Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Brendan O’Kane

Keith W. Dickinson @keithwdickinson.bsky.social · 7h

Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.

The Verge @theverge.com · May 26

Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry

Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.

buff.ly

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Brendan O’Kane @bokane.org · 14h

Yeah; the Jackson translation has the virtue of being based on the good edition of the novel (the shorter edition, which Buck also used), but it doesn’t have much else to recommend it. Interesting about Condor Heroes - wonder whose translation that was.

Brendan O’Kane @bokane.org · 19h

Of the available options, I would go with Shapiro’s “Outlaws of the Marsh.”

Brendan O’Kane @bokane.org · Nov 7

It’s the least bad option at the moment. Pearl S Buck’s translation is better than its reputation (there are plenty of mistakes, but the Sinologists of her day would make allowances for Arthur Waley that they wouldn’t for a woman) but hard to recommend; the recent-ish Dent-Young translation has…

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Brendan O’Kane @bokane.org · 1d

I had to look up what they were in English, but it looks like you can get away with 'sprint点/点数'

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Reposted by Brendan O’Kane

Amy @lolennui.bsky.social · 1d

George Orwell’s Animal Crossing

Someone in a frog costume facing down a line of police in riot gear

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Annelous Stiggelbout @astigg1.bsky.social · 1d

Gisteren was het Midherfst, de avond om naar de volle maan te kijken en maancakejes te eten. En hier een sfeervolle vertaling van een 17e-eeuws verslag van een zangwedstrijd met een breed publiek:
#China

Brendan O’Kane @bokane.org · 2d

For the Mid-Autumn Festival, I translated the 17th century failson, epicure, and memoirist Zhang Dai's account of the annual Mid-Autumn singing competition on Tiger Hill in Suzhou. www.burninghou.se/p/mid-autumn...

Mid-Autumn, Tiger Hill, Late Ming

"Everyone was perfectly silent, even the mosquitoes."

www.burninghou.se

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Reposted by Brendan O’Kane

Guobin Yang @guobin-yang.bsky.social · 1d

This is fascinating! Sima Qian is surely making a comeback! People wrote Shiji-style biographies of Li Wenliang during Wuhan lockdown - my piece on this is just out, open-access journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Genre borrowing in Chinese digital culture: Narrative imagination and grassroots storytelling on social media - Guobin Yang, 2025

A notable feature in Chinese digital culture is its playful style. Memes, jokes, parodies, and coded language of all sorts abound on social media. While researc...

journals.sagepub.com

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Reposted by Brendan O’Kane

A.L. Goldfuss @ghoulpus.bsky.social · 1d

Maybe the news is getting to me, but I found this so touching and lovely.

Brendan O’Kane @bokane.org · 2d

For the Mid-Autumn Festival, I translated the 17th century failson, epicure, and memoirist Zhang Dai's account of the annual Mid-Autumn singing competition on Tiger Hill in Suzhou. www.burninghou.se/p/mid-autumn...

Mid-Autumn, Tiger Hill, Late Ming

"Everyone was perfectly silent, even the mosquitoes."

www.burninghou.se

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Brendan O’Kane @bokane.org · 1d

Very possibly a universal comedy/anxiety character type!

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Brendan O’Kane @bokane.org · 1d

I don't know if there's any other language that's got as many apposite quotes to choose from. I can think of like a half-dozen different terms for 'scheming eunuch' off the top of my head.

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Brendan O’Kane @bokane.org · 1d

Brendan O’Kane @bokane.org · Aug 30

Classical Chinese for Les Mis in the Rose Garden:

棺載轀涼車中，故幸宦者參乘，所至上食。百官奏事如故，宦者輒從轀涼車中可其奏事。
The coffin was borne in a sleeping-carriage, with the emperor's most trusted eunuch in attendance. Food was delivered at each stop. Official business continued, and was quickly signed off on by the eunuch.

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Brendan O’Kane @bokane.org · 1d

Literary Chinese for bust-ass dynasties:

鋪眉苫眼早三公
Cozen. Flatter. Ingratiate --
The Three High Offices of state.

