Christopher > Recent Status Updates

This book is under 100 pages. It deals with the role of women in Naxi culture, opening with dozens of pictures ranging from women making clothing to transporting manure to butchering pigs (anyone familiar with the hottest drama of 2026, 逐玉, will laugh). Published in the mid-'90s, the language is more socialist than recent publications, but far less so than in earlier decades.

Slowing down on this one. This could become one of my favorite books, I feel. But it seems to expect a far greater familiarity with SE Asia than I possess, so I'm trying to rectify that before I get too far in.

For much of Indian history, it feels absurd to speak of Indian history. I'm eager to finish this so I can start on some regional histories.

One of the great frustrations with this book is his tendency to be inconsistent in Romanization. Sometimes he writes of Jiangsi and Sinkiang, but most other names are given in Pinyin. 11 uses of Jiangsi and 30ish of Jiangxi. 3 of Sinkiang, dozens of Xinjiang. I understand names can become standardized in transliteration even when systems change, but this is just lazy.

I was hoping this book would be a good opportunity to learn the history of Southeast Asia, but it really feels like it's meant for somebody who already knows that history.

It grows more exciting

Zhu Bajie must be one of the most unlikeable characters in fiction. Sanzang is similarly among the most credulous, but at least he appears to be fazed by the violence that even Avalokiteshvara doesn't seem to mind. Sun Wukong was too powerful for the armies of Heaven, so why is he so weak when fighting a single monster now?