hi! Do you have some non-taobao stores to recommend, for us chinese people outside of china? 😂

Hi, thanks for the question!

Yes, there are quite a few non-Taobao hanfu stores that are more easily accessible for those outside of China! If any followers have experience with these stores, please share!:

1. Nüwa Hanfu - a hanfu shop based in Ohio, founded by @mochihanfu! All items are carefully curated for quality, and Mochi is very communicative and transparent on sourcing & logistics. Lovely selection of hanfu & accessories, including original designs.

2. Hanfu Story - a Singapore-based hanfu shop with a large selection of hanfu & accessories. There’s an interview with the founder here.

3. New Hanfu - mentioned in my post here. I’ve personally never shopped there, but I did get a message giving it a good review, so I think it’s worth a look! ^^

4. NewMoonDance - has an appealing selection of hanfu & qipao. They also provide a daigou/代购 (surrogate shopping) service, through which they can ship hanfu from Taobao to international customers for a fee.

5. Fashion Hanfu - has a large collection of hanfu, also sells wedding qungua and Chinese-style pet clothes.

6. Hanfu Modern - hanfu (including dance hanfu) & qipao with a casual, contemporary vibe.

7. Chinasquad - attractive selection of curated hanfu & accessories (as well as contemporary Chinese fashion brands).

8. Yesstyle - recommended by a follower. According to them, “You can also buy hanfu off Yesstyle since it’s just a Taobao reseller if you want an English website. The prices aren’t bad and you can order parts of an ensemble in different sizes if you need to. I recently bought a ruqun from them and it was really nice!”

Generally speaking, non-Taobao English websites that sell hanfu are going to be Taobao resellers, because Taobao is where most hanfu brands sell their clothes. If you can understand Chinese, you can buy directly from Taobao stores that ship internationally. I have a list of recommendations for Taobao hanfu stores here & hanyuansu stores here.

If any followers have more recs for non-Taobao hanfu stores, please share! ^^

Hope this helps! 

(lady in hanfu via)

blue (2002) dir. hiroshi ando

finding out there's a frankenstein ballet and that it was in october of last year…DEVASTATING

look at this. look at these. im foaming at the mouth

guys is it just me but is anyone noticing a trend in Hollywood where the betrayer is often an East Asian character or at least played by an East Asian actor or actress??

like Clemensia Dovecote in Ballad of the Songbirds and Snakes who of "betrays" Coriolanus by claiming his work as her own, Wong in the latest Dr Strange who leads Wanda to Wandagore, or Dr Yueh in Dune who practically brings down the whole house Artredies with his betrayal.

And funnily enough they're all played by people from a vaguely Chinese background? and the people they betray are all white, though icl that could just be Hollywood being classic Hollywood but I'm starting to think that after seeing three instances of the "East Asian Betrayer" that surely this is not a coincidence. Chang Chen (Dr Yueh) was born in Taiwan and Ashley Liao who plays Clemensia is also from a Taiwanese family, while Benedict Wong (Wong) is born to Hong Kong parents, putting all three actors/characters somewhat in the area of China.

and I can't help but think- okay. it's giving geopolitics, or maybe a little xenophobia? or even sinophobia?

has anyone else also noticed this trend or am I reading too much into it?

Do you have any recommendations for books and such to read more about green anarchism? Or some recommendations on anti-civ? It’s something I haven’t heard much about honestly.

my personal favourite is against his-story against leviathan by fredy perlman! honestly anything by fredy perlman is good. he writes in more of like, a story kinda way than like hard theory which personally i love but ive also heard a lot of ppl complain about it so..

desert (on the anarchist library) is also the other staple Anti Civ Book. i havent read it in a few years so i think im due for a re-read lol

Nana x "Where is My Place in the World? Early Shōjo Manga Portrayals of Lesbianism" by Fujimoto Yukari (tr. Lucy Fraser)

Heaven Gaia Spring/Summer 2022 "Qian Kun · Fang Yi"

游山恋 - Ode to Mountain Tavels

sung by 海伦 (Hai Lun)

English translation by yours truly

Drunk and carrying wine, I wander the cold mountain, snowflakes filling the sky,

Breathing in the billowing cold air, spilling wine over river and mountains,

Gazing at blue waters, clouds and mist drifting over the mortal world, 

I raise my hand, and my wine falls, dampening my shirt

.

Watch as the snowflakes scatter, ever-changing and flourishing in their thousands

A white haired old man carries a child down the mountain.

Watching as immortals dance in joy, today I am drunk and content, 

Giving the cold mountain my farewells, I know not when I will return.

.

Ahhh-

.

