The Boss Behind the Cowherd and Weaver Myth
This time last year, I launched my book “From Kuan Yin to Chairman Mao: An Essential Guide to Chinese Deities” in the UK. Vivian Ni, the wonderful manager of Guanghwa in London, my bookshop of choice for the launch, wrote a lovely article for the occasion of Qi Xi, which she published on WeChat. I liked it so much that this year, I have translated it into English to share with my English-language readers on the same occasion of Qi Xi. The article contains a brief interview with me, I hope you enjoy it.
Posted in Culture and tagged book, china, Chinese, culture, deities, festival, gods, interview, literature, Qi Qiao, Qi Xi, tradition, Valentine's
Traditional Han Clothing
The National Day celebrations of 2021’s Golden Week has been a celebratory extravaganza of traditional culture. A substantial part of this was the showcasing of dozens of hanfu brands, not to mention the performers, from musicians to martial artists, all looking their best in traditional clothes. Over the last decade or so, hanfu has come to somewhat replace the cheongsam as representation of national clothing. The rise in and diversification of output to cater to festivals, fashion events, cosplay, and a general rise in popularity after hundreds of MMORPG and streamed historical and fantasy dramas, mean that hanfu is now more of greater appeal and more available to the general public than any other modern times. In this article, I’ll talk about the essentials garments of traditional clothing.
Posted in Culture and tagged china, Chinese, clothes, culture, festival, Qi Xi, Qi Xiao