@grangarden.bsky.social Well, this is what mid-life crisis does to you. I’d probably be better off binge-watching old seasons of Taskmaster with the kids, but I suppose it’s less harmful than buying a motorcycle or having an affair…

@johnfsullivan.bsky.social There’s an entire little speech there where Ziyu dismantles the rituals-based world-order in 638 BCE.

@johnfsullivan.bsky.social 寡人雖亡國之餘，不鼓不成列，
[The Duke of Song said]: “I am but a vestige of a lost realm but I don’t beat the battle drums to attack those that have not formed their ranks.”
[…]
子魚曰，君未知戰
Ziyu said: “My Lord does not understand war”

@aohsusometimesy.bsky.social Cool! I’m rereading Ong and Havelock right now for exactly that reason. There are a couple of more recent books in his article.

You don’t happen to have come across any other work on this topic?

Article (paywalled):
www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet…

Post here on bsky:
bsky.app/profile/weis…

@bokane.org Come to think of it, isn’t there another famous family-themed novel with an important character surnamed 薛?

@bokane.org OK, this is the wrong century but I’m currently reading 我们家 by 戴月行 (1984- CE, courtesy name 颜歌) and none of you fancy-pants translators can stop me from thinking of the main protagonist 薛胜强 as Victor Strongblood.

@samuelwa.de The China people at the NYT should stage their own coup and take over domestic coverage.

@roelio Nice! Very Edward Weston. :-)

@samuelwa.de So, reading Online Chinese is basically like reading Old Chinese?

First you have to figure out which word they mean (tenuously related to the actually written one) and then you don’t get the reference anyway?