see was more information on the yellow turban rebellion (one of the major causes of the han dynasty's downfall), which only gets a passing reference. perhaps the author is saving that for the next book in the series lol...more
