early 17th century Potosi sounds like such a fascinating place - governed by an early modern empire that is still mentally medieval, the birth of modern capital made possible by the most primitive brutal extractions. arise from nothing but the forces of empire and capital

reading Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell reminds me of the fields of Shropshire and Durham again. Can’t believe it’s been 5 years since I last saw any of them. turns out those are the scenery that is most vivid for me

feel like “I’m excatholic/went to catholic school so let me tell you exactly what the Catholic Church is like (it is completely evil)” trope has some commonality with “I’m a dissident from China so let me tell you exactly what China is like(it is completely evil)”

The debut full-length from Spanish pianist, vocalist, and producer Amanda Mur is our Album of the Day.

really don’t want to watch or read anymore modern retelling of traditional fairytales anymore especially since we barely get any straight adaptations of these stories to begin with - and I want to see movie adaptation of fairytales that are weird, mysterious, and folkloric

Manga: A New History of Japanese Comics is out in August 2025, but re-orders really help a new book, so pre-order now. Meanwhile you can buy Exner's 2021 book Comics and the Origins of Manga: A Revisionist History. Any bookstore can order it for you. www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/comics-and-t...

I hate how ugly and uninspired modern billionaires’ mansions are. If I am that rich I’d love to build myself this kind of gardens and live the life of a late Ming era scholar-artist-gentleman

travelled to Suzhou this weekend and enjoyed the lovely art of 17-19th century chinese landscaping

Let's cut Dagnan-Bouveret some slack because he also painted this stunning "Madonna of the Trellis"
www.sothebys.com/en/articles/...

Still thinking about Fu Jian（苻坚）and how you can write a whole greek tragedy based on his life - he was arrogant and impulsive, he was also merciful and sincere, an emperor who genuinely wanted to be a good person and good ruler, and to make the world a better place

no wonder Buddhism spread like wildfire during 4 and 5 century China. You can be an aristocrat or a peasant, a barbarian or a “civilized”Han, a staunch Confucian follower or a nihilistic Taoist, a careerist or a hermit, a cruel warlord or a kind and tolerant “good king”, but regardless of which way

random trivia: on chinese internet in history fandom discussions the ottomans are referred as “green romans”, because the colour green is associated with Islam, and the ottomans are among the successors to the roman empire … in a way

kind of a pet peeve of mine but really there’s nothing so pathetic and inauthentic as the sight of aging, wealthy rock stars using leather jackets, swear words and middle finger to try to show that they are still “rebellious”. Or those opinion pieces saying “XX is the new PUNK now ! ”