Episodes
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More excellent Granny Liu content, as we travel deeper into the garden, soon by means of pleasure craft, with Xifeng at the helm. When withered lotus petals are observed on the surface of the water, Daiyu famously discusses the poetry of Tang poet Li Shangyin.
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It's Chapter 40 of Dream of the Red Chamber (Story of the Stone, Hongloumeng), and we're accompanying Grannie Liu on her tour of Prospect Garden. In what ways is the garden reflective of, and in dialogue with, Grannie’s Liu’s dreams and desires? What does Grannie Liu accurately perceive on her tour, and where does she project? And what about the “country bumpkin” role that Grannie Liu is compelled to occupy? Is there any method to the maddening interplay of truth and fiction in the garden?
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Missing episodes?
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In this episode, we puzzle over Grannie Liu’s arithmetic while questioning how age and social class more broadly inform her interactions with Grandmother Jia. A continuation of our discussion of chapter 39 of Dream of the Red Chamber (Story of the Stone), a classic work of historical Chinese literature.
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We treat the first part of Chapter 39 of Dream of the Red Chamber (Story of the Stone, Hongloumeng), as Li Wan and friends wax philosophical on the importance of having good servants to dissipate loneliness... our discussion turns toward issues of social value, and the paradoxes of hierarchy and intimacy.
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The end (or is it beginning?) of our Chapter 38 review! (This was originally intended to be the first episode we’d release, but it was the last to be recorded, and we forgot to rearrange them.) The final part of our foray into this dense and rich chapter of Dream of the Red Chamber (Story of the Stone).
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The Chapter 38 poetry review continues! No poetic stone left unturned!
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The Chapter 38 poetry review of Hong lou meng (Dream of the Red Chamber, Story of the Stone) continues!
Note: as indicated in the episode, some “creative” post-production editing was performed in order to improve upon and to correct elements of our original commentary.
Also note: The Greek painter whose name escapes Kevin in the episode is Parrhasius!
Final note: The Leonard Cohen song briefly in question is "Tower of Song."Support the show
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After a brief but productive hiatus, in which considerable Hong lou meng’ing was happening “behind the scenes,” Rereading returns, with a poetry-pilled perusal of Chapter 38! This is the first part of our exploration of this chapter.
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New poetry club “The Crab-flower Club” 海棠社 just dropped, and Daiyu is sweeping up sunsets. Meanwhile Baoyu can’t seem to keep on-prompt…
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“Why should the founding of poetry clubs be the sole prerogative of the whiskered male, and female versificators allowed a voice in the tunable concert of the muses only when some enlightened patriarch sees fit to invite them? Will you come, then, and rhyme with us?”
New poetry club “The Crab-flower Club” 海棠社 just dropped!
The latest installation of our exploration of Dream of the Red Chamber ( Hongloumeng, 紅樓夢, 红楼梦).Support the show
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Baoyu expounds upon one of his favorite topics, his notion of the ideal death, linking it to idle visions shared by his soulmate. He then goes off in search of a song, only to find the baleful laments of a caged bird in a hall of mirrors.
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Time to choose: do you believe in the marriage of gold and jade, or do you believe in the marriage of stone and flower? Check out part 1 of our discussion of chapter 36 of Dream of the Red Chamber, or The Story of the Stone.
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Baoyu is poorly regarded by visitors, and Baochai sends subtle signals to Aroma. We discuss families and fortunes.
Note: I’ve preserved a weird audio effect at the end of the episode for a behind-the-scenes feel, and because I thought it was funny.Support the show
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Daiyu is expertly trolled by a bird, and Baoyu tries to charm Silver. Baoyu tries to get Grandmother Jia to praise Daiyu, but she praises Baochai instead. Meanwhile we attempt to ascertain the social-hierarchical significance of who serves whom, and who sits when.
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Is love disgusting? Why wouldn’t it be? If your love is not reaching toward some infinite embrace, the quality of being unqualified, is it love? After a discussion of the handkerchief verses, we discuss Xue Pan and the “dark social alchemy” of violence and quantification.
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In the aftermath of the beating, who really cares and who is putting on appearances? What pain can more tears rebalance? A stained handkerchief can be a symbol, and a medium for artistic response. There is mutual understanding developing in the garden, but does falsity fatally ruin the whole concept of meta-cognition?
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Baoyu is beaten! How does the ideology of filial piety inform this scene, when it is intra-familial conflict that, in part, brings it in being?
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An actor, the female impersonator Jiang Yuhan, has exited the Prince of Zhongshun’s stage, his gifted sash contradicting Baoyu’s claims of ignorance. Which path of fate is being depicted, and why must extreme violence befall Baoyu?
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The death of Golden 金釧! Who is at fault for her premature demise? Is there any agency in, and meaning to one’s actions, when symbols prefigure, and fate seems fixed?
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Xiangyun 湘雲 is here, and she comes bearing gifts and opinions. What’s the meaning of a gift? Do duplicates double in value? For Baoyu, is the value of linen dependent upon the familiarity of the hand crafting it? And what’s the use in a message that reaches the wrong recipient?
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