Latest Chinese literature Podcast Episodes
Ep. 56: Rereading Hong lou meng 紅樓夢, Chapter 26 part 2/2
Rereading the Stone - October 02, 2021 17:00 - 34 minutesA scion of great wealth demonstrates a dearth of erudition, while a legendary worrier transcends nature’s limits. Support the show
Ep. 55: Rereading Hong lou meng 紅樓夢, Chapter 26 part 1/2
Rereading the Stone - September 23, 2021 20:00 - 57 minutesReal affections between Crimson and Jia Yun are ornamented by dream and fantasy, while the Name of the Father is appropriated for idle pleasures. Daiyu’s feelings of social exclusion are accentuated by the proximity of desire. Support the show
Ep. 54: Rereading Hong lou meng 紅樓夢, Chapter 25 part 2/2
Rereading the Stone - September 11, 2021 19:00 - 49 minutesThings get weird when Mother Ma throws down a surprisingly efficacious curse. Xifeng starts slaughtering miscellaneous animals, and Baoyu is consumed by suicidal ideation. We discuss the fortuitous, surprising reappearance of the Daoist priest and Buddhist monk, and Baoyu’s relationship to, and ...
Ep. 53: Rereading Hong lou meng 紅樓夢, Chapter 25 part 1/2
Rereading the Stone - August 30, 2021 09:00 - 50 minutesA time of danger, with molten wax and curses raining down on Baoyu! We discuss Aunt Zhao’s resentment, Mother Ma’s sesame oil subscription service, and the sublime, surprising role of the supernatural in this chapter of Dream of the Red Chamber 紅樓夢. Support the show
Ep 52: Hong lou meng review episode (Ch. 13-24)
Rereading the Stone - August 20, 2021 05:00 - 1 hourOur second twelve-chapter review episode, chapters 13-24. A great chance to review one's rereading, with some fresh takes thrown in for good measure. Support the show
Ep. 51: Rereading Hong lou meng 紅樓夢, Chapter 24 part 2/2
Rereading the Stone - August 10, 2021 03:00 - 49 minutesWe continue discussing Jia Yun’s perilous navigation of our constellation of stars, while Baoyu from an empty center thirsts for tea and attention. Support the show
Ep. 50: Rereading Hong lou meng 紅樓夢, Chapter 24 part 1/2
Rereading the Stone - August 02, 2021 11:00 - 56 minutesLet’s talk Jia Yun, a distant and poorer member of the extended Jia universe. How does this peripheral player navigate our constellation of stars? Would you take a loan from a drunken, violence-prone moneylender in order to bribe Wang Xifeng? Likewise, we observe the maids attending Baoyu viciou...
Episode 49 Rereading Hong lou meng 紅樓夢, Chapter 23 part 2/2
Rereading the Stone - July 23, 2021 03:00 - 55 minutesIn this episode, we finish our read-through of Baoyu’s seasonal poems, empathizing common themes and images. Meanwhile Baoyu has newly procured scandalous romantic literature and has snuck a few texts into the garden, including the famous Xixiang ji 西廂記 Romance of the Western Chamber. Join us fo...
Episode 48 Rereading Hong lou meng 紅樓夢, Chapter 23 part 1/2
Rereading the Stone - July 14, 2021 00:00 - 1 hourAn imperial injunction — to enjoy? Baoyu and the young ladies of the compound receive orders from the Imperial Concubine Yuanchun to move into the garden and reside in its various small houses. Will a life lived aesthetically affect the soul? Baoyu during the late nights transcribes improvisatio...
Episode 47 Rereading Hong lou meng 紅樓夢, Chapter 22 part 2/2
Rereading the Stone - July 05, 2021 10:00 - 58 minutesIn this episode, we explore the enigmatic, prophetic riddles in the second half of Chapter 22 of Dream of the Red Chamber (Story of the Stone). What controversies exist due to there being divergent versions of the text? What branching fates and vicissitudinous fortunes are posited in these gloom...
Episode 46 Rereading Hong lou meng 紅樓夢, Chapter 22 part 1/2
Rereading the Stone - June 27, 2021 19:00 - 1 hour‘Can’t you be a bit quieter and attend to the play? This is Zhi-shen at the Monastery Gate we’re supposed to be listening to, not Jing-de Acts the Madman!’ Baoyu expresses in poetic verse, following a performance during Baochai’s birthday festivities, his thoughts on Buddhist enlightenment, but ...
