Drew Gibson
@drewgibson.bsky.social
Independent Scholar: Chinese Dynastic Histories, Zizhi Tongjian, Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Probably not the direction you're taking for the class but a deep study of Liao would certainly have to grapple with the questions of "What is China?" and "Who is China?"
Abaoji or Yelu Chucai both good choices to look at.
"These peoples existed both before and after their empires" good too.
Abaoji or Yelu Chucai both good choices to look at.
"These peoples existed both before and after their empires" good too.
January 1, 2026 at 10:23 PM
Probably not the direction you're taking for the class but a deep study of Liao would certainly have to grapple with the questions of "What is China?" and "Who is China?"
Abaoji or Yelu Chucai both good choices to look at.
"These peoples existed both before and after their empires" good too.
Abaoji or Yelu Chucai both good choices to look at.
"These peoples existed both before and after their empires" good too.
Highbrow option: "Zhang Qian may have bungled his diplomatic mission to enlist the aid of the Yuezhi and the Wusun, but in the process he opened the door to a new world of political contacts with the West..."
Lowbrow: "And then they took the skull of the king and used it as a drinking vessel..."
Lowbrow: "And then they took the skull of the king and used it as a drinking vessel..."
December 31, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Highbrow option: "Zhang Qian may have bungled his diplomatic mission to enlist the aid of the Yuezhi and the Wusun, but in the process he opened the door to a new world of political contacts with the West..."
Lowbrow: "And then they took the skull of the king and used it as a drinking vessel..."
Lowbrow: "And then they took the skull of the king and used it as a drinking vessel..."
I suppose not without cause...
If I'm not mistaken, this is the influence of Greco-Bactrian statuary trends upon Buddhist iconography passing down the Hexi Corridor and through the Sinosphere to one particular result in Japanese designs? The emphasis on bodily musculature in particular?
If I'm not mistaken, this is the influence of Greco-Bactrian statuary trends upon Buddhist iconography passing down the Hexi Corridor and through the Sinosphere to one particular result in Japanese designs? The emphasis on bodily musculature in particular?
December 13, 2025 at 2:23 AM
I suppose not without cause...
If I'm not mistaken, this is the influence of Greco-Bactrian statuary trends upon Buddhist iconography passing down the Hexi Corridor and through the Sinosphere to one particular result in Japanese designs? The emphasis on bodily musculature in particular?
If I'm not mistaken, this is the influence of Greco-Bactrian statuary trends upon Buddhist iconography passing down the Hexi Corridor and through the Sinosphere to one particular result in Japanese designs? The emphasis on bodily musculature in particular?
That it's the snow or at least the rough weather which are causing it is likely correct but I agree with people who think that you can't just say "no birds seen, no tracks found", that you have to indicate that there was a thing that caused this, not the inaction of the birds/people.
December 10, 2025 at 8:19 PM
That it's the snow or at least the rough weather which are causing it is likely correct but I agree with people who think that you can't just say "no birds seen, no tracks found", that you have to indicate that there was a thing that caused this, not the inaction of the birds/people.
Although if you do want to pursue that angle then I would consider not that the fisher is fishing "for" snow but is "fishing the snow (and the cold and the river)"; that is, looking for fish in all the wrong places.
December 10, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Although if you do want to pursue that angle then I would consider not that the fisher is fishing "for" snow but is "fishing the snow (and the cold and the river)"; that is, looking for fish in all the wrong places.
If the intent is really that the man is fishing for something seemingly pointless then I feel like it makes for an obvious Jiang Ziya parallel which then fuels a "fishing for the sake of fishing" meditative vibe more than a bleak "poor man fishing in hostile environment for survival" thing.
December 10, 2025 at 8:17 PM
If the intent is really that the man is fishing for something seemingly pointless then I feel like it makes for an obvious Jiang Ziya parallel which then fuels a "fishing for the sake of fishing" meditative vibe more than a bleak "poor man fishing in hostile environment for survival" thing.
In this instance I think it is the case that the snow is like the other two elements in being the setting of the fishing, not the thing being fished for (unless someone wants to argue the fisher also wants to fish for the cold and the river), present where the birds were absent.
