An insightful look into contemporary Chinese avant-garde fiction and the problem of Chinese postmodernity

The Li sao (also known as Encountering Sorrow), attributed to the poet-statesman Qu Yuan (4th–3rd century BCE), is one of the cornerstones of the Chinese poetic tradition. It has long been studied as China's first extended allegory in poetic form, yet most scholars agree that there is very little in the two-thousand-year-old tradition of commentary on it that convincingly explains its supernatural flights, its complex floral imagery, or the gender ambiguity of its primary poetic persona. The Shaman and the Heresiarch is the first book-length study of the Li sao in English, offering new translations of both the Li sao and the Nine Songs. The book traces the shortcomings of the earliest extant commentary on those texts, that of Wang Yi, back to the quasi-divinatory methods of the highly politicized tradition of Chinese classical hermeneutics in general, and the political machinations of a Han dynasty empress dowager in particular. It also offers an entirely new interpretation of the Li sao, one based not on Qu Yuan hagiography but on what late Warring States period artifacts and texts, including recently unearthed texts, teach us about the cultural context that produced the poem. In that light we see in the Li sao not only a reflection of the era of the great classical Chinese philosophers, but also the breakdown of the political-religious order of the ancient state of Chu.

Her boyfriend broke off his legs and kissed her younger sister. In her anger, she accidentally met the president of the diamond company. From then on, she was surrounded by demons.

In order to save her family, she had no choice but to marry a fool. But at night, she was pressed down by the brother-in-law. After everything was settled, she could have left as well. Who knew that he would never think of letting her go! "Mo Yehan! Don't forget, the transaction between us has ended! " In the middle of the night, he pushed her against the door and she said while gnashing her teeth. "An Jianjian! The transaction is over, but you have violated the terms of our contract! " The man's handsome long eyebrows twitched. While she was distracted, Mo Yehan broke through the door and pushed her against the wall. "How dare you steal my child! So, we have to continue the trade! "

When he was young, he said, "I grant you a lifetime of glory." She refused. "I am of noble birth, and I have no lack of gold or silver." He said, "Then I grant you the only love in the world." She smiled sweetly. "Alright. You said it, you can't go back on your word. " He hugged her. "Never go back on your word." When he returned to the capital, he would face the battles of the palace, the struggles of the houses, his loved ones, his power, his desires ... Her intelligence had become the capital of planning, but it was all for the protection of the people closest to her. Imperial authority, power, he had plotted step by step just to be able to protect her in the open. When things got out of her control step by step, what would she and he choose? What would the grudges of the previous generation bring to them? Could they not forget their original intentions and stay together until they become old? Thinking back to the past, she looked at him, smiling sadly. "Let go, I'm tired from love." "Don't even think about it." Xuanyuan Yi Chen ignored her struggles and forcefully imprisoned her within his embrace, "Since you've provoked me, you shouldn't even think about escaping for the rest of your life." He bit her lips.