I bid the welcoming wind to stay a few steps more,

How could I bear to let the cold wind to blow upon my pain

I said, “Cold mountain don’t cry,

I’ll take you with me,

I’ll toast you, and take you with me.”

.

I wish to irrecoverably turn to ice 

How could I bear the cold to freeze my heart’s cries

I said, “Cold mountain don’t cry,

I’ll take you with me,

I’ll toast you, and take you with me.”

.

Drunk and carrying wine, I wander the cold mountains, unable to give up the beauty

Immortals dress up, coaxing tunes for fun while beauties strum their instruments,

Look at the snowy white mortal world, look at the glaciers crystal clear,

Those that see, pine like they do a lovely dream.

.

I bid the welcoming wind to stay a few steps more,

How could I bear to let the cold wind to blow upon my pain

I said, “Cold mountain don’t cry,

I’ll take you with me,

I’ll toast you, and take you with me.”

.

I wish to become one with the ice with no room for regrets,

How could I bear the cold to freeze my heart’s cries

I said, “Cold mountain don’t cry,

I’ll take you with me,

I’ll toast you, and take you with me.”

This captures everything I love about being online

English translation for 红马 (女版) sung by 许蓝心 

translation is by yours truly ;)

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧  - ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　

Red Horse

I’m in Jiangnan, sprinkling joy free from sin,

You used the setting sun and broke the spring snow,

You’re in Qingjian, rouge parasol, damask satin,

Your music sings prospering embroidered lakes and mountains,

.

Nanshan’s fishing village at night, a bowl of rice wine for three coins,

You travel the whole of Qingzhou province, 

Riding a red horse, feet in cloud boots, searching for a soulmate

.

Woooh, by the clouds at dusk,

Woooh, sleeping to the sound of rain,

Woooh, love at west city

Woooh, parting at north city,

.

I’m in Jiangnan, spreading joy free from sin,

You used the setting sun and broke the spring snow,

You’re in Qingjian, rouge parasol, damask satin,

Your music sings prospering embroidered lakes and mountains,

.

Woooh, by the clouds at dusk,

Woooh, sleeping to the sound of rain,

Woooh, love at west city

Woooh, parting at north city,

.

I’m in Jiangnan, spreading joy free from sin,

You used the setting sun and broke the spring snow,

You’re in Qingjian, rouge parasol, damask satin,

Your music sings prospering embroidered lakes and mountains,

.

I’m in Jiangnan,

You use the setting sun,

You’re in Qingjian,

You play a song

.

A fan dance

if you're wondering why i was screaming and so emotional over ke huy quan and michelle yeoh's win--well, it's because there are limited opportunities for asian actors in hollywood. and to see both of them standing up there accepting their oscars gives hope to those who want to follow in their footsteps, it gives hope to all the boys and girls who look like them a chance to see themselves on the big screen. my boys will grow up seeing themselves without ever having to wonder when will it be their turn. it gives me hope that one day my little dream of becoming a screenwriter could happen, that the stories i want to tell, the stories i hold dear to my heart can also resonate with someone else, so that they can be seen and heard.

Michelle Yeoh gives an inspiring Best Actress speech at the Oscars 2023

I just watched the 2013 movie 我想和你好好的 (love will tear us apart) after finding it for free on youtube. I’d never heard of the movie before and knew nothing about it besides a few comments saying how unexpectedly the movie progressed, but I loved it. I liked how liang liang and miao miao weren’t presented as anyone special, they were both just normal young people who made do with what they had, who happened to come together and came apart again. 

but what I really like was the fact that they didn’t villainise miao miao for her attempts to control the relationship. sure she tried to control liang liang, she was paranoid and borderline abusive but neither was her behaviour completely unfounded; her job as an actress contributed to her insecurities and liang liang did sneak around her back instead of confronting her behaviour in a honest and constructive way- and then later went as far as to meet up with his ex on the regular. while this does not excuse her abusive behaviour, it humanises her. 

maybe I haven't been watching many movies recently but I was actually quite surprised how fast paced it was. the speed in which liang liang and miao miao’s relationship went hurtling downhill was quite jarring and a little exaggerated but to be honest I actually quite appreciated it for what it was. it’s like that idea in literature where you highlight the fact that the piece of literature is actually just a piece of literature in order to emphasise the point you’re trying to make. what I took from the movie was how easy it was for what seemed to be a totally normal relationship to become so toxic, that abusive behaviour is not the evil rootless thing that it’s often presented as- it is awful, but it’s never totally black and white- miao miao at the end of the day is still a human being. 

