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A legendary louse
An anecdote about Wang Anshi from an eleventh-century biji collection.
Rachelle
May 20, 20243 min read
Xie Lingyun 謝靈運 (385-433) and his hiking clogs
An ancient Chinese hiker and his gear.
Rachelle
May 13, 20242 min read
How to get your cat pregnant... without a male cat
An excerpt from the Bencao gangmu 本草綱目.
Rachelle
Apr 29, 20242 min read
A Joke About Speaking Mandarin
From the 19th-century collection Xiaolin guangji 笑林廣記.
Rachelle
Apr 22, 20243 min read
A joke for the planting season
A reminder for those who work with others in the field/garden.
Rachelle
Mar 18, 20242 min read
An Anecdote about Zhu Yuanzhang's 朱元璋 (1328-1398) Magic Power
相傳高皇帝時初起太學，上臨視之，顧學制宏麗，聖情甚悅。行至廣業堂前，偶發一言云：“天下有福兒郎，應得居此。”迄今百四十年來，學生居此堂者，往往占魁選，躋位通貴，他所不及也。又諸堂中都無蜘蛛云。上來時，見蛛布網屋隅，曰：“我纔建屋，爾輒據之耶？”顧叱之出，語訖而蛛遯，從茲遂絕...
Rachelle
Feb 5, 20242 min read
On the Importance of Good Handwriting
A joke from the Ming-dynasty collection Jieyun ji 解慍集.
Rachelle
Jan 15, 20242 min read
On the Jiujiu xiaohan tu 九九消寒圖 (nine-by-nine winter-repelling design)
A little spring-summoning game.
Rachelle
Jan 1, 20243 min read
樊增祥《爽翁惠咖啡余誤為鼻煙》“Old Shuang gave me some coffee as a gift; I mistook it for snuff”
An amusing incident about coffee in China.
Rachelle
Dec 4, 20232 min read
An Omen on a Moonlit Night
An anecdote from an 11th-century history.
Rachelle
Nov 27, 20232 min read
A pillow tale
A quirky little story from the Soushenji 搜神記.
Rachelle
Nov 13, 20232 min read
人鬚筆 Beard Brush Pen
Another joke from Feng Menglong's collection Gujin tangai 古今譚槩.
Rachelle
Oct 30, 20233 min read
Yet another model son
Lu Xun's review of the story about Guo Ju burying his son.
Rachelle
Oct 2, 20234 min read
On calling a cat "cat"
An anecdote from the Ming dynasty.
Rachelle
Aug 21, 20233 min read
How to survive a tiger attack
A joke from Feng Menglong's Xiaofu.
Rachelle
Jul 10, 20232 min read
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