Episode 45 Rereading Hong lou meng 紅樓夢, Chapter 21 part 2/2
Rereading the Stone - June 18, 2021 22:00 - 36 minutesIn our coverage of the second half of Chapter 21 of Dream of the Red Chamber, we focus on the infidelities of Jia Lian and the dynamics of his marriage with Xifeng. Observing a ritually-prescribed separation from Xifeng on account of his daughter’s recovery from smallpox, Jia Lian has the opport...
Episode 44 Rereading Hong lou meng 紅樓夢, Chapter 21 part 1/2
Rereading the Stone - June 07, 2021 19:00 - 47 minutesChapter 21’s quotidian garden affairs prompt a discussion of desire, identity, naming, and boundaries. Passive aggressive feuding between Baoyu and Xiren is displaced onto Baoyu’s interaction with other maids in the household; fed up with all these flagrantly fragrant designations, Baoyu on a wh...
Episode 43 Rereading Hong lou meng 紅樓夢, Chapter 20 part 2/2
Rereading the Stone - May 28, 2021 18:00 - 43 minutesEnter the garden Shi Xiangyun, one of the most beloved characters in Dream of the Red Chamber. Meanwhile the status anxieties of Jia Huan and Aunt Zhao are explored, and Baoyu and Daiyu continue perfecting the art of verbal escalation and “maybe I should just die” provocation. Support the show
Episode 42 Rereading Hong lou meng 紅樓夢, Chapter 20 part 1/2
Rereading the Stone - May 21, 2021 19:00 - 1 hourEnter the garden Shi Xiangyun, one of the most beloved characters in Dream of the Red Chamber. Meanwhile Nanny Li exchanges bitter words with Aroma, Jia Huan lets reveal his resentment toward Baoyu, and Daiyu is jealous of Baoyu’s time with Baochai. In this idle transitional moment, partly enfor...
Episode 41 Rereading Hong lou meng 紅樓夢, Chapter 19 part 2/2
Rereading the Stone - May 12, 2021 03:00 - 47 minutesBaoyu, the idle subject, subjects Aroma to surprise visitation. Aroma engages Baoyu with artful artifice, as characters and readers alike question the fantasy and reality of these social roles and relations. Later on Baoyu visits Daiyu and has aromatic memories of the Land of Illusion. Plus, we ...
Episode 40 Rereading Hong lou meng 紅樓夢, Chapter 19 part 1/2
Rereading the Stone - May 05, 2021 02:00 - 57 minutesBaoyu, idle and seeking artifice, stumbles upon real acts of desire. If Chapter 5 represents the dream as a form of desire, how does Chapter 19 represent artistic forms? In this first part of our Chapter 19 discussion, we discuss Baoyu’s ambiguous relationship with Aroma, his interactions with N...
Episode 38 Rereading Hong lou meng 紅樓夢, Chapter 18 part 4/4
Rereading the Stone - April 27, 2021 07:00 - 59 minutesThe final part of our deep-dive into the poetry showcased in Chapter 18 celebrating Yuanchun’s visit home. In this part we consider all of the contributions in Baoyu’s name. Issues of nature versus the natural reemerge, and Daiyu continues to be a poet diva. Behold the garden, behold the dream! ...
Episode 39 Rereading Hong lou meng 紅樓夢, Chapter 18 part 4/4
Rereading the Stone - April 27, 2021 07:00 - 59 minutesThe final part of our deep-dive into the poetry showcased in Chapter 18 celebrating Yuanchun’s visit home. In this part we consider all of the contributions in Baoyu’s name. Issues of nature versus the natural reemerge, and Daiyu continues to be a poet diva. Behold the garden, behold the dream! ...
Episode 38 Rereading Hong lou meng 紅樓夢, Chapter 18 part 3/4
Rereading the Stone - April 21, 2021 06:00 - 1 hourThe first part of our deep-dive into the poetry showcased in Chapter 18 celebrating Yuanchun’s visit home. In this part we consider all of the contributions except those in Baoyu’s name. Specific interpretations are offered and critiqued, while general theoretical concerns previously addressed r...