(from 譏時 'The Times We Live In' by Zhang Mingshan 張鳴善, fl. 14th c.)

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Reposted by Brendan O’Kane

Andrea Pitzer @andreapitzer.bsky.social · 2d

This is lovely. "...hustlers and prettyboys; rakehells and wastrels; idlers and spongers; serving boys and confidence men, all packed together like scales on a fish."

Brendan O’Kane @bokane.org · 2d

For the Mid-Autumn Festival, I translated the 17th century failson, epicure, and memoirist Zhang Dai's account of the annual Mid-Autumn singing competition on Tiger Hill in Suzhou. www.burninghou.se/p/mid-autumn...

Mid-Autumn, Tiger Hill, Late Ming

"Everyone was perfectly silent, even the mosquitoes."

www.burninghou.se

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Reposted by Brendan O’Kane

Che-boo!-rashka @leshij.bsky.social · 2d

Timeline cleanse

Brendan O’Kane @bokane.org · 2d

For the Mid-Autumn Festival, I translated the 17th century failson, epicure, and memoirist Zhang Dai's account of the annual Mid-Autumn singing competition on Tiger Hill in Suzhou. www.burninghou.se/p/mid-autumn...

Mid-Autumn, Tiger Hill, Late Ming

"Everyone was perfectly silent, even the mosquitoes."

www.burninghou.se

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Brendan O’Kane @bokane.org · 2d

yes, your interest in these people's threesomes should be *purely* avocational

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Brendan O’Kane @bokane.org · 2d

Glad you liked it! That line is actually my major cheat in this translation -- the original just lists it as '生公臺,' but I expanded since the story would have been well-known, and I think it sets up the image of the crowd nodding mutely at the end.

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Brendan O’Kane @bokane.org · 2d

I will forward you both any 五仁 cakes I come across. Lotus-seed paste for me plz

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Reposted by Brendan O’Kane

Brendan O’Kane @bokane.org · 2d

For the Mid-Autumn Festival, I translated the 17th century failson, epicure, and memoirist Zhang Dai's account of the annual Mid-Autumn singing competition on Tiger Hill in Suzhou. www.burninghou.se/p/mid-autumn...

Mid-Autumn, Tiger Hill, Late Ming

"Everyone was perfectly silent, even the mosquitoes."

www.burninghou.se

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Brendan O’Kane @bokane.org · 2d

For the Mid-Autumn Festival, I translated the 17th century failson, epicure, and memoirist Zhang Dai's account of the annual Mid-Autumn singing competition on Tiger Hill in Suzhou. www.burninghou.se/p/mid-autumn...

Mid-Autumn, Tiger Hill, Late Ming

"Everyone was perfectly silent, even the mosquitoes."

www.burninghou.se

5 44 140

Brendan O’Kane @bokane.org · 2d

who told you the name of his fursona

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Brendan O’Kane @bokane.org · 3d

could have been worse, the first draft of the tweet said “inherently leporine”

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Brendan O’Kane @bokane.org · 3d

Amazing little smile there, very Pierogian

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Brendan O’Kane @bokane.org · 3d

pierogi agrees

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Brendan O’Kane @bokane.org · 3d

some born good / some not even trying

Gyoza, a sweet ginger cat with white socks, looks down from on top of the record player with an air of friendly curiosity. He would love to hear all about whatever it is.

Pierogi, an absence of virtue shaped like a small white cat with grey-brown Batman cowl, glowers from the armchair.

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Reposted by Brendan O’Kane

Maggie Greene @mcgreenesd.bsky.social · 3d

We have a new Sinologist community on Discord - membership has a brief application & isn't *totally* open (it's professional in nature), but if you've been looking for a China group outside of bsky/Facebook/Twitter, this might be the ticket. discord.gg/g6S8WbVW

Join the Sinologists Discord Server!

Sinologists is the Discord community for scholars and professionals working in Chinese studies (broadly defined). | 59 members

discord.gg

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