The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast

The ultimate fate of all intelligent beings has always been to become as grand as their thoughts.

Episode 40 is no ordinary episode! This time TrChFic is crossing over with Couch Command and its esteemed host Keith Hayward to jump right down the Chinese sci-fi wormhole of Liu Cixin's haymaker-punch ending to his Three Body Problem trilogy, Death's End (死神永生 / Sǐshén Yǒngshēng). Hell yes.

-

// NEWS ITEMS //

• Feng Jicai event: Tales of Old Tianjin w/ XINRAN, Guanghwa Bookshop & Sinoist Books

• What's Going Wrong With Translated Chinese Literature? by Dylan Levi King

• On UFOlogy with Chinese Characteristics and the Fate of Chinese Socialism

-

// WORD OF THE DAY //

(警告 / Jǐnggào / warning)

-

// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //

• What Makes Chinese Science Fiction Chinese? by Xia Jia

• The Roman and Chinese Empires

• The London Chinese Scifi Group and their discussion of The Lighthouse Girl by Baoshu

• The Cultural Revolution, Fanaticism and Rationality in The Three-Body Problem - a Master's thesis that gets into some of what Keith and I discuss

-

// Handy TrChFic Links //

Episode Transcripts // Help Support TrChFic

INSTAGRAM // TWITTER // DISCORD

executioner: ᴇᴜᴍᴇɴɪᴅᴇs

In the thirty ninth episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at Death Notice (死亡通知单 / Sǐwáng Tōngzhī Dān), a fast paced crime thriller with a mean streak. Joining me to inspect the corpses is its polymath translator, Zac Haluza. Expect to be surprised by just how much this work was adapted in translation.

-

// NEWS ITEMS //

• The Southern Tour Podcast

• Strange Beasts of China by Yan Ge

• China's Muslims and Japan's Empire

-

// WORD OF THE DAY //

(時差 / shíchā / time difference)

-

// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //

• Zhou Haohui NYT article

• Exit West by Mohsin Hamid

• numbing spice

-

// Handy TrChFic Links //

Episode Transcripts // Help Support TrChFic

INSTAGRAM // TWITTER // DISCORD

'O thou city that surpasseth our understanding! How impressive are they emptiness, and thy commonness, and thy bad taste!'

In the thirty eighth episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at Hymn to Shanghai (上海之歌 / Shànghǎi Zhīgē), a piece by 'the little critic' himself, Lin Yutang. Joining me to pick apart Lin's biblical condemnation is the roguish raconteur and historian of Old Shanghai, Paul French. Expect to hear a lot about the virtues of liberal cosmopolitanism and the evils of Art Deco and gin liqueur.

-

// NEWS ITEMS //

• Yen Ooi's article in the SFRA review - Chinese Science Fiction: A Genre of Adversity

• The Three Body Problem gets picked up by Netflix

• a cool book I only just learned exists: Reading Lu Xun Through Carl Jung

-

// WORD OF THE DAY //

(黄包车 / huáng bāo chē / rickshaw)

-

// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //

• Little Tokyo in Old Shanghai

• Do Bedbugs Exist in China? by Lin Yutang

• Lin Yutang's Chinese typewriter

• Extraterritoriality in China

• Metropolis (dir. Fritz Lang, 1927)

• The XXth Century - the Nazi magazine that Eileen Chang got her start in

-

// Handy TrChFic Links //

Episode Transcripts // Help Support TrChFic

INSTAGRAM // TWITTER // DISCORD

'The scholar suddenly glimpsed a movement in the darkness. Something dived towards him like a swift bird. The shadowy outline of a person neared him, reaching out with a hand.'

In the thirty seventh episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at The Woman in the Carriage (车中女子 / Chē Zhōng Nǚzǐ), a chuanqi story dating back to the Tang Dynasty. Our guest is its translator, Yilin Wang.

The Woman in the Carriage is a short tale, but the more you look at it, the more you see. Moral lessons, subtle humour, inexplicable strangeness, the roots of modern wuxia...it's all there!

