Jaymin Kim 金載民

Spare a thought for your green-card holding and naturalized colleagues, many of whom are now doing risk-benefit calculations before speaking on anything that could be considered remotely political

Of mulch and men a cardboardy day

Gardening’s not all roses. Today’s accomplishment? Cardboard #gardening #landscaping #sheetmulching #nolawns

open.substack.com/pub/readingm...

I have done so little For you And you have done so little For me That we have good reason Never to agree. I, however, Have such meagre power, Clutching at a Moment, While you control An hour. But your hour is A stone. My moment is A flower. -Langston Hughes, "Poet to Bigot"

I, however,
Have such meagre power,
Clutching at a
Moment,
While you control
An hour.

But your hour is
A stone.

My moment is
A flower.

-Langston Hughes, "Poet to Bigot"

#everynightapoem
Resharing for all the wins and losses of this hour

Talk about timely! From two first rate legal historians:

madeinchinajournal.com/2017/09/24/t...

Do you know who should be the next Translator in Residence at the U of Iowa? Tell them to apply!

空齋獨坐，正思夜來床頭鼠耗可惱，不知其戛戛者是損我何器，嗤嗤者是裂我何書。中心回惑，其理莫措，忽見一狻貓，注目搖尾，似有所覩。斂聲屏息，少復待之，則疾趨如風，唧然一聲，而此物竟去矣 —— 不亦快哉！ I'm sitting alone in my study with a mouse on my mind. I’m wondering which of my things that nibbling sound is coming from, which book's destruction is the source of that chewing noise, and quite at a loss for what to do — when out of nowhere I spot a vicious-looking cat, eyes blazing, tail lashing, gaze fixed on something I can’t see, and I hold my breath and watch as it darts forward, quick as the wind, and with a piteous squeak that little critter is gone for good — — ahhhh, you love to see it.

飯後無事，翻倒敞篋。則見新舊逋欠文契不下數十百通，其人或存或亡，總之無有還理。揹人取火拉雜燒淨，仰看高天，蕭然無雲 —— 不亦快哉！ Rummaging through some old chests after dinner for lack of anything better to do, I discover dozens of unpaid promissory notes, more than a hundred maybe, from borrowers variously living and dead, and uniformly unlikely to repay, and so when nobody's looking I pile them together higgledy-piggledy, set them on fire, burn them clean away, and then look up at the sky, where they leave not even a cloud behind — — if that's not a good feeling, I don't know what is.

冬夜飲酒，轉復寒甚，推窗試看，雪大如手，已積三四寸矣 —— 不亦快哉！ Drinking on a winter's night, I feel a sudden sharp chill and push open the window to see snow falling in flakes the size of my hand, three or four inches deep already — — if that isn't nice, I don't know what is. 夏日於硃紅盤中，自拔快刀，切綠沉西瓜 —— 不亦快哉！ On a summer’s day, take a sharp knife, slice up a bright green watermelon, and set it out on a deep vermilion plate — — Well!

春眠初覺，似聞家人嘆息之聲，言某人夜來已死。急呼而訊之，正是-城中第一絕有心計人 —— 不亦快哉！ I'm just waking up one spring morning when I seem to hear someone in my household sighing and saying something about somebody dying the night before. Startled awake, I ask who. It turns out to be the schemingest bastard in town — — if that doesn’t cheer you up, nothing will.

In 1657, Jin Shengtan 金聖嘆 broke off from his commentary on 'The Romance of the Western Chamber' to list "33 Nice Things" 不亦快哉三十三則.
It's one of the most likable things I know of in any language. I translated it to cheer myself up a while ago, if anyone could use it. www.burninghou.se/p/whats-good

nterview about my book on Sino-Korean relations in 1300s-1600s: Boundless Winds of Empire

On New Books Network. With @Sarah Bramao-Ramos

@newbooksnetwork.bsky.social

#KoreanHistory
#ChineseHistory

newbooksnetwork.com/boundless-wi...
Sixiang Wang, "Boundless Winds of Empire: Rhetoric and Ritu

Be my colleague at the Harvard-Yenching Library! We just opened our search for the next Librarian for #JapaneseStudies, who will become a core member of our small but mighty team. As with every job, you don't need to satisfy every qualification to apply. www.eastasianlib.org/newsite/harv...

