The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast

"I have lived in Tianjin my whole life, and I know its people, with their toughness and competitive streak, their generosity, their determination to be respected, and their refusal to back down. When I illustrate them, it is these qualities I draw."In the twenty fourth episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at Feng Jicai's Faces in the Crowd (俗世奇人 / Súshì Qírén)This is the first time on the show that I’m looking at an illustrated book. Each chapter is a ‘sketch’ of one of old colonial Tianjin’s more quirky characters. They’re all drawn from local legends, and add up to create a really immersive wander through a bygone era.-Publishers: EN - Sinoist Books // CN - People's Literature Publishing HouseFeng Jicai on Paper RepublicOlivia Milburn on Paper Republic-// NEWS ITEMS //A Snake Lies Waiting news2019 Publications in ChineseFeng Jicai's upcoming translationGoubuli blog -- paywalled! >:(A blog on the same restaurant, not paywalledClay figures article-// Handy TrChFic Links //Episode Transcripts // Help Support TrChFicINSTAGRAM // TWITTER // DISCORD

"Later, I kept on hoping China would host the Olympics again, but it never happened. After I became a father, I told my son about that night, and he refused to believe China had once been so prosperous."this is episode 7 of 7 in our Chinese Science Fiction SeasonIn the twenty third episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at Baoshu's What Has Passed Shall In Kinder Light Appear (大时代 / dà shídài), available to read in the Broken Stars anthology, edited and translated by Ken Liu.Baoshu reverses time, sending his protagonist through a life that begins with the Beijing Olympics and ends before the communist revolution. I go it alone on this episode, and maybe it’s for the best because this story made me cry. It’s beautiful.-// Discussed in this Episode //Philosophy01 Baoshu interviewKen Liu's favourite linesOn Bo XilaiZhao Ziyang, Prisoner of the State - SOURCE - MIRROR-// Handy TrChFic Links //Episode Transcripts // Help Support TrChFicINSTAGRAM // TWITTER // DISCORD

'The summer isn’t over yet. There are so many fun things to do.'this is episode 6 of 7 in our Chinese Science Fiction SeasonIn the twenty second episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at Xia Jia's A Summer Beyond Your Reach (你无法抵达的夏天/nǐ wúfǎ dǐdá de xiàtiān)Xia Jia herself joins me via Skype from California to talk about her stories. French culture comes up three times in this episode. I really didn’t see that coming. Xia Jia’s stories do fuse deep thought with deep feeling, which I suppose does sound a bit French. Anyway! It’s a very fun episode, so have a listen.-Translators: Emily Jin, Carmen Yiling Yan, Ken LiuPublisher: Clarkesworld-// Discussed in this Episode //Kickstarter & links to online storiesThe real life Dragon-horseTrailer for Holy Motors-// Handy TrChFic Links //Episode Transcripts // Help Support TrChFicINSTAGRAM // TWITTER // DISCORD

'Everything is going to descend into chaos and disorder. Entropy will accelerate rapidly...'[ episode 21 transcript here ]this is episode 5 of 7 in our Chinese Science Fiction SeasonIn the twenty first episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at Han Song's The Fundamental Nature of the Universe (宇宙的本性/yǔzhòu de běnxìng).A tale of artificial intelligence and ennui. Or should it be angst? Or simply just yanjuan? Musing darkly with me on this episode is its translator Nathaniel Isaacson, author of Celestial Empire: The Emergence of Chinese Science Fiction. He translated this story, so he ought to know a thing or two about it!-FULL TEXT - academic access required Han Song on Paper Republic-// Discussed in this Episode //My That's Shanghai! article on Chinese fast railThe Shanghai Metro Museum-// Handy TrChFic Links //Episode Transcripts // Help Support TrChFicINSTAGRAM // TWITTER // DISCORD

'We still have a very long time to get along and very many things to talk about, but let us not speak of morals. In the universe, such considerations are meaningless.'this is episode 4 of 7 in our Chinese Science Fiction SeasonIn the twentieth episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at Liu Cixin's Devourer (吞食者/tūnshí zhě)This is a grim tale for survival in a predatory galaxy, very much in the mold of The Three Body Problem. Helping me out on this episode is Chinese SF superfan and fellow Dundonian Adam McMurchie. I’m sure he’ll be back on again!The story was translated by Holger Nahm, and published in The Wandering Earth by Head of Zeus & TOR-// Discussed this Episode //Jiayang Fan on Liu CixinThe Three Body Problem -// Handy TrChFic Links //Episode Transcripts // Help Support TrChFicINSTAGRAM // TWITTER // DISCORD