Episode 37 Rereading Hong lou meng 紅樓夢, Chapter 18 part 2/4
Rereading the Stone - April 13, 2021 05:00 - 41 minutesWe continue exploring Yuanchun’s new social standing in this episode. What does it mean to live in a gilded cage, a shimmering space of ritual and power? How does her new position affect her relationship with her family? Meanwhile poet-rockstar Daiyu feels that her talents are going to waste, Ba...
Episode 35 Rereading Hong lou meng 紅樓夢, Chapter 18 part 1/4
Rereading the Stone - April 06, 2021 08:00 - 44 minutesImperial Concubine Yuanchun returns home to visit family, to see the garden constructed in her honor, to review and edit the names and couplets assigned to all of the most famous spots, and to hear the celebratory, yet serious, poems everyone has written for the occasion. We begin by discussing ...
Episode 35 Rereading Hong lou meng 紅樓夢, Chapter 17 part 4/4
Rereading the Stone - March 29, 2021 10:00 - 48 minutesThe final part of our first garden tour, can you handle this assault on the senses? Can you process this profusion of effusive allusions? Will it prompt your weary soul to dream fragrant dreams? Where’s the line between free play and plagiarism? Are you at home with homage, or do you rectify all...
Episode 34 Rereading Hong lou meng 紅樓夢, Chapter 17 part 3/4
Rereading the Stone - March 23, 2021 05:00 - 1 hourThe garden gives and gives, and the tension between Baoyu and Jia Zheng is heightening! As one penetrates art and artifice ever more deeply, fiction becomes reality, and reality becomes hyperreality. The mock village here tucked away would have pulled at Marie Antoinette’s heartstrings, so is it...
Episode 33 Rereading Hong lou meng 紅樓夢, Chapter 17 part 2/4
Rereading the Stone - March 16, 2021 06:00 - 50 minutesDeeper — into the garden! This leisurely stroll through Prospect Garden 大觀園, a location of central significance for Hong lou meng (Dream of the Red Chamber), doubles as a feat of poetic strength. We discuss further all the deep-cut historical references flying about and their possible significan...
Episode 32 Rereading Hong lou meng 紅樓夢, Chapter 17 part 1/4
Rereading the Stone - March 08, 2021 23:00 - 52 minutesAn episode not to be missed — enter the garden! This leisurely stroll through Prospect Garden 大觀園, a location of central significance for Hong lou meng (Dream of the Red Chamber), doubles as a feat of poetic strength. Can Baoyu’s “wayward talent” mitigate his father’s skepticism and dismissivene...
Episode 31 Rereading Hong lou meng 紅樓夢, Chapter 16 part 2/2
Rereading the Stone - March 01, 2021 21:00 - 50 minutesIn this episode, Rereading the Stone explores the subtext of a rather oblique discussion between Xifeng and Jia Lian, and Qin Zhong’s descent into the Yellow Springs is excavated. What lies beneath words and symbolic accoutrement, and what does it mean that the Ministers of the Underworld have a...
Episode 30 Rereading Hong lou meng 紅樓夢, Chapter 16 part 1/2
Rereading the Stone - February 22, 2021 11:00 - 43 minutesWhile Yuan Chun ascends to palace halls of Heavenly Grace, Qin Zhong is dragged away to the Yellow Springs. Why don’t we learn directly what Yuan Chuan thinks of her new position? Is this a commentary on the author’s part? And why can’t Baoyu try harder in his interactions with Lin Daiyu? Why ar...
Ep. 29: Rereading Hong lou meng 紅樓夢, Chapter 15 part 2/2
Rereading the Stone - February 15, 2021 22:00 - 37 minutesStill outside the Jia compound and the city walls, Baoyu and Qin Zhong further explore the vicissitudes of youth, love, commitment, and debts both spiritual and material. Xifeng tries to profit from the business of betrothal, while Qin Zhong lends his heart out to Sapientia. Support the show
Ep. 28: Rereading Hong lou meng 紅樓夢, Chapter 15 part 1/2
Rereading the Stone - February 09, 2021 02:00 - 56 minutesWhereas the last chapter was heavy, even somewhat brutal, this chapter of Hong lou meng (Dream of the Red Chamber) gets our protagonist and his buddy Qin Zhong out of the Jia compound, outside the city walls, and into the open air. On-going funerary matters aren’t going to prevent Baoyu from enj...
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