December 10, 2025 at 8:13 PM
In this instance I think it is the case that the snow is like the other two elements in being the setting of the fishing, not the thing being fished for (unless someone wants to argue the fisher also wants to fish for the cold and the river), present where the birds were absent.
I do actually think the poem is just about the landscape, just enjoy reading too much into parallelism. But I do think the verbs of the first two bits are active that are being caused by something, and I favor the laundry list approach of:
2-3, 2-3
2-1-1-1, 2-1-1-1
2-3, 2-3
2-1-1-1, 2-1-1-1
December 10, 2025 at 8:09 PM
I do actually think the poem is just about the landscape, just enjoy reading too much into parallelism. But I do think the verbs of the first two bits are active that are being caused by something, and I favor the laundry list approach of:
2-3, 2-3
2-1-1-1, 2-1-1-1
2-3, 2-3
2-1-1-1, 2-1-1-1
Therefore:
Those peaks: bird's flight displaced
These paths: man's prints erased
A boat; capped, cloaked, aged
The hook; chill, river, snow
Those peaks: bird's flight displaced
These paths: man's prints erased
A boat; capped, cloaked, aged
The hook; chill, river, snow
December 10, 2025 at 1:27 PM
Therefore:
Those peaks: bird's flight displaced
These paths: man's prints erased
A boat; capped, cloaked, aged
The hook; chill, river, snow
Those peaks: bird's flight displaced
These paths: man's prints erased
A boat; capped, cloaked, aged
The hook; chill, river, snow
And what does the rod's line pierce in its fruitless flight? The ether of the chill, the flow of the river, the intangible substance of the snow: the elements of existence strung along a single visible thread of fate. Man exists not to work, but to have his works be looked upon.
December 10, 2025 at 1:27 PM
And what does the rod's line pierce in its fruitless flight? The ether of the chill, the flow of the river, the intangible substance of the snow: the elements of existence strung along a single visible thread of fate. Man exists not to work, but to have his works be looked upon.
The great irony is that after erasing so much, the artist includes elements of everything in the guise of bare essentials. Within one boat is a man's whole life: the cap of manhood, the cloak of the corpse, and he midway down life's journey wrapped in the midst of them both.
December 10, 2025 at 1:27 PM
The great irony is that after erasing so much, the artist includes elements of everything in the guise of bare essentials. Within one boat is a man's whole life: the cap of manhood, the cloak of the corpse, and he midway down life's journey wrapped in the midst of them both.
For what is in the boat are themselves traces of things trod upon: not only a hat but a worn one, not simply a cloak but a shabby one, not only a man but a weathered one. And the flight of the hook is its own purpose: the chill, the river, the snow matter only as background for this solitary flight.
December 10, 2025 at 1:27 PM
For what is in the boat are themselves traces of things trod upon: not only a hat but a worn one, not simply a cloak but a shabby one, not only a man but a weathered one. And the flight of the hook is its own purpose: the chill, the river, the snow matter only as background for this solitary flight.
Thus where the first line is mass deletion, the second is minimal addition, the handful of brushstrokes against the void. We have deleted all men's traces solely to behold this man's traces; we have displaced all bird's flights to witness only the flight of this hook.
December 10, 2025 at 1:27 PM
Thus where the first line is mass deletion, the second is minimal addition, the handful of brushstrokes against the void. We have deleted all men's traces solely to behold this man's traces; we have displaced all bird's flights to witness only the flight of this hook.
The 千山 and 萬徑 are here the terrain of nature as actually observed, full of superfluous detail which must be removed from the literary image for the sake of the art. Just what is it that is 絕ing the 鳥飛 and 滅ing the 人蹤? Nothing but the artist's own brush. Pay no heed to these things, only my vista.
December 10, 2025 at 1:27 PM
The 千山 and 萬徑 are here the terrain of nature as actually observed, full of superfluous detail which must be removed from the literary image for the sake of the art. Just what is it that is 絕ing the 鳥飛 and 滅ing the 人蹤? Nothing but the artist's own brush. Pay no heed to these things, only my vista.
6 am essay vibe:
This is not only a poem, but a meta-poem; not only about the scene it describes, but about crafting its description of its own scene. What the poet is describing is how he is describing, by narrowing the scope of the natural world to depict an artificial, posed snapshot in ink.