#ManchuOfTheDay

ᡨᠠᡨᠠᠨ (tatan, from tatambi)

1. a camp, a stopping place, an encampment
2. territory of a tribe
3. lodging

coron tatan: a yurt (木架窩舖)
tatan i boo: residence, abode
tatan i da: chief of a camp (夥長)
tatan tobo: a simple lodging made of willow branches (帷幄)

#Manchu #language #滿文

[Friday a January) This is the turn of the tide. The days are lengthening. Today was fine from start to finish-the first we have had, I think, since we came. And for the first time I walked my Northease walk & saw the moon ride at 3, pale, very thin, in a pure blue sky above wide misty flattened fields, as if it were early on a June morning. Here are my resolutions for the next 3 months; the next lap of the year. First, to have none. Not to be tied Second, to be free & kindly with myself, not goading it to parties: to sit rather privately reading in the studio. To make a good job of The Waves. To care nothing for making money. As for Nelly, to stop irritation by the assurance that nothing is worth irritation: if it comes back, she must go. Then not to slip this time into the easiness of letting her stay,? Then--well the chief resolution is the most important-not to make resolutions. Sometimes to read, sometimes not to read. To go out yes-but stay at home in spite of being asked.

“First, to have none. Not to be tied.”

-Virginia Woolf’s 1931 #NewYearsResolutions will do nicely

(Diary Vol. 4: 1931-35, Mariner Books)

China’s Minority Fiction, by Sabina Knight Multiethnic fiction speaks volumes about Chinese attitudes toward minorities, as well as these peoples’ historical understandings, their search for roots, and longings for cultural survival.

One of my current projects explores #non-Han #fiction & #poetry.

On the former, I wrote an article for *World #Literature Today*.

I've given talks on the broader project. I'm open to giving more.
🀄📚 www.worldliteraturetoday.org/2022/january...

Do you want to find the best #books on #Korea? Well, I don't have time to read everything, but I do have some recommendations. These are, mostly, academic books. I don't read many mass market books on Korea, and when I do, I'm often annoyed with their facile shallow misunderstandings.

four memes shared by the National Palace Museum, Taiwan 吃啦你又不胖 "Go Ahead and Eat, You're Not Fat" 買啦這又不貴 "Go Ahead and Splurge, it's not expensive" 走啦又不遠 "Let's Walk, it's not far" 安啦這不難的 "No problem, this is super easy"

Four Biggest Lies Told To You By Your Friends

(meme shared by the Taiwan's National Palace Museum)

ISCLH 2024 Book Prize Winner(s) Announced! The winner is Professor Tristan Brown’s book, Laws of the Land: Fengshui and the State in Qing Dynasty China (Princeton University Press, 2023). Honorable mentions have been awarded to Professor Haiyan Lee and Professor Michael Ng.

As South Korea draws visitors chasing beauty, dodgy practices pose risks Thousands flock to East Asian country for cosmetic surgeries each year, often relying on unregulated forums for advice.

In other news, my investigation for Al Jazeera reveals how foreign patients seeking plastic surgery in South Korea face risks from unlicensed brokers, misleading reviews, and confidentiality agreements that silence negative experiences. www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12...

ManchuOfTheDay

ᡠᠰᡝᡵᡳ (useri, from use)

n. pomegranate; cf. šilio

useri cuse moo: a bamboo-like plant that forms red seed pods (闌天竹)
useri šugi: 石榴酱

#Manchu #language #滿文

#ManchuOfTheDay

ᠰᡳᠯᡳᠨ (silin, from silimbi)

topnotch, elite, crack troops (精銳)

silin dacun: crack (troops), select, topnotch
silin dacungga kūwaran: Light Division (健銳營)

#Manchu #language #滿文

鄉愁 小時侯 鄉愁是一枚小小的郵票 我在這頭 母親在那頭 長大後 鄉愁是一張窄窄的船票 我在這頭 新娘在那頭 後來啊 鄉愁是一方矮矮的墳墓 我在外頭 母親在裏頭 而現在 鄉愁是一灣淺淺的海峽 我在這頭 大陸在那頭 Nostalgia Yu Kuang-chung When I was little Nostalgia was a tiny stamp Me on this side Mother on that side When I grew up Nostalgia was a narrow ship's ticket Me on this shore My bride on the other shore Later, oh later Nostalgia was a squat grave Me on the outside Mother on the inside And now Nostalgia is a shallow strait Me on this shore My Mainland on the other shore trans. Eileen Cheng-yin Chow

As winter solstice approaches, resharing a small poem of longing from a poet of the Chinese diaspora who spent the latter half of his life in Taiwan. He died there in December seven years ago, in 2017.

