Category: Essays
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Editor’s note: Chaβs long-term contributor Matt Turner introduces 6AMING, his forthcoming poetry book from Antiphony, due in September. In this short essay, he discusses time-stamped automatic writing, no-music influence, not-poetry, underground journals, and resistance to spectacle, surveillance, and institutional validation.…
![[ESSAY] βNO U-TURNβ6π΄ππΌππΊ: Themes and Contextsβ by Matt Turner](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/matt-turner-6aming-cha-asian.png?w=637)
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Editor’s note: Llinos Evansβs essay traces the literary and linguistic significance of the One-Syllable Article through a detailed reading of Yuen Ren Chaoβs βLion-Eating Poet in the Stone Denβ. Moving beyond its reputation as a phonetic curiosity, it argues for…
![[ESSAY] “Beyond the Stone Den: One-Syllable Articles as Literary FormβAn Introduction” by Llinos Evans](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/poem.jpg?w=785)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] βThings Fall Apart: Kong Shangrenβs The Peach Blossom Fanβ by Jeff Tompkins Kong Shangren (author), Wai-yee Li (translator). The Peach Blossom Fan, Oxford University Press, 2024. 816 pgs. Wai-yee Li…
![[ESSAY] βThings Fall Apart: Kong Shangrenβs πβπ ππππβ π΅πππ π ππ πΉππβ by Jeff Tompkins](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/the-peach-blossom-fan.png?w=1024)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] βItβs My House, and I Live Here: Weike Wangβs Rental Houseβ by Peixuan Xie Weike Wang, Rental House, Riverhead Books, 2024. 224 pgs. Reading Rental House is, for a Chinese…
![[ESSAY] βItβs My House, and I Live Here: Weike Wangβs π
πππ‘ππ π»ππ’π πβ by Peixuan Xie](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/rental-house.jpg?w=994)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] “Order in the City: Tammy Lai-Ming Ho’sIf I Do Not Reply” by Luca Griseri Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on If I Do Not Reply. Tammy Lai-Ming Ho, If I Do Not…
![[ESSAY] “Order in the City: Tammy Lai-Ming Ho’s πΌπ πΌ π·π πππ‘ π
πππ𦔠by Luca Griseri](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/if-i-do-not-reply_tammy-ho.jpg?w=907)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] βRather Demolish Ten Temples Than Destroy One Marriage: Tiantian Zhengβs Violent Intimacyβ by Laurence Westwood Tiantian Zheng, Violent Intimacy: Family Harmony, State Stability, and Intimate Partner Violence in Post-Socialist China,…
![[ESSAY] βRather Demolish Ten Temples Than Destroy One Marriage: Tiantian Zhengβs πππππππ‘ πΌππ‘πππππ¦β by Laurence Westwood](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/violent-intimacy-family-harmony-state-stability-and-intimate-partner-violence-in-post-socialist-china.jpg?w=1000)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] βHot Popping Momma!: Reading Jin Yong in Translation, Part II” by Jeff Tompkins Read “Reading Jin Yong in Translation, Part I” HERE.ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ on John Minford. Jin Yong,…
![[ESSAY] βHot Popping Momma!: Reading Jin Yong in Translation, Part II” by Jeff Tompkins](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/20240315172927214401contentphoto4.jpg?w=1000)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] βThe Places We Would Rather Be: Yan Geβs Elsewhereβ by X. H. Collins Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Yan Ge. Yan Ge, Elsewhere: Stories, Scribner, 2023. 304 pgs. I became interested…
![[ESSAY] βThe Places We Would Rather Be: Yan Geβs πΈππ ππ€βπππβ by X. H. Collins](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/elsewhere-yan-ge.jpg?w=994)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] “Kung Fu Is a Store of Infinite Fun: Reading Jin Yong in Translation, Part I” by Jeff Tompkins Read βReading Jin Yong in Translation, Part IIβ HERE. Jin Yong, aka…
![[ESSAY] “Kung Fu Is a Store of Infinite Fun: Reading Jin Yong in Translation, Part I” by Jeff Tompkins](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/legends-of-the-condor-heroes--2.png?w=1024)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] “On the Lighter Side: Nektaria Anastasiadou’s A Recipe for Daphne” by Beth Adams Nektaria Anastasiadou, A Recipe for Daphne, Hoopoe Fiction, 2021. 326 pgs. βA monstrous confusion of civilization and…
![[ESSAY] “On the Lighter Side: Nektaria Anastasiadou’s π΄ π
πππππ πππ π·ππβππ” by Beth Adams](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/2021-02-12-dsc_0074-copy.jpg?w=1024)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] “A Recipe for Confusion: Henrietta Harrison’s The Perils of Interpreting” by Laurence Westwood ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ onΒ The Perils of Interpreting. Henrietta Harrison, The Perils of Interpreting: The Extraordinary Lives of…
![[ESSAY] “A Recipe for Confusion: Henrietta Harrison’s πβπ ππππππ ππ πΌππ‘ππππππ‘πππ” by Laurence Westwood](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/the-perils-of-interpreting-the-extraordinary-lives-of-two-translators-between-qing-china-and-the-british-empire-1.png?w=1023)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] βWhat Does It Mean to Be a Feminist in China? Reviewing Feminisms with Chinese Characteristicsβ by X. H. Collins Ping Zhu and Hui Faye Xiao (editors), Feminisms with Chinese Characteristics, Syracuse…
![[ESSAY] βWhat Does It Mean to Be a Feminist in China? Reviewing πΉππππππ ππ Β π€ππ‘β πΆβππππ π πΆβπππππ‘ππππ π‘πππ β by X. H. Collins](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/feminists_chinese-characteristics.png?w=1024)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] “Giving a Voice to Those With None: Karen Ma’s China’s Millennial Digital Generation” by X. H. Collins Karen Ma. Chinaβs Millennial Digital Generation: Conversations with Balinghou (Post-1980s) Indie Filmmakers, Long…
![[ESSAY] “Giving a Voice to Those With None: Karen Ma’s πΆβπππ’π ππππππππππ π·ππππ‘ππ πΊππππππ‘πππ” by X. H. Collins](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/chinas-millennial-digital-generation-conversations-with-balinghou-post-1980s-indie-filmmakers-1.png?w=1024)
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