'The robot’s ability to learn was unparalleled, and with the help of its creators it analysed its databank of stories to create a set of scientific laws for storytelling – a model that would later become world-famous. But the mathematical nature of this model was so overwhelmingly complex that only the robot could make head or tail of it.'this is episode 3 of 7 in our Chinese Science Fiction SeasonIn the nineteenth episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at Fei Dao's The Storytelling Robot (讲故事的机器人/jiǎng gùshì de jīqìrén), translated by Alec Ash.This is a thoughtful tale told by a writer with a melacholic, existential tendency. My favourite! Helping me out here is Matt of the Spectology Podcast. A very chill fellow who really knows a lot about Chinese SF.This story may also be read online in the original Chinese-// Discussed in this Episode //An End of Days Story by Fei DaoThe Robot Who Liked to Tell Tall Tales by Fei DaoFei Dao interview referenced by Matt (in Chinese)Chinese Mythology Podcast-// Handy TrChFic Links //Episode Transcripts // Help Support TrChFicINSTAGRAM // TWITTER // DISCORD

'Everything was shrouded in a leaden miasma, an amalgamation of the white mist generated by the boiling aqua regia in the acid baths and the black smoke from the unceasing burning of PVC, insulation, and circuit boards in the fields and on the shore of the river. The two contrasting colors were mixed by the sea breeze until they could no longer be distinguished, seeping into the pores of every living being.'-this is episode 2 of 7 in our Chinese Science Fiction Season-Chaos reigns in the hyperactive, hyperreal, and highly populated Silicon Isle- a spot just off the coast of Guangdong where downtrodden ‘waste people’ do pitiless, dangerous work for local and global elites. All it takes is a spark, and the whole thing explodes…In the eighteenth episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at Chen Qiufan's Waste Tide (荒潮/huāng cháo). The translator is Ken Liu and the publishers are Head of Zeus and TOR. Our guest is the author himself!-// Discussed this Episode //Qiufan on Waste & GuiyuThe movie ArrivalChaoshanhua-// Handy TrChFic Links //Episode Transcripts // Help Support TrChFicINSTAGRAM // TWITTER // DISCORD

'The folding city was divided into three spaces. One side of the earth was First Space, population five million. Their allotted time lasted from six o’clock in the morning to six o’clock the next morning. Then the space went to sleep, and the earth flipped.'this is episode 1 of 7 in our Chinese Science Fiction SeasonIn the seventeenth episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at Hao Jingfang's Folding Beijing (北京折叠/běi jīng zhé dié)This is a Hugo Award-winning ‘novelette’ translated by Ken Liu that imagines a city that has ‘economised’ by splitting social classes more fundamentally than ever before. It was first published by Uncanny Magazine. Helping me out in this episode is the charming and insightful Lyu Guangzhao of the London Chinese Scifi Reading Group. He’s a legend.-// Discussed this Episode //Hao Jingfang's essay - I Want to Write A History of InequalityPaul Mason on automation & future economicsLinus 林路's Chinese SF cinema IG is @sinoscifi-// Handy TrChFic Links //Episode Transcripts // Help Support TrChFicINSTAGRAM // TWITTER // DISCORD

"Remember, if the police come by in the next few days, just answer their questions the way I taught you."In the sixteenth episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at Chen Zijin's The Untouched Crime (无证之罪/wú zhèng zhī zuì)This novel is a murder mystery with a twist set in...well the setting depends on whether you’re reading the original Chinese, or our guest Michelle Deeter's English translation, published by Amazon Crossing. I bet you want to know why. So, you’d better hit play. Right?-// Discussed in this Episode //Song Aman's '49 Degrees''Burning Ice', The Untouched Crime TV Show-// Handy TrChFic Links //Episode Transcripts // Help Support TrChFicINSTAGRAM // TWITTER // DISCORD

“Ai-ya! Don’t go on at me!”“Well if I don’t, who’s going to?”In the fifteenth episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at Yan Ge's The Chilli Bean Paste Clan (我们家/wǒmen jiā)This is a s-p-i-c-y novel published by Balestier Press about a dysfunctional family and its depraved, conflicted, and frequently disoriented patriarch. Yan Ge has said that it was inspired by her years spent growing up the the chilli bean paste production capital of Sichuan Province. Our guest for this episode is Yan Ge's translator, advocate, and friend, Nicky Harman.-// Discussed this Episode //1st chapter online - available from The Leeds Centre for New Chinese WritingNü Voices Women and Chinese Scifi Episode-// Handy TrChFic Links //Episode Transcripts // Help Support TrChFicINSTAGRAM // TWITTER // DISCORD