A condensed transcript of the interview in this episode is available on Yilin's website.

-

// NEWS ITEMS //

• Shen Shixi's children's lit controversy

• New guidelines for Chinese scifi films from the China Film Administration

• The MCLC Modern Chinese Literature Video Lecture Series

-

// WORD OF THE DAY //

(盗贼 / dào zéi / thief)

-

// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //

• Yilin's blog on Jin Yong

• The term chuanqi

• The Man Who Sold a Ghost

-

// Handy TrChFic Links //

Episode Transcripts // Help Support TrChFic

INSTAGRAM // TWITTER // DISCORD

'I think there is no brother in this world as strange as you'

In the thirty sixth episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at a video game(!) series called Gujian (古剑/ Gǔ Jiàn). Helping me level up and face my shadow self is Emily Jin, a highly active Chinese science fiction translator, and better yet: a hardcore Gujian fan!

Gujian isn't a Western Tolkeinesque RPG, nor is it a JRPG Final Fantasy-style affair. It's made in China, set in China, and played (mostly) by Chinese gamers. You may not be shocked to learn that it's a Wuxia RPG, with a little Xianxia magic thrown in for good measure.

-

// NEWS ITEMS //

• a new interview with Murong Xuecun

• Land Wars and Xi Jinping's father

• 2021 Newman prize nominees announced

-

// WORD OF THE DAY //

(剑 / Jiàn / a straight, double-edged Chinese sword)

-

// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //

• Paladin - Gujian's predecessor

• Fable - Angus' beloved teenage RPG

• ancient Yanling 鄢陵 - a 'flower city'

• 'the Shadow' in Jungian thought

• Philip K Dick, other realities, and the hero's journey

• Bi Xie 辟邪 - the mythic animal Emily described

• C语言修仙 - the Chinese hacker/xianxia webnovel Emily recommended

-

// Handy TrChFic Links //

Episode Transcripts // Help Support TrChFic

INSTAGRAM // TWITTER // DISCORD

...the lid of the stone coffin slowly shifted open, filling the chamber with a rancid stench of decay. Two blackened arms reached out from the interior...

In the thirty fifth episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at Necropolis Immortal (仙墓 / Xiān Mù), written by Immortal Amidst Snow in July. Our guest is the novel's irrepressible translator, Etvolare.

Necropolis Immortal blends two particularly Chinese genres: xianxia, and tomb raiding. It's not quite the tomb raiding one associates with Indiana Jones and Lara Croft, as Etvo explains in our interview.

-

// NEWS ITEMS //

• Nick Stember's essay on Sinophilia: Sinophiles between Flatland, Fetish, and Feuilleton

• Ge Fei's Peach Blossom Paradise available for pre-order

• Tang Fei to be guest of next London Chinese Sci-fi Group meeting

-

// WORD OF THE DAY //

(墓 / Mù / Tomb)

-

// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //

• The 'tomb raiding fiction' genre in China

• Chinese webnovels as a literary mode

• Taiji philosophy

-

// Handy TrChFic Links //

Episode Transcripts // Help Support TrChFic

INSTAGRAM // TWITTER // DISCORD

It was after dusk.

Lanterns illuminated the restaurant.

The lantern light shone on the faces of Fang Kuan and the others, which dripped with sweat. Cold sweat.

In the thirty fourth episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at 7 Killers (七殺手 / Qī Shāshǒu), by Wuxia renegade Gu Long. Our guest is one of the top translators of Wuxia webnovels, Deathblade.

7 Killers is classic Gu Long, and an early entry in Deathblade's career as a translator. We use it as a jump-off point to talk about Chinese web fiction, similarities between Wuxia and other genres, and the hyperpowered characters of xianxia web fiction.