Yu Guangzhong, "Nostalgia"
- in his handwriting, alongside my translation
#everynightapoem #余光中

Book cover for Three Impeachments: Guo Xiu and the Kangxi Court by R. Kent Guy. The design features the title in bold red text at the top, with the subtitle and author's name in black. A large, stylized Chinese character dominates the center of the cover against a minimalist light background. Red lines frame the outer edges for a clean and striking design.

R. Kent Guy's THREE IMPEACHMENTS is a rich and enticing probe into a key moment in late imperial Chinese history. Now available in print and #OpenAccess, made possible by a grant from the James P. Geiss and Margaret Y. Hsu Foundation. Learn more: uwapress.uw.edu/book/9780295...

Wine-hued glaze, Qing dynasty cup

Contra the usual gaudy Qing ceramics, here is the Kangxi Emperor’s favorite rouge glaze: 胭脂紅.

Palace medical records noted that Kangxi (1654-1722) was cured of his depression (after his favorite son’s death) by red wine, brought to him by a Jesuit missionary. Hence the commemorative wine-red glaze.

#ManchuOfTheDay

ᠰᡠᡴᡡ (sukū)

1. skin, hide, pelt, leather
"wahan i bek šaijagan . . . loho juwe, silun sukū juwe afaha be belek doroi obume alibuha (Wakhan's beg Shah Jahan presented 2 swords and 2 lynx pelts as gifts)"
2. fruit peel

#Manchu #language #滿文

Ah, it obviously needs to be updated. But my point is that it's not where "US history" is at

I don't think any professional historian today uses that periodization. There are several decades of research in history, archaeology, geology, etc. that have debunked that label

Have been pointing a lot of people recently to Carter Eckert's biography of Park Chung-hee to help contextualize the current moment in SK politics, and learned this morning that he's just passed away.

An incredibly generous person and brilliant scholar. May his memory be a blessing.

Seeing some takes that South Korea’s victory today is thanks to defections within the ruling party. Of course there is some truth to this—but it should not be the main lesson. Without the public pressure for accountability, would they have showed up + voted their conscience?

Urbanization, relational space, and practicing Muslim ethnicity in Western China In recent decades, market reforms, inter-regional mobility, and urbanization have shaped Muslim groups’ social practices, simultaneously encouraging the development of Islamic places (and reinforci...

My new article looks at Chinese Hui, Uyghur, and Salar Muslims adapting to the dynamics of urban social life in the early years of Xi Jinping. Being Muslim doesn't guarantee social or spatial affinity over class, experience, labor, personal history differences... www.tandfonline.com/eprint/TE97U...

cartoon image of woman with four thought bubbles above her head. The four contain the Chinese characters 他, 佢, 伊, 其

There’s a stunning variety of third-person singular (3sg) pronouns (meaning 'she / he / it' or singular 'they') across Chinese languages and dialects. Here are a few of them:

Mandarin: tā
Cantonese: keoi5
Taiwan Hokkien and Shanghainese: i
Southern Wu: gi, ji

#langsky 🀄️📚

1/

#ManchuOfTheDay

ᡥᡡᠵᡳᡵᡳ (hūjiri)

adj. alkaline, alkali, soda, bittern

hūjiri ba: an alkaline place
"ilan uwase karun cohome hūjiri ba, aniyadari dasacibe urui šungkume tuhembi (Ilan Uwase karun is an especially alkaline place and constantly sinks despite annual upkeep)

#Manchu #language #滿文

#ManchuOfTheDay

ᠮᠠᠰᡝ (mase)

1. pockmarks
2. a pockmarked person; cf. kerkeri

mase usiha: walnut
mase muyari: lychee

#Manchu #language #滿文