History Tidbits of the Pipa 琵琶

This is a brief introduction to the history of the Chinese classical plucked string instrument – the pipa 琵琶. In Tales of Ming Courtesans (coming soon!), two protagonists - peerless beauties Chen Yuanyuan 陳圓圓 and Li Xiangjun 李香君 - are both dazzling pipa players and kunqu singers in the glitzy Qinhuai pleasure district.

History Tidbits of the Guqin 古琴

This is a brief introduction to the history of the Chinese classical plucked string instrument, the “guqin” 古琴. In my soon-to-be-published historical novel Tales of Ming Courtesans, one of the protagonists, famed courtesan Liu Rushi 柳如是, is a skillful guqin player, apart from being a brilliant poetess and painter. In one scene, she smashes her guqin, which is a gift from one client, in a blinding fit of fury.

Web Drama Series "The Untamed"

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With Jin Yong's wuxia novels in translation (notably the initial three translated volumes of the Condor Heroes trilogy) gaining a world-wide audience, "wuxia novel" (武俠小說) seems on track to become a prominent subgenre under the historical fantasy umbrella. 

I recently learned that another related subgenre called "xianxia novel" (仙俠小說) has become a rising star among younger readers in Mainland China. Then by chance I stumbled on a web tv drama series titled "The Untamed" (陳情令) with 50 episodes. The drama series were adapted from a popular "xianxia" web novel series titled 魔道祖師. My own interpretation of "xianxia" is something like a Chinese martial arts (中式武俠) version of "Twilight Zone" (a hugely popular Western tv series with supernatural themes targeting a young adult audience), with a mix of martial arts heroes (武俠英雄) and immortal beings endowed with supernatural powers (仙俠) as main characters. An interesting subgenre!

I love the theme song of "The Untamed" and the choreography of xianxia-in-action (see below). There are other soundtracks that are just as beautiful. In the soundtrack "醉夢", the guqin (古琴) (a seven-string zither) represents Lan Wangji (藍忘機) and the flute (橫笛) represents Wei Wuxian (魏無羨) - perfect combination!

Book Review - "The Girl Who Wrote in Silk" by Kelli Estes

Before I read this novel, I had never heard of the discriminating Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 in the U.S., which was not repealed until 1943. I respect the author's honest attempt to bring an unsavory truth of Chinese-American history, through fiction, to the attention of a wider audience.

The story consists of a dual time-line: one that follows Mei Lin's tragic life in the 1800s on Orcas Island and the other one that traces Inara Erickson's present-day attempt to gradually unravel that tragedy. Although Mei Lin's story was the more compelling of the two, the tight weaving of the two universes nonetheless leaves the reader breathless. I'm giving the novel 4.4 stars.