Editing Work, Thoughts on Writing

Matthew Cheung is also an incompetent in another area: English writing

I know we have long given up on expecting members of our puppet government to walk their talk, but they aren’t exactly of zero value either, because when they face an international audience and can’t talk their talk in English properly, they can at least provide practical demonstrations of how not to use the language. Take for… Continue reading Matthew Cheung is also an incompetent in another area: English writing

Thoughts on Writing

Some Like it Hot

This video on Douyin gave me a much-needed laugh as I waited with trepidation for the human cost of the Wuhan virus to come to light: a stern voice on a loudspeaker warns the inhabitants of a village against engaging in extramarital sex while the country is in the grip of the epidemic -“別個傳染給你,晚上你傳染給你婆娘,你婆娘傳染給隔壁老王,老王傳染給老王婆娘,那全村不都遭洗白了啊!” https://videopress.com/v/hOxFRSPU?controls=false&preloadContent=metadata The bluntness… Continue reading Some Like it Hot

Thoughts on Writing

“The jerks, the breaks, and the harshness of prose”

“The jerks, the breaks, and the harshness of prose” To help the audience picture the difficulty of playing the title role in the Peking opera “The Inebriated Consort” (貴妃醉酒), the producers invited an opera apprentice and a little girl to learn the part from Zhang Jing, a venerated artist who could trace her lineage back… Continue reading “The jerks, the breaks, and the harshness of prose”

Thoughts on Writing, 中文文章

餘音嘹亮尚飄空—— 理想教育的特質

民國美學大師宗白華(1897-1986)的傳記作者鄒士方,80年代初撰寫宗白華的傳記期間,曾到北京圖書館報庫讀宗抗戰時期的舊作。鄒這樣形容當時看書情景:「時值酷暑,汗流浹背,但我抄錄著宗先生在《星期學燈》上的詩意怏然的『編輯後語』,只感到渾身爽快,如置身於清涼世界,我再一次被宗老那深邃的思想和優美的語言所折服。」