Blogs in January 2020

Monkey: The Journey to the West 28th January 2020

Probably the most popular book in the history of the Far East, this classic combination of picaresque novel and folk epic mixes satire, allegory, and history into a rollicking tale. It is the story of the rougish Monkey and...

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Barbarians 28th January 2020

My fourth historical epic is “Barbarians.” Set in the China of the mid-nineteenth century, it explores the terrible events that followed the first translation of the Bible into Chinese. The true history behind this novel is stranger than anything...

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Waiting 28th January 2020

“In Waiting, Ha Jin portrays the life of Lin Kong, a dedicated doctor torn by his love for two women: one who belongs to the New China of the Cultural Revolution, the other to the ancient traditions of his...

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Imperial Woman 28th January 2020

Imperial Woman is the fictionalized biography of the last Empress in China, Ci-xi, who began as a concubine of the Xianfeng Emperor and on his death became the de facto head of the Qing Dynasty until her death in...

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The Last Empress 28th January 2020

At the end of the nineteenth century China is rocked by foreign attacks and local rebellions. The only constant is the power wielded by one woman, Tzu Hsi, also known as Empress Orchid, who must face the perilous condition...

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