Sabina Knight 桑稟華
@spoem.bsky.social
* #Chinese #Literature: A Very Short Introduction * (Oxford) & *The Heart of Time* (Harvard) Translator & Interpreter: En/Fr/繁中/简中/Ru 雙語 @SabinaKnight.bsky.social Care ethicist @FairbankCenter #PIPfellow @NCUSCR.bsky.social Prof Emerita WLT @SmithCollege
My “The Garbage Time of #History” just came out in *The Battleground*. “As #China and the US struggle for soft power, China experts are seeing a 'vibe shift'. . . ." thebattleground.eu/2026/09/30/t...
The Garbage Time of History
Empty, Homogeneous Politics
thebattleground.eu
*The Battleground* just published my piece, "Coming to Terms with America." It's my review of *Framing #American #Democracy: Contemporary Artists Reflect* at The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of #Art. thebattleground.eu/2026/08/15/c...
"Short #Stories from #Taiwan" 🀄📚 My @fivebooks.com recommendations for #Chinese -language fiction in English translation. Link: fivebooks.com/best-books/s...
@chinabooksreview.com just published my review of Yu Hua's 余华 *City of Fiction*《文城》(2021, tr. 2025). "Along with other contemporary Chinese works with such graphic violence, Yu’s novel does political work by purging the traumas of China’s bloody 20th century." chinabooksreview.com/2025/10/30/f...
Yu Hua: Fictional Cities | China Books Review
The bestselling Chinese novelist foregrounds individual suffering in the chaos of modern Chinese history. In his latest novel in translation, gratuitous violence shows the limits of fiction.
chinabooksreview.com
👇 Wide ranging and insightful piece by @spoem.bsky.social that places Yu Hua's latest work into the context of his previous works of fiction and writings by other important figures of his generation, via @chinabooksreview.com
Sabina Knight 桑稟華@spoem.bsky.social · 11mo ago@chinabooksreview.com just published my review of Yu Hua's 余华 *City of Fiction*《文城》(2021, tr. 2025). "Along with other contemporary Chinese works with such graphic violence, Yu’s novel does political work by purging the traumas of China’s bloody 20th century." chinabooksreview.com/2025/10/30/f...
* #Chinese #Literature: A Very Short Introduction* 🀄📚 * The most accessible guide to Chinese literature available––compact but textured & far-reaching. * Serves as a window on Chinese culture from a philosophical, comparative approach. "a marvel of economy, substance, and style."
Thanks for writing this! I especially appreciated the tour of Yu's other novels in the second half. I've only read The Seventh Day, so I found this overview to be very helpful!
@chinabooksreview.com just published my review of Yu Hua's 余华 *City of Fiction*《文城》(2021, tr. 2025). "Along with other contemporary Chinese works with such graphic violence, Yu’s novel does political work by purging the traumas of China’s bloody 20th century." chinabooksreview.com/2025/10/30/f...
Yu Hua: Fictional Cities | China Books Review
The bestselling Chinese novelist foregrounds individual suffering in the chaos of modern Chinese history. In his latest novel in translation, gratuitous violence shows the limits of fiction.
chinabooksreview.com
The bestselling Chinese novelist Yu Hua foregrounds individual suffering in the chaos of modern Chinese history. In his latest novel in translation, gratuitous violence shows the limits of fiction. Read Sabina Knight's review of "City of Fiction": chinabooksreview.com/2025/10/30/f...
फाउंड दिस वर्क अबाउट चाइनीज लिटरचर अ कम्प्लीट गाइड एण्ड रिएलि एनजोएड आईटी। ई फाउंड आईटी एवर सो प्लीज़िंग तो रीड एण्ड आईटी वास सच अ वन्डर्फल वेल्थ ऑफ नालिज पककेड ईंटों सच अ समाल बुक! इटस अ Pocket Book डॉन्ट यू नो। ऊसएरफुल फॉर लॉंग ट्रेन जौरनेस सो इफ यू प्लान ऑन थे ट्रांस-छिन नेपाली एक्स्प्रेस देन टेक दिस विद यू! ***** five stars*****
Sabina Knight 桑稟華@spoem.bsky.social · 2y ago* #Chinese #Literature: A Very Short Introduction* 🀄📚 * The most accessible guide to Chinese literature available––compact but textured & far-reaching. * Serves as a window on Chinese culture from a philosophical, comparative approach. "a marvel of economy, substance, and style."
Engaging & appreciative review at @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social of two works of literature from the Ming era lareviewofbooks.org/article/in-t... cc @chowleen.bsky.social @bairuiwen.bsky.social @spoem.bsky.social
In the Late Ming, Literature Is Survival | Los Angeles Review of Books
Mahika Dhar reviews two classics of Chinese literature: Kong Shangren’s “The Peach Blossom Fan” and Zhang Yingyu’s “More Swindles from the Late Ming.”
lareviewofbooks.org
"The rightwing movement against #empathy seeks to dismantle & discredit one of the essential tools for any society – our capacity to recognize & respond to #suffering. We should see the campaign against empathy . . . for what it is: a flashing red light warning of #fascist intent." @theguardian.com
Loathe thy neighbor: Elon Musk and the Christian right are waging war on empathy
Trump’s actions are irreconcilable with Christian compassion. But an unholy alliance seeks to cast empathy as a parasitic plague
theguardian.com
There used to be a social democratic faction in the CCP. Time to rehabilitate that tendency, introduce welfare to put a floor under wages, discourage excessive saving and increase consumption.
Sabina Knight 桑稟華@spoem.bsky.social · last yr."600 million #Chinese take home less than $140 a month and have minimum social benefits, a major reason they save so much and consume less than the #economy needs." –– Li Yuan @nytimes.com
Created a Taiwan Studies Starter Pack for folks coming from Twitter. Let me know if you ought to be on here! go.bsky.app/TG2GBbz
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...