Okay re: White Snake 白蛇传 being read as an allegory for being trans and specifically the experience of trans panic

I've been sitting on these thoughts for years and now I am physically incapable of interpreting this myth any other way now because like. At its core, White Snake is a story about a woman with fears about coming out to her husband in a society she knows she is unwelcome in. White Snake is literally about Bai Suzhen being outed by someone who disapproves of her husband being with someone like her. This story is about her husband being taken away from her, being "protected" from her against his will by those who claim to speak with religious authority condemning her very being.

And like, okay I rave about Journey to the West being all "yaoguai rights" because of its portrayal of Sun Wukong in the first arc of the story. But I gotta admit, by the time the pilgrimage happens, Sun Wukong is consistently beaten down and his yaoguai pride is repeatedly challenged and subdued both emotionally and physically. The narrative still sides with him, depicting him as the wisest and most reasonable out of all the pilgrims- but how much more nonchalant the pilgrims are about killing yao in comparison to humans or immortals, as well as the general undercurrent of somehow still not fully trusting Sun Wukong despite everything he's done for them, what JTTW is attempting to say about the nature of yao-ness becomes muddled throughout the journey.

In contrast, White Snake goes out of its way to repeatedly paint Bai Suzhen as sympathetic and the discrimination she's facing as unfair and unjust. The monk Fahai wants to exorcise Bai Suzhen from her household because he believes that she's a danger to her husband Xu Xian and to the community at large purely on the basis of her being a yaojing. In contrast Bai Suzhen is a doctor. Not even a neutral party in the community, she's literally actively helping people while also being implied to be supporting her husband on her doctor's salary since he works as a scholar. When Bai Suzhen reunites with Xu Xian, her sworn sister and fellow snake yaojing Xiaoqing speaks out about how cruel Xu Xian was to trick her into revealing her true form and what a horrible husband he was to trust that monk's words instead of trusting Bai Suzhen enough to even broach the topic with her in conversation before doing something so rash. Xiaoqing serves as an in-narrative affirmation that Bai Suzhen was treated poorly, not excusing the pain Xu Xian caused her and validating Bai Suzhen's feelings regarding his reaction to her true form. What's more is that this affirmation that what Xu Xian did was wrong in turn paints what Bai Suzhen did (adopting a human form and not feeling obligated to disclose that information) as understandable, justifiable, and correct. The narrative never suggests that Bai Suzhen "tricked" Xu Xian by adopting a human form. And like, the one thing you could argue about in regards to White Snake and whether or not the story is ultimately approving of Bai Suzhen's actions is the fact that Bai Suzhen is punished by being trapped underneath a pagoda by Heaven. However, she wasn't imprisoned for being a yao. She wasn't even imprisoned for being a yao and daring to love a human, in stark contrast to the myths of both Princess Yaoji and Sansheng Mu who were goddesses imprisoned for falling in love with humans. She was imprisoned because, while rescuing her husband from the monks holding him captive, she raised the Yangzi River to flood the temple, accidentally drowning innocent people in the process. Her son, Xu Mengjiao, serves as support for this because it's said that his filial piety was what moved the Heavens to lift the pagoda, and if it were really her yao-ness being condemned, then why would Heaven be moved by her half-yao son, the literal symbol of the love between her and her husband? When Bai Suzhen was imprisoned by Heaven, it was not for the crime of being a yao which the human monks had condemned her for, but rather for the lives she took in her grief, showing difference in Heaven's will and what the monks claimed to be Heaven's will!

Also like. I feel like its a very deliberate choice to have the heavenly herb of Emei Shan being guarded by two celestial animals, instead of like, immortals or gods. Because when you see Bai Suzhen, a snake, fighting these guards of heaven, a crane and some other animal i don't remember, this is just an animal fighting animals. Why is Bai Suzhen being a yaojing different from these celestial guards being celestial animals? The line between yaojing and celestial animals is so wishy washy like. You can see it in other stories about yaoguai too! Sun Wukong is a monkey yao but he's being hunted down by XiaoTianQuan the celestial hound! The Jade Rabbit is pounding immortality pills on the moon, but were they not originally a rabbit on earth awarded for their selflessness? What about the dragons and more specifically the dragons who were originally carp spirits? What separates Sun Wukong's sworn brother, the Peng Demon King, from someone like the thunder gods with their literal wings and beaks? The existence of celestial animals and unearthly creatures alongside the concept of yao is inherently an unclear binary, and White Snake juxtaposes Bai Suzhen against these celestial animals to draw attention to that tension!!

In conclusion, Bai Suzhen transhet icon 👍

i don’t know why but i’m really amused by the winner of some ‘new kanji’ contest:

compare with the real kanji

座 (seat/gathering), but the two 人 (person) radicals have been moved from next to each other within the 土 (earth) radical to diagonally from each other, making this “social distance(d seating/gathering)”

EMMA. 2020, dir. Autumn de Wilde