This is not only a poem, but a meta-poem; not only about the scene it describes, but about crafting its description of its own scene. What the poet is describing is how he is describing, by narrowing the scope of the natural world to depict an artificial, posed snapshot in ink.
December 10, 2025 at 1:27 PM
6 am essay vibe:
This is not only a poem, but a meta-poem; not only about the scene it describes, but about crafting its description of its own scene. What the poet is describing is how he is describing, by narrowing the scope of the natural world to depict an artificial, posed snapshot in ink.
This is not only a poem, but a meta-poem; not only about the scene it describes, but about crafting its description of its own scene. What the poet is describing is how he is describing, by narrowing the scope of the natural world to depict an artificial, posed snapshot in ink.
This is hardly conclusive proof given that recent events have shown you don't actually need a navy to sink Russia's.
December 2, 2025 at 11:57 PM
This is hardly conclusive proof given that recent events have shown you don't actually need a navy to sink Russia's.
It does only make sense, the usual shorthand for this thinking is "colonialism is imperialism with boats" and Imperial Japan famously lacked a strong navy.
December 2, 2025 at 11:52 PM
It does only make sense, the usual shorthand for this thinking is "colonialism is imperialism with boats" and Imperial Japan famously lacked a strong navy.
I realize this is a jokepost but I'm surprised there's not more New Yuan History style "Yuan contained China without being China, the Yuan rulers mixed admin styles" takes like have become common with the New Qing History concept for Qing studies.
December 2, 2025 at 10:51 PM
I realize this is a jokepost but I'm surprised there's not more New Yuan History style "Yuan contained China without being China, the Yuan rulers mixed admin styles" takes like have become common with the New Qing History concept for Qing studies.
Blood Message is an upcoming Tang-era game that might fit for you: www.youtube.com/watch?v=bW1m...
There is a Chinese-studio-made game which is very similar to Total War Three Kingdoms but based around the idea of retaking Xinjiang from the Xiongnu at the rise of Later Han, but the name escapes me.
There is a Chinese-studio-made game which is very similar to Total War Three Kingdoms but based around the idea of retaking Xinjiang from the Xiongnu at the rise of Later Han, but the name escapes me.
Blood Message - Official Reveal Trailer
YouTube video by IGN
www.youtube.com
November 24, 2025 at 2:56 AM
Blood Message is an upcoming Tang-era game that might fit for you: www.youtube.com/watch?v=bW1m...
There is a Chinese-studio-made game which is very similar to Total War Three Kingdoms but based around the idea of retaking Xinjiang from the Xiongnu at the rise of Later Han, but the name escapes me.
There is a Chinese-studio-made game which is very similar to Total War Three Kingdoms but based around the idea of retaking Xinjiang from the Xiongnu at the rise of Later Han, but the name escapes me.
Think there have been a few Chinese properties involving Xiongnu/Gokturks but these tend to focus on Xinjiang in particular for obvious modern reasons.
(Now I want to see a Death of Stalin sequel for Death of the First Emperor.)
(Now I want to see a Death of Stalin sequel for Death of the First Emperor.)
November 24, 2025 at 2:36 AM
Think there have been a few Chinese properties involving Xiongnu/Gokturks but these tend to focus on Xinjiang in particular for obvious modern reasons.
(Now I want to see a Death of Stalin sequel for Death of the First Emperor.)
(Now I want to see a Death of Stalin sequel for Death of the First Emperor.)
Thank you, very helpful.
November 20, 2025 at 8:45 AM
Thank you, very helpful.
I would certainly enjoy seeing Shelby Foote attempting to drawl his way through those names and places.
I'm not actually sure there is a good narrative history of the period in English as yet.
I'm not actually sure there is a good narrative history of the period in English as yet.
November 17, 2025 at 3:00 AM
I would certainly enjoy seeing Shelby Foote attempting to drawl his way through those names and places.
I'm not actually sure there is a good narrative history of the period in English as yet.
I'm not actually sure there is a good narrative history of the period in English as yet.
That's 幽冥教主 here.
November 11, 2025 at 5:01 AM
That's 幽冥教主 here.