-

// NEWS ITEMS //

• The TrChFic Sci-fi Season webpage

• Paper Republic's new Yan Ge Sunday Sentence 一周一句

• Tencent web fiction copyright contract drama

-

// WORD OF THE DAY //

(酒 / Jiǔ / Alcohol)

-

// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //

• The SPC forums

• The Decay of the Western into the Spaghetti Western

• Journey to the West's Influence on Dragon Ball Z

• Monkey Island

• Deathblade's Wuxia books list

• The Witcher novels

-

// Handy TrChFic Links //

Episode Transcripts // Help Support TrChFic

INSTAGRAM // TWITTER // DISCORD

'We Han Chinese outnumber the Jurchen by more than a hundred to one. If the Imperial Court decided to employ honest and loyal men, our great Empire would prevail. With one hundred of our men against one of their worthless soldiers, how could the Jin army win?'

In the thirty third episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at Legend of the Condor Heroes (射雕英雄传 / Shèdiāo Yīngxióng Chuán), the magnum opus of Wuxia grandmaster Jin Yong. Our guest is one of the translators working to bring it into English, Gigi Chang.

Condor Heroes is a huge entry in Chinese literature (both highbrow and lowbrow), and pop culture in general. In this first episode of the podcast's Wuxia season, I begin to get to grips with this absolute behemoth of genre fiction.

-

• Paper Republic's Sunday Sentence 一周一句

• Deng Anqing's Forty Days

-

// WORD OF THE DAY //

(忠肝义胆 / Zhōng Gān Yì Dǎn / Loyal liver, righteous guts)

-

// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //

• Mobikes

• 'Qi Blasts' in Street Fighter

• President Deng Xiaoping as Wuxia nerd

• The Assassin, dir. by Hou Hsiao Hsien

• Paper Swordsmen: Jin Yong and the Modern Chinese Martial Arts Novel

• JG Ballard’s Miracles of Life, Yao Xueyin’s Li Zicheng 姚雪垠 李自成, Ma Ka-fai’s new book 马家辉 鸳鸯六七四

-

// Handy TrChFic Links //

Episode Transcripts // Help Support TrChFic

INSTAGRAM // TWITTER // DISCORD

"A true map cannot simply mark out the landmarks, and the most popular tourist sites, it must be able to guide readers through the city’s lesser-known corners, its dimly-lit nooks and rarely-frequented crannies"

In the thirty second episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at The Book of Shanghai, a short story collection from Comma Press. Our guest is Karen Wang of the Manchester Confucius Institute

-

// NEWS ITEMS //

• Tiananmen: Lives of the Poets by Gregory Lee

• 'The Revolutionary' Nicholas Haggerty on Lu Xun

• China's First Pornhub Translator

-

// WORD OF THE DAY //

(捉 / Zhuō / Grasping)

-

// DISCUSSED IN THE EPISODE //

• 1980s Shanghai

• Haipai Literature

• Trash management reforms

• Suzhou He, the movie

• Eddie Huang goes to Shanghai

-

// Handy TrChFic Links //

Episode Transcripts // Help Support TrChFic

INSTAGRAM // TWITTER // DISCORD

"Autumn Grace jumped up from the ground, kicked off her high heels and dashed away, one hand holding up the hem of her gown"

In the thirty first episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at Su Tong's Petulia's Rouge Tin (红粉 / Hóngfěn) Our guest is Anya Goncharova of the Peony Literary Agency

-

Su Tong on Paper Republic

Penguin China on Twitter

-

// NEWS ITEMS //

• A Summer Beyond Your Reach

• Penguin China Zhejiang Series

• Barbarians at the Gate x China History Podcast

• A Yi x DLK: A Match Held to the Flame

-

// WORD OF THE DAY //

(亲 / Qīn / Dear)

-

// DISCUSSED IN THE EPISODE //

• Ching Shih, invincible pirate

• A Billion Voices: China's Search for a Common Language

• The Eighth Life

-

// Handy TrChFic Links //

Episode Transcripts // Help Support TrChFic

INSTAGRAM // TWITTER // DISCORD