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.
worldliteraturetoday.org
I need to pick a couple of these up! Five Books: Short Stories from Taiwan, recommended by Sabina Knight fivebooks.com/best-books/s...
Never met Prof. Gregory in person, but I’ve learned so much through his books, especially _Tsung-mi and the Sinification of Buddhism_ and _Sudden and Gradual _. All students of Chinese Buddhism in the anglophone world live in his shadow. The end of an era.
Sabina Knight 桑稟華@spoem.bsky.social · 2y ago#BuddhistStudies We are saddened to learn that Professor Peter Gregory (1945-2025) passed on March 19th, after a heart attack. Peter made the world of a better place. May his memory be a blessing. ____ Madhyamaka & Methodology Symposium @smithcollege.bsky.social youtu.be/AGNYS7-TRRY?...
🧵2/ #China & #ForeignPolicy expert @tom-kellogg.bsky.social on @profsaunders.bsky.social's overview. - Lasting policy's reliance on rigorous domestic debate - GOP's turn away from expertise - Rise of hyper-partisanship - long, slow decline of Congress (as an institutional player) - . . . Tom's 🧵:
Tom Kellogg@tom-kellogg.bsky.social · 2y agoI'm a latecomer to @profsaunders.bsky.social Spring 2024 article in @foreignaffairs.com on politics and foreign policy, suggesting we need more of it! A must-read -- let me offer some quick thoughts. (1) www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...
I'd add: Authoritarianism doesn't always look like you think it does. The image is a public constantly straining under the chains of oppression, but it is very possible for the majority to enjoy comfortable, affluent lives while freedoms like speech are eroded, and others face blunter oppression.
Brendan O’Kane@bokane.org · 2y agoAdvice-wise: Don't think "what risks am I willing to take," think "how willing am I to put the person I'm talking to at risk?" Lines shift unpredictably and you cannot accurately model the threat to you, the other guy, or the people in your contact lists. Don't fuck things up for other people.
#X offered no explanation at all. I submitted appeals, both through their online form and via email. No reply at all. This suspension is #censorship, not moderation.
Sabina Knight 桑稟華@spoem.bsky.social · 2y agoX blocked my #Chinese account. A friend suggested that #China may have objected to my posts, especially my posts about #Uyghurs and #Tibetans, as well my article (and talks?) on their and other ethnic " #minorities'" longings for cultural survival. I did not violate X's rules, I'm pretty sure.
🧵 Yes! More space would allow for more discussion. The quoted ¶ addressed the risk that my article's title might obscure the fact that #Uyghurs and #Tibetans are not "minority #Chinese." A term such as "non-Han" would have put off many readers, so I went with the title as is. As I develop . . .
Sabina Knight 桑稟華@spoem.bsky.social · 2y ago#Uyghurs & #Tibetans do not consider themselves " #minority #Chinese." (At least I've never met a #Uyghur or a #Tibetan who would've liked the label "minority Chinese." Most would object to it.) I know less about communities such as the Zhuang, Hui, Miao, Manchus, Yi, Tujia, Mongols, Buyei, . . .
"A #queer love story, Yang Shuang-zi’s * #Taiwan Travelogue* is a stunning historical #novel set during Taiwan’s Japanese colonial period. The tale [. . . recounts] the troubled love of a Japanese travel writer for her #Taiwanese guide and interpreter. As the pair travel . . ." @sabinak.bsky.social
Best China Books of 2024 | China Books Review
Party luminaries. TV chefs. Poetry. Scandal. Our annual round-up of notable titles on or from China, split across nonfiction and translated literature, nominated by a roster of experts.
chinabooksreview.com
Curious development.
Sabina Knight 桑稟華@spoem.bsky.social · 2y agoX blocked my #Chinese account. A friend suggested that #China may have objected to my posts, especially my posts about #Uyghurs and #Tibetans, as well my article (and talks?) on their and other ethnic " #minorities'" longings for cultural survival. I did not violate X's rules, I'm pretty sure.
However much #China #hawks might like this @wsj.com article, its premises don't hold. China's strength ≠ belligerence. Don't believe U.S. projections of #military aggression.
Sabina Knight 桑稟華@spoem.bsky.social · 2y agoA better take: "As a growing military power, #China continues to work peacefully with #Taiwan. Both economies proposer." China's anti-war #diplomacy deserves mention in reporting. China has fought no external war since the Korean War (1950-53). skirmishes ≠ war.
Read our latest in the CMP Dictionary: "Feminist Five" (女权五姐妹) — Five Chinese activists detained in 2015 for anti-harassment campaign plans, marking a turning point as authorities cracked down on peaceful gender equality advocacy.
The Feminist Five - China Media Project
This term refers to five Chinese women activists detained without charges in March 2015 for planning anti-sexual harassment activities on International Women's Day. Their arrest marked a turning point...
chinamediaproject.org
some bad news for those wringing their hands about CPC influence via Tictoc
Sabina Knight 桑稟華@spoem.bsky.social · 2y agoX blocked my #Chinese account. A friend suggested that #China may have objected to my posts, especially my posts about #Uyghurs and #Tibetans, as well my article (and talks?) on their and other ethnic " #minorities'" longings for cultural survival. I did not violate X's rules, I'm pretty sure.
Sat, March 28, 10:00-5:00 "Taking #Buddhist #Philosophy Seriously: A Symposium in Honor of Jay L. Garfield" Panelists: @christiancoseru.bsky.social, @lauraguerrero.bsky.social, @kateahart.bsky.social, @ckassor.bsky.social, Karin Meyers, Chris Rahlwes, Karl Schmid, Davey Tomlimson @SmithCollege
